E6: The Game Inside D&D

[modus666]

thoughts on e6 and stat enhancing items

i know the E6 community has had a bit of a slowdown since ryan stopped posting here, but my own e6 campaign carries on and so should this discussion!

anyhoo. after a long and thorough review of the magic items in both the Magic Item Compendium and the DMG (which are our two primary sources now) i discovered something i bit unnerving...

even the lowest level stat enhancing items are out of reach in e6. ie, gaunltets of ogre power are an exception, but gloves of dexterity +2, etc. all the other +2 items have caster levels too high to easily create. im not sure why the gauntlets of ogre power are different than the others... strength being a stat just as likely to see frequent use as any other stat doesnt seem to place the others at any sort of premium best as i can tell...

now i know that any item of +4 or higher should be out of the question, but do +2 items present much of a problem you think in terms of balance? i personally dont think so.

so here's the question. do you think it is best to a) read as written an only allow those items with a caster level of 6 or less and be done with it (gauntlets of ogre power anyone?) b) create some kind of specialized capstone feat that will allow item crafters to create these coveted items, perhaps with a slightly increased cost? c)toss the requirements and let them be crafted, but restriced to +2 items only.

it can be noted that there are quite a few lower level items in the magic item compendium that can allow the user to do some special things related to stats without actually boosting the stat, rather cheaply, (brute gauntlets, boots of the acrobat), and so disallowing the stat boosters wouldnt be critical, especially for those who have access to the MIC, but many characters would rather just get a simple stat boost.

thoughts, comments?

 

[Woas]

One question I have is why did Ryan Stoughton stop posting here? I hope it's because of nothing serious... :\

 

[Khuxan]

One question I have is why did Ryan Stoughton stop posting here? I hope it's because of nothing serious... :\

He had a baby and made a New Year's Resolution not to post for at least a year.

 

[Evilhalfling]

modus -- IMO one of the points of e6 is to avoid everyone decked out in 2-5 stat boosting items. You can HR it, but if those items are in an E6 game then they will become mandatory, and every competent PC/NPC will obtain a set of them.

The reason Ogres Gauntlets have a lower caster level is that they were the only stat booster avalible in 1st/2nd ed. As a concession they were made slightly easier to make. I am okay with them being the only possible one in e6.

The MIC items can be more specifically useful for certain characters, but they do not increase the power of everyone across the board. I mean everyone benefits from +2 wis, +2 con. I ignore most of the capstone feats but I like the 2 feats for a +2 to ability, this seems like working advancement.

I also did a list of DMG items possible with 3rd level spells, it should be in the first few posts.

How is your game going? most posters only reported on one-shots.

 

[Woas]

Ah. I knew about his newborn. Didn't know posting was that sort of an addiction that needed a resolution.

I wonder if they have patches or gum for it.

He had a baby and made a New Year's Resolution not to post for at least a year.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

How is your game going? most posters only reported on one-shots.

I've been running my game as an E8. Started at level 3 and then jumped them to 8 since I'm looking at moving in a couple of months, and the party wanted to go through Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. So I've got about... 7 months?... running the world as an E8 kinda place. It's been just fine for us.

Once I move, I'd like to find another group and restart the experiment. Then again, with the whole 4E hoopla happening, I'm not sure how likely that's going to be.

Didn't know posting was that sort of an addiction that needed a resolution.

I think Ryan did that because he wanted to focus on actually playing the game and developing his ideas, instead of simply posting stuff on the boards. Forums seem to have this peculiar thing where there's a lot of people talking about stuff, with a much smaller number of people actually _doing_. Depending on the kind of personality a person has, it can be easy to lose yourself in the whole talking thing and forget what your goal for hanging out on the forum was originally.

 

[joela]

E6 Gestalt PCs

I'm sure it's been discussed. Could someone please point out the post? Thanks!

 

[modus666]

modus -- IMO one of the points of e6 is to avoid everyone decked out in 2-5 stat boosting items. You can HR it, but if those items are in an E6 game then they will become mandatory, and every competent PC/NPC will obtain a set of them.

How is your game going? most posters only reported on one-shots.

In my experience, most players will obtain the one essential stat booster for their class. The mages will get the headband of int, rogues get gloves of dex etc. I honestly cant remember a time when every character had their slots filled with stat boosting items in my games. But you do have a point i suppose. it just seemed to me that items requiring only 2nd level spells to produce should be that hard to come by (shrug).

My dragonmech e6 game is going pretty well. my group is at 6+2 now i think. so far they've been forced to diversify a little bit, 2 of the characters having taken feats that increase their ability to use their mech's weapons even though they arent primary pilots hehehe.

 

[amethal]

I'm considering using E6 to run some Necromancer Games modules.

I think it might be a good fit for their campaign world, given the amount of running away they expect PCs to do. (As opposed to the "we are superheroes, we can do what we want" vibe you sometimes get in "normal" D&D.)

Has anybody tried this?

 

[modus666]

I'm considering using E6 to run some Necromancer Games modules.

I think it might be a good fit for their campaign world, given the amount of running away they expect PCs to do. (As opposed to the "we are superheroes, we can do what we want" vibe you sometimes get in "normal" D&D.)

Has anybody tried this?

are you referring to scarred lands?

it would certainly work. though you will definitely want to make clear that the party will not have access to some of the 'big toys' that setting presents.

i personally am running e6 in the goodman games drgaonmech setting and its working rather well so far. it justifies the need for big robots to battle the big threats, since you cant just ask the level 20 wizard to deal with it.