bb@lanl-a.UUCP (10/08/83)
People often say "my campaign is magic-poor", or "medium-rich in
magic". What is medium? What is poor? How can we quantify our
campaigns for comparison purposes?
The campaign I am running is what I would call medium rich in
magic, though I think some would call it very rich. The characters
are:
Berry -- female human ranger, level 9. Has +2 intelligent
giantslayer sword named Minthi (detect elevators, magic) speaks,
belt of fire giant strength, rope of climbing, magic shield,magic armor
other magic weapons, arrows of slaying (demon, monk) a couple of
potions, ring of protection, ring of regeneration (the item they
prize above all others).
Izi -- male hobbit ftr/thf 6/8. belt of storm giant strength (from
his early days as a human ftr), +1 intelligent sword ("brother" of
Minthi) Tevis (detect magic, traps), bracers (Ac2), ring of pro (+3),
dust of disappearance, potions, scrolls of pro., periapt of wound
closure. Other magic weapons.
MitAltair -- male human MU lvl 10. wings of flying, bag of holding
(several--but only 1 not stolen), familiar cat (w/ wings won in Faere),
polymorph wand, ring of pro +6, 2 crystal balls, ring of wizardry,
ring of 1 wish (doesnt know it though), helm of comprehend languages,
scrolls, potions (a couple of each), magic missle wand, censors to
summon friendly and hostile air elementals.
And a new person whose character's name I forget for the moment
entered with a +1 mace, normal armor, +5 shield of Haphestus, and
little else.
The above group actually has loads more, having just barely
escaped with their lives and loot from an undergroud wizards' lair
where they managed to stop a dragon invasion and actually defeated
Tiamat and her consorts by capturing and using the Orb of the Eldest
Worm and the Orb of the Great Serpent. They "killed" several very
high level MU's with a lot of luck and help from a greater cyclopes
and a planetar, taking all their equipment which included a staff
of Power, a cube of Force, protection rings, etc.
Please let's not criticize me too harshly if you think I am running
a Monty Haul type of campaign, it really doesn't seem like that to
me or my players. The above group has been around for at least 70
weekend sessions, and started with nothing. The world they are in
has magic, lots of it (in my way of thinking) in some places, but
most of the people they met have no magic at all. They have had
all sorts of other stuff that was destroyed, used up, stolen,
taxed and claimed by former owners, etc. They haven't been able
to buy spells for over a year, and haven't had a cleric until
that new person I mentioned showed up. Their adventures have for
the most part been action/puzzle oriented, although they always say
they want to live in one of the cities they visited they want to
live well (ie like nobility) so they leave after obtaining training
and blowing all their hard-won gains.
How does the above compare with your campaign? Are there those out
there running a campaign with few items and higher level characters?
Low levels with lots of magic? My players and myself enjoy our sessions
very much -- not one has left because of boredom or dislike of the
campaign. How many of you think my campaign is magic-rich?
b2 ...ucbvax!{lbl-csam, purdue, cmcl2}!lanl-a!bb Bryan Binghamgs@mit-eddie.UUCP (Gordon Strong) (10/10/83)
I would call it an "extremely rich magic" level campaign. Do you give out a magic item every time something is killed? Do you give out new items just to see what they can do? I cannot realisticly see myself playing in such a campaign. Do you also let them do spell research? Have you come up with 12th level magic spells yet? How about tactical nukes? In games I have played in (the most enjoyable ones, at least) have had slow advancement with little new magic. This developed the players, not the characters. Anyone can play a character that has more firepower that a battlestar. It takes true playing ability to play a character that is down to but a few items and very little magic. I'd like to see how your players would hold up in a organized contest (like at a convention). You'd soon find that your players were losing a lot more than they were used to. Just imagine what it would be like to meet a party similar to yours. Would you think it realistic? Does it make sense in the context of things in your world? A good DM and a well-run campaign will give you hours and hours of satisfaction, not just sheets and sheets of magic items. -- Gordon Strong genrad!mit-eddie!gs GS%MIT-EECS@MIT-MC
mwe@astrovax.UUCP (10/10/83)
Funny, I always thought the AD&D third level spell Fireball *was* a tactical nuke. 8-) web ewell astrovax\!mwe