Kerrick
First Post
Interesting. We came up with a system similar to this a few weeks ago, during the game. It required a little fine-tuning, but it was just what we were looking for.
Specifically: a masterwork weapon has a +1 craftsmanship (or simply craft) bonus. This is NOT enhancement - you can't use the weapon to affect creatures hit by DR x/magic. It also stacks with magical enhancement. Why? Because they're two different things. With this rule, you can enchant a normal (but not sub-par) item. Craftsmanship is merely a reflection of the item being superior in make; if you add magical abilities to it, it shouldn't suddenly lose that superior craftsmanship (balance for swords, say, or the durability of a shield or armor). Plus, for those of you playing low-magic campaigns, or for DMs who are stingy with magic items, or simply for those with low-level parties that they don't want to hand out overly powerful magic weapons/armor to, these are ideal. For weapons, the bonus applies to attack rolls; for armor, it applies to AC and armor penalty (superbly crafted plate mail, for instance, is slightly lighter in weight, more flexible, and the weight is distributed more evenly, enabling the wearer to move more freely). The maximum bonus a non-epic crafter can get is +5; the DC (and cost) increases with each level of craftsmanship. You can't, however, increase the level of craftsmanship - once it's made, it's done and you can't make it any better without totally melting it down and starting over. You can, however, keep adding plusses and abilities.
There's a reason we were looking for something like this, and it's not because we're munchkins (although we ARE powergamers...). Simply put, the only real way to increase AC after awhile is to increas the plus on your armor/shield. I mean you've got your amulet of natural armor, your ring of protection, the plate mail, large shield, and (maybe) a Dex bonus. That'll give you, what, about AC 30? What do you do when you're fighting those monsters that have a +50 attack bonus? On the flip side, if the monster has AC 55, how do you hit it with your measley +7 sword? This is part of the reason the system breaks down at the upper levels - the monsters can continue to grow more powerful in terms of attack rolls and AC (it's not very hard, let's face it), but the PCs can't, without some extreme intervention (read: DM fiat, house rules, a LOT of money, or cheating).
It's not that hard - just remove the bonus from the plusses you get when you make attack and damage rolls. Simple subtraction.
I like this rule, although I might modify it slightly to say, X+1, where X is the enhancement bonus of the weapon. That way you can have a +1 wounding longsword, or a +1 axiomatic mace (I don't think alignment-specific should have been rated +2, personally, but that's neither here nor there). Still, it's a good system for, like you said, eliminating those +1 flaming shocking axiomatic dancing etc. etc. weapons. Someoe mentioned that he liked the new DR system because if "got rid of the arms race to get better and better magical weapons" and I agree, to an extent (again, a side point) - instead of blowing all your cash on enhancements, you can spend it on nifty stuff. But, you can also end up with players having the aforementioned +1 flaming shocking axiomatic dancing etc. etc. weapon. This system also provides a reason for having higher plusses on the weapons without handcuffing the players into HAVING to get them in order to kill this or that monster.
Specifically: a masterwork weapon has a +1 craftsmanship (or simply craft) bonus. This is NOT enhancement - you can't use the weapon to affect creatures hit by DR x/magic. It also stacks with magical enhancement. Why? Because they're two different things. With this rule, you can enchant a normal (but not sub-par) item. Craftsmanship is merely a reflection of the item being superior in make; if you add magical abilities to it, it shouldn't suddenly lose that superior craftsmanship (balance for swords, say, or the durability of a shield or armor). Plus, for those of you playing low-magic campaigns, or for DMs who are stingy with magic items, or simply for those with low-level parties that they don't want to hand out overly powerful magic weapons/armor to, these are ideal. For weapons, the bonus applies to attack rolls; for armor, it applies to AC and armor penalty (superbly crafted plate mail, for instance, is slightly lighter in weight, more flexible, and the weight is distributed more evenly, enabling the wearer to move more freely). The maximum bonus a non-epic crafter can get is +5; the DC (and cost) increases with each level of craftsmanship. You can't, however, increase the level of craftsmanship - once it's made, it's done and you can't make it any better without totally melting it down and starting over. You can, however, keep adding plusses and abilities.
There's a reason we were looking for something like this, and it's not because we're munchkins (although we ARE powergamers...). Simply put, the only real way to increase AC after awhile is to increas the plus on your armor/shield. I mean you've got your amulet of natural armor, your ring of protection, the plate mail, large shield, and (maybe) a Dex bonus. That'll give you, what, about AC 30? What do you do when you're fighting those monsters that have a +50 attack bonus? On the flip side, if the monster has AC 55, how do you hit it with your measley +7 sword? This is part of the reason the system breaks down at the upper levels - the monsters can continue to grow more powerful in terms of attack rolls and AC (it's not very hard, let's face it), but the PCs can't, without some extreme intervention (read: DM fiat, house rules, a LOT of money, or cheating).
It's not that hard - just remove the bonus from the plusses you get when you make attack and damage rolls. Simple subtraction.
I like this rule, although I might modify it slightly to say, X+1, where X is the enhancement bonus of the weapon. That way you can have a +1 wounding longsword, or a +1 axiomatic mace (I don't think alignment-specific should have been rated +2, personally, but that's neither here nor there). Still, it's a good system for, like you said, eliminating those +1 flaming shocking axiomatic dancing etc. etc. weapons. Someoe mentioned that he liked the new DR system because if "got rid of the arms race to get better and better magical weapons" and I agree, to an extent (again, a side point) - instead of blowing all your cash on enhancements, you can spend it on nifty stuff. But, you can also end up with players having the aforementioned +1 flaming shocking axiomatic dancing etc. etc. weapon. This system also provides a reason for having higher plusses on the weapons without handcuffing the players into HAVING to get them in order to kill this or that monster.
