Return Artefacts, but change the number/power of properties
Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:03 pm
Before it seemed like Artefacts could contain 3-4 properties (AC/EB/AB/Ability bonus/Saves/Skills/Ele. DR/Etc.) that generally ranged between 1 and 4 (8-10 for skills, 6 for AC vs. races). That led to some fairly potent stuff that absolutely was overpowered.
That said, I don't think outright removing the system was the way to answer the issue. Artefacts gave high-level characters a reason to go out to Epic dungeons besides "Hey lemme add to my already massive wealth pool with even more gold."
Instead, what I propose is a mechanical change as such:
-Limit Artefacts to 2 properties.
-Let AC remain maxed at +4. This led to interesting items without damaging the combat meta.
-Limit the ability/save bonuses to +2. This, combined with only possessing 2 properties, means that the most you'd be able to achieve would be something like +4 AC, +2 STR on a set of fullplate. Not nearly as broken as +4 AC, +4 STR, +4 CON.
-Limit the bonus to skills to +4 or +5, but also change it to only procure relevant skills, such as Discipline/Spellcraft/Hide/Move Silently/Spot/Listen/Heal. Nothing was more disappointing than getting an artefact that was +8 to Craft Armor, only usable by Gnome.
Overall I feel this sort of system would be better for a replacement than outright removing any motivation to go exploring past 30 and full Epic gear. I loved the Artefact system. Not because I got stupid, overpowered, broken stuff out of it (because I never did), but because it gave unique stuff that you couldn't find anywhere else. The ability to create a cool story behind stuff we use gave personality to equipment, which otherwise would have been the generic grind of "I have 2 stat/4 skill gear, time to grind the crap out of gold until I can 5% Unisaves onto all of it.
Discussion of this suggestion can be held in the Artefact discussion thread, here.
That said, I don't think outright removing the system was the way to answer the issue. Artefacts gave high-level characters a reason to go out to Epic dungeons besides "Hey lemme add to my already massive wealth pool with even more gold."
Instead, what I propose is a mechanical change as such:
-Limit Artefacts to 2 properties.
-Let AC remain maxed at +4. This led to interesting items without damaging the combat meta.
-Limit the ability/save bonuses to +2. This, combined with only possessing 2 properties, means that the most you'd be able to achieve would be something like +4 AC, +2 STR on a set of fullplate. Not nearly as broken as +4 AC, +4 STR, +4 CON.
-Limit the bonus to skills to +4 or +5, but also change it to only procure relevant skills, such as Discipline/Spellcraft/Hide/Move Silently/Spot/Listen/Heal. Nothing was more disappointing than getting an artefact that was +8 to Craft Armor, only usable by Gnome.
Overall I feel this sort of system would be better for a replacement than outright removing any motivation to go exploring past 30 and full Epic gear. I loved the Artefact system. Not because I got stupid, overpowered, broken stuff out of it (because I never did), but because it gave unique stuff that you couldn't find anywhere else. The ability to create a cool story behind stuff we use gave personality to equipment, which otherwise would have been the generic grind of "I have 2 stat/4 skill gear, time to grind the crap out of gold until I can 5% Unisaves onto all of it.
Discussion of this suggestion can be held in the Artefact discussion thread, here.