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Loot and Artifacts: Gimme!

Started by Anastasia, April 17, 2018, 02:47:16 PM

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Corwin

Okay, so following that and the PM chat, I'm selling Kormault and then commissioning Kormault 2.0 from Elle, except it'd be +10 Deadly Precision Shattermantle. I saw you approve Deadly Precision and Shattermantle for IddyItems via a casual search so it should be okay? If not, please let me know.

Elle is a pro, my fluid funds go from 32,042.25gp to 7,042.25gp. 2,000gp to replenish my stock of holy fire tonics, so let's round out my cash to 5,000gp.
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Anastasia

<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Corwin

<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

I misread Deadly Precision, so since it's a +1 rather than a +2 enchantment, +10 Keen Deadly Precision Shattermantle is a go.

---
QuoteCrystalvein Greatsword. This greatsword functions as a greatsword+6, keen and wounding. This greatsword ignores any armor bonuses granted by force effects such as shield or mage armor. If a target is successfully hit by this greatsword, any force effects active on them or force spells being maintained by them are treated as being targeted by a dispel magic effect with a dispel modifier of +21.
Crystalvein Dagger x2. This dagger functions as a dagger+6, keen and wounding. These daggers ignore any armor bonuses granted by force effects such as shield or mage armor. If a target is successfully hit by one of the daggers, any force effects on them or force spells being maintained are treated as being targeted by a dispel magic effect with a dispel modifier of +21.

Dune, are they +9 weapons for pricing/upgrade purposes, or they merely counting as such?

Is there a way to increase the dispel magic effect?
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Corwin

I don't know if this is the right place for it, but I've been pondering post-Shar how to fix this particular issue.

My main gear is all artifacts, correct? And while it's nice for my avatar(s), I feel my sword and shield need a boost. Had Dragon's Grace been a regular +7 sword, I could just pay to upgrade it. But I'd need to actually find a deity that can make artifacts to do that here, and even then it feels a bit like cheapening the concept of artifacts to throw money on the problem.

But at the same time, what can I actually do? Is the superior option to order a Backstabber from Elle and upgrade it to +14? I'd get double my current enchantment and mechanically upgrade my offensive routine (and keep the +2d6 to SA that Dragon's Grace gives while ignoring the fire staff aspect that I never use), but it's a bit like replacing my main weapon with a soulless replica. I suppose I could stab cool enemies with it and grant the new sword its own legend, and Alicia did do something like that, though that involved changing a whole weapon type so I don't know if that's the right call for me.

Dune, advice?
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Anastasia

Quote from: Corwin on August 22, 2019, 04:41:41 PM
I misread Deadly Precision, so since it's a +1 rather than a +2 enchantment, +10 Keen Deadly Precision Shattermantle is a go.

---
QuoteCrystalvein Greatsword. This greatsword functions as a greatsword+6, keen and wounding. This greatsword ignores any armor bonuses granted by force effects such as shield or mage armor. If a target is successfully hit by this greatsword, any force effects active on them or force spells being maintained by them are treated as being targeted by a dispel magic effect with a dispel modifier of +21.
Crystalvein Dagger x2. This dagger functions as a dagger+6, keen and wounding. These daggers ignore any armor bonuses granted by force effects such as shield or mage armor. If a target is successfully hit by one of the daggers, any force effects on them or force spells being maintained are treated as being targeted by a dispel magic effect with a dispel modifier of +21.

Dune, are they +9 weapons for pricing/upgrade purposes, or they merely counting as such?

Is there a way to increase the dispel magic effect?

+9 for the purposes of it, yeah. Which means they count as +9 already, they're pretty respectable weapons.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

Quote from: Corwin on August 23, 2019, 04:50:31 AM
I don't know if this is the right place for it, but I've been pondering post-Shar how to fix this particular issue.

My main gear is all artifacts, correct? And while it's nice for my avatar(s), I feel my sword and shield need a boost. Had Dragon's Grace been a regular +7 sword, I could just pay to upgrade it. But I'd need to actually find a deity that can make artifacts to do that here, and even then it feels a bit like cheapening the concept of artifacts to throw money on the problem.

