Equipment vs Powers

[Ninja-Bear]

Btw CyberHero has all its hardware (and software) written as Powers, with Independent Limitation, but is give prices to buy in game.

[ScottishFox]

21 hours ago, Chris Goodwin said:

Fantasy Hero way-back-when did normal equipment the same way as other games did, but assumed magic items would be built using its subset of the power system which included different base assumptions from Champions.  I think fourth edition Fantasy Hero tried to stick with that, in order to make it as easy as possible for anyone who already had Fantasy Hero campaigns running to switch with minimal conversion needed. 

 

Fantasy HERO also had the idea that magic items were created with the character points of the item creator.  Anyone could use the item afterwards and if it were destroyed those character points were just lost.

 

I felt that reasoning behind magic item creation explained the rarity of items in worlds where they could be created.

 

Nobody is going to be mass producing +1 OCV / +1 DC swords when each one eats a permanent 3 CP off your enchanter.

[Chris Goodwin]

13 minutes ago, ScottishFox said:

 

Fantasy HERO also had the idea that magic items were created with the character points of the item creator.  Anyone could use the item afterwards and if it were destroyed those character points were just lost.

 

I felt that reasoning behind magic item creation explained the rarity of items in worlds where they could be created.

 

Nobody is going to be mass producing +1 OCV / +1 DC swords when each one eats a permanent 3 CP off your enchanter.

 

True, but the GM saying "No" also works.   

[theinfn8]

 

On 10/21/2020 at 4:07 PM, Chris Goodwin said:

 

Alternatively, why not either let them write their characters up at 175 points, and you add magic items to bring them each up to 400 points?  Or let them write their characters up at 400 points, including magic items of their choice?  

 

If the players and the GM want to play in a game where characters have a bunch of magic items... why not just start out with that?  Why pretend that it's a "standard heroic" power level game?  Why go through the gyrations of placing magic items for them to find?  

 

In a way, this is something like the "resource pool" expanded to include magic items, which seems to be pretty common among Fantasy Hero games.  

 

This I get behind. But I would dove tail it into metered CP. The major problem with a lot of RPGs is the arms race that takes place between the threats and the PCs. PCs get stronger, bad guys need to scale accordingly. Which ultimately means the PCs haven't really gotten stronger. Start the PCs off at a competent level and stay there. Hell, there's no reason you can't all tell an awesome story *and never hand out a single point of XP*. The players don't need a ton of power bump if they are enjoying telling the story.

 

I prefer, and my players concur, with giving a chunk of points at the end of a story arc, with nothing inbetween. If you start the PCs out at a competent level to begin with, then (emulating fiction), the PCs will stay relatively the same through out the story and you'll only see permanent changes at the end of the plot line. If they come across a magic item during the plot it will not be a permanent part of the character unless the player wants to spend CP on it to have it show up in the next story. Unless it is plot driving, like an uber powerful yet utterly corrupting ring. Then you can have that nastiness "for free" and we'll see how it plays out...

[massey]

Equipment in Champions normally costs points, because you don't want to deal with that one guy who comes to the game session with a bunch of magazine articles about military equipment.  His character has 5 points of Wealth, and a 1 point Contact with "Army buddies" who secretly gave him a grenade launcher and anything else he wants. 

 

In Fantasy Hero, I'd say that there's no expectation for you to hang onto equipment you didn't pay points for.  This doesn't mean you can't pick it up, it's just not a part of you the way points-paid-for equipment is.  A +1 Longsword is kinda cool, but if you are in a fight with a slime monster and the sword fails its saving throw, it gets dissolved.  No more sword.  However, King Arthur does not lose Excalibur that way.  Excalibur doesn't have to make a saving throw.  If the boat he is traveling on starts to sink, King Arthur will have Excalibur at his side, or he'll have time to go get it.  Or a glow will emanate from underneath the water and it will rise to the surface, and then return to his hand.  He paid points for it, so he's supposed to have it.