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<blockquote data-quote="shilsen" data-source="post: 1698674" data-attributes="member: 198">Here's what I've come up with so far: Lowering equipment dependency in D&amp;D:This system is designed to lower the dependency on equipment in D&amp;D, esp. at higher levels. Characters will receive special innate abilities as they gain in level (use ECL) which replace the need for certain types of equipment. For balance purposes, the amount of wealth per level must be lowered (to approximately half, is recommended) from the DMG standard (see table below). The remaining wealth, which would be available in the standard system, is available in ‘virtual’ form and may be used to purchase innate abilities. These innate abilities replicate that provided by magical items from the DMG (it is recommended that such replicated items be made unavailable in the game). These innate abilities will retain the type of the original item, e.g. enhancement bonuses for abilities replicating Gloves of Dexterity or Amulets of Natural Armor, resistance bonuses for saves (as with the Cloak of Resistance), etc. Not all items from the DMG may be replicated using this system. Armor, weapons, rods, wands and staves may not be replicated using this system. Nor may single-use items be replicated using this system. Since these abilities are innate and hence ‘slot-less’ (i.e. taking up none of the magic item slots on the body) and have the added advantage of not being destroyed or lost as magic items are, their cost is usually doubled from that of equivalent items in the DMG. For example, one PC may choose to obtain a +2 resistance bonus to saves. This replicates the effect of a Cloak of Resistance +2. Since the cloak would cost 4,000 gp, the innate ability costs twice that, i.e. 8,000 ‘virtual’ gp. These innate abilities may also be upgraded by paying the difference between the current ability and the upgraded form. For example, a PC may purchase a +1 resistance bonus to saves with 2,000 ‘virtual’ gp and then later spend the difference (another 6,000 ‘virtual’ gp) to upgrade it to +2.Optionally, a DM may also use this system to to allow upgradeable and charged items to be upgraded/recharged. For example, a PC could use 6,000 ‘virtual’ gp to upgrade a +1 battleaxe (market value – 2,310 gp) to a +1 flaming battleaxe (market value – 8,310 gp), or one could use 3,600 ‘virtual’ gp to recharge a wand with 10 charges of invisibility (market value – 900 gp) to 50 charges (market value – 4,500 gp). Advantage of this system – moving away from the equipment dependency of D&amp;D, which many people dislike, without having to make holistic changes to the game system and without causing the balance issues which would inevitably arise (if simply lowering magical equipment availability) between less-equipped characters and standard monsters (esp. those with DR and many Sp/Su/Ex abilities) and between spellcaster characters and their non-spellcasting compatriots; more character customizability (since PCs can choose innate abilities instead of having to find or have crafted a particular item). Disadvantage of the system – more bookkeeping for the DM (somewhat counterbalanced by there being less items to keep track of), since one must closely track party wealth, both virtual and otherwise; potentially greater character power.Lvl&nbsp; &nbsp; Std Wealth&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Modified Wealth&nbsp; &nbsp; Virtual Wealth2&nbsp; &nbsp; 900&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 900&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 03&nbsp; &nbsp; 2,700&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1,500&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1,2004&nbsp; &nbsp; 5,400&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 3,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 2,4005&nbsp; &nbsp; 9,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 5,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 4,0006&nbsp; &nbsp; 13,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 7,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 6,0007&nbsp; &nbsp; 19,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 10,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 9,0008&nbsp; &nbsp; 27,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 14,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 13,0009&nbsp; &nbsp; 36,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 18,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 18,000&nbsp; &nbsp; 10&nbsp; &nbsp; 49,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 25,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 24,00011&nbsp; &nbsp; 66,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 33,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 33,00012&nbsp; &nbsp; 88,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 44,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 