Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cbas10" data-source="post: 1288417" data-attributes="member: 6459">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...</blockquote>

Verification