I figured this is an appropriate place for fixes, so I hope I'm right with my assumption.
Fellow board members, it is brutally obvious that 3.5 has several gears in the wrong places. The system looks fine, but as CO has proven there are serious power differences between the classes. We know that a Wizard, Druid, or Cleric can do every job in the planes with ease. We know that Candles of Invocation are broken out the wazoo. We also know that there are several things wrong with every class that exists.
But in order to fix things, we must start with the most basic pieces of it, and work our way up.
Pathfinder is supposed to be a fix for 3.5. Truthfully, I cannot confirm this for myself. As much as I would love to keep supporting WotC's changes, somethings have to be fixed by the players more than by the producers. So I bring you my proposal.
Let's fix 3.5 the way CO would do it. Let's make changes to the system that we can agree with.
Those of you who know me would know that I am a very flexible person, and fully capable writer (if a little rusty in the grammar department). And as we all know, very few people support outside sources meant to fix systems, while at the same time implementing their own house rules to try and achieve balance.
We know what this system is capable of. We know how powerful a character can be. We
are CO. We are the ones who bring the power to the table. We are the ones who make this system bend over backwards for even the lowest of Fighters.
Just as I have proposed the CODMs for the future of the game's existence, I will propose a change to the very past itself.
Fellow board members, let's fix the past the right way.
Let's make our own version of 3.5, the same way Paizo did with the Pathfinder system. And we will start with the most basic of fixes; weapons and armor.
We glance at the tables each and every time we make a character. We know that Mithral Breastplate is the best light armor in Core. We know that the Spiked Chain is one hell of a weapon. We know the advantages and hindrances that lie in TWFing. And we know that a Barbarian with a Greatsword and a properly optimized build can dish out well over 400 points of damage a round, with a reasonable chance of hitting even a Great Wyrm Gold Dragon.
We know what enhancements to put on our weapons and armor to eek out that last few points of badassery that makes our characters the die-hards they really are. And let's admit, many of us love every minute of glory we get around the playing table.
So let's make some of that glory for ourselves. Help me out here.
What We Need
My resources are limited. I'm only one person, after all. In order to encompass every inch of 3E, we need to work together. Normally, we are not allowed to post information from non-OGL sources, at least not verbatim. We won't have to violate that rule in order to do this.
I need a compilation of all of the various weapons and armor there is, including the enhancements we can put on them. I currently have the following sources to search from:
MM2-MM5
Sandstorm
Stormwrack
Dragon Magic
Dragon Compendium
Draconomicon
Core
XPH
Lords of Madness
WotC's own site
BoED
BoVD
MIC
Eberron Campaign Setting
And several others. Due to my recent RL problems, I am unable to access my books and the internet simultaneously. I also cannot post from my own home due to these very restrictions. As such, I need the assistance from all of my fellows on the net to compile a list of the various weapons, armor, and enhancements that exist.
Basically, I need the bare bones of each weapon. I'll give a sample of the format I am looking for:
Spiked ChainReach, Two-handed, Tripping, Disarming
Finesse: Yes
Type: Exotic
Damage: 2d4
Insert special rules behind the weapon here.
Brilliant EnergyCost to enchant: +4
Type: Weapon
Basic description of the effect this enhancement provides, including the # of uses (if applicable).
Material Name: Adamantine
Listed in: Core
Basic effect: Ignore hardness of objects, provided that the hardness is lower than 20.
Hardness/HP: 20/40
Armor Effect: Provides DR.
Special: Doubles weight.
By avoiding both the price and weight, and even abridging the effects to bare minimum (the same way Crystal Keep does) required to use the effect (with the rest going through pure DM's judgment), we can post them. Obviously, trademarked names of characters and other effects should be avoided.
Remember, we aren't trying to allow people to access info about something they don't have. We are trying to compile sources to fix something. As such, avoid verbatim wording on the effect. Give a general description of it, and basic information about the item in question. We don't want to start a legal issue.
Once we have enough to work off of we can begin fixing the weapons and balancing them out. I need the weapons+armor, materials, and enhancements from the A&EG, Races trilogy, and Frostburn in order to proceed with this.
Again, we aren't trying to violate copyrights with this fix. The armaments, abilities, and materials that are to be listed here are to contain just enough info to work from. They are not OGL, and as such we need to avoid reproducing the exact item that was printed.