Redefining Enhancement Bonuses
Posted 8th August 2008 at 03:03 PM by Wulf Ratbane
This is tangential to "The Math" and "The Big Six" but I was dreaming about it this morning, so I thought I'd throw it out there and see what sticks.
Any magic item that provides an "enhancement bonus" scales with the level of the user: +1 per 4 levels.
This would fix the Big Six math for weapons, armor, shields, and stat boosters, leaving deflection and resistance bonuses/boosters untouched.
This gives a proportionally better "boost" to the melee classes, IMO.
As long as we're on the subject, I could lose the "mental" stat boosters (INT, WIS, CHA) entirely and be much happier. I seem to recall they didn't exist in the 3.0 PHB, and always thought that was a design decision they should not have rescinded.
Any magic item that provides an "enhancement bonus" scales with the level of the user: +1 per 4 levels.
This would fix the Big Six math for weapons, armor, shields, and stat boosters, leaving deflection and resistance bonuses/boosters untouched.
This gives a proportionally better "boost" to the melee classes, IMO.
As long as we're on the subject, I could lose the "mental" stat boosters (INT, WIS, CHA) entirely and be much happier. I seem to recall they didn't exist in the 3.0 PHB, and always thought that was a design decision they should not have rescinded.
Total Comments 7
Comments
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Meh. If I'm reading that right, I'd think it'd be rather boring as an across-the-board rule. It would scrap welth-by-level guidelines entirely (not that that's necessarily a bad thing), and screw up item creation.
I've always had a philosophical objection to the ready availability for 'mental' stat boosters. I can buy into the concept of magic that makes you stronger or faster, but somehow magic that makes you smarter or wiser seems a little iffy. I wouldn't mind seeing those go away (and replaced with specific items where appropriate; eg a magic crown that gives a bonus to diplomacy). It would bone the spellcasters DCs though, so you'd maybe have to boost the feats that add to those.Posted 8th August 2008 at 04:09 PM by Rodrigo Istalindir
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I suppose it's worth mentioning that I'd nuke (most) Item Creation entirely.Quote:...and screw up item creation.
But can you explain a bit more what you mean by "screw it up"?
re: mental stat boosters, your rationale meshes with mine. I just never bought into magic that makes you smarter, or wiser-- though charisma is less of a stretch. <shrug>
I'd have to look at "The Math" again regarding the spell DCs. Off the top of my head, the "good saves" column increases at the rate of 2+1/2 HD.
DCs increase at the rate of (3/4)(caster level).
Just eyeballing it I think casters will be just fine if they pick on the worst saves and their best (Spell Focus) DCs.
Stat boosters would really only be necessary to offset resistance bonuses, and you'd still probably be ahead of the game if you pick on the worst saves.
On the third hand-- it's not such a bad thing if there's no guarantee the high-level casters are going to nuke the high-level BBEG NPCs. Fighters play catch up again.Posted 8th August 2008 at 04:37 PM by Wulf Ratbane
Updated 8th August 2008 at 04:41 PM by Wulf Ratbane - Math error above. That'll teach me to work off the top of my head.
(Fixed I think.)Posted 8th August 2008 at 04:38 PM by Wulf Ratbane
Updated 8th August 2008 at 04:41 PM by Wulf Ratbane - Just that the exponential costs wouldn't come into play; if the item were keyed to the wielder's level, then the rational artificer would only make items at the lowest level possible. Make a +1 sword, hand it to Dave the 1st level Barbarian, and he's happy. Dave hands it to his big brother Fred, the 20th level fighter, and Fred's happy, too.
That essentially eliminates the opportunity cost for creating enhancement items at higher levels. You won't have to decide between the Gauntlets of Ogre Power +6 or the Staff of the Magi -- make Gauntlets of Ogre Power +1 *and* the staff.
I have no problem with casters having to suss out the enemy's weakness and be more than a one-trick pony. That's a feature, not a bug. Just that for backwards compatibility, you'd have to watch for instances (at higher levels, anyway) where NPCs were buffed specifically to counter high spell DCs.Posted 8th August 2008 at 06:18 PM by Rodrigo Istalindir - Actually, you could fix the first issue by saying the level at which it was created (eg, the level corresponding to the resources expended) was the maximum level, and still have it scale with the wielder.
Of course, if you're scrapping item creation entirely, that won't matter.
Posted 8th August 2008 at 08:26 PM by Rodrigo Istalindir - If Item Creation remains, then obviously you'd have to revisit the costs to account for enhancement scaling.Quote:Of course, if you're scrapping item creation entirely, that won't matter.Posted 9th August 2008 at 12:09 AM by Wulf Ratbane
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If you scrap wealth-by-level, you could just assign a flat cost for a "magic sword" and costs for various kinds of boosts (flaming, frost, etc). I like it - its simple, and it avoids the constant selling off/replacing of magic weapons.
As for stat boosters - is it fair to say that the primary use of a mental stat booster item is to boost the DC's of a spell (and to a lesser extent to boost skills)? If so, you could take a page from 4E and give spellcasters wands or staves that give a scaling bonus to DC's in the same manner that the swords scale with level.Posted 27th August 2008 at 05:49 PM by Kid Charlemagne
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