Tokiko Mima
2008-05-29, 01:40 PM
I know the answer of course. "A whole lot!"
However, a LOT of what's in WoL is really cool, especially the fluff. The idea itself is quite solid and it addresses a complaint a lot of fantasy gamers have with magic item based adventuring: that items should grow with their wielder instead of being thrown away or sold.
So I'm working on a list of all the things that don't work like they should to maybe come up with a houserule for a working version of WoL.
Here's what I have so far:
Weapons don't scale like they should.
As WBL increases, most melee classes try to buy the best weapon they can afford first, as it's usually their single most important magic item. However, a careful analysis of WoL reveals that at higher levels legacy items are far behind other weapons you could have bought, without any personal cost!
Personal costs are too high/make no sense/are negligible for some classes.
They are definately too high for the value you get back, especially at higher levels. Some of them make little sense, like a universal skill penalty on a legacy item for skill monkeys. Others are laughable, like a caster level penalty that is easily overcome with several items.
The rules are really unclear about whether you need to spend a Feat for Legacy rituals, or if they are simply awarded to you for completion of the ritual.
If you need to spend three feats in order to wield a WoL, then their power should be greatly increased as that is close to half your characters total feat investment. If they are awarded to you, then there needs to be a clear language that prevents you from using rebuilding, Dark Chaos Shuffle, and other abusive tricks on Legacy feats.
Legacy's are too easily broken.
One spell and a bad roll on a save can cost you literally thousands of gold rebuilding your legacy, and roleplaying out visiting an ancient smith's home for a second time is pretty boring. It's actually much cheaper to get a True Ressurection in many cases!
Too many uses/day spell-like abilities
These are kind of boring and sometimes overpowered because players tend to save these up to 'go nova' with them at the end of the day. Less powerful abilities usuable at will, or effects that magically enhance class abilities would be more fun and useful. Save the X/uses a day for one or two really powerful abilities.
Anyone else have suggestions?
However, a LOT of what's in WoL is really cool, especially the fluff. The idea itself is quite solid and it addresses a complaint a lot of fantasy gamers have with magic item based adventuring: that items should grow with their wielder instead of being thrown away or sold.
So I'm working on a list of all the things that don't work like they should to maybe come up with a houserule for a working version of WoL.
Here's what I have so far:
Weapons don't scale like they should.
As WBL increases, most melee classes try to buy the best weapon they can afford first, as it's usually their single most important magic item. However, a careful analysis of WoL reveals that at higher levels legacy items are far behind other weapons you could have bought, without any personal cost!
Personal costs are too high/make no sense/are negligible for some classes.
They are definately too high for the value you get back, especially at higher levels. Some of them make little sense, like a universal skill penalty on a legacy item for skill monkeys. Others are laughable, like a caster level penalty that is easily overcome with several items.
The rules are really unclear about whether you need to spend a Feat for Legacy rituals, or if they are simply awarded to you for completion of the ritual.
If you need to spend three feats in order to wield a WoL, then their power should be greatly increased as that is close to half your characters total feat investment. If they are awarded to you, then there needs to be a clear language that prevents you from using rebuilding, Dark Chaos Shuffle, and other abusive tricks on Legacy feats.
Legacy's are too easily broken.
One spell and a bad roll on a save can cost you literally thousands of gold rebuilding your legacy, and roleplaying out visiting an ancient smith's home for a second time is pretty boring. It's actually much cheaper to get a True Ressurection in many cases!
Too many uses/day spell-like abilities
These are kind of boring and sometimes overpowered because players tend to save these up to 'go nova' with them at the end of the day. Less powerful abilities usuable at will, or effects that magically enhance class abilities would be more fun and useful. Save the X/uses a day for one or two really powerful abilities.
Anyone else have suggestions?