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Complex underpowered magic items in Magic Item Compendium
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<blockquote data-quote="Lancelot" data-source="post: 3526052" data-attributes="member: 30022"><p>I have Magic Item Compendium, but haven't got around to reading it yet.</p><p></p><p>Regards the example you gave, and if I had a rogue PC, I'd take it over a +2 blade any day. Heck, I'd take it over a +4 blade. Gone are the days of 1e, 2e, and even 3.0e, where you had to have a weapon of a certain "plussage" to hit various creatures. Damage reduction these days is simply a matter of needing a +1 weapon to hit "DR: magic".</p><p></p><p>So, what does that additional "plussage" actually give you? A 5% increase per plus on chance to hit, and a relatively insignificant damage bonus. For a rogue, in particular, the damage bonus is trivial. You're all about the sneak attacks. If you're not able to do a sneak attack, you're dealing... what... 1d8+3 damage per hit? If you're sneak attacking, it's more like 1d8+5d6+3 damage. Huge difference.</p><p></p><p>I'm not sure about the campaigns you've experienced, but D&D is packed with constructs and undead. A casual glance at some of the more popular campaigns (Age of Worms, Savage Tide, Red Hand of Doom, Expedition to the Whatever) shows maybe 25% of encounters involve something that is immune to sneak attacks. Particularly at higher levels, this is a huge impact on your average rogue. At 15th level, would you rather have a +5 blade that allows you to do another 12 points of damage per round (assuming 3 attacks = 3 hits), or a +1 blade that allows you to do another 66 points of damage per round (assuming 3 sneak attacks)? Even if the second blade only comes into play in 25% of encounters, you're still coming out ahead. And that's not counting the massive savings in equipment value (only 15k, vs whatever it is for a +5 sword!) and the additional bonus powers. Invisibility? Another tool to enable the big sneak attack damage. Hide/Move Silent bonuses, you say? I'd love that at high levels, when outsiders/dragons have such huge Spot/Listen modifiers.</p><p></p><p>I guess what I'm saying is, don't fall into the "old edition" perspective of "+5 blade = mucho powerful". A +5 blade really isn't that big a deal these days, compared to the items which enhance class abilities and negate entire class weaknesses.</p><p></p><p>Imagine a ring of protection +1 that allowed a mage to cast mirror image 3/day as an immediate action. Far inferior to a ring of protection +5, right? Not in my experience... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lancelot, post: 3526052, member: 30022"] I have Magic Item Compendium, but haven't got around to reading it yet. Regards the example you gave, and if I had a rogue PC, I'd take it over a +2 blade any day. Heck, I'd take it over a +4 blade. Gone are the days of 1e, 2e, and even 3.0e, where you had to have a weapon of a certain "plussage" to hit various creatures. Damage reduction these days is simply a matter of needing a +1 weapon to hit "DR: magic". So, what does that additional "plussage" actually give you? A 5% increase per plus on chance to hit, and a relatively insignificant damage bonus. For a rogue, in particular, the damage bonus is trivial. You're all about the sneak attacks. If you're not able to do a sneak attack, you're dealing... what... 1d8+3 damage per hit? If you're sneak attacking, it's more like 1d8+5d6+3 damage. Huge difference. I'm not sure about the campaigns you've experienced, but D&D is packed with constructs and undead. A casual glance at some of the more popular campaigns (Age of Worms, Savage Tide, Red Hand of Doom, Expedition to the Whatever) shows maybe 25% of encounters involve something that is immune to sneak attacks. Particularly at higher levels, this is a huge impact on your average rogue. At 15th level, would you rather have a +5 blade that allows you to do another 12 points of damage per round (assuming 3 attacks = 3 hits), or a +1 blade that allows you to do another 66 points of damage per round (assuming 3 sneak attacks)? Even if the second blade only comes into play in 25% of encounters, you're still coming out ahead. And that's not counting the massive savings in equipment value (only 15k, vs whatever it is for a +5 sword!) and the additional bonus powers. Invisibility? Another tool to enable the big sneak attack damage. Hide/Move Silent bonuses, you say? I'd love that at high levels, when outsiders/dragons have such huge Spot/Listen modifiers. I guess what I'm saying is, don't fall into the "old edition" perspective of "+5 blade = mucho powerful". A +5 blade really isn't that big a deal these days, compared to the items which enhance class abilities and negate entire class weaknesses. Imagine a ring of protection +1 that allowed a mage to cast mirror image 3/day as an immediate action. Far inferior to a ring of protection +5, right? Not in my experience... :-) [/QUOTE]
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