4e Item usage

[Evard]

Is anyone else bugged by the system of magic item uses?

I understand that a magic item has X uses a day but having a system where i can only use 2 daily item and then a 1 encounter daily... Does it take a lot of energy to use an item? Or does my character get stupid after using one and can't do it again? If i run out of encounter items to use why can i use a daily item the next round?

[Swordgleam]

It's a way of resource management - your item dailies run out, but if you get a milestone (two encounters without resting) you get some of them back. It's a way of stopping the old system of fight-fight-fight then rest for the entire rest of the day because you're out of heals and spells. This way, you're rewarded for doing more during a day, but the items aren't overpowered.

All that said, a lot of people just ignore that rule to make things easier to keep track of.

[Yakk]

Maybe the magic item doesn't always work. Possibly your character gets an idea when it will work before it does (it flares up), and you as a player get to pick when that happens.

Maybe it does take oomph.


a 1 encounter daily
Part of your post doesn't make sense. This is part of it.

[Evard]

sorry i was typing fast cause my cat was squeaking (yes squeaking)

Anyways

You get for items (not each item but every item you have)
X number of daily uses
y number of encounter uses

But if i have 2 different daily items
and X = 1
I cant use both X times, but only one of them X times

I was wondering... why? I could understand that heroic tier items having a x=1 and each item i have that has a daily power being able to be used 1 times... but making it where i have to chose between two items... That would mean that making the magical item work comes from some sort of power pool. When you are heroic level the pool is small (think like games mp or sp)... So is this power pool that allows you to use magic items? Shouldn't you be able to increase it somehow? I think artificers can use more daily and encounter items than normal but it still makes me wonder.

Would it really break the game to allow players to use all the items they have?

[Edge of Dreams]

The flavor as explained in the books, iirc, is that activating a magic item daily or encounter power requires the user to expend some of their own personal/mystical energy.

Also, you can use as many encounter-power items per day or even per fight as you want, and item properties are good all day long.

Honestly, most daily item powers are weak enough that removing the cap on players using them will mostly not be a big deal. Just watch out for stuff like carrying around 50 copies of an item that gives you back a used power or heals for free or something like that.

Artificers do get an option to recharge an item's daily power, and they have utiliities that make item daily powers better, but I don't think they can change the character's per-day cap.

[KillianHawkeye]

This is purely for game balance, to ensure that one person can't spend all their money on a dozen items with spiffy daily powers to get a mega power boost.

It's not intended to make sense from your character's standpoint.

[HMS Invincible]

Though you are limited by daily magic item usages, item properties, at wills and encounters powers are can be used over and over again. I specifically seek out such items over daily power versions of items.

[Dimers]

So is this power pool that allows you to use magic items? Shouldn't you be able to increase it somehow?

Sounds like a good homebrew feat ... gain 1 extra use/day in the heroic tier, 2/day in paragon, 3/day in epic. I can't immediately think of a good thing to call it, though (unless your gaming group is closely familiar with the Robert Aspirin's Myth series, in which case the term "Mechanic" makes sense).

Homebrew feats are to D&D as garlic is to cooking: I want at least a little in almost everything. :smallwink:


Would it really break the game to allow players to use all the items they have?

It does open up the floor for more abuse. I mean, it's not like the game can't be broken by anything else ever, sure ... but if you're writing a game system and you want it to be balanced, you come up with ways of limiting possible spam, and this is one such. Too bad they couldn't fluff it better or come up with something a bit more intuitive. *shrug* That's humans for ya -- always being imperfect.

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

Homebrew feats are to D&D as garlic is to cooking: I want at least a little in almost everything. :smallwink:But too much usually ruins the whole thing.

[tbarrie]

This is purely for game balance, to ensure that one person can't spend all their money on a dozen items with spiffy daily powers to get a mega power boost.

It's not intended to make sense from your character's standpoint.

True; it's much like Vancian casting from previous editions in that regard. And also like Vancian casting, it's not especially difficult to justify it if you care to do so.