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Aug. 21st, 2008 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinOh, one more thing to throw out there about Dungeons and Dragons: I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Adventurer's Vault supplement. I don't think I've mentioned it in my previous posts, but the single most disappointing aspect of the core books in terms of content was the magic items.
The sort of "modular" standardized approach to them is kind of impressive, but... there's not a huge sense of wonder there. The new system really plays up the fact that the heroes are heroes... they're capable of pulling off action hero stunts at level one... but for whatever reason the magic items feel more like accessories. They're the only part of the system that seems to have become less epic. I understand the new Nerf™ Brand Ring of Regeneration might be less of a game-breaker and fit in better with the healing surges scheme... but at the same time, it's harder to imagine anybody going nuts over finding one. The fact that everything is so mechanically balanced makes me leery about just making items up without more experience or a wider variety of examples.
That's not to say it's all bad. I like the idea of wands and rods and orbs and things as being inherent trappings of wizardry rather than really expensive and rare items with a finite number of uses... but by the same token, I'd love to see more examples of them.
The sort of "modular" standardized approach to them is kind of impressive, but... there's not a huge sense of wonder there. The new system really plays up the fact that the heroes are heroes... they're capable of pulling off action hero stunts at level one... but for whatever reason the magic items feel more like accessories. They're the only part of the system that seems to have become less epic. I understand the new Nerf™ Brand Ring of Regeneration might be less of a game-breaker and fit in better with the healing surges scheme... but at the same time, it's harder to imagine anybody going nuts over finding one. The fact that everything is so mechanically balanced makes me leery about just making items up without more experience or a wider variety of examples.
That's not to say it's all bad. I like the idea of wands and rods and orbs and things as being inherent trappings of wizardry rather than really expensive and rare items with a finite number of uses... but by the same token, I'd love to see more examples of them.
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on 2008-08-26 01:10 am (UTC)(blundering about LJ...)
on 2008-09-30 09:17 pm (UTC)A successful character in 4.0 is expected to need a weapon and/or implement, armor, and a necklace/cloak of resistance.
So, yes, the magic items are more like accessories.