Rules Cleanup - Weapons and Implements, Bonuses and Plusses

[Destil]

Wherein I try and do everything I outlined in the first two points here. Doubt I'll ever even use this in a game, but it's been a while since I scratched my tinkering itch.

To do

• Get basic list of common/uncommon/rare plussed items, establish baselines of what each class can do. Throw out most garbage options and start fresh.
• Faster crit scaling (level 10 PC has a +3 weapon grating +3dX, level 30 has a +9dX): Overpowered, bug or feature?
• Should I also come up with better mastery solution(s)? Remove mastery because the above would be abusive with it?
• Establish baseline rules for things like energy/damage type swapping/adding and constant item bonuses to damage.
• Implements all need an extra bonus. Weapliments also need to be solved here.
• Fix/Improve non-magical throwing weapons.
• Round out support for weapon/implement types.
• Minor feat cleanup - mostly removing old math fix feats.
• Come up with reasons to use martial weapons. Scimitar Dance as a baseline?
• Versatile is mathematically balanced, but unsexy at paragon and epic. Needs something cool.
• Magic shields are uninspiring (though killing armbands will help a lot there).
• Score all weapons (see below), remove the 1-2 point variances, clean up inconsistencies like range (maybe).

A friend did this trying to reverse engineer weapons for a modern variant he was building. There's some outliers but it's very good as a starting point:

Weapons are built with these point totals:

A simple 1 hander is built with 7-9 points.
A simple 2 hander is built with 9-11 points.

A military 1 hander is built with 10-11 points.
A military 2 hander is built with 13-14 points.

A superior 1 hander is built with 11-13 points.
A superior 2 hander is built with 15-16 points.

Each half point of average damage is worth 1 point, including average damage that comes from the brutal property. (2d4 and 1d8 Brutal 1 both cost 10 for example)
A +3 proficiency mod is worth 2 points.
The High Crit feature is worth 1 point.
Off hand is worth 2 points.
Thrown is worth 2 points. The range seems.. totally arbitrary and made up.
Reach is worth 3 points.
Versatile looks like it is free.
Belonging to more than one weapon group is free.

Ranged weapons require a LOT more speculation since there are fewer examples to work with.
Ranged weapons get, for free, load minor and a range of 10/20, 15/30, 20/40 depending on simple, military or superior.
Adding 5/10 to a ranged weapons range is worth 1 point.
Free reloads costs 2 points.
The reload of a repeating crossbow costs 1 point.
No real idea what small is worth, maybe 2 points?

 

[Destil]

Weapon, Armor & Implements charts

New weapons:
Heavy Javlin - Military two handed throwing spear.
Angon - Superior one handed throwing spear. Replaces Tantalyr.
Dory - Superior one-handed reach spear. Replaces warspear.
Hawkeye - Superior two-handed throwing axe.

Other changes:
Gouge - 1d12 brutal 1

Implements
The staff is a two-handed implement, as are any two-handed weapons used as implements.
A focus allows you to add the enhancement bonus and critical damage dice of your implement to your weapon attacks. Ki foci, holy symbols, tomes and totems are all focuses, and are all worn in a character's focus slot.
All other implements are one-handed.

Implement Properties
Arcing: You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls with close and area powers when you attack three or more targets.
Brutal X: You reroll any damage dice with an X or less until they come up higher than X.
Distant: You gain +2 to the range of ranged and area powers.
Energized: You gain a +2/+4/+6 bonus to damage rolls with powers that deal a specific type of damage.
Piercing: You ignore 5/10/15 points of resistance for all powers.
Guarded: You do not provoke attacks of opportunity with area or ranged attacks.
Empowered crit: You gain a 1d10/2d10/3d10 bonus to damage on a critical hit.
Imperiling: Targets take a -1 penalty to saving throws against your save ends powers.
Precise: You gain a +2 attack bonus vs. targets with cover or concealment and a -2 attack penalty to attacks against allies.

 

[Destil]

Magic Items

Weapons and Implements

Magic Weapon or Implement
Type: Any
Rarity: Common
Level: 2: +1; 5: +2; 8: +3; 12: +4; 15: +5; 18: +6; 22: +7; 25: +8; 28: +9
Critical: 1d6 per plus.

