Equipment Balance

[Gabrielles blades]

anyone know good haks that add balanced equipment?
i find it hard to do it myself since i almost always feel like im disturbing the balance if i try to make a new weapon or armor etc

with the current equipment available it appears that everything is very well balanced; most every class tops off at around 40 AC and most weapons seem designed to be equivalent to a monks hand to hand damage. So prety much anything i can think that id really like for my character seems to upset the balance. the problem is, it seems prety much all of my characters are turning out to eventualy be using more or less the same standard equipment for the various positions; which gets a bit...boring really.

[quietman1920]

OK, I'm going to go out on a limb here. "Boring" to me = Not Challenging Enough. So, my solution to You is Obvious: Leave the toolbox alone and play some characters Hardcore. You'll be greatful to get Any equipment which will make you a better gamer. Now I'm not saying that when your level 5 sorcerer is low on spells, being surrounded by 10 mummy warriors and all, that you'll stop to say, "Gee, Thank You, Quietman...!" But I'm pretty sure you won't be bored.

I'm also going to paraphrase a bit from a magazine article I read some 20 years ago:

"So, do you want the ultimate challege mod in D&D? Here goes...your character, the ultra Uberman with more magic than most gods of the Pantheon, finds himself in a misty place. There is no ceiling or floor...no walls either. And try as he/she might, no other people to be seen and no monsters to kill. After a few days of this, Anxiety rises and your character thinks wild and desperate thoughts. But even his Moljanir Hammer of Thor is no good: Your armor class is so low even YOU can't hit yourself. That's when its time to pick up your character sheet and write across the top 'R-E-T-I-R-E-D'. Then, roll up a new character (a level 1) and start all over again. You'll thank yourself if you do. The majority of the fun in D&D is in the Journey, not the Destination..."

[ 01-24-2003, 08:01 AM: Message edited by: quietman1920 ]

[Gabrielles blades]

thats the thing though
i have retired characters over and over and replayed the game all the way back up to 20th
and every single time i get back to 20th, im back into the rut of having the same equipment more or less for various spots
For instance,
cloaks bracers rings necklaces belts helms; theres a few choices, but the way the system is designed the most bang for your buck is almost always going to be the same ones every single time in the end game

And it isnt that the game is too easy -even as a barbarion with 39 ac 350 hps and major dmg output i have a hard time in some mods. my other characters that are weaker than that have an even more hard time most because their hps arent anywhere near as good; so it certainly isnt that its not challenging at the end game.

[quietman1920]

The basic game does have less item choices than some I've known. And you have a valid point in that if you make your own, they'l be blocked from online mods as 'Invalid Item Level' or some such.

Truthfully, there really is only one way around this: biuld your own mod. Even then I hate the fact that characters are restricted to level 20...but that's just me.