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Legolas · 05-31-2003, 05:35 PM

You should realise that magical weapons, especially the ones requiring you to be lvl 40 or more, are supposed to be exceptionally rare in most gameworlds. Because they are rare, they are also valuable. For a normal person (lvl 0 character) it would be highly unlikely to come across a person owning one, let alone own one him/herself.
There may be powerful individuals with a small collection, but these would be well-guarded, and before any are used or lent (requiring a great amount of trust or control on the owner's part) someone would have to be in a very unique situation. The owner would have to be incredably desperate to hand one to a lvl 1 character. There's not going to be any charity involved, in any case.

But, assume the mighty wizard drives by with his collection. A sword simply fell off the back of a donkey cart and you happened to be the one who picked it up. Okay. Neat. Your weapon is probably enchanted and you have absolutely no idea just what it does. What do you do? Go out and kill things with it, of course. Bringing it back for a reward would be stupid, because the wizard will probably kill you for demanding gold or stealing the weapon in the first place. He always had been a grumpy fellow according to your granny, so you are not going to take any chances.

Now, there you are, out in the dark caves with some friends beside you you plan to impress. And there's a gibberling! Foul creature! Die!
You lift your sword and... it's too heavy! All of a sudden you cannot lift it anymore! Someone must have placed a ward to make sure the mighty weapon wouldn't fall into the wrong hands! You need to say a magic word to be able to wield it. The gibberling comes closer, the stench of wet dogs is in the air. You see yellowed teeth, a horrible grin directed at you. Your bladder fails. Please, you whimper, and all of a sudden the sword is flying through the air. It embeds itself in the stone several yards away. That kind of force and speed was completely unexpected! Unfortunately, it's in all the way to the crossguard and you forgot to aim for the gibberling.
It is at this point that one of your friends casually tosses a rock at the gibberling and scares it off...

The bottom line is that weapons are supposed to be 'an extention of your body', as it is so often put. A magical weapon in the hands of a level 1 character would be 'an ugly organic appendix on an otherwise fine piece of craftsmanship' instead. You can't keep up with the speed and power it demands until you are far, far more experienced. There may be protections built in to make sure only the right kinds of people can use it, you may need to know how to activate its unique abilities, and when to do so. Chances are you haven't a clue what the item does in any case.

A sword +1 is simple. It simply improves your aim somewhat, allowing you to hit more and do a bit more damage. It is simple, so it is easier to make. It's also far less dangerous than some other weapons and doesn't need to be restricted to specific individuals or those who know a power word. That would only make it more expensive and difficult to mass-produce.
A sword +7, +10 to Undead with Regeneration, Fire Ball 2x per day and permanent Flashy Colours 20' radius, on the other hand, is nothing like that.

For armour, it's more or less the same story. Extra protection is wonderful, but if you wear it inside-out or don't know how to tighten the straps, so to speak, you're going to be leaving massive holes in your defenses nonetheless. And that is how it is for all magical items, which is why you need level restrictions.

The one thing that could be said against them is that they are set at some value, but individuals might master a particular item somewhat earlier or somewhat later. If you train with swords daily but don't know how to swing an axe, you may be able to use a magical sword properly one level earlier, or a magical axe somewhat later. Or perhaps we should split up the abilities, and have characters unlock them under specific circumstances (a special power when they learn a power word, the history when a bard tells it, +x to hit when they train a lot on speed but not on power...).
But that'd just make things unnecessarily complicated, and that is why we draw a line somewhere, and call it level restriction.

05-31-2003, 05:35 PM	#10
Legolas Jack Burton Join Date: March 31, 2001 Location: The zephyr lands beneath the brine. Age: 41 Posts: 5,459	You should realise that magical weapons, especially the ones requiring you to be lvl 40 or more, are supposed to be exceptionally rare in most gameworlds. Because they are rare, they are also valuable. For a normal person (lvl 0 character) it would be highly unlikely to come across a person owning one, let alone own one him/herself. There may be powerful individuals with a small collection, but these would be well-guarded, and before any are used or lent (requiring a great amount of trust or control on the owner's part) someone would have to be in a very unique situation. The owner would have to be incredably desperate to hand one to a lvl 1 character. There's not going to be any charity involved, in any case. But, assume the mighty wizard drives by with his collection. A sword simply fell off the back of a donkey cart and you happened to be the one who picked it up. Okay. Neat. Your weapon is probably enchanted and you have absolutely no idea just what it does. What do you do? Go out and kill things with it, of course. Bringing it back for a reward would be stupid, because the wizard will probably kill you for demanding gold or stealing the weapon in the first place. He always had been a grumpy fellow according to your granny, so you are not going to take any chances. Now, there you are, out in the dark caves with some friends beside you you plan to impress. And there's a gibberling! Foul creature! Die! You lift your sword and... it's too heavy! All of a sudden you cannot lift it anymore! Someone must have placed a ward to make sure the mighty weapon wouldn't fall into the wrong hands! You need to say a magic word to be able to wield it. The gibberling comes closer, the stench of wet dogs is in the air. You see yellowed teeth, a horrible grin directed at you. Your bladder fails. Please, you whimper, and all of a sudden the sword is flying through the air. It embeds itself in the stone several yards away. That kind of force and speed was completely unexpected! Unfortunately, it's in all the way to the crossguard and you forgot to aim for the gibberling. It is at this point that one of your friends casually tosses a rock at the gibberling and scares it off... The bottom line is that weapons are supposed to be 'an extention of your body', as it is so often put. A magical weapon in the hands of a level 1 character would be 'an ugly organic appendix on an otherwise fine piece of craftsmanship' instead. You can't keep up with the speed and power it demands until you are far, far more experienced. There may be protections built in to make sure only the right kinds of people can use it, you may need to know how to activate its unique abilities, and when to do so. Chances are you haven't a clue what the item does in any case. A sword +1 is simple. It simply improves your aim somewhat, allowing you to hit more and do a bit more damage. It is simple, so it is easier to make. It's also far less dangerous than some other weapons and doesn't need to be restricted to specific individuals or those who know a power word. That would only make it more expensive and difficult to mass-produce. A sword +7, +10 to Undead with Regeneration, Fire Ball 2x per day and permanent Flashy Colours 20' radius, on the other hand, is nothing like that. For armour, it's more or less the same story. Extra protection is wonderful, but if you wear it inside-out or don't know how to tighten the straps, so to speak, you're going to be leaving massive holes in your defenses nonetheless. And that is how it is for all magical items, which is why you need level restrictions. The one thing that could be said against them is that they are set at some value, but individuals might master a particular item somewhat earlier or somewhat later. If you train with swords daily but don't know how to swing an axe, you may be able to use a magical sword properly one level earlier, or a magical axe somewhat later. Or perhaps we should split up the abilities, and have characters unlock them under specific circumstances (a special power when they learn a power word, the history when a bard tells it, +x to hit when they train a lot on speed but not on power...). But that'd just make things unnecessarily complicated, and that is why we draw a line somewhere, and call it level restriction.