Re: Automatic augments: no more ranks?

From: wulfcorbett <wulfc_at_...>
Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 09:33:44 -0000

How do they weaken a character (at all, never mind significantly)? Once you've got your sword, you have no need whatever to spend points on it, it didn't cost you anything extra (since it would be part of the keyword), and has more use than a sword that's treated simply as equipment (what use? Dunno, someone thinks of a use for EVERY ability that someone else has declared useless - maybe you can augment it's value in a trade by it's rating?).

> > narrow ability, and exactly the same as spending them on an
> > 'important' item - by spending the points, it BECOMES
'important'.
>
> Buy you can already do this, and you get _much_ better bang for
> your buck with the current rules. I see no reason to prefer the
> proposed option.

What better bang? 'Creating' an item by buying it unrelated starts it at Rating 12, so THAT is certainly less powerful. Maybe you mean enchanting? I can't think why you would mean that though, since the two are in no way related nor incompatible.  

> As i have said before, this is probably fixable using modified rules
> for buying up equipment, but pretending that it's not a problem in
> the first place, and that it makes sense to spend 5 HP on a
> 'Broadsword' ability to get a ^1 edge when using it, is IMHO daft.

So don't do it. You have a Broadsword, you use it. No expense. Of course, there would have to be rules for other equipment so that the 'base level' of each would give the apropriate edge (a Greatsword would start at 5W, for instance), but even without adding to this rating you could TRY and raise the edge by normal augmetation rules. Or just don't bother.  

> This is a classic case of a mistake many players new to HW sem to
> make. i spend a lot of time explaining to poeple why taking
> abilities that are only ever used to augment one other ability
> are pointless. You're always better off raising the main ability,
> of which the secondary ability is realy just a subset anyway.

Whereas yours is a classic mistake many referees make of already deciding what the possibilities are and blinkering themselves to any new ideas. You're in a rut with this idea that it's just another form of enchantment, that's like denying a player the opportunity to improve his Running when he can be using Burst of Speed for a better effect. You might think it's only useful for one use, but I see no such limitation, and, besides, even if it was, it simply replaces a fixed value of similar use.  

> +x weapons. At least the magic, rituals and enchantments already
> in the game have a bit of character.

And so, equally, do 'fine' or 'exceptional' weapons, without magic involved.

Wulf

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