Nahat Anoj
First Post
I think an attunement or soulbinding (OMG that's so WoW) would be cool superlative.
How will the designers (or the players) deal with magic item influx due to PC death?
- Thread starter RigaMortus2
- Start date
Saeviomagy
Adventurer
Personally I fall into the
"If pcs are dying enough for this to make a difference, then them being over-equipped can only help the campaign"
school of thought.
Unfortunately, from most character's point of view, the role-playingey thing to do is get the character ressed, which unfortunately tends to worsen the situation instead of improve it.
"If pcs are dying enough for this to make a difference, then them being over-equipped can only help the campaign"
school of thought.
Unfortunately, from most character's point of view, the role-playingey thing to do is get the character ressed, which unfortunately tends to worsen the situation instead of improve it.
small pumpkin man
Explorer
heh, I think you may have your cause and effect messed up therehong said:
cignus_pfaccari
First Post
iskurthi said:
Heh...this amuses me far too much:
Elendil: "Urk" (dies)
Isildur: "No, father!" (grabs sword) "I will avenge you!"
(swings sword at Sauron's ring finger, bounces off)
Isildur: "But...but...this is Narsil! Even broken, it's supposed to be a +5 Holy Avenger!"
Sauron: "Dude, you got pwned. It's my butter knife now."
(immolates Isildur)
(darkness descends upon the West)
Brad
Didn't you know the PC needs his gear on the other side (ala Egyptian myth) ? Steal his gear and you just damned your boon companion to dying at the hands of the first minor demon he encounters.
You'd be doing him a service if you sent him off with his original gear and BETTER. Maybe he'll send you some good luck from the other side once he reaches his eternal reward.
... but yeah, I'm on the side of "this doesn't need to be a rule." If PCs are dying off and the party is making out like bandits there is something seriously wrong with the game (and it becomes time to institute the "all new chars from begin at level 1 rule). >
You'd be doing him a service if you sent him off with his original gear and BETTER. Maybe he'll send you some good luck from the other side once he reaches his eternal reward.
... but yeah, I'm on the side of "this doesn't need to be a rule." If PCs are dying off and the party is making out like bandits there is something seriously wrong with the game (and it becomes time to institute the "all new chars from begin at level 1 rule). >
TrogsTavern
First Post
Hmm... well regardless of looting your companion's body being a time-honored tradition and the real world and meta-gaming reasons behind doing it or not doing it, I have to say that none of that really breaks it down into a quantifiable mechanic. Hopefully, instead, there will be general rules for how to adjust for low magic campaigns vs. Monty Haul™ campaigns. Having a PC die and a new PC come in with new magical equipment would maybe bump you up more towards the high treasure end and give the DM a modifier to adjust future encounters or something. There's got to be a way to make a non-intrusive mechanic that takes into account an excess of magical items. From the sounds of some posts that is already done but hopefully there is some nice easy rule to remember that will make that hapen to the correct degee to bring the game, mechanically, back into balance.
Celebrim
Legend
PC #1 dies.
PC #2 takes his stuff.
PC #1's next of kin shows up and wants to know what happened to the stuff.
PC #1's local liege Lord's lawyer shows up and wants to know what happened to PC #2's stuff, where PC #2's will is, and why hasn't someone paid an inheritance tax? And in any event, the goods will need to be appraised.
PC #1's local liege lord shows up, notes that PC #1 hasn't actually left a will, owes a ton of unpaid back taxes, and the property therefore reverts to his leige lord and could PC #2 kindly and quickly turn over the stuff.
PC #1 kills aforementioned liege Lord. Now PC #1 discovers that countries don't last for 400+ years if they can't handle a few upstart young rakes and mercenaries that style themselves 'adventurers'.
Problem solved.
PC #2 takes his stuff.
PC #1's next of kin shows up and wants to know what happened to the stuff.
PC #1's local liege Lord's lawyer shows up and wants to know what happened to PC #2's stuff, where PC #2's will is, and why hasn't someone paid an inheritance tax? And in any event, the goods will need to be appraised.
