| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
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| #1MasterNamerMay 04, 2015 20:59:53 | As it was so popular at Winter Fantasy is there going to be an item trading post at Origins? I'd like to think there will be, but it would be nice to hear it from someone in the know. |
| #2QwertyAzertyMay 05, 2015 5:29:55 | would be nice to have those trading post even in smaller convention. Doesn't require much to have one guy in a costume trading certs. A lot of us don't have the time/money to travel across the country to go to the big convention.
Even in my small town, we could easily set up a trading post especially if those trading post got other item then the one from the Adventure League If we can go and trade the spider staff that no one in my store want to use for a rod of the pact keeper for the warlock could be very interesting, or even if we are limited to Adventure league released item, trading that cursed Horn of Blasting for a real item that is not cursed, or upgrading that splintmail+1 for a full plate +1 etc...
It would cost a big 10 cents? for WotC to print some extra cert for the smaller convention send them to the store during the next shipment (so doesn't cost extra mailing and handling) those store are often working in collaboration with those smaller convention. Then the LC can disguise itself and role play the trading post guys (or name a player/DM he trust to do it).I know I am willing to do it in my next convention in my small town. Yes if we get 50 peoples coming at the convention it will be a huge success, but it would mean a lot to those 50 person to actually be able to do something cool.
I understand taht our small convention will NEVER get a Epic since we don't have enought player to do an Epic, but the trading post? it would be very interesting to do it. |
| #3Byakugan01May 05, 2015 6:08:02 | Nobody had to claim the horn of blasting....Just like nobody had to claim the wingwear or driftglobes in season 2.
The very notion that people might be able to 'count on' being able to trade their bad items for premium items incentivizes abuse of the system. It basically turns the magic item economy in AL into a pay-to-win game which is pretty shitty. They should be very sparing with such events, or at the very least only allow 'down' trades, like a rare item can only get an uncommon item, and that item should NOT be tradeable to anyone including your other characters. |
| #4QwertyAzertyMay 05, 2015 6:48:15 | Pay to win is EXACTLY what they are doing now were if I want to trade that cursed horn of blasting I need to take 4 day off work, buy a plane ticket to travel across the country (most of us live far away from those huge convention, it's a very little minority that actually live near those huge convention), then pay for an hotel, the convention ticket, restaurant etc... so I can go trade it. This is what I call pay-to win. If I want to go to that convention I'll have to pay near 1500$. Yes in that price I'll be able to join an Epic, I'll be able to meet with DnD mastermind people, play at tables with new players, make new friend, get some freebies, etc... or I coul duse that 1500$ to go on a beach with my wife for a week end with her. I don't know about you, but I don't have many 1500$ that I can use for pleasure, and the few 1500$ I do have I prefer using them to pass time with my wife, and my wife prefer going at the beach rather then going in a convention, and so do I.
By having trade post in smaller convention then I can simply go to my local convention and trade the item, it become something that most player can do therefore balance within the AL item economie. it's easier to expect that someone will have a full plate +1 instead of a splintmail+1 when 90% of the DnD player have access to a trading post where such a trade is possible. rather then only 1% of the DnD player base.
I know that me, an experience player is not force to take the horn of blasting, or the driftglobe, but the newer player when they see that I don't want the item, instead of wondering why I don't want it, they all start saying they want it and all want to roll there dice to fight each other for the item, because that is what new player do, that is what video game like WoW taught them, if no one want the item, take it and you can de-enchant it, trade it for material to craft something better, trade it for token that will allow you to buy the item you want, improved it somehow, use it in an artifact quest, etc.... |
| #5imaginaryfriendMay 05, 2015 7:19:45 | In order to be able to pay to win, you first need to be able to win D&D. Of course the standard answer would be that there is no winning in D&D, and I subscribe to that answer. But I totally understand that some people define their own win conditions for D&D, and "having the best magical items" may be a win condition for some. `However that win condition is something you come up with. So the only person making it pay to win.. is you.
