Augment Crystals - A Terrible Idea?

[MerricB]

So have the gems for dealing with humanoids, giants and demons fixed before you go in. They're still far more flexible and cheaper than the DMG enchantments, even without the ability to add/remove in the middle of combat.

Err... you can only have one per weapon.

Cheers!

 

[hong]

Err... you can only have one per weapon.

Cheers!

Ah. Well, that's DIFFERENT now, innit?

... so, how bout those ropes of climbing, eh?

 

[Hussar]

Heh.

 

[Schmoe]

One thing that you could do to make crystals less utilitarian in flavour, is to make attaching them to a weapon permanent. Once it's on, it's there forever... unless you break the weapon, or go through an expensive ritual sacrificing gp and XP to remove it.

This turns crystals from floating powerups into a more flexible form of weapon enchantment (you don't need to throw away an old weapon when you find a new one, or spend months upgrading).

For some reason, I like this idea much better. It feels like crystals, in the form presented by MIC, are going to completely trump/replace the existing system. But I happen to like the existing system for the most part. Making crystals permanent provides some additional flexibility without obsoleting what's already there.

 

[Holy Bovine]

In Vigil Watch: Secrets of the Asaatthi they already introduced these 'augment cystals' in the form of geound stones - companions to ioun stones but for weapons. I liked the idea then ansd i like it now too.

 

[hong]

For some reason, I like this idea much better. It feels like crystals, in the form presented by MIC, are going to completely trump/replace the existing system. But I happen to like the existing system for the most part. Making crystals permanent provides some additional flexibility without obsoleting what's already there.

Although I'd forgotten the rule that you can have only 1 crystal per weapon... if they're permanent, it might be a good idea to relax that.

 

[Schmoe]

Not at all really. A dungeon could feature humanoids, giants, demons, magical beasts, and aberrations quite easily. The giants and their humanoid slaves are digging a mine to recover something for their demonic masters aided by destrarchan and delvers. Now, any given encounter could feature one or all of the above. That means you may very well be swapping in this or that gem in the middle of combat. Particularly if a dungeon is reactive and reinforcements start coming in.

Add in a couple of constructs and some other goodies floating around and you've got a fair number of different types all working together.

So is the assumption that you must have your weapon absolutely maximized against any foe you encounter? What's wrong with having some opponents that are more challenging, simply because you aren't prepared? Why does it need to be so easy to be prepared against everything?

Sometimes you just have to accept that you're not prepared, and slog it out.

 

[Schmoe]

First, they tend to make weapons mroe generic, already a problem in the game. Now, instead of buying an ability permenantly, you can switch in and out on the same weapon. So much ofr a slightly moe unique weapon.

I think you've nailed one of the things that really bugs me about the gems. Sure, you can now make the gems themselves unique, but there's so much less real-world history and mythology surrounding gems than surrounding weapons, that it just seems to fall flat in my eyes.

Again, this is personal opinion, but the Sword of Cinders (maybe a +2 Flaming Longsword) resonates much more with me than the Cinder Crystal (which makes any weapon flaming).

 

[Schmoe]

Although I'd forgotten the rule that you can have only 1 crystal per weapon... if they're permanent, it might be a good idea to relax that.

Yup, I agree with that.

 

[D.Shaffer]

Again, this is personal opinion, but the Sword of Cinders (maybe a +2 Flaming Longsword) resonates much more with me than the Cinder Crystal (which makes any weapon flaming).

Maybe, but there ARE some doozy legends dealing with oversized rocks: The Hope diamond, the Koh-i-noor, and the crystal skull are good examples.

Heck, anyone remember 1st eds table of gems and their properties in folklore? Gemstones have shown up repeatedly in myth and folklore, so why not expand it a bit?