Magic Item Hate

[Nifft]

One I would have voted for if it'd been there:

Complicated - the interaction between items, spells, and hostile effects can be very annoying, particularly when you start running into antimagic at 13th level (or so).

Otherwise, I hate that they're necessary, and that the necessary ones are boring.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Stalker0]

To me its the fact that to run NPC effectively I have to give them a lot of loot, meaning my players gain lots of loot and suddenly increase in power. I hate that.

 

[Gundark]

Boring, common and glut were the main 3. I voted other though

 

[Treebore]

Getting cool stuff is a large part of playing a "Cool" game.

Plus I see all the voting options being a problem of the DM not knowing what to do with their game. Just shows that despite claims to the contrary too many people treat the rules in the books as irrefutable.

If its boring, too common, etc... the DM needs to make the changes, not WOTC. Entitlement is a little bit harder for the DM to deal with, but up to a point is a legitimate expectation on the part of the players. They are playing a game with dragons, demons, and powerful wizards and priests after all. Having all that and little to no magic is counter intuitive.

So my "vote" is that the DM does what it takes to make it work and still be fun and not blame it on a rule book. The books have to make it all available. The book gives you rules which may help a DM control these issues in a manner they like. There are tons of ideas and advice given on how to deal with these issues in case you can't figure them out for yourselves.

Not to mention plenty of people on these boards who can offer their insights, and I have read plenty of threads where they were given.

Saying 4E needs to somehow fix these issues is wrong. These options need to stay in the game.

Believe it or not some people ike running and playing in games where the PC's are christmas trees. OThers like to play with the Grinch. Most are somewhere in between.

All 4E is going to do is give you suggestions and guidelines on how to offset these issues if you perceive them as problems. Just like in 3E. The only thing that is going to change is the parameters of the game, but the advice is still going to be the same. Just like it is for every edition, and for every game system.

So the advice is still going to be "control it however you see fit". Give out less, write up interesting item histories, if you give out more than "X" value at "X" level your probably giving out too much, if you giving out below those amounts then your probably being to stingy, etc...

Just because its going to be 4E doesn't mean the means with which to deal with these issues changes.

 

[Nifft]

If its boring, too common, etc... the DM needs to make the changes, not WOTC.

Suuuuuuuuuuuure.

And then the DM needs to re-write all the monsters, not WotC.

And then the DM needs to re-write all the modules, not WotC.

Why am I paying for these books again?

Cheers, -- N

 

[BASHMAN]

Boring, Common, Glut, Need, Entitlement.

My main one is entitlement & glut (they seem to spawn each other)

But boring is the one that makes me long for AD&D. The item books they made for 2nd Ed were several volumes long, and had tons of FLAVOR items-- like boots of the cat-- that give you a CHA bonus when dealing with felines, lets you talk to them, and gives you better jumping & climbing abilities. There is very little of these things in 3e. Magic items are the places that we actually WANT fluff, designers! We don't care about your default campaign design stuff on why halflings have to look like short elves now-- we're making them have hairy feet in our home games anyway. But items-- those deserve more than +4 to STR and +1d6 Dmg.

 

[Treebore]

Suuuuuuuuuuuure.

And then the DM needs to re-write all the monsters, not WotC.

And then the DM needs to re-write all the modules, not WotC.

Why am I paying for these books again?

Cheers, -- N

I don't know. I do know I'm not going to buy rule books that tell me exactly what magic to hand out at what levels. I don't buy these games to have someone tell me how to play a game their way. Thats what I play board games for, and even they are becoming much more free form, if thats what you want.

So if people want 4E to tell them exactly how to DM and play the game, thats fine. I am far more interested in a free form collaborative type game.

Rules that fix the issues brought up by the OP will not be conducive to such gaming. My using all the guidelines in the books and some great suggestions given on boards like this is what I'll use.

Lets face it, the fixes are already in the 3E books, if you own and read them. Boring magic items have been addressed in many books and many issues of Dragon magazine. So has magic item glut. So has being common. So has "need". So has "entitlement".

IF people aren't using them in 3E how is 4E going to fix anything for them?

 

[Lanefan]

I voted for several here, but if I was only allowed to vote for one it would be "Manufacture".

If the PCs can make items then by default everyone else with some levels can make items; and soon the world is swamped in magic, pretty much directly leading to all the other problems in the poll above.

Lanefan

 

[Nifft]

So if people want 4E to tell them exactly how to DM and play the game, thats fine. I am far more interested in a free form collaborative type game.

That's cute, but you're holding the point exactly backwards.

Right now, the game is designed with a bunch of assumptions about what magic items PCs will have. I'd like freedom from those assumptions built into the monsters, traps, encounters, etc. that I buy.

I'd like the supplements I buy to support my style of gaming with less modification.

Also, I'm not sure what "free-form" is supposed to imply in this context, but if you're saying you don't need silly little rules to play -- okay, fine, don't buy them. But don't resent those of us who do want them, and will buy them, and want them to better serve us.

Cheers, -- N

 

[S'mon]

Entitlement is the worst, then Glut - specifically the glut at high level combined with Need, where PCs *have* to have a maximised item array to survive.