I go to the big conventions in the USA, which for me includes crossing the pond. And yes, I do do that to win, but then my win condition is very sappy and cliche. I do it because running games at the big cons is a lot of fun and the crew is awesome. And getting to meet loads of interesting people is also a good thing. Magic items? Pffft, they just do not matter enough in 5e sofar. |
| #6AvrossMay 05, 2015 7:29:04 |
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| (Reply to #6)Pauper |
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| #8QwertyAzertyMay 05, 2015 7:58:02 |
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| #9SkerritMay 05, 2015 9:41:24 | The trading post is not yet available, but it will be eventually. To start, any convention that has an Admin or RC at it will be allowed to get a trading post. If that goes well, it might expand.
Greg Marks DnDAL Associate Resource Manager |
| #10NamelessHeroMay 05, 2015 9:50:18 |
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| #11imaginaryfriendMay 05, 2015 10:12:04 | I think its a "there will be RC's and/or Admins at Origins so a trading post will be allowed, but right now I am confirming nor denying anything" on Origins |
| #12MirtekMay 05, 2015 11:45:55 | How does the trading post work anyway? I'll never see one in RL unless they one day have one at an online convention, I am just curios.
Do players have to haggle over what the get for their item or how many items they need to trade in for a specific item? Is it only like for like (e.g. armor vs. armor)? Can you just trade splint +1 for plate +1? Or a wand of detetc magic for a longsword +1? |
| #13KalaniMay 05, 2015 12:09:16 | From what I understand, you trade one of your certificates for one of the items available at the Trading Post. It functions like any other trade, except that some of the items available are not found outside the trading post (eg. +1 weapon of choice). I believe that players are limited to one item trade / convention slot.
You still need a valid trade log on your item certificate, and AFAIK - you must still exchange equal rarity for equal rarity (although the latter clause may be waived). |
| #14AvrossMay 05, 2015 13:36:03 | Typically, you're not going to see any NEW items...just the same certs that have been available all along. (...essentially the ones which are available to the individuals running the trading post). So no +1 platemail or adamantine armor, since there hasn't been an AL module where those were rewards....since the trading post wouldn't have those certs.
As Kalani points out, they need to be legal trades...think of the trading post as a player who has played all the modules a bunch of times. and has all the magic items. You offer a trade according to normal AL trading rules (uncommon for uncommon, rare for rare, very rare for very rare) and mark the certs and your logsheet appropriately.
As far as online play goes, my *personal* belief is that it will be nigh-impossible for trading to occur, unless the coordinators want to get involved in mailing physical certs, or maintaining some online listing of who has which digital cert. Since digital certs can be copied...it would only take one unscrupulous player hiding amongst hundreds of honest ones to flood the online tables with fake certs. |
| #15KalaniMay 05, 2015 13:50:09 | That is true for the most part, although I have heard rumor that they were offering +1 Weapons (of all types) at the last Trading Post. At least one person on this forum snagged a +1 great axe if my memory serves me correctly.
The physical certs are sent out to stores and conventions exclusively. The goal is to promote in-store play, and the physical certs are one of the methods used to promote said. Wizards is promoting brick-and-mortar stores as their primary focus, but are simultaneously supporting online play for those who lack the opportunity to travel to a physical location (for a variety of reasons), or which prefer that format.
It would be extremely hard (but not impossible) to oversee digital certificates - but doing so would likely require characters to be kept in a central database, which AFAIK fantasygrounds does not support. This would require Wizards to either release their own digital play engine (similar to that of fantasy grounds), or require players to keep their characters updated in two separate locations (fantasy grounds and the online database). Currently, it is a moot point as no such database exists. |
| #16imaginaryfriendMay 05, 2015 14:13:49 | Correct. Some special items like that +1 weapon of (legal) choice were on offer. Of course the Winter Fantasy one was a test so I would not build up any expectations. |
| #17BRJNMay 06, 2015 14:40:55 | IIRC, there were four certs available at Winter Fantasy. (Maybe a greater variety was available early in the mornings) +1 any weapon your character can wield +1 any armor your character can wear stronger Potions of Healing Bag of Holding
You could buy Healing Potions but the others were trade-in only. Of course you had to have an AL character and log sheet to properly document your doings.
I'm really hoping that Origins and GenCon have a Trading Post with all last season's certs available. I have a +1 Longbow I want to trade for an Elven Cloak (because I'm the Designated Scout).
