On Thu, 5 Apr 2007 20:47:13 +0000 (UTC),
mkkuhner@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Mary K. Kuhner) wrote:
>In a d20 based system a +1 to the roll is fairly marginal--you
>have to have it for a long time before you notice that it's there,
>if you ever do notice. (This does not apply to, for example,
>+1 to damage, which is on a different scale.) If you have a
>low-level party, it seems as though it should be a big deal
>that Fred has a masterwork sword inherited from his adventurer
>granddad; but in practice you won't be able to tell.
>
>Each of my SCAP PCs except the wizard has, differently distributed
>across slots, +3 to +6 in save boosts and +6 to +12 in AC boosts.
>I couldn't reliably tell you what those plusses are coming from,
>and if one plus mysteriously vanished, I'd probably never notice.
>I do notice that the wizard has an AC 13 points lower than the
>rest of the PCs, though, or that the swashbuckler has a Dex 6 points
>higher.
>
>It seems to me that while +1 is undeniably useful--if you load
>up on those across a whole party you can see that something has
>changed--it is not big enough to be noticable on a single PC, and
>that's disappointing. +2 begins to be noticable.
You have a point, but it seems to me that a +1 can be meaningful as a
token. Either as something to say "this effect is real, and not just a
fraud composed of lying flavor text" (e.g. "This is the good-luck
charm my mother gave me." - if it's really a +1 item of protection or
resistance, then it really is a good-luck charm. But if it doesn't
give any game-effect at all, then it's an annoying piece of ignorant
superstition.)
Or as something to say "this is a token of greater things to come."
(e.g. "This is the masterwork greatsword my grandfather gave me when I
came of age. And I'm going to do him proud: By the time I'm finished
it's gonna be a +5 holy greatsword of fire and frost.")
>
>Things like Tillie's ring of See Invisible, which are not externally
>flashy, are definitely flashy to the PC--the wide-eyed look of
>alarm when Tillie sees something that no one else can see is an
>im****tant bit of character byplay. I'd like more of that and less
>+1 protection/resistance/etc.
I don't disagree with you, but there also seems to be an implication
in your posts of "I'd like to get rid of +1 protection/resistance/etc.
entirely, at least if that's what it takes to keep them from being
annoyingly common." I'm not sure I'd want to go that far.
The other interesting thing about Tillie's ring is that it's only
useful against opponents who use magic. *That's* something I'd like to
see more of.
--
Erol K. Bayburt
ErolB1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
