[MUD-Dev] Too much magic?

[cruise]

Brian Hook wrote:

> I'm pretty much torn on this issue.  On the one hand I'd actually
> like a world where one magical item per person would almost be
> considered excessive, not a world reminiscent of my days as a
> 13-year old Monty Haul DM.  On the other hand, I really don't want
> players to get frustrated because they can't have magical crap in
> every possible character location.

I've been thinking much the same lately, and indeed limit the number
of magic items in the world and that players can wear. The former is
a simple case of making "unique" items truly unique - there will be
only one of that item in the entire gameworld. This obviously needs
balancing with the number of players, but it provides real status
and sense of achievment if you own one of these weapons/items.

For the latter, each magical item slows the healing/recovery process
depending on its power. Too many items, and it becomes a constant
drain. In the game lore, each item draws energy from its user to
power its effects - this naturally limits the amount and power of
the magic items that can be utilised.

To compensate for this, the amount of non-magical equipment is
greatly increased - which as a side bonus eliminates everyone
wearing the same "uber-items" and looking exactly the
same. Non-magical items still can be useful - high-quality
player-made clothing adds to a character's charisma, and better made
weapons have better "balance" add give combat advantages - but the
really powerful or special effects of magical equipment are much
more limited.
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev