Reduced Reliance on Magic Items?

[Elric]

I give the PCs in my campaign a +1 level bonus at each and every level while removing all magic item bonuses and banning Expertise feats.

Critical damage is one die per five levels.

No level bonus to Initiative and skill checks.

PCs also get full level bonus to damage on all powers to speed up combat while monsters get 1/2 level bonus to damage for balance.

This is way too favorable to the players. By the time you get to level 30 under these rules, players have 15 higher attack from level bonuses than in the current system and lose 9 points from Expertise/enhancement. That's a huge benefit: 6 points compared to where PCs are right now.

Likewise, defenses go up by 15 due to this level increase and only drop by 6 for removing magic item enhancement. That means by level 30 PC are ahead 9 points compared to where they are right now.

The game's default numbers are not that unfavorable to the PCs (see calculation in http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...ves-feat-tax-solution-hit-f-r-w-defenses.html). This solution is excessive.

 

[Alisair Longreach]

Elric, I know that my house rules are quite excessive but is quite deliberate. I'm soon starting an Eberron campaign and I want it to be fast-paced and over the top. I want my player's PCs to be able to do a fast and heavy smack-down on their opponents.

I'm a lazy DM, I don't want to finetune and balance every encounter. I just want want to plop down some monsters, run them straight out of the Monster Manual with maybe a few on-the-fly modificitaions, talk trash to the PCs and have them get stomped and then move the plot along.