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| #18RulesJDMay 06, 2015 16:04:58 | There were certs for scrolls as well (I seen't em) |
| #19Byakugan01May 06, 2015 22:06:51 | So yeah....I'll trade my wingwear for a +1 whatever is the best weapon for me. Ahh and lets trade this +1 leather nobody can use in for +1 plate armor. Well sure, +1 plate costs a minimum of 1500 gold more (but is objectively worth 5-10 times that)than +1 leather, but who cares!
If you want to hack your magic items, play Diablo or TitanQuest.
Personally I hope for more built-in DMing options for character rewards. Where the DM can choose from a list of rewards. Same inherent problem of folks subverting the purpose and abusing the system. |
| (Reply to #19)Cascade.rpga |
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| #21Coredump00May 07, 2015 7:08:20 | I love the concern-trolling for 'the poor new people'.... If you think it is a mistake, advise them. If they take it anyway, maybe they have different priorities than you do. People make character choices I would never make.... does that mean there is a problem in the game? Or is it possible that they *want* something you don't..... or they dont' think its that important.
One of our players took the +1 scale mail..... because it is frickin' cool looking, is a badge of defeating a particular bad guy, and its cool looking. Should we make that item 'illegal' since you wouldn't take it?
I have never gone to a major convention, I barely go to any small conventions.... yet I can gaurantee you I am winning DnD already. And from the sounds of it, I am winning more than many others since I don't feel the need to complain about how hard it is to 'win'....
If you want a trading post.... go ahead and have one. Unless there is something in the ALPG I am missing, there is nothing stopping you from creating a 'swap meet' trading post. I sign up and say I have a Headband of Intellect, looking for a magic bow. BJRN decides he wants to trade his magic bow.... so the 'swap meet' hooks us up and we trade.
You can't get new things.... but you can facilitate trades.
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| #22MasterNamerMay 07, 2015 7:36:51 | Starting a community swap at a convention does sound like a good idea, but having both that and the chance for new and different items is something that makes the game more fun and exciting than it already is. There should be both options, but the mystique of something that is hard to come by is built into the game at its core, so why not offer a chance to have life mirror the game? |
| #23MasterNamerMay 07, 2015 7:36:53 | Starting a community swap at a convention does sound like a good idea, but having both that and the chance for new and different items is something that makes the game more fun and exciting than it already is. There should be both options, but the mystique of something that is hard to come by is built into the game at its core, so why not offer a chance to have life mirror the game? |
| #24MasterNamerMay 07, 2015 7:36:54 | Starting a community swap at a convention does sound like a good idea, but having both that and the chance for new and different items is something that makes the game more fun and exciting than it already is. There should be both options, but the mystique of something that is hard to come by is built into the game at its core, so why not offer a chance to have life mirror the game? |
| #25MirtekMay 07, 2015 12:07:15 |
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| #26RulesJDMay 07, 2015 12:22:07 |
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| #27PauperMay 07, 2015 14:10:37 | Couldn't you just, y'know, have fun with your build even if it's not 'optimal'?
-- Pauper
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| #28MirtekMay 07, 2015 14:17:18 |
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| #29KalaniMay 07, 2015 14:22:08 | You do realise that the admins have stated that magic items are not optimized in AL. Furthermore, the game itself is not intended for competitive (read: highly optimized) play, as indicated on p13 of the ALPG which states:
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| #30CahPahkahMay 07, 2015 14:41:43 |
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| #31KalaniMay 07, 2015 14:46:45 |
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| (Reply to #28)Pauper |
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| #33CahPahkahMay 07, 2015 15:25:48 |
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| #34KalaniMay 07, 2015 15:33:38 | Right, I forgot about those. Then again - they are easily avoided (I have run that adventure twice and that encounter was not triggered in either instance). It is a horrible encounter for those who lack magical weapons though. |
| #35Coredump00May 07, 2015 19:44:01 | I realize that different folks like to play in different ways... so 'my way' is not the only or best way.
But I *like* the fact that not everyone is getting their 'perfect optimal' weapon. So maybe your Polearm fighter grabs a magical dagger or longsword for an 'emergency'. So the rogue 'helps' the warlock hit with his EB. Or the Wizard uses Firebolt and causes disadvantage. Or the Paladin decides to try and grapple or knock prone. Or maybe everyone just runs away and finds another way to achieve their goal.
