D&D 4E The 'Big 6' in 4e

[Acts]

Am I the only one that thinks that this is exactly what is going to happen in 4e? Would it really be 'un-fun' if the Big 6 type magic items just disappeared from the game? To be replaced with all those 'cool' type MIs in the MIC?

Your words are the stuff of my very dreams.

 

[JoelF]

One options to reduce the stat boosters is to change it so that only one stat can have an enhancement bonus at once. I know that by high level, I often have 3 or 4 boosted, and even at mid levels I have 2 or 3.

 

[Jer]

Maybe instead of a ring of protection giving a +N deflection bonus, and magic armour giving an armour bonus, you'll just have one type. A ring of protection gives a +N magic bonus to all defenses, as does magic armour. So you can still have bling, it just won't stack. Therefore, there'll no longer be a reason for the Christmas-tree effect.

This is still slightly boring, but you could have other ancillary effects. Maybe it works M times/day, or only when something special happens (eg a sword that gives a bonus when you take down an enemy, or when you're down to 50% hp). Actually, I bet that some of these effects will be curses, just like magic items in the IH DMing guide.

I actually like the idea to not stack bonuses at all - you just get to use your highest.

But I really think that all "+X" magic items should just go away - even the "+X sword" sacred cow. Magic items should give you some cool effect or cool maneuver when you're using them instead of just a 5% statistical bonus per "magical plus".

They won't - they've already told us that there will be "+6 wands" in this edition, but maybe they'll pave the way to removing that sacred cow in 5e

(I would miss Gauntlets of Ogre Power if stat buffs went away completely though - they've been one of my favorite magic items since the Basic D&D days.)

 

[Atlatl Jones]

But I really think that all "+X" magic items should just go away - even the "+X sword" sacred cow. Magic items should give you some cool effect or cool maneuver when you're using them instead of just a 5% statistical bonus per "magical plus".

That's what I'm hoping for too. We can still have magic armor and magic weapons, but instead of boring (and imbalcing) numerical bonuses, the items give interesting new abilities instead.

(I would miss Gauntlets of Ogre Power if stat buffs went away completely though - they've been one of my favorite magic items since the Basic D&D days.)

You can have gauntlets of ogre power without stat buffs. It could be something like "double your carrying capacity, and gain a +2 bonus to damage and strength rolls once per encounter", or something to that effect.

 

[Traycor]

Yes, hopefully the big 6 are now a thing of the past.

In my games I never gave them out, and I never gave them to NPCs (It made many things much simpler. Our party made it from lvl 1 to lvl 30 with no cleric and no wizard over the course of 3 years of so).

I also always hated that a magic sword required at least a +1 in order to give it any other magic ability.

 

[Rechan]

It would be nice if magic items were MAGICAL and did SPECIAL things instead of just aiding the D20.

 

[hong]

I think there's still a place for stuff that gives a flat bonus to rolls. Boring or not, these items do have the advantage that they're easy to use. Just write them on your sheet, add the bonuses to your stats, and forget about them. One thing about items granting special abilities is that it can become a chore to keep track of them all, especially if they're serious about increasing the number of tactical options and class abilities as well.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

I like the idea of keeping stat adjust items, but getting rid of the stacking. A Greater Headband of Intellect might give you an intelligence of 20 which would be unnecessary once your intelligence reaches that level and it would not be game breaking otherwise.

I don't think they will actually do this. But I do think that fewer types of bonuses will stack in 4e.

 

[Victim]

I like the idea of keeping stat adjust items, but getting rid of the stacking. A Greater Headband of Intellect might give you an intelligence of 20 which would be unnecessary once your intelligence reaches that level and it would not be game breaking otherwise.

I strongly disagree. Items and effects that set a flat statistic are extremely problematic in that they most reward characters who are awful in that stat.

 

[Gundark]

But I really think that all "+X" magic items should just go away - even the "+X sword" sacred cow. Magic items should give you some cool effect or cool maneuver when you're using them instead of just a 5% statistical bonus per "magical plus".

Yeah I would LOVE it if they did this rather than the +x thing.