Publication:Player's Handbook (3e)

The third edition, published August 10, 2000, (with the Player's Handbook first debuting at that year's Gen Con ) represented a major overhaul of the game, including the adoption of the d20 system. The third edition also dropped the word Advanced from the title, as the publisher decided to publish only one version of the game instead of both basic and advanced versions.

Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams all contributed to the 3rd edition Players Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual, and then each designer wrote one of the books based on those contributions. The 3rd edition Player's Handbook also saw the return of half-orcs and monks to the core rules set, along with some all-new classes.

In July 2003, the rules were revised again to version 3.5 based on two years of player feedback. Revisions to the Player's Handbook included the classes becoming more balanced against each other.