Top end of +N weapons and armor?

[Crazy Jerome]

Assuming we have things like +1 swords and 20 character levels, where would you cap the equipment, in regards to chance to hit for weapons, and AC for armor?

 

[Slander]

+1 for items that can generally be attained / created by PCs. These are "magicked" items.

+Whatever for special items. I'd prefer higher-plused items to have some type of story / reason for their existence beyond "Some wizard poured two more units of mana into this item." The old Gauntlets of Ogre Power, frex, gave the wearer the strength of an ogre, period. If you happened to be stronger than an ogre already ... well, give them to the wizard then. At that level, I'm sure his spell pouch is getting quite heavy.

 

[JohnSnow]

I voted +3. Which seems good enough to be meaningful and small enough that it keeps the to-hit bonuses within the range of acceptable variability.

Because it means something VERY different, I have no problem with higher bonus damage numbers.

I'd actually have the to-hit bonuses of magic swords range from +0 to +3. Even without a bonus, there should be something special about a MAGIC sword.

 

[Minigiant]

+2 for general bonus

+20 for situational bonus

Bring on the Weekender. Blessed by the God of Partying. +10 on nonworkdays and local and federal holidays.

 

[CleverNickName]

I can't remember the last time I placed an item with a +4 or +5.

 

[trancejeremy]

I would like to see 3 tiers

+1 which aren't really even magic, just really, really well made

+3 which is the "normal" level of a magicked item

+5 which are like swords of legend - Durendal, Cortana, so forth

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Plus infinity. I wonder if a system could work where you just add character level to everything.

Seriously, though -- top out bonuses at +5.

 

[Hassassin]

Are you asking for the maximum I would use or what the cap in the DMG should be?

For the former probably +1 or +2 if I use them. For the latter there should be no cap.

 

[triqui]

It really depends on how smooth is going to be the math curve. If they plan to make the AC and attack bonus last longer (they have said so, to allow monsters being viable more levels), then the magic bonuses have to be limited. It's pointless to reduce STR bonus and/or Base Attack Bonus, if then you can add +5 from a sword.

 

[Sunseeker]

I honestly don't care, the power of weapons in the game should depend on the campaign in question.