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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions
Points of Light, Dawn War, and Magic Item Economy (4e)
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7807722" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>I was talking in another thread about the post-Dawn-War state of the Astral Sea in 4e's cosmology, and I'm reminded of a little issue with the whole Points of Light thing.</p><p></p><p>So, the PoL concept was a pretty bold, IMHO, often-ignored, attempt at creating a darker, more heroic, maybe more S&S mood for D&D. The idea being that (benevolent) civilization is the exception, that monster-haunted wilderness, ruins, evil empires and all manner of 'darkness' is the bulk of the campaign world. Lots of opportunity for adventure, lots of reasons the PCs have to solve serious problems all on their own.</p><p></p><p>And 4e, with The Plane Above, took that theme straight up to heaven and on to the afterlife, which struck me as overdoing it a bit.</p><p></p><p>But, there was one glaring exception to the whole PoL theme, and that was the magic item make/buy economy. 4e kept make/buy as a standard assumption from 3e, but removed the significant advantage of /making/ items, which required an implausibly vibrant and liquid market in magic items at all levels (albeit, for out-there sums of money - gp, pp, /astral diamonds/ at epic), which, in turn, implied lots of buyers/sellers - consumers, really - of high level magic items, which implied huge numbers of high level beings supplying and driving that market. Which, in no way aligns with the circumambient darkness and eternal desperation of the PoL conceit.</p><p></p><p>Other than flipping on inherent bonuses and forgetting about wealth/level & make/buy, entirely (maybe using boons &c) - which is legit, sure - did anyone reconcile that? </p><p>Make the ready availability of items at all levels with the scattered hold-outs of civilization setting?</p><p></p><p>Anyone just toss the PoL thing, instead, and run everything, I guess, FR/Sharn-style high-magic?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7807722, member: 996"] I was talking in another thread about the post-Dawn-War state of the Astral Sea in 4e's cosmology, and I'm reminded of a little issue with the whole Points of Light thing. So, the PoL concept was a pretty bold, IMHO, often-ignored, attempt at creating a darker, more heroic, maybe more S&S mood for D&D. The idea being that (benevolent) civilization is the exception, that monster-haunted wilderness, ruins, evil empires and all manner of 'darkness' is the bulk of the campaign world. Lots of opportunity for adventure, lots of reasons the PCs have to solve serious problems all on their own. And 4e, with The Plane Above, took that theme straight up to heaven and on to the afterlife, which struck me as overdoing it a bit. But, there was one glaring exception to the whole PoL theme, and that was the magic item make/buy economy. 4e kept make/buy as a standard assumption from 3e, but removed the significant advantage of /making/ items, which required an implausibly vibrant and liquid market in magic items at all levels (albeit, for out-there sums of money - gp, pp, /astral diamonds/ at epic), which, in turn, implied lots of buyers/sellers - consumers, really - of high level magic items, which implied huge numbers of high level beings supplying and driving that market. Which, in no way aligns with the circumambient darkness and eternal desperation of the PoL conceit. Other than flipping on inherent bonuses and forgetting about wealth/level & make/buy, entirely (maybe using boons &c) - which is legit, sure - did anyone reconcile that? Make the ready availability of items at all levels with the scattered hold-outs of civilization setting? Anyone just toss the PoL thing, instead, and run everything, I guess, FR/Sharn-style high-magic? [/QUOTE]
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