There are a *lot* of options in playing the game. I am very happy that some obstacles must be met on a non-optimal basis. If my paladin faced that golem, I would have to think of some new way to be useful besides "I hit" 1) Use Smite to cause Radiant damage 2) Try to Grapple or knock prone 3) Stand in front and Dodge 4) Standin front and get teammates to use fire attacks 5) Use the Help action to assist those that can do damage.
A PC without a magic weapon is far from 'helpless' against a flesh golem. And that is *one* possible fight from what 2 dozen adventures and 2 APs.
I think the game is much better because our fighter has to weigh using his Longsword or magical dagger.... and the best choice will depend on the target. Much more interesting game than just 'poof its a magical longsword'
Yes, getting 'stuck' doing half damage kind of sucks.... but it gives some variety to the game. Some folks will have a way around that, and otherwise.... do more damage. |
| #36CahPahkahMay 07, 2015 20:19:05 | Nitpicking A weak party gets the Flesh Golem.
Adjusting the Encounter |
| #37TyranthraxusMay 07, 2015 21:04:33 | My post was in total error. have deleted it. |
| (Reply to #34)Pauper |
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| #39PrimarchxMay 08, 2015 9:17:42 |
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| #40CahPahkahMay 08, 2015 10:39:41 |
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| #41imaginaryfriendMay 08, 2015 11:22:05 |
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| #42BRJNMay 08, 2015 14:53:26 |
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| #43Byakugan01May 10, 2015 4:40:03 | Saying you intend for your adventure to be designed for 'non-optimimized' play is kinda silly imo...Especially season 2, lol.
Literally the first boss the party fights at first level is a 6th level spell caster that has to be played like he has Down Syndrome to not tpk the whole party in 1-2 rounds. The 2nd boss they fight at 2nd level has a 22 AC and can cast 2x 4d8 Shatters. Several of the monsters on the random encounter chart are resistant to non-magic weapons, not to mention the multiple CR 5 monsters that can tpk parties in 1 or 2 rounds.
I think they only meant the DM is supposed to play unoptimized.
But that begs the question: Why are the magic items SO bad in AL? It's 1 thing to tone things down from 3 or 4 previous editions where magic items were ordered from a menu. It is another thing altogether to design a system where you know 95% of every martial character will be using either a longsword or a greatsword, and then you don't put in any longswords, and the one greatsword you DO put in you give sentience and an evil alignment(an alignment that the PCs are expressely prohibited from having). Even Gygax wasn't that bad.
I'm not trolling anyone. This stuff is confusing me. Because it -feels- an awful lot like they did this stuff on purpose, and that they simply do not care if it drives people away. |
| #44imaginaryfriendMay 10, 2015 5:43:24 | Luckily understanding is not a requirement for AL to run and run well. Yes a DM that so chooses can use those encounters you mention to tpk a party. But then I can do that with most encounters in season 1 as well. So yes again, there is an expectation that a DM adjusts for the situation depending on the party. And yes I would even agree that those particular encounters are a little much. They were however not designed by the AL, so you cannot use them to draw far reaching conclusions. I could contue on a whole speech/rant on adventure design versus DM reality, but this is not the place
Magic items are current simply not intended to be of great importance in AL and, with the exception of magic weapons, they are not. They can be fun, they can be powerfull, but they are generally not a must have. The items are only bad if you look at them with a bias guided by your perception of what are good items. You are welcome to your opinion on what are good or bad items, but you are not welcome to push that opinion on me and everyone else. I see zero problems with the magic items in AL as they are.
As to wether they care if it drives people away. I am sure they do. But you might want to consider that the people like you that have a problem with the magic items and are being "driven away" are a very small minority. They may realize that if they were to pay too much attention to the people who claim the sky is falling at a continuous rate and with high volume, they would in fact start driving away other people, Many more people. Less vocal people, but perhaps also more active people. Not to mention people that participate in and contribute to the AL in many ways. I find very few people that are actually working to make the AL happen (on the meta scale) on the side of the falling sky brigade. Wonder why that is..... |
| #45Byakugan01May 10, 2015 6:48:02 | I'm certainly not the first person that ever complained about the bad magic items...A quick search will turn up dozens of complaint forums. On the other side of the coin, I don't think I have ever seen a single thread where someone was espousing how enlightened Wizards was for choosing to give out weapons nobody uses. That isn't me pushing my opinion on anyone, that is looking at averages.
