Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84+MULTI; site reading.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!think!harvard!seismo!mcvax!ukc!reading!uts.am.reading.UUCP!west From: west@uts.am.reading.UUCP (Jeremy West) Newsgroups: net.games.frp Subject: Inanimate ego/intelligence Message-ID: <122@uts.am.reading.UUCP> Date: Mon, 8-Jul-85 04:56:11 EDT Article-I.D.: uts.122 Posted: Mon Jul 8 04:56:11 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 12-Jul-85 00:27:06 EDT Reply-To: west@uts.am.reading.UUCP (Jeremy West) Organization: Reading University, UK Lines: 98 Keywords: Xpath: reading uts.am gateway.cs I have long been amused by the rather foolish sword ego rules in AD&D, but have recently been unfortunate enuff to play under a DM who takes them seriously. Here is my plea for help! Background: A human split class 6/6 FTR/CL picks up a book (foolish) and promptly looses all but 2 xp, 1 in each class. DM rules he is a first level FT with first level CL abilities. He seeks devine advice, changes his name to Bookworm and sets forth, content in the knowledge that he must advance again as a FTR until he reaches sixth level whereupon he MUST revert to being a CL. The problem: (and with a different DM...) At fourth level FTR, he (and the party) are slept and kidnapped for sacrifice; escape and eventually clear out the baddies - with the help of a rusty old sword found in the tunnels by the dungeon cells. You guessed it, the sword is intelligent and very egotistical. Okay, no problem... until I get to the end of the adventure and try to recover my old magic. No way! Sh*t! Never mind, win some loose some. But then I am told the swords ego is 19. I CAN'T overcome this bugger until I reach 21st level. And I CAN'T reach 21st level cos I have to revert to being a cleric at sixth! This is where the fun starts. The question: How do you play ego weapons? The character does not wish to keep the sword - apart from loss of magic (nasty but part of the game) Bookworm is a chaotic who is now imprisoned by the will of another - surely the ultimate horror for a chaotic? But, if Bookworm is not under the absolute sway of the sword all the time, it can hardly 'force into combat' or any other manifestation of ego. So he has to be either possesed by the sword, or else he simply physically cannot let go of it! If possession, things are tough for my character, since when he reaches sixth level all advancement will cease; but, being controlled by the sword he daren't change class, seek help or anything. Not as much fun to play as the character I used to play - I'd rather play a character I have developed than one imposed from above. I acknowledge that I could develop him into a character worth playing, but when he can't use or take any magic, can't use or take any xp and is limited in his spending opportunities (since he is not in a campaign)....... sigh. If the latter (unable to let go, in constant fear of ego shock if he disobays the sword, but able at least to rationalise his dilemma), I can at least try to manouver so as to dispose of the darn thing. Obviously I would like to believe that ego items can only influence their "owners" if actually on the person of the victim. Thus, the means of control is the threat of 19 points of damage per segment! This implies that even telepathic items cannot read minds (but use mental "radio waves" to contact others) and so the item cannot know (but could guess - it is intelligent after all) what the user is thinking. But at least the user can attempt to overthrow the yoke of oppression, just as a 'humble +1 sword can be a vocal martyr' (sword ego rules), so the unfortunate character can try to oppose the item, making insubordinate comments, attempting to walk into anti-magic shells etc. And if the item (in the persona of the DM) fails to see the outcome of the character's action... then the character is free, or the comment will pass un-noticed and the player has some feeling that the game is still fun after all! So, what does everyone think? How to play ego items so they are still FUN, even if they offer the odd disadvantage from time to time. Personally, I would ignore ego, but give the item some habits / side-effects / disadvantages which may be outweighed by the benefits / advantages of possessing the item. The sword in question is +3 and has a 'heal' 1/day. Very useful, but the potential loss of freedom of action is too high a price for this particular character. If, on the other hand, the sword constrained me to never accepting healing from others - or some similar penalty in keeping with the sword's history and purpose, the trade would be more likely to be acceptable to the character and hence to the player. I don't mind taking knocks, but the game must still be fun. A second question arising from this matter is this: Would a Chaotic/Neutral sword (most seem to presume items are absolutely faithful to their alignment) 'possess' another C/N when freedom from abitrary restriction seems to be a fundamental axiom of the chaotic nature? Anyway, this is already far too long, but I hope it sparks some discussion... Jerry ----- west%rdg.cs@ucl-cs.ARPA | Dept of Computer Science, west@cs.reading.UUCP | University of Reading, west@uk.ac.reading.cs (JANET) | READING, RG6 2AX, U.K.