44,00013&nbsp; &nbsp; 110,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 55,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 55,000&nbsp; &nbsp; 14&nbsp; &nbsp; 150,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 75,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 75,00015&nbsp; &nbsp; 200,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 100,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 100,000&nbsp; &nbsp; 16&nbsp; &nbsp; 260,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 130,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 130,00017&nbsp; &nbsp; 340,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 170,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 170,00018&nbsp; &nbsp; 440,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 220,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 220,00019&nbsp; &nbsp; 580,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 290,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 290,00020&nbsp; &nbsp; 760,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 380,000&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 380,000</blockquote>

[QUOTE="shilsen, post: 1698674, member: 198"] Here's what I've come up with so far: [B]Lowering equipment dependency in D&D:[/B] This system is designed to lower the dependency on equipment in D&D, esp. at higher levels. Characters will receive special innate abilities as they gain in level (use ECL) which replace the need for certain types of equipment. For balance purposes, the amount of wealth per level must be lowered (to approximately half, is recommended) from the DMG standard (see table below). The remaining wealth, which would be available in the standard system, is available in ‘virtual’ form and may be used to purchase innate abilities. These innate abilities replicate that provided by magical items from the DMG (it is recommended that such replicated items be made unavailable in the game). These innate abilities will retain the type of the original item, e.g. enhancement bonuses for abilities replicating Gloves of Dexterity or Amulets of Natural Armor, resistance bonuses for saves (as with the Cloak of Resistance), etc. Not all items from the DMG may be replicated using this system. Armor, weapons, rods, wands and staves may not be replicated using this system. Nor may single-use items be replicated using this system. Since these abilities are innate and hence ‘slot-less’ (i.e. taking up none of the magic item slots on the body) and have the added advantage of not being destroyed or lost as magic items are, their cost is usually doubled from that of equivalent items in the DMG. For example, one PC may choose to obtain a +2 resistance bonus to saves. This replicates the effect of a Cloak of Resistance +2. Since the cloak would cost 4,000 gp, the innate ability costs twice that, i.e. 8,000 ‘virtual’ gp. These innate abilities may also be upgraded by paying the difference between the current ability and the upgraded form. For example, a PC may purchase a +1 resistance bonus to saves with 2,000 ‘virtual’ gp and then later spend the difference (another 6,000 ‘virtual’ gp) to upgrade it to +2. Optionally, a DM may also use this system to to allow upgradeable and charged items to be upgraded/recharged. For example, a PC could use 6,000 ‘virtual’ gp to upgrade a +1 battleaxe (market value – 2,310 gp) to a +1 flaming battleaxe (market value – 8,310 gp), or one could use 3,600 ‘virtual’ gp to recharge a wand with 10 charges of invisibility (market value – 900 gp) to 50 charges (market value – 4,500 gp). Advantage of this system – moving away from the equipment dependency of D&D, which many people dislike, without having to make holistic changes to the game system and without causing the balance issues which would inevitably arise (if simply lowering magical equipment availability) between less-equipped characters and standard monsters (esp. those with DR and many Sp/Su/Ex abilities) and between spellcaster characters and their non-spellcasting compatriots; more character customizability (since PCs can choose innate abilities instead of having to find or have crafted a particular item). Disadvantage of the system – more bookkeeping for the DM (somewhat counterbalanced by there being less items to keep track of), since one must closely track party wealth, both virtual and otherwise; potentially greater character power. Lvl Std Wealth Modified Wealth Virtual Wealth 2 900 900 0 3 2,700 1,500 1,200 4 5,400 3,000 2,400 5 9,000 5,000 4,000 6 13,000 7,000 6,000 7 19,000 10,000 9,000 8 27,000 14,000 13,000 9 36,000 18,000 18,000 10 49,000 25,000 24,000 11 66,000 33,000 33,000 12 88,000 44,000 44,000 13 110,000 55,000 55,000 14 150,000 75,000 75,000 15 200,000 100,000 100,000 16 260,000 130,000 130,000 17 340,000 170,000 170,000 18 440,000 220,000 220,000 19 580,000 290,000 290,000 20 760,000 380,000 380,000 [/QUOTE]

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