Great time to convert to d20 gaming

As many of us who play Dungeons and Dragons know the fourth edition will arrive in June of 2008. That said, it looks like the focus of 4 will be improved playability at higher levels and an effort to make game play more aligned with video gaming technology and expectations.

Now I am running two campaigns right now. Both of which were using version 1.0 to 2.0 rules depending on what you are doing plus a bunch of custom rules. My friend Dave Miller has been hounding me for the last three sessions asking for "a set of skill rules we can understand and use".

Well after doing a bunch of research, I determined that the skill problem was solved with the d20 system of Dungeons and Dragons v3.0. So I am converting all of my games to the d20 system. I have ordered used Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 Players Handbooks for all the players (only $5-$6 each + $4 shipping on Amazon). For myself I purchased used 3.0 Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual, Monster Manual II, and Monster Manual III (3.5) all were between $11 and $13 each.

I had been avoiding 3.x because it was so different from the 20 years of knowledge I already have. There was also was an issue of investment. I have lots of 1.0 and 2.0 stuff. Who wants to throw down $30 a book to get the same game only repackaged. Now with 4.0 coming, 3.0 stuff is cheep and 3.5 will start dropping soon.

The other nice thing about waiting 8 years on d20 is that now there is a rich collection of 3rd party products for the Dungeons and Dragons 3.x d20 system. In fact it was getting hard to find things on the net that had not been "contaminated" with d20.

So, I have decided it is a great time to convert to d20 gaming. Unfortunately I will need to retrain all of my players. I am learning a lot, after all: "The best way to learn something is to teach it."