A plus to whatever...

And so yes, in another of my rambling, I'm on a cocktail of painkillers and don't you know it, hikes through the valley of my MMO gripes - item bonuses.

If you've been following my lastest posts on crafting, run-speeds, and that other why I may have done, or may merely have imagined - I wanted to spend a cutler-three paras talking about magick items.

In my P&P games I pride myself on the creation of exquisite magick items.  My rationale behind this - because there should ALWAYS be a rationale - is that if you were capable of creating a magick item, would you churn out just yet another production line Skoda with the same stats as a thousand other items?  Or would you approach the project with some artistry?

In my P&P games actually both happens.  The rationale (always with the rationale!) behind this is that in some circumstances - i.e. when preparing for a war - an enchanter might be asked to create a batch of swords with specific bonuses with which to equip, for example, the royal guard.  Hence you get the Royal Falchion - of which two dozen were made, and they are all identical.  And this goes for many other types of enchanted items created in batches for a specific purpose.

But then there should also be a bunch of one-offs, and with these all manner of interesting and quirky magickal effects should be available.  Essentially, the thinking behind it is in mechanics terms, if the game provides a stat for something, then that stat should be able to be tweaked by magick.  And more, in fact.

Have weapons that deliver especial effects but only at midnight.  Have items with an intelligence all their own. Have equipment that activates only in the hands of certain people / races / conditions.  Basically, if it adds to the story, and can be measured by data, let the game provide it.

The bottom line is: it WILL make the game more interesting.  And thus it will provide more player satisfaction.