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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Crazy Jerome" data-source="post: 5699085" data-attributes="member: 54877">It was hinted at a couple of times by earlier posters, but one way to do it is to simply make the equipment a different measurement for power.  Take the 4E way now. Each character gets a level. The DM can use the XP budget and the character levels to determine a standard challenge (or an easy one or a tough one). If the PCs overcome it, they get set XP for that challenge, divided by the number of characters. So consider a very overt way to include this measurement. Your "effective character level" (ECL) is your character level + "equipment level", where equipment level is determined by the amount of gear that you have. When the DM wants to make a standard challenge, he looks at ECL, instead of character level. This naturally means that "standard" encounters for a party with a lot of treasure grant more XP than "standard" encounters for a party with little to no treasure--because they are built on a bigger XP budget. However, each encounter should be relatively tough (and thus challenging and fun) compared to what the party can handle. Or you can modify that to take into account a strange simulationist/gamist mindset. Namely, the ECL is considered somehow in the XP gain and/or XP character leveling chart. So when you get a +1 sword, this gain in power is reflected in your overall power, and thus it takes that much more to level. This is similar to the racial levels in 3.*, as suggested by an earlier poster. Taking to its logical conclusion, I doubt many would consider the full version of that last modification very fun. There would be all kinds of edge cases where characters got penalized for finding good magic equipment, which is right out of any form of D&D I'd ever want to play. Still, there is something to be said, from both the game play and simulation perspective, for a modest feedback brake of that nature. Perhaps if equipment reaches a certain critical threshold, it gives a -5% XP penalty, or some such, because the characters are relying on the equipment, not their own abilities. They'd rather have the equipment than not, because the raw XP from the greater challenges is more than the 5% penalty. Conversely, an equipment poor group is getting a modest boost.  Then you give the DM guidelines on how to adjust the penalties and thresholds to fit the kind of game they want. I think it can safely be said that for the vast majority of games, there is some point where there can be too little and/or too much equipment reliance. So once set, magic is still useful and helpful, but beyond a certain point, it just isn't worth the effort anymore.</blockquote>

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