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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Throwing ideas, seeing what sticks (and what stinks)
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<blockquote data-quote="MoutonRustique" data-source="post: 7396295" data-attributes="member: 22362"><p><span style="font-size: 12px">Magic for inherence</span></p><p></p><p>So, as always, I've been tinkering with stuff and my latest craze has become magic items, residuum and the in-game economy. (You know, the easy stuff. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> )</p><p></p><p>So a few points for context :</p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I <em>liked</em> the 3.x thing of enemies having PC-equivalent levels of magic available to them when appropriate</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I feel 4e has many items that feel bland</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">the goal of "Character over items" was important</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">the above point wasn't actually achieved</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">when using <strong>inherent bonuses</strong> (which should really be the default IMO), many (if not <em>most</em>) items, especially weapons and implements, become very dull</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I want pretty much all enemy casters to have magical implements</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I want many enemy weapon users to have magical weapons (when they have plausible sources for them)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">I want all these considerations to not break the game into a thousand pieces</li> </ol><p></p><p>So, here are my random ideas about this :</p><p></p><p><strong>(A)</strong> Most items are now temporary in terms of either duration or usage (or both).</p><p>Methods available (i.e. that I like) for this concept:</p><p></p><p><strong>in-game time duration</strong></p><p>I don't especially like this one as I don't like to keep track of time all that rigorously. Plus, for some games, a week can mean the whole damn campaign! While for others, we're not even past 1/2 the first quest-line...</p><p></p><p>On the flip side, when you time things in terms of weeks, there seems to be an easy consensus that the item is of immediate use and to be considered dead once you exit the round or hour -based time pace. So, that's not so bad.</p><p></p><p><strong>usage limits</strong> (or its usual name: charges)</p><p>I don't mind keeping track of charges, <em>when they get used.</em> But I've found charged items (much like single use) tend to have the "last cookie on the plate" effect : everyone was more than willing to take 2 or 3 cookies, but that last cookie... no one seems to be willing to be "the guy that took the last cookie". So that stuff just lingers on... 13 levels later, you've still got that last charge of "spark" that deals 1d6+4 fire damage with a +4 to hit. Why? "Just in case." Argghh. Hate that.</p><p></p><p><strong>random usage limit</strong></p><p>The simplest (and possibly best) of which is : use item, make a save. Failed save = dead item.</p><p></p><p>Another one is : use item, roll die. If die is less than # of uses, dead item. (All variants of this approach included.)</p><p></p><p>I love this one most as it really expresses what I want to convey : the goblin hexer's rod <em>does</em> hold power. It just does so very poorly.</p><p></p><p><strong>(B)</strong> Most monster items must be maintained. These rituals are not trivial, and most involve very un-heroic undertakings (though not necessarily <em>evil</em>), significant prep time and resources.</p><p></p><p>An example of this would be for the same goblin hexer's rod : empowering it for a few days requires a week long "soup" creation composed of <em>disgusting</em> stuff. It's not <em>evil</em>, but your neighbors will <em>not</em> be happy that you have a feces ratatouille bubbling 24/7 in the yard...</p><p></p><p>So yeah. That's that. Thoughts?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MoutonRustique, post: 7396295, member: 22362"] [SIZE=3]Magic for inherence[/SIZE] So, as always, I've been tinkering with stuff and my latest craze has become magic items, residuum and the in-game economy. (You know, the easy stuff. ;) ) So a few points for context : [LIST=1] [*]I [I]liked[/I] the 3.x thing of enemies having PC-equivalent levels of magic available to them when appropriate [*]I feel 4e has many items that feel bland [*]the goal of "Character over items" was important [*]the above point wasn't actually achieved [*]when using [B]inherent bonuses[/B] (which should really be the default IMO), many (if not [I]most[/I]) items, especially weapons and implements, become very dull [*]I want pretty much all enemy casters to have magical implements [*]I want many enemy weapon users to have magical weapons (when they have plausible sources for them) [*]I want all these considerations to not break the game into a thousand pieces [/LIST] So, here are my random ideas about this : [B](A)[/B] Most items are now temporary in terms of either duration or usage (or both). Methods available (i.e. that I like) for this concept: [B]in-game time duration[/B] I don't especially like this one as I don't like to keep track of time all that rigorously. Plus, for some games, a week can mean the whole damn campaign! While for others, we're not even past 1/2 the first quest-line... On the flip side, when you time things in terms of weeks, there seems to be an easy consensus that the item is of immediate use and to be considered dead once you exit the round or hour -based time pace. So, that's not so bad. [B]usage limits[/B] (or its usual name: charges) I don't mind keeping track of charges, [I]when they get used.[/I] But I've found charged items (much like single use) tend to have the "last cookie on the plate" effect : everyone was more than willing to take 2 or 3 cookies, but that last cookie... no one seems to be willing to be "the guy that took the last cookie". So that stuff just lingers on... 13 levels later, you've still got that last charge of "spark" that deals 1d6+4 fire damage with a +4 to hit. Why? "Just in case." Argghh. Hate that. [B]random usage limit[/B] The simplest (and possibly best) of which is : use item, make a save. Failed save = dead item. Another one is : use item, roll die. If die is less than # of uses, dead item. (All variants of this approach included.) I love this one most as it really expresses what I want to convey : the goblin hexer's rod [I]does[/I] hold power. It just does so very poorly. [B](B)[/B] Most monster items must be maintained. These rituals are not trivial, and most involve very un-heroic undertakings (though not necessarily [I]evil[/I]), significant prep time and resources. An example of this would be for the same goblin hexer's rod : empowering it for a few days requires a week long "soup" creation composed of [I]disgusting[/I] stuff. It's not [I]evil[/I], but your neighbors will [I]not[/I] be happy that you have a feces ratatouille bubbling 24/7 in the yard... So yeah. That's that. Thoughts? [/QUOTE]
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