D&D General Sandbox style: Rumors say a +1 sword is in a cave nearby. Go get it?

[ezo]

Why won’t anyone listen to me?!?
It’s One Eyed Willie’s pirate treasure!!!

Why are we all still sitting around?!?

LOL I just watched Goonies again last night... so appropriate.

 

[Umbran]

ACTUALLY...

ACTUALLY...

(ok, pedantry off) a +1 results in a much greater damage increase than 5%.

We were talking about hit rates, not damage. The math gets more complicated when you try to do expectation value of damage per attack, so I chose not to go into that right now.

If you want to get really pedantic - in-fiction rumors are started by in-fiction observers. What they see is something like, "How quickly Hero kills goblins" with sword X, and sword Y. The perception s based on three variables - hit chance, damage roll, and hit points of target creature, none of which in-fiction observers know...

 

[Bedrockgames]

That's fine. You get to play how you want.

But the answer stands - I prefer the choice to be more informed by the in-fiction presentation than mechanical metagame information.



The 5% difference is below what humans can reliably notice without keeping detailed records and doing some math. Indeed, at that level, I should see more rumors of supposed magic weapons that actually aren't magical than rumors of ones that are!

I agree. Nothing takes me out of the game like the GM saying "There is a +1 sword in the pile of treasure". This is probably one of the reasons why wish lists in 3E started to bug me (it felt like players were making choices about the character based entirely around the mechanics).

What I usually do in my campaigns is every magic weapon and item has lore and often a name. And if they find some +1 sword that doesn't have that, I might simply describe it as being especially well balanced when they grip it

Incidentally there is a great movie I just saw called The Sword (by Patrick Tam), that kind of deals with this low level enchantment (in the movie the swords might not even actually be magical, it is kind of left to interpretation). But in the introduction a character goes to a black smith who has just finished making him the ultimate sword (called the Hanxing Sword). The man then fives him a dark looking sword he found and says he thinks the two will pair well. But the black smith looks stunned and says that the other sword appears to have been forged in hate and will destroy whoever possesses it. This is the sort of flavor I imagine when it comes to dealing with +1 swords and cursed swords

 

[Reynard]

I am speaking of my own personal distaste for receiving +1 weapons in any game.

Okay. I guess you never had a GM partial to.wights?

 

[Shardstone]

Okay. I guess you never had a GM partial to.wights?

It's that I don't understand or recognize the mechanical boon it is in older editions, its just that it bores me. "Ah yes, with this sword I can finally fight like how I could before losing all my levels to Undead level drain." Meh.

 

[overgeeked]

You are fresh level 1 characters. You are playing in a sandbox style game. You have many options to explore. Caves and temples and whatever. Riches and glory and treasure no matter where you go.

One rumor says a cave full of monsters has a magic (+1) sword hidden somewhere inside. Is it worth it to you to seek out this sword? You are level 1 and have no magic items. Plus, who knows what's in the other areas to explore. It's JUST a +1 sword after all.

If I know ahead of time it's just a +1 sword, no. Not worth it. Mostly because +x items are utterly boring.

Would it make a difference if it was AD&D/OSR/Shadowdark etc?

Ish. The systems are all different. A +1 means more in one system vs another.

Basically: Is it worth going out of the parties way to get JUST a +1 sword?

Any referee worth their salt would put something more interesting in than just a +1 sword.

 

[overgeeked]

Would you be disappointed if the "the lost sword of King Grergic" was a mere +1 sword?

Intensely disappointed.

 

[Reynard]

It's that I don't understand or recognize the mechanical boon it is in older editions, its just that it bores me. "Ah yes, with this sword I can finally fight like how I could before losing all my levels to Undead level drain." Meh.

I mean, okay. But this isn't a 5E thread,it is a General thread.+1 pre 3.5 actually mattered. That your GM couldn't be bothered to give it a name isn't the game's fault. You just played with boring people.

 

[Bedrockgames]

The "mediocrity" of +1 is both edition and setting dependent.

Yeah and it is also very dependent on the PCs. If I am level 1, a +1 sword seems pretty good. I'm going to name it and everything. If I am level 12, that thing is going in the closet with the violin I never play

Another point on +1 weapons, for some monsters this is base line if you even want to harm them. So even a +1 sword can make a huge difference sometimes

 

[Shardstone]

I mean, okay. But this isn't a 5E thread,it is a General thread.+1 pre 3.5 actually mattered. That your GM couldn't be bothered to give it a name isn't the game's fault. You just played with boring people.

I don't think you understand what I'm saying.

I have play all editions of D&D. In every edition, no matter how mechanically significant a +1 sword is, the +1 BORES me. Seeing the "1" BORES me. I am BORED at the very IDEA of adding "+1" to anything. It doesn't matter how significant it is to the game. I feel like I'm adding pennies to the dice roll when I add +1 to it.

Now a +1 sword that can sing enemies to sleep or that can cut through light to create darkness zones or that tries and takes me over sometimes is a fun. Just a +1 feels like the laziest way to make a magic item possible.