If there was 0 problems with the magic items then I should think people would be shocked by the idea that they would be expending resources and manpower to run item exchange tables in the first place. That is an obtuse argument. Are you really trying to say there is no difference between a +1 dagger and a +! greatsword as far as nearly every party is concerned? +1 Plate versus +1 leather? I mean why bother with stats at all since hit rolls and protection are irelevant in your games? If I think 'what are the basic things that are part of DnD?' a few things immediately come to mind: dungeons, dragons, magic, and stuff with wonderous magical powers.
I'm not really sure who you consider to be the falling sky brigade, but I'm arguiing on both sides of the fence. I think item exchanges are a BAD idea, but I also think the design choices are also bad and need to be improved in a more general way that improves 'everyones' options instead of only the ones who pay to go to conventions. I usually disagree with Qwerty because he's even more parabolic than me(that's just cra cra)
I mean maybe they are still trying to figure out the best mix...Lost Mines seems like a monty haul campaign compared to the entirety of HotDQ + RoT.
What exactly do you consider 'contributing to AL'? If you mean people organizing and using their own money to pay for conventions so that WOTC can make a buck on a product that they offer no 'support' for...then yeah, I don't see many people tryign to help. If you mean things like voluntering to DM at AL, participating in bug reporting, and attempting to contribute to the forums, then you might want to open those squinty eyes.
On a side note, I slightly offended at the personal attack. Usually we have pretty good conversations, but -people like you-, really?. Your whole last paragraph is pretty venemous, and full of condescension and judgment.
"you might want to consider that the people like you...are a very small minority." Tell me what you really think? |
| #46KalaniMay 10, 2015 7:30:07 | Imaginary is correct. At my store I have some 50+ players, only two of which frequent these forums (myself and shivafang). Of those 50+ players, the only complaint I have personally received about the magic items was the fact that they were so scarce in hoard of the dragon queen. I have not received complaints about the quality of magic items, or the fact that the items themselves are non-optimized.
This, despite the fact that most players with combat classes have fighting styles which have yet to receive a magic item (that is not to say they wil never receive such). At my table alone, I had the party barbarian stop using his greataxe and borrow his friends dagger of poison in order to deal with some helmed horrors. Said character was extremely satisfied at how quickly they killed said HHs with the dagger compared to their nonmagical greataxe and commented that he used the dagger like a can opener.
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| #47imaginaryfriendMay 10, 2015 7:58:29 | Ok, so the " people like you" was badly worded, so let me first appologize and then reword: Sorry and "You might consider that the people that see a problem with the magic items, like you do, are a small minority.". English is not my primary language, I am generally quite good at it, but every now and then grammar catches me.
As for condescention, hmm I guess I can see how that can be read, I have my own views on it and I am getting a little weary of issues being presented as way bigger than they are. That frustration is likely to show in my writing. I will try to do better ;) As for insulting, your statement telling me I spend my money to volunteer for AL and the big conventions to put money in WotC's pockets, not a fan of that one either.
I have been working with and looking at the organized play and convention world from the inside for many years. I have also spent a lot of that time on these forums and others. I know from firsthand experience how small a number of players care about a lot of the stuff we debate so passionately. All of us here make up microscopic part of the AL playerbase. And we care, and we debate and thats all cool. Heck its the only way to make any progress on a lot of these things.
What I am not cool with is bringing in stuff like "driving people away" as if the players will suddenly start leaving in droves. That annoys me, and makes me write replies that are less balanced than what I tend to try for
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| #48NamelessHeroMay 10, 2015 16:27:46 | I'm with Byakugan. Most the the magic items given out are just down right bad. There have been multiple situations where players in my game have opted to "leave it on the table" and not take the magic item whatsoever. I mean, who wears a +1 chainmail when they can afford plate!? |
| (Reply to #48)Ainulindalion |
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| #50NamelessHeroMay 10, 2015 17:00:07 | I make no excuses for enjoying character optimization. As such, this leads me to my responses to your statments. If you are someone who doesn't enjoy character optimization, well then, enjoy your daggers of venom I guess.
