I think you peeps are not thinking about+n swords properly!

[GreyICE]

The problem isn't the +1 sword. The +1 sword is fine, and wonderful, and cool.

The problem is the +2 sword.

Why? I have a super cool 'fiery blade +1' that sets things on fire for an extra 3D6 of damage once a day and that I can use to ignite things, and which I used to give a bonus on an intimidate check. Then half of the minions of the Dark Wizard Karlash En fled from my burning blade, screaming (after we'd roughed them up a bit, sure).

Now here's a quick question. Is that better than a +2 blade?

Here's the answer: Nooooooooooooo.

Ditch that +1 Fiery blade as soon as you can, because that extra +1 to hit is going to make your damage output spike much harder than anything your magical item is going to do, outside of certain niche builds (Frostcheese, etc.).

That +2 blade is hella boring. And the player has to trade in his burning blade, which he loves, for a +2 boring blade... or drop behind.


Now what's the fun in that?

 

[Savage Wombat]

This is the kind of analysis that demonstrates that there's too much analysis in modern D&D.

Nobody should be even considering whether they are required to have a +5% increase in their to-hit chance in order to be viable in the game environment.

Destroys the spirit of the game.

 

[pemerton]

This is the kind of analysis that demonstrates that there's too much analysis in modern D&D.

Nobody should be even considering whether they are required to have a +5% increase in their to-hit chance in order to be viable in the game environment.

I agree that the players shouldn't have to. It's the designers' job!

 

[GreyICE]

This is the kind of analysis that demonstrates that there's too much analysis in modern D&D.

Nobody should be even considering whether they are required to have a +5% increase in their to-hit chance in order to be viable in the game environment.

Destroys the spirit of the game.

And the easiest way to make sure that that spirit isn't destroyed is remove all hit modifiers from weapons and all defense modifiers from gear. Then it's a matter of cool effects that boost your character, not to-hit math that drives away all other options.

A 5% hit chance is a ~10% boost to damage, a boost that only gets greater the tougher the enemy is.

 

[Libramarian]

Dude just choose whether you want the cool weapon or the one with the better bonus.

Choices. They have to be made sometimes.

 

[Incenjucar]

Dude just choose whether you want the cool weapon or the one with the better bonus.

Choices. They have to be made sometimes.

This is a game of escapist fantasy. Your choices should be how you want to be cool, not whether.

 

[Libramarian]

I don't get it. If you prioritize being cool so much why wouldn't the choice be easy? Stick with the cooler weapon.

 

[Incenjucar]

Because then you become like that guy who shows up to work and tells awesome stories instead of doing his job.

 

[kevtar]

But we have to have math in order to have the magic. A +1 sword is boring. At the basic level it is simply a mathematical expression of magic. "This is a magical sword. You will hit a little bit more and do a little bit more damage." It seems to me that type of mathematical expression of magic is appropriate at some stage in the game. To improve the feel of getting a sword like that, we could work out a different mathematical expression: kludge + fluff > kludge.

If nothing else, give the +1 sword the player as the "Ancestral sword of the Dweomerdell Clan" or something like that.

But I think there is room for all sorts of weapons in D&D, and they can each serve a purpose. Not all players need or want a flying, flaming sword of amazingness. Sometimes a +1 sword, when given well, is just right.

 

[Incenjucar]

Math is often involved in magic, sure. You don't have to give out the blandest possible math-fix junk, and you don't have to attach a tag making it sound better than it actually use (seriously, a +1 ancestral sword in D&D basically means your ancestors were lame). Even then, the big issue with the math tax weapon is the to-hit bonus. Remove that and you still have a boring item, but it doesn't warp the game.

Remove that to-hit bonus, and you can stop dropping swords of math and start dropping low-level items that do stuff like "Weapon attacks made with this weapon ignore 3 points of damage resistance. The weapon emits bright light within a 10 foot radius if goblinoids are within a 50 foot radius of the weapon. Goblinoids within the light created by this weapon suffer a -1 penalty to saving throws versus fear."