Augment Crystals - A Terrible Idea?

[hong]

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).

Whereas for me, the Sword of Cinders sounds high-and-mighty, but as soon as I find out it's a +2 flaming longsword, and thus of merely moderate power as these things go, it all comes crashing down. And this is hardly a problem unique to 3E either; it's inherent to a game with an implied level progression and item scale. Even if I consider my +2 sword to be cool and useful now, the knowledge that a +5 sword is most likely lurking out there makes any attempt to give it a funky lineage rather hollow. Crystals are a neat way around this problem.

 

[Schmoe]

Even if I consider my +2 sword to be cool and useful now, the knowledge that a +5 sword is most likely lurking out there makes any attempt to give it a funky lineage rather hollow.

Come on now. That would be the Supremely Ultimate Sword of Really Hot Cinders.

 

[hong]

Come on now. That would be the Supremely Ultimate Sword of Really Hot Cinders.

Your attempt to impress me with syllables has failed.

HAW HAW!

 

[Hussar]

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.

Well, no, that is not the assumption. However, having the option of taking time out in the middle of a fight to switch crystals so that you get a bit of an edge after losing a couple of rounds worth of full attacks isn't such a bad idea.

And, it completely gets around the golf bag approach that DR presents. I don't have to have umpteen magical swords anymore. I have one magical lumpy metal thing and I can customize it from there.

It also gives an additional benefit. Since you can only use one gem at a time, it ties up a fair bit of PC wealth that won't come into play in a given fight, thus reducing some of the power of the PC's a bit as well. Instead of being a power up, this actually works as a limitation.

 

[Veril]

Lots of ways to balance these out:

1) Change the (un)socketing from a move to a standard or even a full action (that provokes an AOO)

2) Weapons have 1 crystal slot as a base. Make the cost of adding another slot +1 enhancement bonus to the weapon (that totally deals with the cost factor). Change the base number of slots to zero.

I like the idea of the sword of the elements. With 4 sockets in it. And the 4 gems spread to the 4 corners of the world.... or perhaps a dungeon.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

That's badly phrased... it either grants +5 to attack and damage in limited circumstances, and +1 otherwise... or else it grants +4 to attack and damage in limited circumstances, in addition to its normal +1. (Both of which say the same thing as each other, expressed in different ways.)

The unnamed bonus stacks with the enhancement bonus.

-Hyp.

Ahh, IMO much more worthwhile. Thanks!

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Yes, but if you *don't* know the dungeon is mostly undead, or if the dungeon only has a couple of undead - and most dungeons have a mix of creatures just to provide different challenges - then your crystals are dead weight without the move action to change them.

Cheers!

While true, they are less dead weight than that ghost touch enhancement you put on your weapon, or the frost quality. It works out cheaper, and more flexible than the alternative, just not AS flexible as the move action.

The other reason I'll be requiring them to take a minute out of combat is because I dont want my players trying to figure out if they need to spend a round digging a crystal out and putting it in. 3.5 combat works well if people know the rules, but 2 of my players in particular are mechanically challenged (and playing spellcasters). As they grow more comfortable, I might be tempted to remove that penalty if the crystals dont seem to be worthwhile.

 

[MerricB]

While true, they are less dead weight than that ghost touch enhancement you put on your weapon, or the frost quality. It works

Absolutely. However, that ghost touch enhancement doesn't get *put* on weapons, because it's so situational.

Cheers!

 

[brehobit]

I don't have a problem with the crystals per se, but I do have a problem with the pricing.

Get the most useful part of the endurance feat for 500GP? Yes, it is a weak feat, but _that_ weak? My initial reaction would be 2500-5000.

Ghost touch, +1d6 damage vs undead and the ability to crit/sneak attack undead for 10,000 GP? In discussions here, the general sense was that the _last_ one was worth more than that by quite a bit. http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?t=181866 .

Pricing just seems _way_ off. I'll write it off to "power creep to sell books", but hey, I'm cynical.

Mark

 

[MerricB]

I don't have a problem with the crystals per se, but I do have a problem with the pricing.

Get the most useful part of the endurance feat for 500GP? Yes, it is a weak feat, but _that_ weak? My initial reaction would be 2500-5000.

Yes, Endurance is that weak. Quite frankly, Endurance is a really, really bad feat. The cost of taking it is rarely worth it except for fighters... and they are wearing heavy armour so it doesn't work for them.

The crystal is actually more useful than the Endurance feat, by far. It applies to heavy armour. The primary effect of it is to remove the penalty for playing a character in heavy armour who has to sleep sometime (making heavy armour more attractive than light).

I'm unsure of the crystal's effect on the game, however.

Ghost touch, +1d6 damage vs undead and the ability to crit/sneak attack undead for 10,000 GP? In discussions here, the general sense was that the _last_ one was worth more than that by quite a bit.

But is it? Pricing is an unusual game, especially when you look at the cost of using an ability.

The cost in this case is...
* Have a +3 or better weapon
* Spend two move actions to replace the existing crystal with the new crystal
* Spend 10,000 gp on the crystal

Now, in an undead-dominated dungeon, the second cost isn't applicable, but many dungeons have just a couple of undead amongst many other monsters.

Pricing just seems _way_ off. I'll write it off to "power creep to sell books", but hey, I'm cynical.

The trouble derives from what you compare the pricing to.

Cheers!