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| #51KalaniMay 10, 2015 17:16:27 | A character with the Sentinel feat wants a decent but only moderate AC. Too high, and there is no incentive to attack the Sentinel character. Too low and there is no reason to attack an adjacent ally instead.
Typically speaking - characters which take sentinel are either Druids, barbarians, Fighters or Paladins. The first two cannot wear chainmail, leaving only Fighters and Paladins.
Ideally, the party wants to conserve healing resources but simultaneously wants characters to use renewable resources like Second Wind and HD (in an ideal world all characters would take just enough damage each day to spend 1/2 HD).
Having too high an AC defeats the purpose of tanking. Enemies are simply better off avoiding the "tank" and targeting the weaker foes. |
| #52Byakugan01May 10, 2015 18:22:20 |
Apology accepted. It's all good.
Kalani, you seem to be perfectly OK with a magic item being terrible as long as there exists a possibility someone -could- find it useful. Even if that scenario is very narrow, and uncommon.
The bar is set higher for me. I think there is a better balance to be had than the extremes of only a single +1 dagger and all the armors being useless for 95% of characters. and everyone getting free +3 vorpal swords and +3 invulnerable Plate. |
| #53TyranthraxusMay 10, 2015 19:19:25 |
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| #54Byakugan01May 10, 2015 20:22:36 | My turn to apologize. Sorry for any offense I caused.
I'm a pre-major nursing student and A&P has been grinding a lot of homeostatic imbalances into my head lately. I was actually refering to Down Syndrome because the mental symptoms of it correlate with the strategy required to not kill everyone.
"The most common mental health concerns include: general anxiety, repetitive and obsessive-compulsive behaviors; oppositional, impulsive, and inattentive behaviors; sleep related difficulties; depression; autism spectrum conditions; and neuropsychological problems characterized by progressive loss of cognitive skills."
I do occasionally use derogatory language and phrases, so again, sorry about that. |
| (Reply to #52)Coredump00 |
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| #56Byakugan01May 10, 2015 22:31:40 | The way it is now, i would very much prefer the Lord of the Rings/DnD cartoon method of rewards.
No magic items in the module at all, except consumeables. All magical rewards granted as rewards at specific milestones. The module offers a list of rewards and each PC gets to pick what they will enjoy the most off that list.
For example, wand of magic missile, 'Reszur', or a +1 weapon of choice.
Someone might really love that dagger so its great for them. My party left it on the ground and the druid who already has a magic item claimed it only because it was going to rot. I dont consider that wonderous or special. Its sad. |
| #57RulesJDMay 10, 2015 22:47:39 |
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| #58TyranthraxusMay 10, 2015 23:37:44 | Thank Byakugan01.
I have a level 6 character who plays in my Expeditions games. Hes a Warlock/Sorcerer who recently said in game 'When are they going to be giving us Charisma based casters a cool magical item?'.
I think its more that he is seeing a lot of spellbooks turn up , and there is a Wizard who is a companion to him most of the time. They have been scoring big of late and he is kinda feeling left out. No magic items at level 6.
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| #59RulesJDMay 11, 2015 0:01:12 |
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| #60TyranthraxusMay 11, 2015 0:37:31 | Retcon his character backwards? You seriously promoting doing some cheating and dodogy in the official AL forums? wow.....
Also he dosnt play in Encounters (he cant make Wed nights) and only gets to play when I run Expeditions. |
| #61RulesJDMay 11, 2015 0:44:15 |
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| #62imaginaryfriendMay 11, 2015 4:09:00 | Remember that the WotC books like HotDQ were not written specifically for AL and that the season 1books mostly predate the AL. Also include the expectation that most people would only play the free encounters chapters. While I cannot be totally sure of that it seems likely |
| #63KalaniMay 11, 2015 7:00:11 | I should also add that while the Expeditions modules are written in-house (with at least a handful written by the campaign staff), HotDQ, RoT, and PotA were outsourced to a 3PP. Wizards (let alone AL) had nothing to do with magic item selection for those adventures.
