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[kv]

I haven't actually gotten into focuses with my group of runners- a couple of them are playing adepts, but they're not so much focused on the magic (or sneaking) as they are on kicking ass in combat.

Maybe sometime soon I'll show them the weapon focus rules and let them drool.

"No, it's not dikoted, it just does four extra dice worth of damage. For each and every attack."

  -kv

[Gabriel]

And see, this is one os the reasons I hate D&D so much: magic has become so damn mundane. NO ONE walks around anymore wihtout some kind of magic. Hell, even peasants might have an Ion Stone or some goofy Broach of Pleasant Smells or some such crap. It completely ruins the impact of magic.

Gabriel

[kv]

You apparently haven't ever played in my games. I grew up reading books like Dragonlance, so I've always kind of liked the idea that magic was rare (or at least horribly feared).

For the campaign I just started with some friends, there are spellcasters, but as of yet (after about five sessions, and about three levels later) still no one has a magical item.

  -kv

[Gabriel]

Then you are the exception. Every published adventure in D&D has some many magic items dripping out of it I'm surprised the Minestry of Magic isn't sitting there with padded gloves to hand them out.

Gabriel

[Zone]

We almost never ran into magic unless we were high enough level to take out a dragon or some other magic collecting monster.  Prior to that we tended to find a lot of archaic weaponry - some good, some bad.  The only low lever party we ever had that kept running into magic scrolls and such included my barbarian who had a distinct tendency to instantly destroy - without consultation - any and all magic items we ran across.  The GM thought  it was hysterical when the other guyz tore their hair out over this foible

[Jester]

it's completly up to the GM if you should get magic. So it's not the game's fault

[kv]

Yeah, which is weird that magic items are so prevalent. My group of friends who play D&D on a regular basis recently had an Ebberon campaign (the new campaign setting, where magic is common enough that it's possible and not even unheard of to have magical dishwasers), and we STILL Had no magical items. None. Out of a group of four players.

  -kv

[Jester]

see, that's my point. D&D has gotten alot better with 3rd edition.

[Gabriel]

Still would rather play Warhammer or Shadowrun. I like my games more gritty and actually fleshed out. D&D is way too nebulous and disconnected. Too many races and none of them make any real difference in the game setting. Magic runs amok, there are WAY too many civilizations to actually exist on any given world, and there is no realy underlying plotline or current development.

Gabriel

[Zone]

That's why you gotta build your own universe.

[kv]

Well, the only real difference I see between D&D and Shadowrun is the sets of dice used. And some of the mechanics are different.

I mean, d20 Modern has more of a cyberpunk feel to it, but at the same time, I like that in a d20 game, you have the chance to be a hero. When's the last time a shaodwrunner went back for that teammate that had fallen under a hail of gunfire? When't he last time they actually survived?

I know that d20 isn't as realistic as Shadowrun (at least, not as realistic as 3rd Edition... I have my doubts about the realism of 4th Edition), but it doesn't have to be. D&D is based on Tolkien, and d20 games are thier modern counterparts (so, for a zombie campaign, I would prefer to use d20 modern instead of Shadowrun, even though I usually prefer to play Shadowrun.)

Of course, you play Warhammer, and that's not really my thing, either. I just think it might be which you were exposed to first. Like whether WoD is biting on FASA, or the other way around...

  -kv

[Jester]

I still say all of the stuff complained about again is up the the GM. Not the fault of D&D. Don't get me wrong Gabe, I much prefer WFRP, but D&D is second place. Especially now with the customizability. So, you think Harry Potter can cast magic missiles at the darkness?

[swirler]

I still say all of the stuff complained about again is up the the GM. Not the fault of D&D.

exactly
most of the DMs I know run lowmagic games. In mine I am pretty stingy with them as well. Noone in the party has better than a +1 weapon. I only gave them those because i wanted to throw things that req magic to damage at them and let them have a chance at survival. In some parts of my world magic is feared, others hated and in a friends game the use of magic is severly controlled by the government.

[Jester]

sweet!

[Gabriel]

Well I think everyone starts out playing D&D. It's like PRG training wheels. Eventually you move on. And yes, D&D is customizable,a nd taht works to it's advantage. The only problem is that at a certain point you reach an oversaturation of customizability and end up with a world of completely disconnected and trivial plot elements and environments. A talented GM can certainly forge those into a good campaing, but the game world itself is still intrinsicly shoddy.

And as for Harry Potter, I'm wondering how long it will take Rowling to cave into demands and release an RPG based on the books. Remember, in England and most of the rest of Europe, role playing is much more widley accepted than it is in the states.

Gabriel