Ability Boost Items: A Crutch or a Tool?

[hong]

Course what I remember of Coleridge was that Rime of the Ancient Mariner was a damn long poem.

What I remember of Coleridge is that you can sing the Rime of the Ancient Mariner to the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas".

But yes we remember the PERSON more than the item itself. Usually.

What usually happens is that the guy playing the fighter remembers his +5 holy flaming ghost touch greatsword, his +5 heavy fortification full plate, his +6 belt of Strength, and his +6 amulet of Con. Everybody else at the table, however, just remembers the uber-warrior with the big sword who could really dish out the damage, and take it as well. The items are a big deal to the guy who has them, but nobody else usually cares.

 

[Drakmar]

with modern day sports-people, we ban performance enhancing drugs because it levels the playing field. That means poor countries can still field, for example, runners who can compete. Not everybody can afford the superman drugs.

Now... in War thats a different story, don't some Fighter Pilots take special drugs to enhance their ability to deal with the speed and the G's.

In a life or death situation, the person who is willing to swallow their pride and use what tools are available will win.

If I was playing a Monk who considered using magic items to be cheating his path to personal enlightenment, well.. no magic items for him.

 

[Glyfair]

Consider two nation-rulers. They are completely identical in all respects save one. One of them hires good advisors. He has people to research problems and possible solutions, people to help write his speeches, help him choose clothing, and so forth. The other ruler either hires no advisors, or poor advisors.

This combination reminds me of a fantasy series that is somewhat recent. The series was called the Runelords. The writing was ok, but it had some interesting issues that were brought up.

Essentially, the rulers were connected to certain followers by runes. The followers had to willing take the runes, although they could be forced to willingly accept them (take the rune or your family dies). The runes gifted the ruler with an aspect of the follower. So, if you gave the gift of wisdom, you wouldn't be very wise but your ruler would gain your wisdom. If you gave the gift of speed, you wouldn't be able to move except very, very slow, but your ruler would be faster.

The arch-enemy (at least in the first couple of books), had many, many gifts so that he was superhuman. The standard of wars tended to be to try to kill as many of the people who had gifted the rulers as possible so they lost some power.

While the series didn't go as deeply into the concept as I would have liked, it did touch on some of the issues you bring up. Of course, it had the added moral issue of taking your benefits from someone else who had to lose them.

 

[Cbas10]

Really, what are ability boost items beyond being a crutch?

Well, items that boost your physical stats I can understand, but isn't artificially increasing your own inteligence a crutch of sorts? Many people in RL take drugs to "expand thier minds." Writers all over the world have used drugs as a tool to aid thier writing, but what would they have been like without them? Would they have been better? Was it morally correct of them to destroy thier own bodies? What about absinthe?

Now put it in DND terms:
Is a king less of a ruler because his crown magically boosts his inteligence?
Are archmages any less grand because they use Ion Stones to boost thier inteligence and spells?
Is your fighter a pansy because his belt boosts his strength?
Is your cleric unfaithful to thier god because they boost thier wisdom with "heretical" items?

Well, without pulling RL into this, this is a very interesting topic for D&D. These items could be crutches just as easily as they can be tools.

For the warrior who is already the champion of the kingdom and is accustomed to slaying ogre and dragon, finding and wearing a Belt of Giant Strength is merely the use of a tool. He can already do what he needs to do; the Belt just makes things a bit easier.

However, let's look at a young prince with a 10 Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma who inherits the kingdom. Easily duped and manipulated, he also is quick to make a fool of himself in front of his subjects. It would not take long before he would become a completely ineffective ruler. Let us now assume that he has access to the magical artifacts once worn by his father: cloak of charisma +6, headband of intellect +6, and an epic peraipt of wisdom +10 (not difficult to imagine if we are talking about any decent sized king. Suddenly, the prince has gone from being an average and ordinary man to a man who is among the most intelligent, sharpest of wit, and most influencial men around (in a pool of normal people; not comparing him to a population full of uber-kewl player characters). This would certainly buy him some time to fully develop skills of rulership. In THIS case, the items are certainly a crutch; should he lose those items, the facade of the capable ruler would melt away instantly.

I don't like to have entire cultures uniform in ideas and beliefs in my games (real life is not that boring; why should a game be that way?), but it can be fun to toy around with various concepts: If the commoners do not trust magic, what would happen if they found out that popular personalities commonly used (or even worse, needed!) magical items to ensure success? If rulers or characters depended on magic, there are many ways to easily defeat them (and I'm not limiting this concept to combat); the successful characters who did not treat magic as a crutch would be able to compensate during times when they could not use their magical items. Could there be a specific type of crime oriented around obtaining and stealing items designed to make one stronger, smarter and faster? If so, how much have they refined and practiced this activity? This might be a bit TOO realistic for some games, but could characters develop mental or social disorders from the constant fluctuation of mental and social aptitudes? Or could people develop addictions to being stronger, smarter, etc?

In the end, if a character cannot do something without one of these magical items, it is a crutch. If the items merely make things easier, it is a tool. If a player cannot play his/her character without the item, it is a crutch...

 

[Hypersmurf]

In the end, if a character cannot do something without one of these magical items, it is a crutch. If the items merely make things easier, it is a tool. If a player cannot play his/her character without the item, it is a crutch...

Um.

I'm not sure about those definitions.

If a roofer can shove nails through iron sheets with his thumbs, then his hammer is a tool, but if he can't, it's a crutch?

-Hyp.

 

[hong]

Um.

I'm not sure about those definitions.

If a roofer can shove nails through iron sheets with his thumbs, then his hammer is a tool, but if he can't, it's a crutch?

-Hyp.

Well, maybe Cbas01 is talking about a video game min/max session or something.

 

[Cbas10]

Um.

I'm not sure about those definitions.

If a roofer can shove nails through iron sheets with his thumbs, then his hammer is a tool, but if he can't, it's a crutch?

-Hyp.

Of course not. When comparing to roofers, hammers, and nails, we'd be on a thread about archers, bows, and arrows. I'm not referring to magical items in general; only the ones that amplify ability scores and skill ratings.

 

[hong]

Of course not. When comparing to roofers, hammers, and nails, we'd be on a thread about archers, bows, and arrows. I'm not referring to magical items in general; only the ones that amplify ability scores and skill ratings.

Demonstrate that this is a meaningful distinction.

 

[Umbran]

Hong has a point - for many intents and purposes, a +1 sword and an item that gives a +2 enhancement to Strength are equivalent. And a masterwork weapon is similar to the magic sword, if somewhat less potent. So why discriminate? Help is help, right?

 

[Cbas10]

Demonstrate that this is a meaningful distinction.

Allrightythen. I'm not sure what is unclear... where are you going with this?