Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Just because I'm a conscientious prick...

Another bonus blog, instead of the usual 3pm Finnish time post:

Now I'm not one to care too much about recent editions of D&D, and I'm really trying to resist snarking at it for the sake of being a cranky old fart, but sometimes I see something that just screams "I'm shit! I'm complete and utter shit!" Take this example from this teaser:

If I’m a conscientious DM, I should add up the treasure value of all those 13-1/3 encounters and make sure it comes out somewhere close to the target 21,000 gp, so that my characters stay on track. Or else I can just do what most DMs do: trust that it’s all going to balance out, and end up with characters that are under-equipped (nine times out of ten) for their level.

*stares blankly at the screen*

I knew that 3.x edition characters were expected to have y amount of gear... but... I had no idea... none... that it was this formalized.

It’s a lot easier to be a conscientious DM in Fourth Edition.

Sounds like it's a lot easier to be a robot.

And now I bet I'll show my age. Why would anyone want to "Disenchant" an old magic item?

And about this "magic item economy" ...

"A merchant, agent, or fence buys items from the character at one-fifth the items’ value, in the hope of selling them at significant profit (usually, above the items’ value). Buyers are hard to find, but the profit to be made makes it worth the merchant’s risk."

and

"It’s to their benefit to use the Enchant Magic Item ritual for items of their level or lower, rather than buying these items from merchants, agents, or fences, because of the 10–40 percent markup over items’ value that these sellers charge."

So items have a value that is never the amount of money they are bought or sold for?

What stops people from robbing these merchants?

Why wouldn't characters just sell their old items to other adventurers for this 10-40% markup instead of to a merchant at an 80% markdown?

What is wrong with the people making D&D these days? How does this make any sense at all from a setting perspective?

I don't understand this game at all.

2 comments:

  1. "The residuum they collect from disenchanting items provides the expensive ritual components they need for the enchanting ritual. If you want characters to rely entirely on these rituals, remove the cost to perform the Disenchant Magic Item ritual, making it just as efficient as selling."

    Ah. Reading until the very end is difficult when the beginning broke one's brain.

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  2. Dude... I can't wait to see your rant on the new Minion rules.

    :D

    I was just playing a module run by a friend (who raved about how cool it was), and we go into a dungeon under the village and find a round room where gravity doesn't work.

    WTF? I mean, seriously, WTF? As far as I could tell, it didn't even have anything to do with the plot. It was just random "look how creative we are" crap.

    I lasted through the module until the point where we got to the old manor house with the haunted piano.

    Not harpsichord. Piano.

    My druid took one look at that piano and said, "I'm sorry, I must be in the wrong freaking time zone."

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