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<blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 4953824" data-attributes="member: 3400">You make it sound like it's a bad thing. I'd say it more closely mirrors some literary antecedents of D&amp;D itself. Take Lord of the Rings for example. The Hobbits may fairly serendipitously pick up some old blades of Westernesse in the barrows, but on the other hand, Frodo gets Sting and the mithril shirt upgrade at a particularly opportune time in the story and not by specific quest or random plunder. The same goes for Aragorn with Anduril. Boromir has his horn as part of his concept.All of these characters have particular conceptualizations realized, in part, as the story advances but always fully under control. A more Champions-eque model of gear introduction can work pretty well at presenting a coherent concept.Other styles of play, a bit more Conan or Lankhmar, may run a bit differently partly because the main focus characters tend to be on the mercenary side of life, taking what they can get. But that's hardly the only heroic model, particularly contrasted against LotR where characters gain things more by right and heroic destiny than by serendipitous plunder or even deliberate quest.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="billd91, post: 4953824, member: 3400"] You make it sound like it's a bad thing. I'd say it more closely mirrors some literary antecedents of D&D itself. Take Lord of the Rings for example. The Hobbits may fairly serendipitously pick up some old blades of Westernesse in the barrows, but on the other hand, Frodo gets Sting and the mithril shirt upgrade at a particularly opportune time in the story and not by specific quest or random plunder. The same goes for Aragorn with Anduril. Boromir has his horn as part of his concept. All of these characters have particular conceptualizations realized, in part, as the story advances but always fully under control. A more Champions-eque model of gear introduction can work pretty well at presenting a coherent concept. Other styles of play, a bit more Conan or Lankhmar, may run a bit differently partly because the main focus characters tend to be on the mercenary side of life, taking what they can get. But that's hardly the only heroic model, particularly contrasted against LotR where characters gain things more by right and heroic destiny than by serendipitous plunder or even deliberate quest. [/QUOTE]

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