Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Andy Collins: "Most Magic Items in D&D Are Awful"
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Technik4" data-source="post: 3394445" data-attributes="member: 7211"><p>Crazy. </p><p></p><p>It's silly to try and tell people you don't read books and therefore don't have any knowledge of what capabilities items and monsters have and then <em>in the same post</em> outline how certain items have no applicability against certain monsters' special attacks.</p><p></p><p>This isn't a thread arguing about your ability (or lack thereof) to roleplay, it's about magical items. Some people want a campaign where they may only have 1 magic item by level 10. It's true. The fact that you were in such a campaign and didn't properly convey to the DM that you were unhappy is your problem, not 3rd edition's. Other people want campaigns where they have the amount of wealth outlined by the DM when they hit each level, and the ability to barter/trade/sell/create an item build to their specifications. When they whine, it is not the books (and the guidelines in the books) that are the problem, its the expectations the player may have after reading said books. There's a good reason the wealth by level chart is in the DMG, not the PHB (along with Prestige Classes).</p><p></p><p>The system can handle both situations, but the first (low magical item distribution with limited access to 'magical shops') puts the onus of Challenge balancing even more on the DM than usual. A rule can't be created to make everyone happy - it takes everyone present and their willingness to compromise for that to happen. If you and your DM can't find common ground, find a new DM.</p><p></p><p>I think you can see what Andy Collins is talking about if you take a look at any of the 'notable' NPCs found in campaign sourcebooks (like FRCS, Eberron, etc). Rarely will such characters have narrow items (owl figurines), and almost always will they have magical weapons and armor, and a few potions. This is so that if a DM picks them from the book for a fight, they're ready to go (generally speaking).</p><p></p><p>Much like Mr Cook outlined on his site with regards to spells (that certain spell effects are balanced many times per day, but others should be picked each day and then used up) the item balancing needs a deep analysis. In one sense a magical item that lets you teleport three times per day is powerful. But, no one is going to feel that way until they are happy with their basic gear for their level (ie- a 10th level barbarian whose sole item is a Cloak of Teleportation will not be too powerful, especially against foes with DR). The whole structure of loot (beyond rule 0 of course, DMs should always have the right to distribute as they see fit) needs to be restructured to better reflect what it means to be a certain level.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Technik4, post: 3394445, member: 7211"] Crazy. It's silly to try and tell people you don't read books and therefore don't have any knowledge of what capabilities items and monsters have and then [I]in the same post[/I] outline how certain items have no applicability against certain monsters' special attacks. This isn't a thread arguing about your ability (or lack thereof) to roleplay, it's about magical items. Some people want a campaign where they may only have 1 magic item by level 10. It's true. The fact that you were in such a campaign and didn't properly convey to the DM that you were unhappy is your problem, not 3rd edition's. Other people want campaigns where they have the amount of wealth outlined by the DM when they hit each level, and the ability to barter/trade/sell/create an item build to their specifications. When they whine, it is not the books (and the guidelines in the books) that are the problem, its the expectations the player may have after reading said books. There's a good reason the wealth by level chart is in the DMG, not the PHB (along with Prestige Classes). The system can handle both situations, but the first (low magical item distribution with limited access to 'magical shops') puts the onus of Challenge balancing even more on the DM than usual. A rule can't be created to make everyone happy - it takes everyone present and their willingness to compromise for that to happen. If you and your DM can't find common ground, find a new DM. I think you can see what Andy Collins is talking about if you take a look at any of the 'notable' NPCs found in campaign sourcebooks (like FRCS, Eberron, etc). Rarely will such characters have narrow items (owl figurines), and almost always will they have magical weapons and armor, and a few potions. This is so that if a DM picks them from the book for a fight, they're ready to go (generally speaking). Much like Mr Cook outlined on his site with regards to spells (that certain spell effects are balanced many times per day, but others should be picked each day and then used up) the item balancing needs a deep analysis. In one sense a magical item that lets you teleport three times per day is powerful. But, no one is going to feel that way until they are happy with their basic gear for their level (ie- a 10th level barbarian whose sole item is a Cloak of Teleportation will not be too powerful, especially against foes with DR). The whole structure of loot (beyond rule 0 of course, DMs should always have the right to distribute as they see fit) needs to be restructured to better reflect what it means to be a certain level. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Andy Collins: "Most Magic Items in D&D Are Awful"
Top