Vicious Weapon or Implement
Type: Any
Rarity: Common
Level: 3: +1; 6: +2; 9: +3; 13: +4; 16: +5; 19: +6; 23: +7; 26: +8; 29: +9
Critical: 1d12 per plus.

Lesser Energy Weapon or Implement
A lesser energy item is one of the following enhancements and energy types: Smoldering (fire), Frost (cold), Reverberating (thunder), Static (lightning), Shimmering (radiant), Momentum (force), Dark (necrotic), Verminous (poison), Focused (psychic) or Caustic (acid).
Type: Any
Rarity: Common
Level: 4: +1; 7: +2; 10: +3; 14: +4; 17: +5; 20: +6; 24: +7; 27: +8; 30: +9
Critical: 1d6 energy damage per plus.
Property: Your attacks with this item ignore 5 points of resistance of the same energy type.
Level 13+: Your attacks with this item ignore 10 points of resistance of the same energy type.
Level 23+: Your attacks with this item ignore 15 points of resistance of the same energy type.
Property: Your gain resist 5 against this item's energy type while wielding it.
Level 13+: Your gain resist 10 against this item's energy type while wielding it.
Level 23+: Your gain resist 15 against this item's energy type while wielding it.

Greater Energy Weapon or Implement
All greater energy items have the following properties and power, and specific powers or properties based on the exact enhancement.
Type: Any
Rarity: Uncommon
Level: 4: +1; 7: +2; 10: +3; 14: +4; 17: +5; 20: +6; 24: +7; 27: +8; 30: +9
Critical: 1d6 energy damage per plus.
Power
At Will ✦ Free Action
Trigger: You hit with an attack.
Effect: You deal 1d6 energy damage to one target of the triggering attack, no bonuses apply to this damage roll.
Level 14+: Increase damage to 1d10.
Level 24+: Increase damage to 2d8.
Special: You can only use this power once per round.

• Flaming (fire)
  Critical: 1d10 fire damage per plus and ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends). At level 14 this increases to ongoing 10 fire damage, at level 24 this increases to ongoing 15 fire damage.
  Power
  Flaming Burst
  Daily ✦ No Action
  Trigger: You score a critical hit.
  Effect: Double the damage dealt by this item's at will power for five minutes or until the wielder's next short rest.
  
• Icy (cold)
  Property: The at-will power of this item also slows the target (save ends) when triggered by hitting with a daily attack power. If the attack already slows the target takes a -2 item penalty to saving throws against the slow effect.
  Power
  Ice Slick
  Encounter ✦ Immediate Interrupt
  Range: Close Burst 5
  Trigger: A creature within range moves.
  Target: The triggering creature.
  Effect: You knock the target prone and slide them one square.
  
• Shocking (Lightning)
  Daze
  
• Thundering (thunder)
  Push & Prone
  
• Brilliant (radiant)
  Blind?
  
• Forceful (force)
  Critical: +2d4 force damage per plus and you slide the target one square.
  Property: You gain a +1 item bonus to any push, pull or slide while wielding this item.
  Property: When you use the at will power of this item, the triggering attack deals full damage to insubstantial targets.
  
• Necrotic - Life Draining
  Extra Damage + Gain Temp HP
  
• Poison - Poisonous
  Ongoing damage + weaken
  
• Psychic
  Something other than an attack penalty
  
• Acidic (acid)
  Critical: Ongoing 10 acid (+1 +2), Ongoing 15 Acid (+3 4) Ongoing 20 Acid (+5 +6) Ongoing 25 Acid (+7 +8) Ongoing 30 Acid (+9)
  Property: Creatures suffer a -2 item penalty to saving throws against ongoing damage caused by powers you use while wielding this weapon.
  Power
  Reactive Residue
  Daily No Action
  Trigger: A creature saves vs. ongoing damage caused by this item.
  Effect: The target takes 2d6 acid damage per tier.

Lightning 2? Rare?
Property: When you use an encounter or daily power that allows you to move or shift while wielding this item you can move through opponent's spaces, the first time you enter an opponents space each turn you deal lightning damage to them equal to the damage dealt by this item's at will power. If you end your turn in an opponents space you fall prone.
Property: You gain a +2 item bonus to defenses against opportunity attacks while wielding this item.

Rare
Sunblade
Any light blade, heavy blade or axe
Power (at will, free action): All damage dealt by this weapon is radiant damage in addition to any other damage types, and any attack power you use gains the radiant keyword. Another free action switches this back.
Property: Any one handed sunblade gains the off hand property.
Property: Increase all damage dice of this weapon by one step, reduce any brutal values by half.
Power (at will): Energized Radiant.

Focus of the Stars
Any holy symbol, ki focus, tome or rod
Power (at will, free action): All damage dealt by this implement is radiant damage in addition to any other damage types, and any attack power you use gains the radiant keyword. Another free action switches this back.
Property: Gain an item bonus to religion and arcana checks equal to the item's enhancement bonus.
Power (minor at will):
Power (daily free):

 

[Destil]

Feats

Remove - All expertise feats, improved defense feats.

New Feats

Implement Training
Choose one of the following properties, you can apply the benefits of that property to any implement attack you make: Sweeping, Distant, Energized (choose one energy type), Piercing, Guarded, Empowered crit, Imperiling, Precise, Brutal 1.
Special: Any characters who can use implements gains this as a bonus feat at first level. If you gain the ability to use implements after first level you also gain this as a bonus feat.

Superior Implement Training
Prerequisite: Implement Training
You gain a second bonus from the list for implement training.

Superior Combat Training
Choose one superior weapon training feat. You also gain Superior Implement Training as a bonus feat.

Weapon Proficiency (Superior Weapons) [Superior Weapon Training]
You gain proficiency with a superior weapon of your choice.

Heavy Hurl [Superior Weapon Training]
When you wield a warhammer or a battle axe they gain the Heavy Thrown properties and a range of 3/6.

Hafted Defense [Superior Weapon Training]
When you wield a staff or a polearm in both hands you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC and reflex defense.

Offhand defense
When you wield a non-weapon implement in your off hand, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC and reflex defense.

 

[Destil]

Misc

[anything else goes here]

 

[SabreCat]

Have you seen the Magic Item Reset underway on the Square Fireballs blog? Some of the design ideas there might have useful insights for your project, and his list have a thing or two to crib.

 

[Destil]

No I hadn't.

...


Nice to see I'm not the only person who felt all healing bonuses should be typed and expressed as a bonus to healing surge value.

 

[Destil]

So I don't forget:

Move mastery feats to Paragon Tier, add Level 18 Prerequisite. Level 21 'combat mastery' has no requirements. Remove ability to retrain feats cross tier so you have a small mechanical advantage for getting the harder to attain mastery.

Critical thoughts: Extra crit damage means multi-attacks are still most likely the optimal choices (even after killing bracers and staff of ruin). Very minor issue, no solution so far worth the lack of elegance (+2d6 per tier crits, for example). A 2d8 +2 superior weapon is most likely overpowered on a crit at high level, hence 2d6 brutal 1. Need to watch when scaling dice here.

Two weapon fighting is spot on compared to what you'd get from a two-hander.... for 1[W] attacks. So it versatile.

Defensive feels like it should be 2 points by the above chart. Think this solves superior weapon training: model after Hafted Defense. Removed the damn war-spear and there's a reason to use the martial pole-arms (a one, no prerequisite feat that gives bonus on-par with Superior Weapon Prof).

Need a way to keep weapelement users from ever taking two feats. Superior weapon and implement need to be bundled at some level.

Implements are problematic in general, I don't want a list of dozens of redundant ones. Identify the best/most versatile/most class fitting 6 or so properties and stick those in the list, use feats for the rest. Focus (you have one focus slot, adds plusses and crit to weapons) vs. one handed vs. two handed needs to be valued.

 

[Destil]

EDIT: I started looking at reasonable house rules for an actual game. But that's not what this thread's for. Heh.

 

[Gorgoroth]

yaya

"Versatile is mathematically balanced, but unsexy at paragon and epic. Needs something cool."

I also like versatile weapons, and think there could be a feat to allow anyone to attack a second time with a -5 penalty at paragon. Rangers can attack the second time with no penalty. This would encourage the two-handed focused multi-attacking ranger while being roughly equivalent damage-wise to a superior one handed weapon, save cash, and allow Aragorn builds.

but ya, looking forward to your other fixes