Scaling +X weapons/implements with character level

[skullking]

With all the talk about the math of 4th Ed being transparant it has occureed to me that rather than removing +X weapons/implements and moving the bonus to characters you could instead perhaps scale items with the level of the character.

To clarify - a flaming sword is a magical weapon but, in the style of a legacy weapon it is +2 in the hands of a 9th level character and a higher plus in the hands of a higher level character (say +4 at 16th).

If you accept magic rings being usable at 11th level - then it is not much of a leap to assume that weapons/implements can have more of their magic released by more experienced characters. This way characters are less likely to 'trade in' old weapons for new ones.

Of course - the nature of magic weapons/implements in 4th Ed may make this idea completely redundant!

 

[Anthtriel]

That's an interesting compromise. This way, you can have magical items without having to hand out new sets every few levels. The main disadvantage is that magical weapons will all be about equally powerful, unless you limit the scaling to certain (probably plot-relevant or beloved) items.

 

[Aristotle]

This is certainly another way to look at it, with the same results... and probably requiring less messing with game mechanics. I'm going to consider this option.

 

[Irda Ranger]

I was just going to be the + directly to the PC's, so they're balanced with any weapon (your method means any magic sword is good enough, but some magic is still necessary; I prefer that magic swords be purely optional). But your method certainly works too, mathematically.

 

[Stormtalon]

I can only see one slight catch with tying the + directly to the characters -- and that's in the bonus critical dice that they've said magical weapons will provide. My guess is you'll have to take a close look at exactly how that'll work and figure out a way to work it in if you want to make magical weapons truly optional.

 

[xechnao]

What about appraisal checks, identification and stuff like that?
How much would the various weapons cost?
How would better magic weapon crafting count?

 

[skullking]

What about appraisal checks, identification and stuff like that?
How much would the various weapons cost?
How would better magic weapon crafting count?

I have no idea : )

Depends on what the 4E rules are like for crafting items. Generally I have not had many PCs wanting to craft items as such - usually they want to spend money on improving what they already have (adding ghost touch to a +2 keen weapon for example). I suppose that like legacy weapons you could make the user have to spend money on rituals etc to unlock the powers and keep the crafting price stactic (say the price for a +3 weapon).

Personally I would rather the +X was factored into the characters so that a flaming sword does extra flaming damage rather than have a +X to hit/damage.

 

[ThirdWizard]

I brought this up in the long dev article, and I think this might be how I handle it in my game.

What about appraisal checks, identification and stuff like that?

Identify says "magic sword." One benefit of this is that you no longer have to worry about conveying the +1 versus the +2 sword in character, which has always been somewhat of a stumbling block for retaining verisimilitude.

How much would the various weapons cost?

It can cost the same as a normal +1 weapon, and I don't think it would cause any balance problems, assuming you would have given the PCs the generic plus associated with their level anyway. That is, if you would have given the 11th level PC a +3 sword (or whatever) because that's the level appropriate gear, then it doesn't matter how much they paid for that +3.

Why? Because the purpose of the ever-increasing cost for magic weapons is to keep weapons of a too high bonus out of the PCs' hands. And, because the house ruled system is doing that automatically, you don't have to do it with gold pieces. Its already taken care of for you.

The PCs can't go around crafting magic weapons for sale either, because, since they scale with levels, giving a 1st level character a magic sword is going to keep it level-appropriate, as it will with a 20th level character. There's no real scarcity based on power, so there's no distinction made between two generic magic swords.

How would better magic weapon crafting count?

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you asking about crafting a flaming, for example, weapon? I don't know, to answer that I'd have to see the system. If the math of 4e assumes a +3 weapon at 11th level, then it seems to me that they might not use the 3e bonus equivalents for adding effects. So a flaming +3 weapon in 4e might not be a +4 equivalent because that would seem to undermine the math of the system (+3 flaming does not equal a +4 weapon in other words).

I'm guessing that they'll probably go with a cost added to the base, so flaming might be +1000 gp (or whatever) instead of +1. I noticed a lot of these types of things in the MIC in both weapon/armor enhancements as well as those stones that you put on weapons, so that might be a preview of 4e's magic item cost application.

So, we have to see the system before we know how to handle this.