But at the same time, what can I actually do? Is the superior option to order a Backstabber from Elle and upgrade it to +14? I'd get double my current enchantment and mechanically upgrade my offensive routine (and keep the +2d6 to SA that Dragon's Grace gives while ignoring the fire staff aspect that I never use), but it's a bit like replacing my main weapon with a soulless replica. I suppose I could stab cool enemies with it and grant the new sword its own legend, and Alicia did do something like that, though that involved changing a whole weapon type so I don't know if that's the right call for me.

Dune, advice?

Mmmm.

That's a reasonable issue.

Let me mull it over and compose a response over the weekend. I give you full authority to nag me on Monday if I haven't replied here, I want a day or so to sort out exactly what I want to say here.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Corwin

Quote from: Anastasia on August 23, 2019, 10:26:19 PM
Quote from: Corwin on August 22, 2019, 04:41:41 PM
I misread Deadly Precision, so since it's a +1 rather than a +2 enchantment, +10 Keen Deadly Precision Shattermantle is a go.

---
QuoteCrystalvein Greatsword. This greatsword functions as a greatsword+6, keen and wounding. This greatsword ignores any armor bonuses granted by force effects such as shield or mage armor. If a target is successfully hit by this greatsword, any force effects active on them or force spells being maintained by them are treated as being targeted by a dispel magic effect with a dispel modifier of +21.
Crystalvein Dagger x2. This dagger functions as a dagger+6, keen and wounding. These daggers ignore any armor bonuses granted by force effects such as shield or mage armor. If a target is successfully hit by one of the daggers, any force effects on them or force spells being maintained are treated as being targeted by a dispel magic effect with a dispel modifier of +21.

Dune, are they +9 weapons for pricing/upgrade purposes, or they merely counting as such?

Is there a way to increase the dispel magic effect?

+9 for the purposes of it, yeah. Which means they count as +9 already, they're pretty respectable weapons.

Excellent, which means if I want to make a +7 crystalvein greatsword I pay the difference between +9 and +10.

Anyways, I quoted that not just for the elementary math but also because you missed my other question. Is there a means for buffing the +21 dispel roll? At our current power it's close to useless, but if there was a way to increase it to +31 or higher through money/unique quests/node stuff, I'd love to know.

And now that I think about it, how hard is it to acquire crystalvein? Do I need to go to Salt in person, or can enough be purchased for a short sword, say?
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Anastasia

Yeah, you could come up with something to improve it. You could get even better quality crystalvein from Salt.

Normal crystalvein can rarely be purchased, but Tor Salinus is a thing. A big thing. The simplest way is to to Salt, but uuuuh that means you'll most likely die horribly to Tor Salinus.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Corwin

*triumph over Tor Salinus and seize control over Salt
<Steph> I might have made a terrible mistake

Anastasia

One can hope. I figure he's on your list sooner or later.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

Quote from: Anastasia on August 23, 2019, 10:27:50 PM
Quote from: Corwin on August 23, 2019, 04:50:31 AM
I don't know if this is the right place for it, but I've been pondering post-Shar how to fix this particular issue.

My main gear is all artifacts, correct? And while it's nice for my avatar(s), I feel my sword and shield need a boost. Had Dragon's Grace been a regular +7 sword, I could just pay to upgrade it. But I'd need to actually find a deity that can make artifacts to do that here, and even then it feels a bit like cheapening the concept of artifacts to throw money on the problem.

But at the same time, what can I actually do? Is the superior option to order a Backstabber from Elle and upgrade it to +14? I'd get double my current enchantment and mechanically upgrade my offensive routine (and keep the +2d6 to SA that Dragon's Grace gives while ignoring the fire staff aspect that I never use), but it's a bit like replacing my main weapon with a soulless replica. I suppose I could stab cool enemies with it and grant the new sword its own legend, and Alicia did do something like that, though that involved changing a whole weapon type so I don't know if that's the right call for me.

