Libramarian
Adventurer
So the system for placing magic items in the latest playtest packet associates the power of the magic item with the relative difficulty of the encounter for the PCs, rather than the absolute difficulty. This is crap.
e.g. Two adventuring parties, one average level 1 and one average level 8, both venture out to destroy some skeletons. The level 1 party returns with better loot than the level 8 party. Why? They're fighting the same enemy in the same place. Or the Baron of the nearest town is choosing which party to strike a deal with: support for defeating the skeletons in exchange for a cut of the profits. They're going to consider choosing the lower level party to maximize the loot gained. It's just a terrible way to do it.
I see two solutions:
a) You can bring back treasure types for monsters, thereby associating loot directly with the absolute difficulty of the monster.
or
b) Drop the direct link between treasure and monsters, and just associate both with a dungeon level (preferably denoted with Roman numerals!). Dungeon level can refer literally to a level of a dungeon, lower levels being more difficult; but can also be adapted to refer to the difficulty of a more scripted adventure, or non-dungeon adventuring area -- e.g. The Haunted Forest is a level IV area, "The Heir of Destiny" is a level III adventure, etc. Dungeon level does not rise in lockstep with character level: characters should level up once or twice each dungeon level. This allows them an opportunity to display their new power against the same caliber of opponents.
As for how to associate monsters and treasures to dungeon levels, why not use the rarity system here: the rarity of monsters and magic items is relative to the dungeon level in question. Monsters and magic items are most common at the dungeon level at which they're balanced, and then there's a bell curve of increasing rarity at dungeon levels above and below that level. Maybe some monsters and items don't become more rare at more difficult dungeon levels, but get upgraded in potency, like larger orc patrols and stronger healing potions. The rarity of a monster or treasure does not have to be derived purely from its power; it can also reflect story elements. E.g. basic monsters can be more common at all levels than some of the wackier monsters, independent of their difficulty.
e.g. Two adventuring parties, one average level 1 and one average level 8, both venture out to destroy some skeletons. The level 1 party returns with better loot than the level 8 party. Why? They're fighting the same enemy in the same place. Or the Baron of the nearest town is choosing which party to strike a deal with: support for defeating the skeletons in exchange for a cut of the profits. They're going to consider choosing the lower level party to maximize the loot gained. It's just a terrible way to do it.
I see two solutions:
a) You can bring back treasure types for monsters, thereby associating loot directly with the absolute difficulty of the monster.
or
b) Drop the direct link between treasure and monsters, and just associate both with a dungeon level (preferably denoted with Roman numerals!). Dungeon level can refer literally to a level of a dungeon, lower levels being more difficult; but can also be adapted to refer to the difficulty of a more scripted adventure, or non-dungeon adventuring area -- e.g. The Haunted Forest is a level IV area, "The Heir of Destiny" is a level III adventure, etc. Dungeon level does not rise in lockstep with character level: characters should level up once or twice each dungeon level. This allows them an opportunity to display their new power against the same caliber of opponents.
As for how to associate monsters and treasures to dungeon levels, why not use the rarity system here: the rarity of monsters and magic items is relative to the dungeon level in question. Monsters and magic items are most common at the dungeon level at which they're balanced, and then there's a bell curve of increasing rarity at dungeon levels above and below that level. Maybe some monsters and items don't become more rare at more difficult dungeon levels, but get upgraded in potency, like larger orc patrols and stronger healing potions. The rarity of a monster or treasure does not have to be derived purely from its power; it can also reflect story elements. E.g. basic monsters can be more common at all levels than some of the wackier monsters, independent of their difficulty.