Augment Crystals - A Terrible Idea?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

... so, how bout those ropes of climbing, eh?

Get back to me when you can add a crystal to a rope of climbing.

 

[hong]

Absolutely. However, that ghost touch enhancement doesn't get *put* on weapons, because it's so situational.

Cheers!

I put ghost touch on weapons.

Incorporeal creatures, while rare, also tend to be scary: energy drain, ability drain, etc. Plus incorporeal is a great defense against not just attacks but also spells. Once you've got +5 holy everything else is just gravy, really, so you might as well choose ghost touch.

A ghost touch crystal is still going to be good value even if it takes a full round, or a minute to use.

 

[brehobit]

The trouble derives from what you compare the pricing to.

Cheers!

Yeah, the core rules. I think that's the definition of power creep really

It's the same as the argument for why the Bo9S is balanced "fighters are weak". Still power creep. Might be good (I'll disagree) but power creep.

 

[MerricB]

Yeah, the core rules. I think that's the definition of power creep really

It's the same as the argument for why the Bo9S is balanced "fighters are weak". Still power creep. Might be good (I'll disagree) but power creep.

I don't think PHB2 fighters are weak, btw. (Seeing the fighter in my AoW group consistently doing 200+ damage a round vs particular opponents was eye-opening).

Cheers!

 

[Schmoe]

Absolutely. However, that ghost touch enhancement doesn't get *put* on weapons, because it's so situational.

Cheers!

I disagree. When you fight an incorporeal creature, you really want that Ghost Touch. So much, that some people will enchant their weapon with it in order to be prepared. Doubling your damage output against a small group of foes can certainly be worth it, even compared to adding an additional 3.5 damage (with an energy enchantment) against most foes.

 

[Schmoe]

I don't think PHB2 fighters are weak, btw. (Seeing the fighter in my AoW group consistently doing 200+ damage a round vs particular opponents was eye-opening).

Maybe not the PHB2 fighters, but core fighters? Bo9S, and other accessories, should be compared to core rules. Otherwise it becomes a spiral of incremental power boosts.

 

[Kaodi]

Chalk me down for being in favour of " socketed " items having a cost equal to an additional +1 enhancement. Call it " crystalline " or something.

 

[Schmoe]

Chalk me down for being in favour of " socketed " items having a cost equal to an additional +1 enhancement. Call it " crystalline " or something.

Hmm, that's a very good idea! Consider it stolen

 

[Hussar]

Maybe not the PHB2 fighters, but core fighters? Bo9S, and other accessories, should be compared to core rules. Otherwise it becomes a spiral of incremental power boosts.

I really don't understand this. Core fighters are weak. That's pretty much agreed. They are generally considered one of the weakest classes, probably just ahead of the bard, monk and possibly the paladin. So, if we boost up the fighter to the level of the cleric (say) how is that power creep? Isn't that simply correcting a previous imbalance that wasn't identified in the core rules?

 

[Schmoe]

I really don't understand this. Core fighters are weak. That's pretty much agreed. They are generally considered one of the weakest classes, probably just ahead of the bard, monk and possibly the paladin. So, if we boost up the fighter to the level of the cleric (say) how is that power creep? Isn't that simply correcting a previous imbalance that wasn't identified in the core rules?

Well, maybe I didn't explain it very well, but my point is not necessarily about fighters specifically, but more generally about how to evaluate accessories. If you are comparing an accessory to the latest accessory, a very small incremental power increase is possibly unnoticed, and likely accepted. Over time, these small increases add up, so that if you were to compare the latest accessory to the core, you would find that the core seems pretty woefully underpowered. On the other hand, if each accessory is evaluated against the core, you've maintained a stable basis of comparison and maintained the viability of the core options.

So the relevancy (what, this is relevant?) is when looking at Bo9S. Compared to the PHB2, it may seem to offer just slightly more powerful options, but if you compare it to core rules, it is off the charts. I'm dreading the next supplement that provides options "just a little stronger" than those in the Bo9S.

For what it's worth, I'm not convinced that the core fighter is too weak to be viable, although I do like some of the feats presented in PHB2.