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<blockquote data-quote="Michael Tree" data-source="post: 895153" data-attributes="member: 1455">You don't need certain magic items to go against monsters of a similar challenge level, but without them those monsters will be a bigger challenge.&nbsp; To 10th level characters with magic items a CR 10 monster isn't much of a challenge.&nbsp; To the same character without magic items the same monster is a much bigger challenge, maybe CR 11 or 12.&nbsp;&nbsp; 10th level characters with magic items can defeat a CR 14 monster if they use good tactics and have some luck, but without magic items it would be a slaughter.The character classes are also balanced assuming a certain amount of magical items.&nbsp; At mid to high levels, if magic items are rare, then spellcasters increasingly dominate the game.The advantage of treating it as a magic item is that it's a lot less arbitrary, since the game already has solid guidelines on the amount of extra power characters should have.&nbsp; It also allows the use of both gifts and magic items to be balanced with each other.I'm not familar with &quot;transhuman philosophy&quot;, but I know a lot about mythology and folklore.&nbsp; I can't think of a single folkstory or myth about a character that carries a dozen different magical devices on him, using them like tools.&nbsp; In most stories, characters either have one or two items that serves a single purpose - one-shot items essentially - or they have items that are integral parts of their character.&nbsp; Hence the desire for a D&amp;D game in which each character has at most one or two magic items, without seriously skewing game balance.Tell me, in D&amp;D how would you create a character like Achilles, who is (in D&amp;D terms) extremely difficult to injure due to an early supernatural occurrence?&nbsp;&nbsp; Simply building him with feats and classes isn't sufficient, as any character could be built in that way, and achilles' gift is unique.&nbsp; You could give him some homegrown &quot;uber-feat&quot; but that skews balance seriously and arbitrarily.&nbsp; Giving him the ability as a innate gift, a &quot;virtual magic item&quot;, models the ability extremely well.The same is also true for the numerous characters in Irish and Scots folktales about characters who have single unique abilities - to talk to animals, turn into birds, leap extremly high into the air, etc. - while still essentially being Fighters, Rangers, and Barbarians in D&amp;D class terms.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Michael Tree, post: 895153, member: 1455"] You don't need certain magic items to go against monsters of a similar challenge level, but without them those monsters will be a bigger challenge. To 10th level characters with magic items a CR 10 monster isn't much of a challenge. To the same character without magic items the same monster is a much bigger challenge, maybe CR 11 or 12. 10th level characters with magic items can defeat a CR 14 monster if they use good tactics and have some luck, but without magic items it would be a slaughter. The character classes are also balanced assuming a certain amount of magical items. At mid to high levels, if magic items are rare, then spellcasters increasingly dominate the game. The advantage of treating it as a magic item is that it's a lot less arbitrary, since the game already has solid guidelines on the amount of extra power characters should have. It also allows the use of both gifts and magic items to be balanced with each other. I'm not familar with "transhuman philosophy", but I know a lot about mythology and folklore. I can't think of a single folkstory or myth about a character that carries a dozen different magical devices on him, using them like tools. In most stories, characters either have one or two items that serves a single purpose - one-shot items essentially - or they have items that are integral parts of their character. Hence the desire for a D&D game in which each character has at most one or two magic items, without seriously skewing game balance. Tell me, in D&D how would you create a character like Achilles, who is (in D&D terms) extremely difficult to injure due to an early supernatural occurrence? Simply building him with feats and classes isn't sufficient, as any character could be built in that way, and achilles' gift is unique. You could give him some homegrown "uber-feat" but that skews balance seriously and arbitrarily. Giving him the ability as a innate gift, a "virtual magic item", models the ability extremely well. The same is also true for the numerous characters in Irish and Scots folktales about characters who have single unique abilities - to talk to animals, turn into birds, leap extremly high into the air, etc. - while still essentially being Fighters, Rangers, and Barbarians in D&D class terms. [/QUOTE]

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