This is what 4th edition SHOULD have looked like. If you are already heavily invested in 3.0/3.5 D&D and just want a little more refinement of the systems... If you think that 4th edition throws out the baby with the bathwater... then The Book of Experimental Might is for you! Some have called this book 'D&D 3.75', and it really is. Many of the issues with 3rd edition that 4th edition purports to fix were already being handled by 3rd ed. game designer Monte Cook in his home campaign. Consequently, you'll find many things here that look like 4th edition while still being compatible with 3.5 prestige classes, monsters, feats, skills, and magic items.

The core of the changes comes in three parts. First, everyone gets a feat slot at every level. This threefold increase may sound like a huge power boost, but with the number of feats available from all the WotC and non-WotC supplements--including this one--it really just lets your character play with more of the fun options that are available, without really unbalancing anything.

The second and most fundamental change is that the spell system has been rejiggered to cover twenty spell-levels, rather than the traditional nine. The reason for this should be fairly obvious: no more need to check a chart or mathematically reverse-engineer the progression to see which spells your character can cast. The maximum level of spells you can learn is the same as your caster level. This also allows for finer gradations in the power of spells--after all, in the core rules, were all 3rd-level spells really equal? Not hardly.

The other major group of changes is to the core base classes. The class updates are partly to adjust for the changes to feat-gaining and spell-levels and partly to fix or fine-tune issues with familiars, magical healing, wild shape, turning undead, and other classic-but-sometimes-awkward class features. For example, clerics remain the source of magical healing, but it is no longer incumbent upon them to use their actions on behalf of their comrades in order to do so. Familiars, which have always been easy to forget, of somewhat limited use, and occasionally even a vulnerable target, now appear and disappear as needed, with more tangible benefits when they are present. They can do this because they are a now considered a manifestation of the spellcaster's spirit rather than a psychically-linked but otherwise normal animal. Those are just my two favorite examples, but there are many good ideas here. I'll admit that not all of the changes are perfect, but with a little work, you can probably pick and choose from what you like.

This book is not for you if you don't like to do a little work and consider the consequences of changes to your game. However, if you think that D&D 3.5 still has some years in it, but you'd still like to try something new, I highly recommend it.

Available in hardcover or pdf download from paizo.com. (The hardcover collects two pdf files into a single, coherent book.) ( )