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Message: <blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 8412076" data-attributes="member: 86653">What we did with B/X was crits let you perform a stunt. Trip, disarm, shove, whatever. But the monsters could do it, too.I wouldn't. It's purely associated. That "memorization" component lands it solidly in the fiction. The character memorizes the spell and after casting it, literally forgets the spell. That's an instance of the fiction matching the mechanics. Basically the opposite of disassociated mechanics. Disassociated mechanics is more like the battlemaster somehow being unable to trip someone (use a maneuver) once they've run out of superiority dice. There's no connection between the fiction and the mechanics. Hence it's disassociated. You could squint and argue that it's the fighter getting tired. But there's no fictional equivalent to superiority dice. There is a fictional equivalent to memorizing a spell and casting it.For me it was three things.1. It made the characters sacrifice magic items to create residuum. I really, really dislike the buying and selling of magic items. To me, that makes them not magical in the wondrous sense. It makes them mundane tools to be bought, sold, and traded. Something you can order in the mail. "Yeah, I'd like that +1 shovel delivered on Tuesday please." That takes the magic out of it. I'm firmly in the camp that gives magic items names and histories. I also shy away from boring +X items. I give them powers, abilities, or spells. Magic items that level with you so you don't just trade up. Blech. How dull. So when the PCs decide to sacrifice a magic item to create residuum, it matters. No one cares if you turn the 30th +1 longsword you've found into a pile of dust. They do at least pause when you're talking about sacrificing Orcrist the Goblin-Cleaver, an Elven sword from Gondolin, the mate of Glamdring, which became the sword of Thorin II Oakenshield during The Quest of Erebor...it was feared and called Biter by the Goblins of the Misty Mountains.2. It gave the characters a resource to spend on rituals and that could be traded / used as money. I really dislike the idea of characters carrying around tens or hundreds of thousands of gold with them everywhere they go. Again, it becomes ridiculous and unbelievable rather quickly. So trading up to gems, jewels, and residuum makes way more sense. A pound of residuum could fit in a pouch and is worth 50,000 gp. And it puts characters in a spot. They have to decide what's more important. The coin value of the residuum or casting that ritual and using the residuum as a component. 3. It was also used in the creation of magic items (via a ritual). Again, it gives characters a choice. They can make this specific magic item they want or they can keep the really valuable component / trade good. But they also get to inject some cool bit of lore into the world. Like this sword is Andúril, also called the Flame of the West, which was reforged from the ashes of Narsil in Rivendell.</blockquote>

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