Furthermore, Hoard and Rise were largely written during the play test era and were going off one of the play test packets for rules. Can't exactly fault them for messing up the magic item balance in EP8 (in your opinion) when they had few-no items to compare hazirawn against. |
| #64Byakugan01May 11, 2015 6:39:09 | This thread has really got me missing having a home game where I'm not shackled by a bunch of rules that don't make a lot of sense.
Outsourcing a product to a 3pp is not an excuse for the content to be bad...in fact it is the opposite. Someone should have previewed the product before it went to print and gone hey wait a second...Or ya know, actually read the statblocks. That is the point of outsourcing...so you can demand a product from someone else that is better than what you can provide yourself....Unless of course it is just a business decision to cut costs(ie intentionally being cheap).
Maybe I should take a page from one of our other tables....all they do is run Expeditions every night. Because they actually usually have decent rewards. |
| #65PrimarchxMay 11, 2015 7:20:28 |
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| (Reply to #45)Pauper |
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| (Reply to #66)Ainulindalion |
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| (Reply to #67)Pauper |
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| #69BRJNMay 11, 2015 16:33:52 |
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| #70Byakugan01May 12, 2015 2:32:05 | The Lord of the Rings story was a precursor for me being introduced into dnd...way before Middle Earth was a CCG, a MMO, or an epic HD movie series, it was a story that was pretty much EXACTLY what my generation pictures in their heads when they think about DnD.
I've never heard anyone remotely try and suggest that there was no magic items in Middle Earth....It is actually kinda cute that you would try to use that to support your argument. Especially since in 5e there is no such thing as 'masterwork' items. There is wiggle room on whether the 'generic' elven weaponry was magical, but there boatload of magic items in general. In addition to the ones already mentioned that world was full of other magical phenomena....The dwarven door with the password, The Seeing Stones, The Arkenstone, the Morgul blades. all the OTHER magic rings in the world that Gandalf mentioned, the bottled starlight, the magic bird-feeder that let you see the future. Those are just the several examples that come to mind right off. Furthermore, several times they emphasize those magical items were the only reason they survived in a lot of spots. I think that goes way more to my viewpoint than yours.
That story wasn't ONLY about magic stuff...but that stuff did make up a large part of the story, and it certainly made the story more fantastical/appealing to me. I mean really, leveling up and upgrading your stuff to phat lewtz is the metric that nearly every RPG game ever made uses to determine progress.
Dude I'm 9th level and I got this...umm....awesome driftglobe YEAH! sorry, not feeling it. |
| (Reply to #70)Pauper |
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| #72TheBreenMay 12, 2015 9:20:11 | Off topic, but doesn't The Lord of the Rings sort of begin with a listing of 20 magic items?
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
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| #73CahPahkahMay 12, 2015 10:32:50 | There is a difference between "magic items exist in the world" vs. "here is an arsenal of enchanted swords, axes, bows, daggers and clubs from which you can freely shop".
A single, quest-defining magic ring that shapes the fate of an age =/= throwing away your +1 longbow when you find a +2 longbow... |
| #74MirtekMay 12, 2015 14:05:24 |
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| #77KalaniMay 12, 2015 15:22:18 | The three weapons found by the dwarves in the troll caves are sting; glamdring; and Orcist. With the exception of sting - there is no proof that the other two are magical (although it is strongly implied). All were lost centuries previously. |
| #78MirtekMay 12, 2015 15:37:49 |
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| #79NozareemMay 12, 2015 16:33:42 | I was at Winter fantasy and the +1 weapon of your choice was very popular because no expedition offers it yet they also had a couple of very rare to rare items that were also nice to! |
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| #81Byakugan01May 13, 2015 21:02:36 | Gimli destroyed his magic axe when he tried to destroy the Artifact level magic item.
Cloaks of elvenkind aren't useless, they are pretty sweet for several character archtypes...the only one that exists in constructed play even has an convenient extra magic property. But not everyone gets to do that Expedition, and even if they do they have to worry about new players scalping their loots because of their driftglobes and Wingwears etc...Unless they started out with the outlook that all magic items are to be left on the ground until I get the specific one I want...Very lame system design. It makes all magic items seem cursed, except for the 1 or 2 'best' ones that exist in your game world. |
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| (Reply to #64)Coredump00 |
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