PC #1's local liege lord shows up, notes that PC #1 hasn't actually left a will, owes a ton of unpaid back taxes, and the property therefore reverts to his leige lord and could PC #2 kindly and quickly turn over the stuff.
PC #1 kills aforementioned liege Lord. Now PC #1 discovers that countries don't last for 400+ years if they can't handle a few upstart young rakes and mercenaries that style themselves 'adventurers'.
Problem solved.
Falling Icicle
Adventurer
I've been gaming for well over a decade and I've never run into a problem with this. I doubt it will become a problem with 4th edition.
I'd like to add my voice to the crowd saying that there should be no game rule regarding what to do with a fallen friend's equipment.
IMC PCs seldom exist without families and/or friends. Most of them are closely connected to the campaign setting. Furthermore, PCs don't wander the earth having adventures. They may travel a lot, but they always come home between excursions. If the subject had ever come up (it hasn't - not once), I would have dealt with it in story, not through any sort of rule. Even if the family couldn't prove that they were the legal owners of their relative's property, they could damage the party's reputation by calling them thieves.
Most of my players are very concerned with how they are viewed by the populace. In my upcoming 4e campaign, there is a stele inscribed with the names of all those declared heroes by the duchy since its founding. Several players have already expressed an interest in getting their character's names on that stele at some point. A good reputation counts for a lot.
BTW, few people in the region care if the PCs loot and pillage savage humanoids (or even foreigners) and their tombs. Those are the acts of daring that the public admires. But if you steal from the locals, or violate their tombs, that's another thing altogether.
If I had a character who didn't care about reputation, I'd work out the appropriate story ramifications, but wouldn't levy an unreasonable penalty in an attempt to force the player to do what I want them to. Every action has an appropriate consequence, but you have to be careful not to cross over into railroading the PCs.
I remember one of the Freeport modules, where our low level characters got into a fight with some orcs and ended up with a powerful magic item that the orcs had been commissioned to retrieve for a wizard. We kept it and used it, despite his argument that it was his. We were quite surprised to receive a summons to court. We were being sued by the wizard. I thought it was pure genius on the part of the GM. Since we were only 2nd level, we thought we were going to get it for sure. Luckily for us, we were able to do enough favors for the judge to swing the judgement our way, despite the wizard's greater status and wealth (he bribed the judge with money). Later he came after us, and we had to kill him. It had become a point of personal honor, since we'd beaten him in court. It was a memorable part of the campaign.
IMC PCs seldom exist without families and/or friends. Most of them are closely connected to the campaign setting. Furthermore, PCs don't wander the earth having adventures. They may travel a lot, but they always come home between excursions. If the subject had ever come up (it hasn't - not once), I would have dealt with it in story, not through any sort of rule. Even if the family couldn't prove that they were the legal owners of their relative's property, they could damage the party's reputation by calling them thieves.
Most of my players are very concerned with how they are viewed by the populace. In my upcoming 4e campaign, there is a stele inscribed with the names of all those declared heroes by the duchy since its founding. Several players have already expressed an interest in getting their character's names on that stele at some point. A good reputation counts for a lot.
BTW, few people in the region care if the PCs loot and pillage savage humanoids (or even foreigners) and their tombs. Those are the acts of daring that the public admires. But if you steal from the locals, or violate their tombs, that's another thing altogether.
If I had a character who didn't care about reputation, I'd work out the appropriate story ramifications, but wouldn't levy an unreasonable penalty in an attempt to force the player to do what I want them to. Every action has an appropriate consequence, but you have to be careful not to cross over into railroading the PCs.
I remember one of the Freeport modules, where our low level characters got into a fight with some orcs and ended up with a powerful magic item that the orcs had been commissioned to retrieve for a wizard. We kept it and used it, despite his argument that it was his. We were quite surprised to receive a summons to court. We were being sued by the wizard. I thought it was pure genius on the part of the GM. Since we were only 2nd level, we thought we were going to get it for sure. Luckily for us, we were able to do enough favors for the judge to swing the judgement our way, despite the wizard's greater status and wealth (he bribed the judge with money). Later he came after us, and we had to kill him. It had become a point of personal honor, since we'd beaten him in court. It was a memorable part of the campaign.
