I think you peeps are not thinking about+n swords properly!

[Viking Bastard]

I agree with the OP, I think. There is something great about the simplicity of a +1 weapon. It grabs perfectly the flavor of most magic swords in fiction/myth, where they're just damn good swords/plot device that make you better at swording with the sword.

 

[Grydan]

I think I've made my stance towards +1 weapons and their ilk abundantly clear in several topics of late, so I don't think I'll go to the effort of repeating myself in full here.

In short, I don't like them, for multiple reasons.

However, my real reason for posting here is to say that, thanks to Minigiant's XP comment to WarlockLord, I now need to figure out how to fit a sword that shoots ghost kittens into my campaign. It'll need a name, too...

 

[delericho]

Designers should do a lot of stuff that is boring to most people--such as getting the math right--not because it is all important to us, but so that it need not be important to us at all.

This.

I just can't get excited about a sword of math when there are swords of fiery explosions out there.

And this.

 

[Viking Bastard]

I just can't get excited about a sword of math when there are swords of fiery explosions out there.

A +1 sword that does fire damage.

 

[Libramarian]

I don't mind swords of swording.

Except for the fact that sword rapidly becomes a very strange looking word the more you use it.

 

[tlantl]

I just can't get excited about a sword of math when there are swords of fiery explosions out there.

I'm kind of hoping that swords with fiery explosions go away. Flat math and flaming burst weapons don't work very well together in my mind.

 

[FireLance]

It should be thought of from a game perspective.
Is the +1 needed to fix the math of attacks and defenses, or does it provide a leg up on the system? One makes a magical sword a mechanical object needed to keep a PC viable to level appropriate threats, sucking any 'magic' a player might feel about finding +1 sword. The other is a poorly expressed example of the sword that is faster/sharper/adds skill.

I've said it before but I'll say it again.

It seems to me that for some people, the way to make magic items feel special again is to call a level 9 monster a level 12 monster, and a level 12 monster a level 15 monster. Then, instead of saying, "In order for a level 12 party to take on a level 12 encounter, they should be armed with +3 magic items", you can say, "A level 12 party with no magic items can take on a level 12* encounter. However, that same level 12 party armed with +3 magic items can actually take on a level 15** encounter! Three whole levels higher than they are! Doesn't that make +3 magic items feel special?"

* Formerly level 9.
** Formerly level 12.

 

[Henry]

A +1 sword that does fire damage.

Thing is, they did that for 4E (swords of <element> could on command turn their damage into <element> type damage) but it didn't feel quite right to me then, either. Admittedly, it was still better than just a flat bonus.

I like the crazy swords like in 1E where it was +1, +2 vs. reptiles, +3 vs. draconic critters, +4 vs. true dragons, that sort of thing.

My favorite magic item of all time is that swiss army knife of D&D -- rod of lordly might. Not for its bonuses, but the sheer joy of having a weapon that was a spear, a sword, mace, and a 50-foot pole that could bust doors like the Jaws of Life, all in one item.

 

[TarionzCousin]

It is a little-known fact that peeps are naturally very violent.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Thing is, they did that for 4E (swords of <element> could on command turn their damage into <element> type damage) but it didn't feel quite right to me then, either. Admittedly, it was still better than just a flat bonus.

Why? It's simple and elegant, math complications aside. How would you prefer it?

I like the crazy swords like in 1E where it was +1, +2 vs. reptiles, +3 vs. draconic critters, +4 vs. true dragons, that sort of thing.

Yeah, I like that as well. Simple and flavorful.

My favorite magic item of all time is that swiss army knife of D&D -- rod of lordly might. Not for its bonuses, but the sheer joy of having a weapon that was a spear, a sword, mace, and a 50-foot pole that could bust doors like the Jaws of Life, all in one item.

That's awesome.