I believe Badger3k posted this in a thread back a while but I don't think anyone really answered him so I wanted to start a fresh thread on the topic.
I've found the exact opposite to be true, mainly because there are many ways to separate characters and items. Having a character lose 3-4 points and its not a major play stopper. Take away 20+ points and the players go ballistic (I would too). Foci in champions are rarely lost permanently - at least not without redoing the character - the points involved are usually very big). All the items I've used in FH have been independant. So anyone can use them, and they can be taken away permanently. A player may lose a few points, and it hurts, but its not a game breaker. And if a character does decide to put all his eggs in one basket, then maybe his next character will be built differently.
That line of thought also begs the question of how you do experience and magic items. Do you have the characters pay cp for all items they find? Or are there no items to be found - everything must be created personally? The latter would limit all fighters - "You want to enchant a sword? Get real mr warrior - ask the mage to use his cp for you" (I don't let a character use another's cps for items BTW - you may do it differently). Can you explain how you run that in your game - I'm interested in hearing how you do it. I've juggled several ideas for my latest campaign, but have nothing concrete. One would be a set pool (say 10 pts/character for this example), with all treasure points coming out of this pool (ex - 4 characters play this session; total is 40 points. Magic items total 33 character points worth. 40-33 = 7 /4 = 2 (rounded). Characters get 2 xp plus the items, and those they can divide however they want (which can make 'unbalanced' characters - although this is not a major deal for me).
Other games like D&D simply allow the GM to award players with "treasure" at their leaisure. This has always been the thorn in my side with Fantasy Hero. Those points for magic items always have to have come from somewhere.
So I handle it the following way......
First I altered the Independant rule. If you take this limitation for whatever reason you don't actually ever lose those points. Instead, once the item is destroyed they go into a "pool" if you will, that slowly returns to you over time. So if a Mage creates a potion/scroll/sword/whatever, those points stay locked into the item UNTIL it is destroyed (or used up) then those points transfer into the pool and trickle back home to be used again. Why would I do this? Well, based on the way experience is awarded you are not going to get very far exp wise sitting is a dusty library transcribing scrolls. So anyone who puts points into mundane magic items that get used up is crazy. But if he gets those points back after being used, he can continue to crank them out if desired (or spend them to say raise his INT.) Now if the Mage wants to make more powerful items he will have to go adventuring to get more exp. You could even decrease the Independent limitation to say -1.5 to reflect this. This system of "trickle back" allows for the creation of lots of minor magics that get used up (although until the mage sells that stockpile with all his exp locked inside he might reach an impass.) without permanent exp loss.
Now I handle treasure aquired in a similar fashion. If you find a sword or dragon slaying, great! Keeping it is another matter entirely. If you use it in an adventure or two then sell it, no experience cost, it was merely transient booty. BUT, if you decide to keep it and make it your own you are required to pay a portion the experience you gain in every adventure until you have "paid it off". This number is up to you but, like a car payment, the quicker you pay it off the sooner you can move on to getting that new stero system! If the character wants he can hold experience just for such an occasion but it's not necessary. As in the previous paragraph though, when the character starts paying to own that item those points begin to slowly return to the maker, allowing them to make more swords of slaying. If a character loses an item or decides to sell it in leiu of something better he will get all those points back, but not immediately, making upgrading to a new keepsake more difficult or time consuming.
This system does have it's own set of minor issues but it preserves the most important thing. Your characters "special" equipment will be reflected in their point totals keeping everyone relatively balanced, and creating items is not a crippling event for said creators.
That's how I handle it and it's worked quite well for 12 years. I would like to hear other opinions on the subject though so post away!
Magic Items vs. Exp.
in Fantasy Hero
Posted
I believe Badger3k posted this in a thread back a while but I don't think anyone really answered him so I wanted to start a fresh thread on the topic.
Other games like D&D simply allow the GM to award players with "treasure" at their leaisure. This has always been the thorn in my side with Fantasy Hero. Those points for magic items always have to have come from somewhere.
So I handle it the following way......
First I altered the Independant rule. If you take this limitation for whatever reason you don't actually ever lose those points. Instead, once the item is destroyed they go into a "pool" if you will, that slowly returns to you over time. So if a Mage creates a potion/scroll/sword/whatever, those points stay locked into the item UNTIL it is destroyed (or used up) then those points transfer into the pool and trickle back home to be used again. Why would I do this? Well, based on the way experience is awarded you are not going to get very far exp wise sitting is a dusty library transcribing scrolls. So anyone who puts points into mundane magic items that get used up is crazy. But if he gets those points back after being used, he can continue to crank them out if desired (or spend them to say raise his INT.) Now if the Mage wants to make more powerful items he will have to go adventuring to get more exp.
You could even decrease the Independent limitation to say -1.5 to reflect this. This system of "trickle back" allows for the creation of lots of minor magics that get used up (although until the mage sells that stockpile with all his exp locked inside he might reach an impass.) without permanent exp loss.
Now I handle treasure aquired in a similar fashion. If you find a sword or dragon slaying, great! Keeping it is another matter entirely. If you use it in an adventure or two then sell it, no experience cost, it was merely transient booty. BUT, if you decide to keep it and make it your own you are required to pay a portion the experience you gain in every adventure until you have "paid it off". This number is up to you but, like a car payment, the quicker you pay it off the sooner you can move on to getting that new stero system! If the character wants he can hold experience just for such an occasion but it's not necessary. As in the previous paragraph though, when the character starts paying to own that item those points begin to slowly return to the maker, allowing them to make more swords of slaying. If a character loses an item or decides to sell it in leiu of something better he will get all those points back, but not immediately, making upgrading to a new keepsake more difficult or time consuming.
This system does have it's own set of minor issues but it preserves the most important thing. Your characters "special" equipment will be reflected in their point totals keeping everyone relatively balanced, and creating items is not a crippling event for said creators.
That's how I handle it and it's worked quite well for 12 years. I would like to hear other opinions on the subject though so post away!