Complete Champion excerpts

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Maybe I'm weird, but I wish we had gotten previews for the ways that domains of a god manifest in the faith (which seems like a nice marriage of crunch and fluff) and the fleshing-out of some of the core gods, like Moradin.

The prestige classes don't look terribly interesting to me, but the stuff about religion I could start using immediately, if it clicks for me.

 

[el-remmen]

FWIW, I've never seen a second level party without a cure light wounds wand, except in a no-spellcasting campaign where the balance was explicitly per encounter.

That has a caster level 5+ pre-requisite. They just always happen to find one?

 

[theemrys]

well, for me I use Kingdom of Kalamar for my setting, so it's got its own deities and doesn't use any of the "core" ones... so I like to see that in books for examples, but not too keen on a lot of "core deity" specifics.

I really find it hard from the previews to get overly excited on anything... and have often found the stuff I like the best are the subtle things you find when digging through...

Looking forward to getting a chance to do that with this one.

 

[Blood Jester]

FWIW, I've never seen a second level party without a cure light wounds wand, except in a no-spellcasting campaign where the balance was explicitly per encounter.

For the other end of that opinion scale...

Despite being a big fan of what many would call borderline powergaming, I have always been opposed to purchased healing items, most especially wands.

It just seems cheap.

Take that level in a class that will offer some minor healing to the team; learn tactics; take risks. Let perimeter healers like Bards shine or feel valued for taking CLW as a spell known, and let Paladins show the "merciful" aspect of their calling. Heck, put points in the Heal skill.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

That has a caster level 5+ pre-requisite. They just always happen to find one?

Or you buy one for 750gp in a decent sized town. Not everyone makes due with a rusty bottle cap on a stick until level 20. Again, your variant campaign where the core rules and assumptions dont apply shouldnt be taken into account when balancing a generic supplement. Neither should someone's super heroes gish with up to 10 LA's due to race or template ignored and triple suggested wealth. If the designers had to take into account every variant or house rule into account, they couldnt design anything useful. The only time low/high magic/power/fantasy stuff should be considered is when writing supplements specifically for those genres.

That means that feats like Lesser Skill focus that grants a +1 to a skill check should be confined to the Complete Wuss and "Uber Smite" that allows you to instantly kill something with less HP than you should be in the Complete Badass.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

That has a caster level 5+ pre-requisite. They just always happen to find one?

No, they allocate at least 750 gp to purchase one before they buy any other items, mundane or magical. If they can't afford one after one adventure, they save their money so they can buy one sooner.

 

[el-remmen]

I always forget that there are games where people can basically buy whatever magical items they want/need. My bad.

Can someone point me to the page numbers in the 3.0 DMG (I don't own the 3.5 one) or a link on the SRD that discusses availability of purchasing magical items. I have honestly never read the rules on it. . . but now I am curious how they are worded.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I always forget that there are games where people can basically buy whatever magical items they want/need. My bad.

Certainly that is, within the community wealth guidelines, the 'by the book' campaign model. As such, one would rather hope it's the model the rest of the book is based on.

Even in campaigns where this was not the case, however, a 750 gp minor magic item is not exactly 'whatever magical items they want/need.' It's near the bottom of the barrel, expense-wise.

Can someone point me to the page numbers in the 3.0 DMG (I don't own the 3.5 one) or a link on the SRD that discusses availability of purchasing magical items. I have honestly never read the rules on it. . . but now I am curious how they are worded.

3.5 DMG pg. 137 has the community wealth guidelines.

By the RAW, cure light wounds wands are available in communities of 900 people or more.

EDIT: Just noticed you asked for 3.0. I don't know where my 3.0 books are. Sorry.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I always forget that there are games where people can basically buy whatever magical items they want/need. My bad.

Can someone point me to the page numbers in the 3.0 DMG (I don't own the 3.5 one) or a link on the SRD that discusses availability of purchasing magical items. I have honestly never read the rules on it. . . but now I am curious how they are worded.

There's not too much, but Page 137 has the different kinds of dwellings (from small hamlets to large cities and metropolises) with the maximum value of available objects as well as total assets. If the town's limit is only, say, 1000 gp, you probably won't find a 2300+ gp +1 weapon there.

In the end, it's always your choice as DM. I usually let them buy and sell what they want provided they're near a large city (and on the levels where you can afford the more expensive magic trinkets, you can usually teleport there, provided you were there once). It may be because the DMs I used to play AD&D with were particularly stingy, but I'm always generous with such things (or, at least, mostly. You won't find an Aurora Shop in a Midnight campaign, of course)

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I always forget that there are games where people can basically buy whatever magical items they want/need. My bad.

Can someone point me to the page numbers in the 3.0 DMG (I don't own the 3.5 one) or a link on the SRD that discusses availability of purchasing magical items. I have honestly never read the rules on it. . . but now I am curious how they are worded.

Also bear in mind buying items is an abstraction (the Magic Item Compendium goes into a bti more detail). In a real world, armor would need to be fitted, but theres no real timeframe on how long it takes a guy to buy a chain shirt. Given the low time it takes to make a wand of cure light wounds, I doubt there are tons of fully charged ones sitting around in small citites (900 people as stated was the minimum). Most likely the PC asked a few questions, found the local 5th level caster, and got one made the next day. It adds a nice bit of downtime to most games that helps prevent a crazy rise to level 20 in a few months of in-game time.

Heck, by the guidelines, I think its easier to get a wand of cure light wounds than a suit of full plate.