Consumeable items in the new economy

[RigaMortus2]

Wondering if WotC is taking into consideration consumeable items with the new economy and the new way to dole out rewards. I did notice they had pots of healing listed as an example of a reward, but if a character (or party) is expected to have x amount of gold/magic items but a lot of them are consumeable (and consumed over the course of those 10 encounters), will that throw things out of wack?

An idea I had is, perhaps WotC should take another bold approach and no longer have consumeable items. Instead, have magic items that heal x/encounter or x/day. Just a thought...

My main concern and reason for the post though is, has WotC taken consumeable magic items into consideration when figuring out the rewards per encounter/level/adventure and... Does it work?

 

[Scribble]

My main concern and reason for the post though is, has WotC taken consumeable magic items into consideration when figuring out the rewards per encounter/level/adventure and... Does it work?

My guess is it doesn't matter that much...

Chances are even if you have a few really uber consumables, they only really throw things out of whack once.

A magic sword is a perma bonus. You have take it into account each time the fighter fights when you figure out average standing time...

A potion that gives you a bonus to hit, only changes things a couple of times.

 

[MindWanderer]

I'm concerned, yes. The treasure tables we've been given show healing potions to be worth as much as 20% of the "monetary treasure" for a level. It's lower at the other two sample levels (7.5% and 6%), but it's potentially a significant portion of a party's income.

 

[DreamChaser]

I'm concerned, yes. The treasure tables we've been given show healing potions to be worth as much as 20% of the "monetary treasure" for a level. It's lower at the other two sample levels (7.5% and 6%), but it's potentially a significant portion of a party's income.

Since small scale healing is now more firmly in the hands of the characters as a default, potions of Cure Light Wounds are in may ways obsolete. I would anticipate (hope?) that such potions would be more potent and worth increased investment.

Of course, the question remains, how do you monetize (in terms of overall balance) a resource that is designed to be destroyed....

DC

 

[Scipio202]

Well, it's probably unlikely that the campaign balance is too dependent on being exactly at the recommended wealth levels. A big chunk of wealth is going to leave the party if they choose to sell off something (at 20% book) and buy something else (at 120-140% book). Given that parties can do that never, a few times, or a lot; even if the DM always hands out the recommended treasure parties can still end up with varying amounts of wealth.

 

[Stalker0]

Of course, the question remains, how do you monetize (in terms of overall balance) a resource that is designed to be destroyed....

Here's how. First, you set a baseline. This would be all permanent magic items. Then you consider the fact that each magical effect has a certain price (in 4e, a certain item level). Now, you add in the condition that its consumable. This inherently makes the item less valuable, therefore its item level should be lowered for its net effect.

Then, the last and most important part, you should limit the percentage of consumable items the party has relative to its permanent magic item population.

For example, compare a player with 80% permanent items/20% consumable vs a player with 100% permanent. At that moment, the 1st player has more power than the second, because consumables usually allow for stronger effects at a set item level than a permanent magic item would.

However, now lets say the player uses up all of his consumables. That leaves an 80% permanent vs a 100% permanent, so obviously the 1st player now has less power.

However, this is OKAY!! As long as the swing between having consumables and running out isn't made too high, then players won't notice a huge power disparity and the game progresses smoothly.

The economy page lists healing potions as only a portion of your overall wealth, and this is important. As long as consumables are only a small percentage of your power, then the swings between having them and consuming them are kept in check. If you rely on a large number of consumables, then the swings become more drastic, going from overpowered to underpowered.

 

[Incenjucar]

You have to determine the rate of consumption and bonus from consumption across the whole level.

If you consume a potion 1/encounter for ten encounters, then ten potions are the same as a magical item that grants the same benefit, which will be replaced in ten encounters.