Gear Matters

[Mark CMG]

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=191811&page=2

There is no way to make a popular game like D&D where gear doesn't matter

How true is this?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Define 'popular'.

Is it 'a [game like D&D] which is popular', or 'a game which is [popular like D&D]'?

My understanding is that Iron Heroes is a D&D-like game where gear doesn't matter. Is it popular enough to count?

-Hyp.

 

[James McMurray]

Gear doesn't matter to many characters in the WoD line of games, which are popular, but not "like D&D."

 

[Crothian]

Of course it is possible. Heck, people do it with D&D right now!!

 

[Thunderfoot]

Of course it is possible. Heck, people do it with D&D right now!!

You stay out of this C!!!

It is possible, but HIGHLY unadvisable.

 

[Umbran]

How true is this?

I'd say about half. It isn't the gear itself, it's the fact that you've got lots of different fiddly-bits of powers. Different games have different vectors - in D&D, many of the fiddly-bits are in gear. In White Wolf games, more of those bits are intrinsic to the character (like Werewolf Gifts and Mage Spheres).

The vector is mostly a matter of style. Different people like different style, but everyone wants to have powers to play with.

 

[Crothian]

It is possible, but HIGHLY unadvisable.

Why is is "HIGHLY unadvisable'? It might not be easy to do but I think a DM and a group that wants to should give it a try and see if they can.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=191811&page=2




How true is this?

Well, there's d20 Modern and similar games (Grim Tales, Spycraft, etc) where gear basically doesn't count or is much less important. They're not set in medieval times, though; I think that's the reason they're less popular, rather than the much smaller focus on gear.

However, for DnD 3rd Edition gear has a major impact on the rules, to the point that trying to run a low magic game is exceedingly difficult and usually requires* more rules changes than the DM anticipated or wanted to implement.

* All low magic games I've been in using DnD rules have had this problem ... and some of the DMs were good enough to write their own rules systems *sigh*

 

[James McMurray]

There are plenty of systems designed for low magic generic fantasy. When we want that we go to one of them rather than try to shoehorn D&D into something it's not designed for. You can do it with D&D, and it can be a great game, but you lose a lot in translation (at least IMX).

 

[Mark CMG]

I'm not sure any game has achieved even half the popularity of D&D, so it might be best to look at this in a relative sense.