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1 year ago ::
Feb 20, 2012 - 11:25AM
#21
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Date Joined:
Dec 25, 2009
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In general, I like charged magic items. They're nothing more than a stack of consumables bound up into a single convenient package.
In specific, I don't particularly like the 3E Wand of X system, where any spell of a low enough level can be made into a wand. It made them feel too mass-produced. However, I enjoyed the 2E system, where wands were just charged magic items that had powers that cost charges rather than a receptacle for a single spell.
The difference between madness and genius is determined only by degrees of success.
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1 year ago ::
Feb 20, 2012 - 1:59PM
#22
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Date Joined:
Dec 12, 2007
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I love the IDEA of magic users walking around with magic items, but really despised the way they were implemented.
A wand of cure light wounds 50 was ridiculous. A wand of cure light wounds that can be used once per encounter is not so bad. Same with a wand of fireballs or whatnot.
I ran with the idea of wands being encounter powers you had to recharge, rods effecting the spell you cast in some way, and staves having both functions but being a pita to carry around. (I would let you wear a bandolier of wands and rods but one staff was it.)
So I do not mind the items proposed function it was just they did it wrong. I think that mages are balanced without such items so no item should increase effectivess by more then 10% or so at absolute most. They should not greatly enhance peak performance. (well this is exactly what rods should do but it should be minor) I have no problem for instance with a rod that adds and extra d6 fire damage if that is all it does when it is held in hand.
I would also be very careful with the lvel you allow such items to exist at. I drop stuff as loot all the time but it is MINOR. You do not give a level one mage a wand of fireballs. You give him a wand of summon bunnies. If he wants the fireball wand he has to make it himself :p
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1 year ago ::
Feb 20, 2012 - 2:12PM
#23
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Personally I've always found wands lame. I just like the 'visual' look of casters with staffs, orbs, or even weaving spells with their hands. Wands are just so not cool to me, so I never gave them out as loot, so I don't have too much experience with them.
But the whole 'charge' issue is ok with me when the charges are low - 50 is to much.
Yes, I do regret my Forum Name...Tech N9ne is clearly the best rapper of all time.
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1 year ago ::
Feb 20, 2012 - 5:43PM
#24
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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Personally I've always found wands lame. I just like the 'visual' look of casters with staffs, orbs, or even weaving spells with their hands. Wands are just so not cool to me, so I never gave them out as loot, so I don't have too much experience with them.
Heh, that was my old response, now after the Harry Potter shows came out I changed my mind. But honestly the wizard does the casting the wand is a focus is so much closer to umm myth and legend that yeh charges are tacky.
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1 year ago ::
Feb 20, 2012 - 6:12PM
#25
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Date Joined:
Oct 24, 2007
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I generally dislike counting charges and ammo in RPGs. Not just wands but arrows and sling bullets and similar things too. It always seems to me like it's an unnecessary bit of bookeeping most of the time. Even prior to 4e I houseruled that my players could assume they carried effectively unlimited nonmagical ammo for bows and slings, pending DM intervention (which never had to occur). And I would have done something similar with wands if the situation had come up, probably making wands have a certain number of uses per fight or per day instead of 50 total charges.
So it's not surprising I like 4e's take on ammo and wands much better. All ammo is unlimited and wands have both passive properties that are always on and have activated spells that can be used once per day or once per encounter. I'd definitely rather use that sort of system than keeping track of wand charges and ammo.
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1 year ago ::
Feb 21, 2012 - 5:50AM
#26
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Date Joined:
Apr 10, 2009
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I liked them - but I liked them as a rare and uncontrolled resource for the players (i.e. in AD&D). That is - something they occasionally found in treasure - often before they could even cast the spell for themselves and thus represented powerful and rare magic.
I hated them - but I hated them as a commodity to be manufactured, used and discarded by the players (i.e. in 3.x). That is - something they made or purchased - usually as a way to get around the limits of Vancian magic and thus represented cheap and commonplace magic.
Carl
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1 year ago ::
Feb 21, 2012 - 6:43AM
#27
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Date Joined:
Apr 23, 2009
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+1 for CarlT's view.
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1 year ago ::
Feb 21, 2012 - 9:02AM
#28
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Date Joined:
May 17, 2009
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I liked them - but I liked them as a rare and uncontrolled resource for the players (i.e. in AD&D). That is - something they occasionally found in treasure - often before they could even cast the spell for themselves and thus represented powerful and rare magic.
I hated them - but I hated them as a commodity to be manufactured, used and discarded by the players (i.e. in 3.x). That is - something they made or purchased - usually as a way to get around the limits of Vancian magic and thus represented cheap and commonplace magic.
Carl
Yeah, Carl's pretty spot on, here.
Seriously, though, you should check out the PbP Haven. You might also like Real Adventures, IF you're cool. | Knights of W.T.F.- Silver Spur Winner | |
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1 year ago ::
Feb 21, 2012 - 10:43AM
#29
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Date Joined:
Sep 15, 2006
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I always like the Wands of X in 1e. They were still a limited resource (and you usually didn’t know how limited) but usually had enough charges that they could still be used frequently. I thinked they worked great in 1e. In 1e I had an elf archer with a magical bow that had charged. It did a lot more damage when using a charge so it gave me another option that I couldn’t abuse because once the charges were gone there wasn’t an easy way to recharge it (I never did get it recharged). I played very little 3/3.5 but from the description of wands in this thread I don’t think I would have liked them. In general I am not a fan of easily produced magic items. Nothing inherently wrong with it, it just isn’t my taste.
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1 year ago ::
Feb 21, 2012 - 5:24PM
#30
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I always like the Wands of X in 1e. They were still a limited resource (and you usually didn’t know how limited) but usually had enough charges that they could still be used frequently. I thinked they worked great in 1e. In 1e I had an elf archer with a magical bow that had charged. It did a lot more damage when using a charge so it gave me another option that I couldn’t abuse because once the charges were gone there wasn’t an easy way to recharge it (I never did get it recharged).
I played very little 3/3.5 but from the description of wands in this thread I don’t think I would have liked them. In general I am not a fan of easily produced magic items. Nothing inherently wrong with it, it just isn’t my taste.
+10
Well Said
"If it's not a conjuration, how did the wizard
con·jure/ˈkänjər/Verb
1. Make (something) appear unexpectedly or seemingly from nowhere as if by magic.
it?" -anon
"Why don't you read fire·ball / fī(-ə)r-ˌbȯl/ and see if you can find the key word con.jure /'kən-ˈju̇r/ anywhere in it."
-Maxperson
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