Stat Booster Angst

[Amitiel]

I think the major problem with stat boosters is that they're boring. A die roll modifier is not a wondrous thing. Then again, I've held this belief since I picked up my first sword +1 in 1979.

Amen brother. I started out in 1983 with the Red Box, I sill have the books and dice from it. Simply handing me a +1sword is lame, magic items should be special. Even a +1longsword can be cool if it comes with an interesting name and history. We describe the item first and work out visible manifestaions of their power and get to the stats later. A +5 Holy Avenger in my game was described in much the same way as a WH40K Astartes Power Sword (blue energy field around the blade that cuts into opponants before the actual blade touches,ect)

 

[Draxo]

I dont know.. i just see items like gauntlets of ogre power to be so iconically D&D that i couldnt do without them. Those gauntlets were the first magic item i ever found (discounting potions of cure light wounds) so they have a special place in my nerdish heart =)

Really.. I dont look at the numbers and blanch.. (though even reading through this thread, I dont see anything too out of line) I look at the fluff of the items. Gloves that make me stronger! A wonderful cloak that makes me more graceful.. I love the idea of these things.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Ewwww. Adelaide water. Ewwwww

No recycled sewerage water here. Although, having said that, it probably would improve our water quality if we did!

Olaf the Stout

 

[EyeontheMountain]

I'm in the camp of stat. booster-haters.

They give far too much bang for their buck. Compare them to any other item of comperable worth and the amount of effective feats, spell levels and bonuses they give is just crazy. And the problem jsut gets worse at higher levels. Whereas a +6 on a 14 is amazing, a +6 on a 20 is horrible, and at epic levels a +6 on a 24 is way out of line. (Especially when theat 24 is pre-epic) If you have a 20 wisdom (say on a cleric) you get

Bonus 2,3,6,7,8 spells (That is 162, 000 gold worth of pearls of power.)
+3 to will saves (two feats)
+3 to a lot of nice skills (Spot, Listen, Sense Motive, etc) Skill focus feat per skill.
+3 to armor if you use the Monk's Belt trick. (Might as well)
+3 to DCs. (Awesome amount of feats if you looks at spell focus chains)
And more

Just too much. And to rant on a bit mroe

To me the whole Save DC vs saving throw system has gotten totally out of whack to where a player can get an insane save bonus easily but a mage/cleric cannot keep up even with these insane stat boosters. And that is wrong. Take the most valuable items for their cost inteh game, and even thy cannot help a primary spellcaster get spells through half the time? Just wrong

 

[William drake]

I'm constantly surprised at the anger I see directed at stat boosters. What's the difference between a Periapt of Wisdom +6 and a +5 sword? They both grant simple and basic bonuses; I'm just confused at to why one is thought harshly of and the other not.

TS

I see your point. They are the same. However, I think stacking items gets a bit old. Also, what happens to that player when he cant use them, or they get broken. I'll tell you, an angry player who feels that the Dm is out to get him. But, if one or two stats are above the norm...that's fine, but if alot of the stats are way up there, I find that the other players feel that there's a bit of cheating or w/e going on. Also, I think when people boost their social skills, or stats above the norm...its ok, because those things don't kil foes or get them the most ex by alot of DM's gameplay. So, that doesn't bother players...what bothers them is when one player can kill or dodge, or take anything that comes his way with ease....

Game On.

 

[Stalker0]

To me the whole Save DC vs saving throw system has gotten totally out of whack to where a player can get an insane save bonus easily but a mage/cleric cannot keep up even with these insane stat boosters. And that is wrong. Take the most valuable items for their cost inteh game, and even thy cannot help a primary spellcaster get spells through half the time? Just wrong

I think you have that backwards. A caster only needs one +6 item to have a big DC, you need 3 +6 items to get the equivalent bump to all your saves. The best saves scale as good as spell DCs, but the poor saves are much worse. In my opinion, DCs scale up better than saving throws.

 

[molonel]

The only reason I dislike stat boosting items, and this is just me personally, is because I hate doing math. And especially in games with dead magic zones, or where the DM is addicted to anti-magic zones, it means I have to track my non-magic stats, saves, skill checks, attack rolls, damage rolls, blah blah blah.

The next time I run an epic D&D game, if it starts at epic, I may very well just tell the players to lop 1,041,000 off their starting gold and add +11 to all of their stats (+5 inherent, +6 enhancement) and just call it good.

 

[Sound of Azure]

No recycled sewerage water here.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. People are acting far too squeamishly about something that's one of many realistic solutions. Enough threadjacking, however.

---
As for the actual topic, the items in question haven't often come up in my games. Players I've gamed with have tended to be more interested in items that blow stuff up, with the occasional exception of those playing spellcasters.

They much prefer the more flavourful (custom) items with greater backstories, usually because of the legends associated with such items, and the prestige that comes from using such items of power. Generic +x items are all very well, but not very interesting, IMO.

 

[billd91]

Stat boosters don't bother me a bit. The most you get out of them is a +3 modifier to things you do, so I can't see them as problematic. It's nice but it pales in comparison to the main bonuses (BAB, Base Saves, Skill Ranks, etc) that the character builds up as they level up.

 

[EyeontheMountain]

I think you have that backwards. A caster only needs one +6 item to have a big DC, you need 3 +6 items to get the equivalent bump to all your saves. The best saves scale as good as spell DCs, but the poor saves are much worse. In my opinion, DCs scale up better than saving throws.

With Multiclassing, feats that switch ability scores to other saves and such, getting high saves is child's play even without putting magic items into the mix.

How easy is it for Mages? And the only magic items that really do it are the overpowered stat boosters. That is my point.

I think yuou missed my point by quite a margin.