Henry
Autoexreginated
hong said:
That's where I have a split. In D&D, people get visibly ticked off when their armor or weapons are destroyed. In TV and Action Movies, which d20 Modern is meant to emulate, the heroes lose their guns and equipment all the time; they wreck cars, they drop guns, they abuse their equipment to the breaking point and get more. In a fantasy genre, Elric losing Stormbringer would have been tantamount to ripping out part of his soul; when you think of Elric, you HAVE to think about his magic sword.
Where would Arthur be without Excalibur?
Drizzt without Twinkle, Icingdeath, and Guenhwyvar?
Regis without his ruby pendant?
But what we're talking about now is a total paradigm shift. Important magic items are always defined with their owners. In a sense, items can define modern characters, too: What's the first thing one thinks about, when thinking of Clint Eastwood's character Dirty Harry Callahan? What does one think of when thinking of Knight Rider?
But in general, TV and Action Heroes are defined by their style and their abilities; Fantasy Heroes are defined by their unique items, which are as much a part of them as their right arms.
Compare the two: How many first level D&D fighters would consider dropping their swords in a fight, if it meant a slight advantage? How many 12th level Fighters would do it?
Now, how many d20 Modern characters would drop their pistols if it meant a slight advantage? How many 12th level Modern characters would do it?
In the first case, my experience has been "often" and "rarely;" In the second case, my experience has been "often" and "just as often". Equipment can be re-purchased easily in d20 modern; it's why the wealth system works as it does. In D&D, it's not as easy, because you have just lost some of your baseline wealth that contributes to how effective you are in an adventure.
And lest we forget, JD Wiker's excellent Swords of our Fathers, which introduces legendary weapons, which I may definitely try to work into our next D&D game somehow. Just the thought of items taking on their own personality work well for that genre.
I will also suggest that if someone wanted D&D to "change genres" and become less Magic oriented and more ability oriented, it would take on a look closer to the d20 Wheel of Time game, than the form it is now. Give PC's a dodge bonus by level, give then fighting styles that improve their bonuses to hit and damage, and even ability score improvements above and beyond that which they receive.
The hacker in d20 Modern doesn't have magic laptops; they have talents like Savant, and skill emphasis, and faith. Martial artists become living weapons as they improve. High level gunslingers can be about 90% as effective with a .22 revolver as they can with a .44 Magnum. As their level increases it doesn't matter; but with D&D characters, their items mean a GREAT deal.
I've never really had a problem with the whole "magic items are external to a character" issue, because I consider the items to be just as much a part of a character as any other abilities they may have. The problem is that going strictly by the core books, there's little in the way of crunchy bits to support this paradigm: if you have a +1 sword, there's nothing stopping you from throwing it away as soon as a +2 sword comes around.
