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The Player's Handbook II builds upon existing materials in the Player's Handbook by expanding the options available for players by both providing new material and increasing the uses for existing rules. Included are chapters on character race, background, classes, feats, spells, character creation, and character advancement. New rules include racial affiliations that make race matter as a character advances in level, new character classes and alternate class features for existing classes, new feats, tools for rapid character creation, and additional organization and teamwork benefits -- an option first introduced in Dungeon Master's Guide II and Heroes of Battle. The excerpts below include the table of contents and introduction, the knight class, expanded barbarian material, a feat table, the polymorph subschool and sample spells, and some material about rebuilding your character.
- Contents and Introduction
- Knight Class (Chapter 1: New Classes)
- Expanded Barbarian (Chapter 2: Expanded Classes)
- Feats (Chapter 3: New Feats)
- Polymorph Subschool and Spells (Chapter 4: New Spells)
- Introduction to Rebuilding, Feature Retraining, and Divine Conversion (Chapter 8: Rebuilding Your Character)
Contents and Introduction
Table of Contents
Introduction
What You Need to Play
Chapter 1: New Classes
New Starting Packages
Beguiler Beguiler Spell List
Dragon Shaman
Duskblade
Knight Ex-Knights
Chapter 2: Expanded Classes New Starting Packages
Barbarian
Bard
Cleric
Druid
Favored Soul
Fighter
Hexblade
Marshal
Monk
Paladin
Ranger
Rogue
Scout
Sorcerer
Swashbuckler
Warlock
Warmage
Wizard
Chapter 3: New Feats
General Feats
Ceremony Feats
Combat Form Feats
Divine Feats
Heritage Feats
Metamagic Feats
Tactical Feats
Chapter 4: New Spells Dual-School Spells The Polymorph Subschool
Chapter 5: Building Your Identity
Character Background Artisan Ascetic Drifter Farm Hand Gladiator Guttersnipe Mariner Noble Scion Soldier Tribal Origin
Personality Archetypes Agent Challenger Companion Crusader Daredevil Explorer Innocent Leader Martyr Mercenary Orphan Prophet Rebel Renegade Royalty Sage Savage Seeker Simple Soul Strategist Theorist Trickster Wanderer
Personality Traits
Being a Good Player at the Table Managing the Paperwork Rolling Conventions Respect the Spotlight Other Concerns Talk About Your Character
Chapter 6: The Adventuring Group
Party Backgrounds Charter Childhood Friendship Chosen Circumstance Organization
Building the Party Adventuring Party Basics Being a Team Player
Teamwork Benefits What is a Teamwork Benefit? The Team Roster
Teamwork Benefit Descriptions Awareness Camp Routine Circle of Blades Crowded Charge Cunning Ambush Cunning Ambush, Improved Expert Mountaineers Foe Hunting Group Trance Indirect Fire Like a Rock Massed Charge Missile Volley Steadfast Resolve Superior Team Effort Team Melee Tactics Team Rush Team Shield Maneuver Wall of Steel
Chapter 7: Affiliations
Broadening Your Game The Two Categories of Affiliations Why Join an Affiliation? Membership Has Its Privileges Features of Affiliations Making Affiliations Dynamic
Example Affiliations Bloodfist Tribe Brightmantle Weapon Forge and Trading Consortium Caravan of Shadows Castle Mairo The Chalice Darkspire College of Thaun Dragon Island Elves of the High Forest The Golden Helm Guild The Land of Honor Merata Kon The One and the Five Restenford Guild of Insurers, Solicitors, and Beggars Restenford Sewerworkers Guild Sharulhensa, the Alabaster Towers Sun Fane The Thunder Sail Argosy Wintervein Dwarves
Creating Your Own Affiliations
Example of Play
Chapter 8: Rebuilding Your Character
Retraining Class Feature Retraining Feat Retraining Language Retraining Skill Retraining Spell or Power Retraining Substitution Level Retraining
Rebuilding Ability Score Rebuilding Class Level Rebuilding Race Rebuilding Template Rebuilding
Rebuild Quests Rebuild Quests in the Game The Gates of Dawn (Levels 6-8) The Necrotic Cradle (Levels 13-15)
Appendix: Quick PC and NPC Creation
1. Choose a Class
2. Determine Ability Scores
3. Pick Your Race
4. Pick Your Skills Skill Priority Lists
5. Pick Your Feats
6. Miscellaneous Characteristics
7. Choose Equipment A la Carte Shopping Equipment by Level
8. Pick Your Spells Suggested Bard Spells Suggested Cleric Spells (Positive Energy Channelers*) Suggested Druid Spells Suggested Duskblade Spells Suggested Favored Soul Spells Suggested Hexblade Spells Suggested Marshal Auras Suggested Paladin Spells Suggested Ranger Spells Suggested Sorcerer Spells Suggested Warlock Invocations Suggested Wizard Spells
Random Personalities
Introduction
When you play a character in a Dungeons & Dragons® game, it's all about the choices you make. Every facet of your character that makes him or her unique is the product of a conscious decision on your part.
