Magic Items are rare

[Lord Eldred]

Orginally posted by Ariadne

In my oppinion magic items shouldn't be restricted, but each item should have a history to explain them.

In requiring a unique history wouldn't that reduce the number of magic items and thus restricting them? I agree that each should be a unique item with history. I just don't think there should be thousands of +2 long swords with unique histories.

[Ariadne]

You're right, that there can't be thousands of items with the same abilitiy. But maybe each of these long swords +2 has something unique (may be that one can be only wielded by someone with Andurias bloodline, because it was wielded at Deismaar and became magical there through Anduria's essence). Something like this would explain a majority of items, because for example at Deismaar many items of all kind were wielded/ worn (at Deismaar many items could be created, so you have no thousands of long swords +2, but many long swords +... of any kind).

[Lord Eldred]

SO defacto you agree in limiting magic in Birthright or am I missing something?

[Ariadne]

Defacto yes, I think so...

[Lord Eldred]

Orginally posted by Ariadne

Defacto yes, I think so...

;)

[Kappenkriaucheran]

Orginally posted by Lawgiver
I feel that this helps close the deficiency gap between character levels and armor. Its not feasible that a 1st level fighter would have a 50/50 chance to hit an unarmored 12th level fighter (AC 10) in combat simply because he has no armor. Surely a skilled 12th level fighter could defend himself better than that from a novice.

IMO there are ways in AD&D2 to do a workaround. The 12th level fighter in your case has more attacks than his 1st-level opponent, so he designates one of his attacks as a parry (as in the Fighter´s Handbook, with a good chance of success) and finishes the 1st-level fighter off with his remaining attack(s). Alternatively, he can opt for the shield-block (Combat&Tactics) instead.
He can lower his AC without armor though by specializing twice in the One-handed Weapon style and purchasing the class ability Defense Bonus (Skills&Powers). From AC 10 to AC 6, that´s not bad without Dex bonuses.

[soudhadies]

Or the 12th level fighter could just take the hit, which to his hp total would seem like a scratch, and then smoke that arrogant 1st level punk (to whom the same blow is a mortal wound). It ends up working out in the end, especially if you take into account the philosophy behind hit points in 3E which seems to be that characters all have the same absolute hit points, but as they become more powerful they are better able to avoid damage from a blow. I get this from characters healing 3hp per level per day of rest.

[Azrai]

So we have a problem considering the item-creation-feats in the 3. Edition. there it is very easy to create a new magical item.

in my campaign the magical items are strictly limited, but not all of them have their own history.

[Peter Lubke]

On Tue, 2002-07-23 at 20:30, brnetboard@TUARHIEVEL.ORG wrote:

Bearcat wrote:
Or the 12th level fighter could just take the hit, which to his hp total
would seem like a scratch, and then smoke that arrogant 1st level punk
(to whom the same blow is a mortal wound). It ends up working out in the
end, especially if you take into account the philosophy behind hit points
in 3E which seems to be that characters all have the same absolute hit points,
but as they become more powerful they are better able to avoid damage from
a blow. I get this from characters healing 3hp per level per day of
rest.

Bearcat is correct.
2nd Ed confused matters by trying to change the explanation for HP. HP
in 1st Ed were the ability of a character to avoid real damage. All
characters could only take the same amount of actual damage - defined as
the damage you take when your HP are gone (negative HP). A sword through
the guts hurts a 12the level fighter as much as a 1st level punk (well
more because his pride is hurt too). This is one reason why you fight at
maximum capacity until all your HP are gone.

Think of it like this: A hit is always a hit, but not always a wound.
That 1st level punk can hit but not wound the 12th level warrior -- the
reverse is that the 12th level warrior can both hit and wound the punk.

(3e did not address the relativity issue however - but hey give them 20
years and they`ll eventually get around to it)

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[Emerald Greybeard]

I believe that excessive abundance of magical items tends to create characters that have no fear of death and in most cases it gives them such an advantage that the realism is stripped and your left with another Steven Segall grade action flick with a hero that cannot die. You have characters running around killilng everything and no challenge. My character has an enchanted weapon. It was a family hierloom handed down through the generations and is sort of a family symbol. That is teh ONLY magical item she has. That has a distinct history and a reason to be there. She can't just put that away and whip out the +9 ogre slaying knife she found on the goblin she killed a few rooms back! There should be a good valid reason for the item. I think like anything else in the game, balance is the key. Our DM has other ways (most of them pretty interesting) of rewarding players. He always has a few surprises up his sleeve and they are far more entertaining than doling out hordes of items.