Timeline for I am looking for some feedback on my first homebrewed magic item "Aurel‘s Adaptive Crossbow"
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
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| Oct 15, 2021 at 18:55 | comment | added | Gandalfmeansme | @Bobson Very true. Of course, with 4 maximum charges (which recharge 1d4 daily), and abilities that take 1, 2, or 4 charges to use, I'd put this crossbow's special abilities firmly in the "this thing I do a few times a day" category. | |
| Oct 15, 2021 at 17:23 | comment | added | Bobson | @Gandalfmeansme - There's also the difference between complexity for "this thing I do a few times a day" and for "this thing I do almost every turn". | |
| Oct 15, 2021 at 4:47 | comment | added | Darth Pseudonym | Staves that have many spells associated tend to use the really iconic spells that we already know well, and are also usually in that Very Rare to Legendary realm where it's likely to be a character-defining major item. A SoP is a complicated item, and I'd be very leery of a similar item with a lower rarity rating (but again, complex doesn't inherently mean bad). It's true that packing up text in "you can use web" feels less complex; but then if you just have a wand of web, it isn't all that complicated -- each turn, you're simply asking "do I want to web anyone?" | |
| Oct 15, 2021 at 3:12 | comment | added | Gandalfmeansme | I definitely get that. It’s interesting that we find this really complicated when the things the bow can do is unique to the bow, but don’t consider it complicated if we allow you to use charges to cast established spells. For example, I’ve never heard someone say the Staff of Power is a bad item because it’s too complicated (though it can cast a lot more than 4 spells). But if the spells it can cast only existed in the text of the item, we definitely would. | |
| Oct 14, 2021 at 23:49 | history | edited | Darth Pseudonym | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Oct 14, 2021 at 23:38 | comment | added | Darth Pseudonym | Well, as I said, it's not a problem to have some of these features. "Complex" is not inherently an indictment. In fact, many or most combat spells will have at least one of those features, and spellcasting in general sort of has the 1st and 4th. A complex magic item is, however, going to somewhat steal focus from the character's innate abilities, and when it has not one or two but four of five of those qualities, on a character already as complex as a Ranger, that's just a lot of remembering what all your character can do. It's not impossible, just maybe not worth it for this bow. | |
| Oct 14, 2021 at 23:36 | history | edited | Darth Pseudonym | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Oct 14, 2021 at 21:53 | comment | added | Gandalfmeansme | I agree with your assessment of fidlyness, but it's worth noting that a lot of these things you mentioned as "complex" are bread-and-butter features of a Ranger. For example, the Ranger spells Hail of Thorns and Lightning Arrow will require you to make an attack roll followed by a save, and select extra targets within their radii. I agree that these things are complicated, but they may be the kind of complications a Ranger player is prepared for. | |
| Oct 14, 2021 at 18:52 | history | answered | Darth Pseudonym | CC BY-SA 4.0 |