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Where Has All the Magic Gone?
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<blockquote data-quote="Sir Brennen" data-source="post: 4585620" data-attributes="member: 553"><p>Okay! Here's a +1 Sword from my 1st edition game! And my wand of fireballs that does 6d6 and has 12 charges left!</p><p></p><p>Oh, that's not what you meant.</p><p></p><p>Lots of interesting metaphor and hyperbole in your rant, but do you really support it? Even if you did give some examples, it's incredibly easy to pull highly selective examples to either prove or disprove your argument.</p><p></p><p>Merely having multiple functions doesn't make an item more "magical". In fact, if you're trying to invoke items as depicted in fiction, most items have only a single utility. </p><p></p><p>I like that in 4E there are no more plain +1 items - every sword, every shield has at least an added power as well as other possible properties. Wands and Staffs are no longer an exercise in counting charges. These are good changes, in my opinion, making these things become more magical than just "it's... uh... sharper. Magically sharper." or ammo counts, as you say. Those are the hallmarks of <em><u>most</u></em> items in earlier editions. </p><p></p><p>I look in the latest DMG and still see artifacts. I notice in the Dec preview article on the Wizards site a magical tome that lets you alter the destination of planar portals, and the historied Von Zarovich Family Sword, with multiple properties and even a few drawbacks.</p><p></p><p>Are magical items different in this edition than previous one? Sure, for a couple of reasons. First, there is a different expectation regarding how much power the sum total of a character's items will give him. Having multiple powers in a single item, like, say, 1st Ed.'s Rings of Elemental Command, works against this expectation.</p><p></p><p>Second, in previous editions there was a tendency for a character to become defined by his magical items rather than their own abilities, particularly for some classes. So this time the spotlight has been taken off of magical items somewhat, and focused more on the classes themselves. Which is as it should be, I believe.</p><p></p><p>There are still are cool items out there. Just because they aren't multi-function tricorders any more doesn't make them any less magical.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Sir Brennen, post: 4585620, member: 553"] Okay! Here's a +1 Sword from my 1st edition game! And my wand of fireballs that does 6d6 and has 12 charges left! Oh, that's not what you meant. Lots of interesting metaphor and hyperbole in your rant, but do you really support it? Even if you did give some examples, it's incredibly easy to pull highly selective examples to either prove or disprove your argument. Merely having multiple functions doesn't make an item more "magical". In fact, if you're trying to invoke items as depicted in fiction, most items have only a single utility. I like that in 4E there are no more plain +1 items - every sword, every shield has at least an added power as well as other possible properties. Wands and Staffs are no longer an exercise in counting charges. These are good changes, in my opinion, making these things become more magical than just "it's... uh... sharper. Magically sharper." or ammo counts, as you say. Those are the hallmarks of [I][U]most[/U][/I] items in earlier editions. I look in the latest DMG and still see artifacts. I notice in the Dec preview article on the Wizards site a magical tome that lets you alter the destination of planar portals, and the historied Von Zarovich Family Sword, with multiple properties and even a few drawbacks. Are magical items different in this edition than previous one? Sure, for a couple of reasons. First, there is a different expectation regarding how much power the sum total of a character's items will give him. Having multiple powers in a single item, like, say, 1st Ed.'s Rings of Elemental Command, works against this expectation. Second, in previous editions there was a tendency for a character to become defined by his magical items rather than their own abilities, particularly for some classes. So this time the spotlight has been taken off of magical items somewhat, and focused more on the classes themselves. Which is as it should be, I believe. There are still are cool items out there. Just because they aren't multi-function tricorders any more doesn't make them any less magical. [/QUOTE]
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