Can someone explain to me what 'Christmas Tree effect' means?

[Mapache]

In 4E, at my local LFR group, we use the term Christmas Tree to refer to miniatures that are so festooned with colored pipe cleaner or plastic rings from various conditions that you can barely see the underlying mini any more. It's visually decorated like a Christmas Tree, which is a distinct evolution from any prior 3.X usage referring to character equipment loadout.

 

[Tallifer]

My Fourth Edition warlord is a Christmas tree:

Magical circlet on head,
Boots of the Fencing Master,
Shield of Storms,
Farbond Spellblade,
Fleshseeking Bastard Sword,
Distance Javelin,
Belt of Vim,
Amulet of Health,
Inner Warmth hide armour,
Handy Haversack full of potions, whetstones, ritual components and a ritual book,
A magical monkey (refluffed familiar Disembodied Hand) to fetch and swap my various items,
Three wizard wands,
2 pairs of magical gloves (one for fighting, one for cantrips)
Bracers of Respite...

...and when he attains a higher level and more gold, he will have rings, a mount and more stuff in his haversack.

He often buys cheaper, lower level items to gain interesting abilities.

I played in the massively multiple-player on-line roleplaying game Dark Age of Camelot, so I sort of expect a Christmas tree and a vault full of alternate stuff. Which is ironic, since I began roleplaying in Basic Dunegons and Dragons, and my fighter treasured his +1 sword which the dungeon master named Naveen.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

My Fourth Edition warlord is a Christmas tree:

Magical circlet on head,
Boots of the Fencing Master,
Shield of Storms,
Farbond Spellblade,
Fleshseeking Bastard Sword,
Distance Javelin,
Belt of Vim,
Amulet of Health,
Inner Warmth hide armour,
Handy Haversack full of potions, whetstones, ritual components and a ritual book,
A magical monkey (refluffed familiar Disembodied Hand) to fetch and swap my various items,
Three wizard wands,
2 pairs of magical gloves (one for fighting, one for cantrips)
Bracers of Respite...

A fencing warlord? But I'm pretty sure you only need the magic bastard sword, armor and amulet. The other stuff is just kind of nice to have.

(And given this is 4e, you probably don't even need those, if the GM cut the monster levels.)

 

[Prestidigitalis]

My Fourth Edition warlord is a Christmas tree:

Eek. I've had characters up to level 13 a couple of times, and none of them had a quarter that much loot. Please tell me you are level 30 or so...

 

[Ahrimon]

Eek. I've had characters up to level 13 a couple of times, and none of them had a quarter that much loot. Please tell me you are level 30 or so...

Well, this:

...and when he attains a higher level and more gold, he will have rings, a mount and more stuff in his haversack.

tells me that he's probably late heroic/early paragon.

I have to agree with you Prestidigitalis. I've never been in a game where I've gotten that much loot. But my DM's so far have been increadibly light on treasure. And we've never gotten out of heroic. So, my experience on this is a bit limited.

 

[ourchair]

Thanks for the explanation, guys.

So in effect, the "Christmas Tree" is the a rules-induced play assumption that to keep up with the "needs" of adventuring, one needed to be completely tricked out in gear that makes heroes glow with magic.

As a DM, I tend to view some 'magic items' as not entirely magical in nature. Some people get fear effects from a helm simply because they are much more frightening or imposing to look at. Some weapons draw more blood because they are designed to more brutal specs.

That said, having experienced previous editions of D&D SOLELY through videogames like Planescape: Torment, I've often thought that 2E magical items were designed to allow adventurers to 'break the norm' rather than keep up with some kind of career grind. Which is what enabled them to take on great challenges in the first place.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

There's a lot of really useful stuff at fairly low level, such that for the cost of an item of around your level, you can get several utility items or slot-fillers for a relative pittance.

Certainly, it's often worth having the party ritualist crank out an item or two before bed or after breakfast when on an adventure. It's not like that gold's going to earn interest or anything.

Brad

 

[Klaus]

Thanks for the explanation, guys.

So in effect, the "Christmas Tree" is the a rules-induced play assumption that to keep up with the "needs" of adventuring, one needed to be completely tricked out in gear that makes heroes glow with magic.

As a DM, I tend to view some 'magic items' as not entirely magical in nature. Some people get fear effects from a helm simply because they are much more frightening or imposing to look at. Some weapons draw more blood because they are designed to more brutal specs.

That said, having experienced previous editions of D&D SOLELY through videogames like Planescape: Torment, I've often thought that 2E magical items were designed to allow adventurers to 'break the norm' rather than keep up with some kind of career grind. Which is what enabled them to take on great challenges in the first place.

That's a pretty good assumption.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

tells me that he's probably late heroic/early paragon.

That's what I figured, but sometimes people aren't terribly accurate in their descriptions -- figured I would let them explain.

I have to agree with you Prestidigitalis. I've never been in a game where I've gotten that much loot. But my DM's so far have been increadibly light on treasure. And we've never gotten out of heroic. So, my experience on this is a bit limited.

I'm just starting a level 13 Knight today -- joining an existing campaign after my old character decided to ascend to "heaven" when given the chance -- and she will have the following:

+3 Farslayer Craghammer (great for MBA-based Knight)
+3 Dwarven Gith Plate with campaign-based unique add-ons; think of it as a very minor Artifact -- designed by me
+3 Seashimmer Cloak
Boots of Adept Charging
2 potions of Vitality
1800 gp

That's it. Seems like a pretty short list by comparison.

 

[SabreCat]

I've been running a game with by-the-book treasure and XP, and we recently hit 13th level. With a couple of shakeups in the party roster due to player/character changes, people have between 8 and 12 magic items apiece, with the more freshly-created characters having fewer than the ones who've been around since level 1.

I do use one of the options from DMG2, I think it was, and sometimes have a big-3 item power up to its next enhancement in place of some monetary treasure. And some items have been voluntarily sold off or replaced. But it's still enough that people forget they have certain items...