[Proposal] All characters have 1 boon slot

Iron Sky · Sep 26, 2011

I asked in general discussion what the consensus was on how many boons characters could have and there was no reply. I propose each character have 1 "boon slot" that they can receive/buy boons for.

Too many boons hurts the character item limit balance. For example, there's a boon that exactly mimics one of the best heroic foot-slot items (Boots of the Fencing Master) but doesn't take up the foot slot.

Judges?

Dekana · Sep 26, 2011

I don't have DDI active at the moment, but the article that introduced boons had this info. I don't remember it actually giving a solid answer though. It was something like "either use a new slot for all boons or replace an existing slot with it." It's been awhile, so I could be misremembering. Either way, I'm pretty sure it didn't allow more than 1 boon at a time. Anyone with DDI want to check?

Luinnar · Sep 26, 2011

I think boons first appeared in Dungeon Masters Guide 2 , which I don't have sadly.

I'm hearing on the wizard Q&A forum that nothing says they are limited.

Iron Sky · Sep 26, 2011

That's why I think it would make sense if they were. Someone making a paragon character could easily have 3-4 cheap boons. At epic, you could easily have 10-12 for the price of a mid-paragon item.

covaithe · Sep 26, 2011

Sounds plausible to me.

CaBaNa · Oct 2, 2011

Anything stopping the yes vote?

EDIT: Cast summon judges. (I think this is the right spell... )

@garyh , @Lord Sessadore , @Ozymandias79 , @TwoHeadsBarking , [MENTION=79440]H.M.Gimlord[/MENTION] , [MENTION=54810]renau1g[/MENTION] , [MENTION=36973]stonegod[/MENTION]

H.M.Gimlord · Oct 3, 2011

Boons were introduced in DMG 2 as an alternative to physical treasure. For example: instead of giving a PC a +1 sword, they receive a boon that gives them +1 to their attacks for a reason related to the story of the game. They were designed to either be replaced by an equivalent magic item later, or kept as a permanent ability in lieu of a magic item of equal power and value, and, if they are used in this manner, ought to be treated as such by players, DMs, and judges alike. For example: listed in treasure columns on character sheets, constructed by DMs following rules of balanced rewards, and scrutinized by judges for level appropriateness.

That said, the limiting factor is already inherent in the rules (if they are followed). Boon power should be equivalent to and awarded in lieu of magical items.

Another use for boons, that I've seen on the threads, is in lieu of an artifact. By that, I mean that they are used as a power boost to aid the story for a limited time. In this case they should follow the rules of an artifact. They should only be allowed for a specific time, for a specific purpose. Once that purpose is fulfilled, they move on. I also believe we have a house rule that they are not to 'survive' an adventure thread. I think it also goes without saying that only one of these should be issued at a time (per character at the very most).

covaithe · Oct 3, 2011

That's an interesting point. I don't think we have a (written) house rule that no boons should survive an adventure thread, but it's not a bad idea, as an alternative to the proposal here.

Counter points?

Someone · Oct 3, 2011

covaithe said:
That's an interesting point. I don't think we have a (written) house rule that no boons should survive an adventure thread, but it's not a bad idea, as an alternative to the proposal here.

Counter points?

I thought that the point of juzging and reviewing was that what happened in an adventure didn't survive to disrupt other DMs' adventures or the shared world, but that what happened in each individual adventure was pretty much the realm of it's individual DM. In that context I don't believe that house rule is strictly neccesary; if the story demands one of the players be granted a boon, or be transformed into Godzilla for that matter, it's ok as long it doesn't spill over the adventure's completion.

I think the most sensible approach is to just don't allow boons.

Iron Sky · Oct 3, 2011

I like to give out boons as distinctive rewards to represent the character's experience in my adventures. For example, the group that went through two adventures fighting undead in my Rerisen Tower adventures got a boon that gave them minor bonuses fighting undead and other minor benefits related to what happened to them in the adventure.

The group that went through The Hunted got bonuses vs the demons they were tracking and fighting, etc.

I like the idea of having boons that last beyond the adventure (if it's in an adventure, I just say "You have this bonus until the end of the day/week/adventure" because boons would be too much hassle to track considering the duration of most adventures.

It's mostly the boons you can purchase that could cause unbalances that I can see, especially once games start getting into Paragon.

If it's not "1 boon slot" maybe "can't buy boons" so you can keep ones like those I've given to my players but can't buy the ones in the CB? I'd prefer the single slot since there are some neat boons that don't duplicate magic items...