weem
First Post
Can't give ya XP
But yea, I think the 10' pole thing is a Class feature for the Rogue, no? hehe
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Getting standard equipment into the spotlight...
- Thread starter weem
- Start date
Can't give ya XP
But yea, I think the 10' pole thing is a Class feature for the Rogue, no? hehe
jonesy
A Wicked Kendragon
Here's me five years ago:
The wedges, nails, chalk and marbles were the most used of that lot. I think.
The wedges, nails, chalk and marbles were the most used of that lot. I think.
Barastrondo
First Post
As an aside, I think that equipment is often glossed over particularly in 4e during character creation because there's basically so much "attention budget" to go around. There are a lot of things to consider, by compare to early versions of D&D. Race, class, feats, powers -- when I created a B/X character, I lingered more over the equipment lists because that's basically where most of my choices were. Now that there are more choices during character creation, and ones that will stay with you longer, it's easy to devote the lion's share of your attention and energy to picking just the right feat or daily and then just take what equipment seems basic.
That's one of the reasons I suggest letting PCs who haven't pored over the shopping list for very long find equipment as loot. Once they're in the adventure, they've already made most of their character creation choices, and are now focusing on choices of interaction. "An iron pot! Shall we take it? What could we do with it? Where would we carry it? Do we have something that would make a good soup? Ugh, what's that yellow crust around its rim?" Even if they choose to leave it behind, it's still potentially an interesting interaction for them.
That's one of the reasons I suggest letting PCs who haven't pored over the shopping list for very long find equipment as loot. Once they're in the adventure, they've already made most of their character creation choices, and are now focusing on choices of interaction. "An iron pot! Shall we take it? What could we do with it? Where would we carry it? Do we have something that would make a good soup? Ugh, what's that yellow crust around its rim?" Even if they choose to leave it behind, it's still potentially an interesting interaction for them.
jonesy
A Wicked Kendragon
They weren't for climbing. And neither were the grappling hooks.like the short ropes!
Eldragon
First Post
Honestly, I didn't even notice 4e had "Adventurer's kits". Everyone starts with 100g, and buy what they need from the equipment table.
The importance for those items has never changed for me. When the PCs want to dig a hole, I ask "Did you buy a shovel?". Of course, I don't run canned adventures, and thus my games tend to focus less on combat, whereas all of the adventures WotC puts out seem to be nothing but busting down doors and slaying everything that moves.
Although now that you point out what is missing from 4e that was available in 3e, I'm going to print off the 3e table and slip the page into my 4e PHP.
The importance for those items has never changed for me. When the PCs want to dig a hole, I ask "Did you buy a shovel?". Of course, I don't run canned adventures, and thus my games tend to focus less on combat, whereas all of the adventures WotC puts out seem to be nothing but busting down doors and slaying everything that moves.
Although now that you point out what is missing from 4e that was available in 3e, I'm going to print off the 3e table and slip the page into my 4e PHP.
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Ryujin
Legend
I used to get the most use out of small sacks of flour or chalk dust. An invisible in the room? THWACK! <POOF!>
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TirionAnthion
First Post
Equipment, overlooked and underused
I must admit that I have a bad habit of glossing over equipment as of late. In the older additions, especially in my BECMI days, equipment was an essential part of character creation. I spent alot of time as a player buying every fiddly little bit of equipment I could find. As a DM, I found interesting ways to use mundane items and tracked encumbrance as well as food and water carried by my players. Those things seemed essential to the experience.
In 4e I seem to have lost that element. I often pay very little heed to what equipment my players have. When I make pregens I even forget to buy equipment other than armor and weapons. That is something I would never have overlooked in the past.
This is due in part to the focus on combat. I find that combat has moved to a much more prominent place in this edition. Also I have found that my current player base seems to enjoy this. I run D&D Encounters and the players actively seek out combat. This makes things like equipment lists seem less important.
This post has helped to remind me of what I liked about mundane equipment in previous editions. In fact, I think I will look for some creative ways to use mundane gear in my weekly encounters games.
Anyway, thanks to Weem for posting this and reminding me why I liked equipment.
I must admit that I have a bad habit of glossing over equipment as of late. In the older additions, especially in my BECMI days, equipment was an essential part of character creation. I spent alot of time as a player buying every fiddly little bit of equipment I could find. As a DM, I found interesting ways to use mundane items and tracked encumbrance as well as food and water carried by my players. Those things seemed essential to the experience.
In 4e I seem to have lost that element. I often pay very little heed to what equipment my players have. When I make pregens I even forget to buy equipment other than armor and weapons. That is something I would never have overlooked in the past.
This is due in part to the focus on combat. I find that combat has moved to a much more prominent place in this edition. Also I have found that my current player base seems to enjoy this. I run D&D Encounters and the players actively seek out combat. This makes things like equipment lists seem less important.
This post has helped to remind me of what I liked about mundane equipment in previous editions. In fact, I think I will look for some creative ways to use mundane gear in my weekly encounters games.
Anyway, thanks to Weem for posting this and reminding me why I liked equipment.
