Would like some help evaluating an item

[Greenfield]

To point, my character does have to pay the party for it, though he can use his party share of the loot to cover part of the cost.

And in that sense, it isn't a "Christmas Present", as has been suggested.

Loonook and I just read things differently, and I suspect that we'll disagree a lot because of that.

I freely admit that I don't own all the books, and I don't know all the items or prestige class options from those sources. Heck, I get surprised every now and then reading the core books.

That's one reason I ask for numbers. Numbers I know, I can work with. They don't lie.

For example, I hadn't been aware of Crystal Echoblade before this discussion. I have the MIC that it comes from, I just hadn't ever used it before. Similarly, I haven't ever used Feycrafted weapons, even though I own the DMG II it's found in.

I was also surprised by the casual suggestion that we could simply invent a greater form of Feycraft that gives attack and damage bonuses like magical enhancements, that stack with magical enhancements (unlike the Master Worked bonus), yet somehow don't count as magical enhancements, and don't count against the +10 limit on enhancements.

Talk about Christmas presents... Inventing new rules on the fly to suit yourself? They have a word for that where I come from: Cheating.

Maybe they call it something else in other parts of the world.

But to each their own. Every game group is different.

 

[anest1s]

Well, the solution is simple - sell it. Next turn you DM throw in a couple of monsters without treasure. Balance restored.

However don't call it cheating. Cheating doesn't happen by mistake, plus it would benefit the cheater if it was.

 

[Greenfield]

I wasn't accusing anyone of "cheating" by mistake. Technically, I wasn't accusing anyone of cheating at all. Just inventing new rules on the fly to suit themselves and/or their argument.

The idea of inventing an "enhanced" version of Feycraft wasn't made by mistake or as an oversight. It was made as a way to get a +1 enhancement without actually paying for it. Which may sound a lot like cheating, but really, it was just an alternate rule created on the fly for convenience sake. Really.

Feycraft is an odd template. It effectively grants a feat, in exchange for what amounts to a -1 on damage. (Drops dice size by one). It's sort of a balancing act where you trade in about half of an enhancement (damage, not to hit) for a built in Weapon Finesse capability.

The "Enhanced" Feycraft would take away that penalty, plus a little. (A D4 +1 isn't really the same as a D6, any more than a D6 -1 is the same as a D4. The numbers don't work that way.)

And while the Feycraft template may say, plain as day and so clearly that even a lawyer should be able to understand it, that such items are made of cold iron, if someone wants to say that that doesn't mean they have to be made of cold iron, who am I to argue? Obviously words don't mean the same thing to everyone.

'I don't know what you mean by "glory",' Alice said.
Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. 'Of course you don't — till I tell you. I meant "there's a nice knock-down argument for you!"'
'But "glory" doesn't mean "a nice knock-down argument",' Alice objected.
'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'

 

[Noumenon]

To point, my character does have to pay the party for it, though he can use his party share of the loot to cover part of the cost.

And in that sense, it isn't a "Christmas Present", as has been suggested.

The "Christmas present" refers to the DM picking out something he hopes you'll like. The reasons it never works out definitely include the fact that many parties expect you to give up all your other treasure to pay back for the one "good" one you got. Who wants a Christmas present you have to pay for? That's one reason I decided to ditch the detailed intraparty accounting system and let peer pressure determine who deserves what instead.

 

[Greenfield]

Epilogue: I asked the DM specifically if there was supposed to be some long term plot hook associated with that item. He said no.

The group agreed with me (we talked and took a vote) that the item was out of place in our campaign, and so, with the DM's permission, it was sold to someone outside the party.

And no, I don't get to design or even ask for a replacement. I gave it up and it's gone.