Dune, advice?

Mmmm.

That's a reasonable issue.

Let me mull it over and compose a response over the weekend. I give you full authority to nag me on Monday if I haven't replied here, I want a day or so to sort out exactly what I want to say here.

Just a heads up - working on it but muscle relaxers leave me in a coma. I'll try and have a coherent response before session today.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Anastasia

#657
Before I begin, I want to say this is a valid issue and I'm glad you brought it up. I'd been coasting on this stuff awhile and this is a refresher that I need to tighten it up. This is as much brainstorming as explaining, so suggestions are more than welcome.

Disclaimer: Still on muscle relaxers and spacey, so if I botched anything or said anything really weird, it's not personal. I edited a few times but the sleepiness from muscle relaxers is not trivial for me.

Okay, I think the fundamental problem here isn't about artifacts and improving them (or the difficulties thereof). That's certainly an issue and one I'm going to get to later in this post, but I'm going to cover where I feel the rules aren't working first of all.

I think the greater problem is falling into the same trap B3 was falling into, one I wanted to avoid this game but it hasn't worked out. Namely, unlimited, unbound by caster level magical item advancement in epic. Make a +15 weapon? Sure, knock yourself out. One thing I didn't want to do this game is do a rehash of B6 on that front. Unfortunately, that seems to be where it's going because I'm not willing to put my foot down. That changes now.

While I don't have them ready after a weekend spent on muscle relaxers, within a few days rules for this are going to be pushed out and enforced. Something like +11 at level 21 and +1 higher at level whatever and every x levels thereafter will be the most likely outcome.

That being said, let's address the rest of this.

QuoteMy main gear is all artifacts, correct? And while it's nice for my avatar(s), I feel my sword and shield need a boost. Had Dragon's Grace been a regular +7 sword, I could just pay to upgrade it. But I'd need to actually find a deity that can make artifacts to do that here, and even then it feels a bit like cheapening the concept of artifacts to throw money on the problem.

But at the same time, what can I actually do? Is the superior option to order a Backstabber from Elle and upgrade it to +14? I'd get double my current enchantment and mechanically upgrade my offensive routine (and keep the +2d6 to SA that Dragon's Grace gives while ignoring the fire staff aspect that I never use), but it's a bit like replacing my main weapon with a soulless replica. I suppose I could stab cool enemies with it and grant the new sword its own legend, and Alicia did do something like that, though that involved changing a whole weapon type so I don't know if that's the right call for me.

We both agree about cheapening it.

I've been tossing out some bonuses here and there for y'all's gear in nodes and that's one way to keep them moving upwards.

Another is what you suggested with legends.

A third is some other way, a few ideas that I'm tossing around now. I don't have a concrete answer yet. At the least I think I'll turn up nodes improving your gear a bit and mull some other options as well. Let me get back to you on that, but it'll probably be something like a special node goal for improving your gears as needed. One not tied to NPCs, I suppose, and maybe with a recharge counter that decreases as you accomplish other node goals. I'll work something out here after some testing in the next day or two.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?

Ebiris

Yeah aside from gaining that ring of wizardry and swapping out that worthless artifact ring Alicia hasn't upgraded her gear at all for the whole of B6. I don't really know how because she doesn't interact with the normal adventuring economy - between being able to spam create cheap magic items and having an entire heaven backing her up and functionally infinite gold she can make by altering her divine realm, money's pointless for her. But at the same time I don't want to just say, "I upgrade all my gear to the maximum enhancements possible," because that's lame and cheap.

But I really do want some upgrades especially on my weapon, going like 4 levels without upgrading that is a bit of a stretch at any level.

Anastasia

Nit to pick: You did get +1 enhancement to Bonds as a node thing semi recently.

But upgrades are fair and yeah, you both have a point about it. Let me get back y'all once I have some clear headed design time.
<Afina> Imagine a tiny pixie boot stamping on a devil's face.
<Afina> Forever.

<Yuthirin> Afina, giant parasitic rainbow space whale.
<IronDragoon> I mean, why not?