Adjusting tiers with items

[Endril_69]

By tiers, I mean measuring the power of classes by ranking them in tiers (wizard is 1st, sorcerer is 2nd... fighter is 5th, samurai is 6th, etc.), which has been discussed at length in this forum.

By "items", I mean increased wealth by level, and customizing magic items that allow more spell effects to be used by any class (think helm of teleportation, but apply it to other useful spells that aren't on items). Maybe also allow potions for personal spells such as see invisibility.

In your opinion, what effect would this have on the tier system?

[JNAProductions]

The most effective use of wealth is pretending to be a Wizard.

Greater access to wealth makes you able to be a Wizard better.

Everyone is now Tier 1, with sufficient wealth.

[Troacctid]

Eh. I'd rather just buff the classes directly, since they all have different needs.

[Endril]

Eh. I'd rather just buff the classes directly, since they all have different needs.

I've been at work on that. I also have a pretty thorough tier system on google docs, that I think you recommended. It's a lot of house rules though, since there's over 50 classes (and that's after I took out some 3E classes), and I'd rather have more blanketed rules that effect all of the classes, and then play clean up with the few that are left over (such as samurai). I also have players that have wanted to go wild with customized items in the past, so I'm wondering if I let them do it, how might the tiers change? Specifically, increasing WBL by about 50% and allowing items that emulate most PHB spells, as long as a command is involved. I'd have to be careful with continuous use items, as that could get out of hand.

[Cosi]

Giving people items that enhance their effectiveness is a fine strategy, but it works best done ad hoc, rather than at the system level. Increasing Wealth By Level increases complexity, can cause undesirable behavior (e.g. everyone just buys a bunch of scrolls and pretends to be Wizards), and can end up enhancing casters as the party is likely to de facto pool its wealth.