Quote from: Antiquation!;1115626Out of curiosity, does 5e have anything like that?

Not that I've seen.

And as far as magic items growing, Earthdawn did it way better back in the 90s.

Quote from: HappyDaze;1115631Not that I've seen.

And as far as magic items growing, Earthdawn did it way better back in the 90s.

Can't say I've read Earthdawn, but I've heard it's a cool setting. Maybe I'll check it out.

Quote from: HappyDaze;1115631And as far as magic items growing, Earthdawn did it way better back in the 90s.

How did Earthdawn do it?

Quote from: Zalman;1115643How did Earthdawn do it?

The item has X ranks of powers. You have to unlock them by uncovering lore and/or doing deeds then spending XP to connect a magical "thread" between your legend and that of the item. Eventually, once you master all X ranks of the item, you might even be able to develop an X+1 (and maybe more) rank of power for the item. Most items can only have threads woven to them by a limited number of people at one time (so Mjolnir obviously has a thread to Thor and Odin, but later to Steve Rogers after Odin dies).

I have to admit that in all my years of listening to people complain about boring magical pluses on weapons, the idea of a +0 magical weapon is the worst that I ever heard.

I dont know how I would even run that past my players.

Quote from: Omega;1115623Keep in mind that prior a wizard had on hand to apply to problems only the spells they had memorized for each spell slot. They were not "swiss army knives" they were "Batman utility belts". Make do with what you happened to prep before going out to smack evil around today.

Considering that Batmans utility belt most likely contains a swiss army knife it really seems like a distinction without a difference.

Quote from: Shasarak;1115646I have to admit that in all my years of listening to people complain about boring magical pluses on weapons, the idea of a +0 magical weapon is the worst that I ever heard.

I dont know how I would even run that past my players.

If it serves a function (e.g., bypassing damage resistance or shedding light when drawn), then it's still useful.

Quote from: HappyDaze;1115648If it serves a function (e.g., bypassing damage resistance or shedding light when drawn), then it's still useful.

Shedding light would at least be useful.

Quote from: Shasarak;1115646I have to admit that in all my years of listening to people complain about boring magical pluses on weapons, the idea of a +0 magical weapon is the worst that I ever heard.

Worse than the game breaking and boring AF idea of the pluses themselves?

Back in the day when I was first introduced into the game and my mind wasn't yet poisoned by game conventions and assumptions I remember thinking why they had to make weapon enchantments a +X instead of making it stuff like some type of elemental damage that did a ton of damage (like 2d6) for a brief period on activation, or some type of spell-like ability, like Fear, Light (for low level weapons) or Haste, etc. And have the activation effects be X times a day, or maybe something that required some sacrifice from the character, like taking a small amount of damage, or stamina damage, if the game had that type of mechanic, or maybe require some activation roll and be limited to once per encounter.

But instead we have to content with persistent bonuses that throw the game balance out of wack once you pile them up on top of all the other bonuses characters get from their normal combat progression, special abilities (which I prefer over magic items and would give items up before special abilities) and other magic items. And these magic +s are then required to actually damage certain creatures that become less challenging cuz the + required to damage them actually boosts your attack and damage (persistently) on top of ignoring their oh so fearsome resistance to non-magic weapons, which becomes a joke at that point unless you get disarmed or something.

Quote from: Shasarak;1115646I dont know how I would even run that past my players.

Maybe your players should consider not being munchkins

Quote from: VisionStorm;1115659Worse than the game breaking and boring AF idea of the pluses themselves?

If I was to make an estimate then I would guess that a +0 is probably a million times more boring then a +1

QuoteMaybe your players should consider not being munchkins

Yeah maybe we can sit around the game table holding hands and singing Kumbaya.  :rolleyes:

Quote from: Shasarak;1115666If I was to make an estimate then I would guess that a +0 is probably a million times more boring then a +1

Not if you replace the +X bonus with spell-like effects that work on activation, like I mentioned in the rest of my post. :rolleyes:

Quote from: Shasarak;1115666Yeah maybe we can sit around the game table holding hands and singing Kumbaya.  :rolleyes:

OR you could go out and fight monsters using your actual skills and powers, instead of relying on magic toys to do the work for you.

Im not for munchkinism, but Im not sure why bonuses are bad and boring.

I mean I find most D&D bonuses bad and boring because they are both kinda piddly insignificant and required at the same time.

Its the tiny incrimentalism that makes it dull.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee;1115680Its the tiny incrimentalism that makes it dull.

It's like getting a 0.04% annual raise or leveling up in Alternity.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee;1115680Im not for munchkinism, but Im not sure why bonuses are bad and boring.

My issue at least is that all those bonuses add up. And while they may seem tiny at first, when you have a bunch of +2s and +3s, etc. from half a dozen different sources, including other magic items, special benefits, like feats (or old weapon mastery), class abilities and normal combat progression (before 5e) those bonuses can reach values in excess of +10 really fast, or even higher than +20 with higher level characters, which is where you start getting into "needs a natural 1 to fail--even against high difficulties" territory.

Quote from: Shrieking Banshee;1115680I mean I find most D&D bonuses bad and boring because they are both kinda piddly insignificant and required at the same time.

Its the tiny incrimentalism that makes it dull.

I have come to accept this as a fact of life in RPGs, and all systems have this issue, it's just some disguise it better than others. d100 systems hide it behind the fact you're work with higher variables, so a +5 bonus seems higher than a +1 bonus to a d20, even though mathematically they're the same thing. And dice pool systems hide it behind extra dice to maybe score one more success, etc. But ultimately if you want to avoid things going off the rails in terms of balance, you have to work with small increments.

Greetings!

Hmmm...I would think a Gladius, having a silver inlaid handle, with the pommel being carved into a shrewdly detailed wolf head, would be well-recieved by players. The weapon has a +1 enchanted bonus, and sheds light like a torch after sundown, or otherwise in darkness. The sword inflicts 1d8 damage dice when fighting against Orcs, Beastmen, or creatures of Chaotic alignment. The wielder of the sword may enjoy the benefit of being *Hasted* up to 3/day, gaining a bonus weapon attack. Each use of the special Hasted power has a three round duration. The Hasted power may be activated through the wielder uttering the command phrase, "Glory to the Empire!". The special command phrase is delicately inscribed in an old, archaic human tongue, along the base of the blade near the handle. The sword's scabbard is crafted of black leather, fine steel, and inlaid with copper accents along the scabbatd's length.

The owner of the weapon periodically hears occasional whispers of encouragement, stirring exhortations, and solemn chanting from the ancient blade.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK