Re: CF: Player balance.

[scary kevin <isildur@abulafia.st.hmc.edu>]

From: "Mark Wedel" <mwedel@pyramid.com>:
> I think the change that needs to be made is to add more generic spell
> casting objects for money (like the identify tables.)  That way, he can
> perhaps drop 10 gp for a detect magic, and maybe 25 gp for a detect curse 
> or something.  I also think that this is justs a nice idea in general - 
> having altars in churches where you drop a bunch of gold to get a remove 
> curse or something.

This is a definite problem with the current setup.  I started a new
Quetzalcoatl, and quickly died four or five times in quick succession to
undiscovered poison needle traps.  Any amount of poison killed me, and I had
no recourse but to just sit and die.  At those low levels, I could not
afford healing potions or cure poison scrolls; now that I'm much higher in
level, poison is no longer a problem, as it never seems to really affect me,
and when it does, it never makes a serious dent in my hit points.  The only
characters who have problems with poison are those who are too low level to
do anything about it.

If more "spell tables" were added in temples etc., with, say, healing, cure
poison, remove curse, and other similar spells that low-level characters
really need but can't afford otherwise, and high-level characters can afford
but don't need, it would serve to balance out the early levels of play.
Right now I generally have to throw out three or so characters because of
early losses to my statistics; I had (for instance) a wizard character I
tried to start who died three times from traps on doors in the Newbie
Tower.  When I make a character, I'd like to be able to stick with it,
rather than having to make three or four before I get one that survives the
first five levels.

>> 	o Relax no exp for magic item use (wands/rods/horns). Allow
>> 	  players to gain 5-10% of experience for kills with these items.
>> 	  Awarded exp can go to the "magic" exp category. This isnt a
>> 	  problem since no clerical killing spells occur in magic items.

> I think getting exp from objects is totally reasonable.  After all, it is
> killing things that get the exp, so on that basis, knowing when to use the
> spells should be worth something.  Just casting a spell doesn't get exp,
> only when someone casts the spell that kills something.  Thus, when using
> an item, your are doing half of the work, you are not casting, but you are
> killing something.

A friend and I have discussed this, and decided that it's a really bad
idea.  Say, for instance, I'm a mid-level swashbuckler with no spellcasting
ability, but I manage to read a scroll of thaumaturgy.  I pull out my trusty
rod of icestorm (which I found/bought/whatever) and proceed to fry a pack of
fire elementals (or other cold-vulnerable monster).  WIthin a few hours I
can have a spellcasting skill equal to my physique without actually learning
a single spell.  At this point, even if my int isn't great, I can begin
learning low-level spells, as my magic level is high enough to let me.

Right now it's difficult but not impossible for a non-spellcasting class to
"break into" the field of magic, or prayer, or whatever.  (I personally
think it isn't difficult enough; a friend's warrior is more powerful
magically than my quetzalcoatl, _and_ he can wear armor.)  Making rods etc
give indiscriminate skill experience will only make it easier -- no more
warriors plinking at kobolds with their new magic missile spell; just go fry
a few chinese dragons with a rod of medium fireball (the one in Goblin
Island is a good example of an easy-to-kill, no risk critter).  It will only
contribute to the blurring of classes at higher levels, where what class you
started off as doesn't seem to really make much difference in your combat
capabilities; anyone over 20th level in our game has praying at high level,
spellcasting at high level, and physique at high level.

A way to do it that would avoid these problems to some degree is to allow 
experience to be gained through item usage, but to limit the classes
able to use a certain item.  Much like AD&D, warriors couldn't use wands,
staves, or rods; wizards could use some of them, and clerics others.  This
way a spell-using character can resort to their items as a backup or last
resort weapon and not miss experience for doing so, but other classes can't 
exploit the items as a means to wildly increase their (hopefully) weak
casting abilities.

Just a few thoughts... now, back to my thesis.

-Kevin (isildur@abulafia.st.hmc.edu <-- at least for a little longer!)