Simplifying a "no magic item" game.

[RangerWickett]

Would it be balanced if I did the following?

1. Magic items no longer grant enhancement bonuses. Magic weapons no longer have critical hit damage dice. (This frees me from having to give out new magic items.)

2. You no longer increase your ability scores as you level.

3. You add your full level to attack rolls and defenses, instead of half level. You still add half your level to skill and ability checks, and now you also add half your level to damage rolls.

4. There are no Implement or Weapon Expertise feats.


This causes PCs and monsters to both increase their attack bonuses and defenses by 1 per level, instead of monsters going 1/level, and PCs being 1/2 level but with compensation from increasing stats and magic item enhancement bonuses.

What do you think?

 

[Dragonblade]

That works out to be about right. PCs might be a little tougher because you are replacing +28 in bonuses over 30 levels with +30 in bonuses over 30 levels.

 

[Aexalon]

Skills and attacks will be just about equal (presuming skills get +1/level too), but damage will be too low (no magical weapon bonus, no crit dice, no increased attributes); as will other attribute-related power properties (like benefits, penalties, slide/pull/push distances, etc.).

 

[the Jester]

I'd consider adding in extra dice to crit damage due to pc badassitude, too.

 

[DanmarLOK]

In regards to 1 and 3

1) I've removed enhancements from armour and items and it does make a huge difference in a 'need' to hand out loot and frees me up to hand out toys. There's zero pressure on the players to upgrade their gear. I do this by given them inherent bonuses that they choose from each level (+1 to hit, +1/1d6 crit, etc and every 5 levels they've selected +1 to hit, +1 damage, +1 skills, +1 AC, +1 FRW and then start over again).

3) I also add 1/2 level to damage output both sides and 1/2 level to healing both sides to make up for it. This seems to work well and reduces the 'power' of feats/bonuses in terms of DPR and flattens the variances in weapon selection.

4) Did away with these as well.

FYI, we also do average damage (no dice rolling) as a option as a significant boost in combat speed and everyone chooses to do it.

All in all I've been happy with the way things are working. The combat balance doesn't seem to be off at all, I use the same XP budgets and a Level +2-4 fight feels like it should compared to bog standard fights.

And to flatten the power curve I remove the 1/2 level to attacks and defenses from both sides. I used a level 10 standard as a boss against a level 3 group and it worked fine.

All that aside, yes you should be fine.

 

[RangerWickett]

Yeah, I was considering just getting rid of level-based bonuses to d20 rolls and defenses (though I'd keep them for damage). I mean, my simulationist bones cry when I see a giant dragon with a Reflex of 35, and a nimble low level critter with a Reflex of 15.

But I was worried that making the game completely flat like that would muck something up. It would probably alter the relative challenge of higher and lower level monsters. Right now, a 5th level monster is considered twice as tough as a 1st level monster. But flatten attacks and defenses, and the 5th level guy really just has maybe 25% more HP, and does a tad more damage.

It would, though, let PCs ride horses without them dying to every area attack, and make even epic heroes consider going along with city guards who have crossbows.

It's one thing to be bad-ass enough to narrowly dodge some arrows (the attacks 'hit,' but don't bloody you) but still be worried about being shot at. It's another to be superheroic enough that no matter how many people are shooting, they'll never wear you down.

 

[DragoonLance]

IIRC, that's how companion characters are handled. I would just add high crit or something similar to all weapons/implements or else just give it to the characters as Jester mentioned a "badass" bonus. Or come up with something else cool for when they roll a crit.

 

[BobTheNob]

To me, it comes down to the type of game you are wanting to play. If your focus was more inherintly on the storytelling and rollplaying aspects (a more generally interpretive game), then yes, what you have proposed would work.

For my own flavour, I see the kick players get when that fat loot drops and they realize they just got a little better, or how they enjoy the fact that there huge strength bonus is really paying off. Constant reward is a cornerstone of RPG's and, for my own game at least, I would be very wary about homoginising it out.

The other thing to consider is that 4E is already a little "cooky cutter" for players i.e. they all do it a little differently, but generally play contribution falls into patterns that arent that different at the end of the day. I wouldnt want to make characters even more indistinguishable.

My two cents...