Player's Handbook II is all about expanding your choices -- sometimes in ways you might expect (new classes, new feats) and other times in ways you might find surprising, such as a set of rules for re-engineering your character (about which we have more to say below).
Chapter 1: New Classes expands the roster of standard classes by four, with the addition of the beguiler, the dragon shaman, the duskblade, and the knight. Any of these classes would be a fine choice if you want to play a character that doesn't fit any of the archetypes that are represented by the other classes we have published.
Chapter 2: Alternate Class Options revisits eighteen of those other classes -- the eleven from the Player's Handbook as well as seven others (such as the scout and the favored soul) that made their debuts in supplements. We look at these classes with a fresh set of eyes, providing for each one an alternate class feature, three new starting packages, and a discussion of character themes that are appropriate for the class in question. If you're intrigued by the idea of playing a cleric who spontaneously casts domain spells instead of cure spells, check out page 37 for the particulars.
Player's Handbook II would not be a book worthy of its title if it didn't present new feats and spells. Chapter 3: New Feats contains more than 100 additions to the vast selection of feats in the D&D® game, and Chapter 4: New Spells presents a similar number of new choices for spellcasters of all sorts.
This book starts to blaze its own trail in Chapter 5: Building Your Identity, which contains dozens of brief discussions on how to add more depth and realism to your character's background and personality, plus some advice on how best to fulfill your role as a player at the gaming table.
Chapter 6: The Adventuring Group takes a step back in perspective, focusing on the characters who collectively make up a particular kind of party. How did these wouldbe heroes come together in the first place, and what part does each one of them play in a well-rounded group of adventurers? The chapter also includes a few new teamwork benefits, expanding on a concept that was introduced in Dungeon Master's Guide II.
Characters are defined not only by who they are as individuals and by the other PCs they travel with, but also by the relationships they form with likeminded individuals whose heritage or interests compel them to follow a common cause. Chapter 7: Affiliations describes a new kind of group that characters can belong to -- they rise or fall in status within their affiliations according to their deeds and their qualifications, and the most motivated and successful of them all can even advance to a leadership position. In addition to a number of fully fleshed-out example affiliations, this chapter provides guidelines for players and DMs who want to create affiliations that are unique to their campaign.
Perhaps the most intriguing new concept in this book is presented in Chapter 8: Rebuilding Your Character. While many DMs and players have created house rules for handling situations involving the reselection of feats, reallocation of skill ranks, altering ability scores, and so forth, the D&D game has never before had official rules on the topic of revising your entire character. So whether your dwarf fighter just regrets a single bad feat choice or wishes he were actually a half-orc barbarian or an elf sorcerer, Chapter 8 offers rules and advice that covers the subject of character rebuilding from start to finish.
Finally, an extensive Appendix sets forth an efficient method for quick generation of new player characters or NPCs, which (among other things) streamlines the process of selecting skills and feats. The next time you need a character in a hurry -- or even if you don't -- check out this system.
- Contents and Introduction
- Knight Class (Chapter 1: New Classes)
- Expanded Barbarian (Chapter 2: Expanded Classes)
- Feats (Chapter 3: New Feats)
- Polymorph Subschool and Spells (Chapter 4: New Spells)
- Introduction to Rebuilding, Feature Retraining, and Divine Conversion (Chapter 8: Rebuilding Your Character)
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