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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BobTheNob" data-source="post: 5355898" data-attributes="member: 82425">The other day, rather than giving out treasure, I gave the party gold rather than loot so they could buy and upgrade. The whole gaming session ended up with players searching through bloated loot lists, making a few timid picks, and then saying, "You pick for me" (I.e. back to the DM to use his private time to do the searching)At the same time, players are so "loot loaded" that they barely keep track of their own gear!So, in response, the campaign changed tack, and the party woke up in Hell with no memories of their former lives (thats the plot, there is alot more to it) and NO EQUIPMENT! I am using this plot point to change tack completely on equipment as follows1. Using Inherent Bonus's. Gear does NOT carry a +X rating at all! Just Properties and Powers2. Throwing out WOTC loot lists all together. Gear is specific to campaign and totally design by me (even if mostly just existing loot knock offs)3. The loot I create is still common/uncommon/rare. Common loot being mainly "skill" lootAdvantages1. Break the "must have +X at stage of game to be feasible" issue. This is key. It was great in earlier editions to get that next stage of weapon, but in 4e its just requirement. I prefer equipment to be "icing on the cake" of your character, rather than being the cake itself2. Prevent tralling. Going through loot lists is just a time killer, and most of the time you end up with something thats "kinda" ok, or completely OP3. I can hand out less. Dont need gear to remain feasible. Prevent the "golf bag" of equipment4. I can get rid of access to equipment I find fundamentally flawed (like the staff of destruction)5. I hate (and I mean HATE) character builds based on possession of certain items (e.g. wintertouched/lasting frost/frost weapon). I just find this to be an appalling practice. I remember the old days when finding a piece of equipment was exciting and random, now its "but DM, if you dont give me that XXXX this build wont work!" (grumble....so dont create builds based on equipment in the first place!). My players dont do this (frankly, they are better than that), but its still vomit worthy to me.When coming up with loot (Uncommon and rare), I have defined some core guidelines1. Do NOT scale numbers that correlate to d20 (of "to hit"/success) rolls. A bonus of +X is as good at level 1 as it is at level 30. Scaling them up is an error (which I think even WOTC is starting to recognize)2. Items must scale Damage and Damage reduction, and anything scaled against hit points. Said scaling is AUTOMATIC with character level. Why?...3. Players are not obligated to "teir up" their gear. That sword they find at level 1 will work just as well at level 304. Generally an uncommon item is a property or a power, rare is a "clutch" of things5. What equipment does is to be "build independent". Not always totally achievable, but a good goal none-the-less6. (and this one I love) Gear doesn't take characters in new directions. Rather, it is intended to compliment what they already do. For instance, fighters wont be able to throw fireballs because they found an item, but an item that increases mark penalty...I hope this goes well. We have been playing this party for a long time now and loot got completely out of control. Hopefully this will get things far more manageable and still keep the thrill of equipment.</blockquote>

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