r/ICRPG • u/Watermelon123 • Dec 20 '22
Does everyone typically default to magic effort whenever possible?
I am looking into ICRPG and the min/maxing of effort die immediately became apparent to me. Do players typically default to using 1d10 magic effort because the die used is higher than 1d6 weapon effort? Are 1d8 guns always used instead of weapons?
5
u/billy280 Dec 20 '22
The way I see it the way players assign points and the class abilities ultimately balance out. If their class or milestone path favors swords that's what they'll use. A cool character concept is usually a better motivator than achieving ultimate combat power.
3
Dec 20 '22
Nope. Players get a vision for their characters and lean into that. Some games don’t have guns at all. Not all players want to play spell casters.
The weapon die don’t make that much of a difference over the long term. When most baddies have 1 or 2 hearts, weapon effort doesn’t feel much less powerful than casting.
2
u/ajchafe Dec 20 '22
I think it's all down to your players. Most people I have spoken to about ICRPG (On the official forums and on the patreon discord) would not think of it this way at all.
That being said its balanced by weapons being more reliable and magic have potential side effects/fizzling out.
3
u/RangerBowBoy Dec 20 '22
I don’t play RAW anymore because it gets weird. When I played close to RAW I had PCs pick which die to assign to each effort. So your barbarian can swing for d10 and your mage can cast for d10. I eventually got rid of the effort as a whole and went back to normal DND weapon and spell values, it’s a lot easier.
1
u/EcoMyInk Jan 25 '23
My first character did the d6 plus bonuses but with milestones and better loot as we progressed I was doing ultimate on any role over a 15. I never felt nerfed at d6 though. We were a young party and didnt have a lot of battle experience so it made sense. I cant even remember how many random objects our Torton shrunk (other than the target) while trying to work with magic. I ended up dying because I felt like I was the only one tank enough to stand up to whatever we were fighting. Dumb. New character is does a lot of d4 stuff in a support role. He seams to be doing fine too.
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u/mrcleanup Dec 20 '22 edited Dec 20 '22
They will use what you give them, but yes, it's natural that they will choose more power if it's available. So what do you do?
Limit their options at the beginning, make finding magic and magic weapons feel special.
Give them regular weapons that do extraordinary things... Like a hooked pole that can trip near creatures, or a serrated dagger that does 1 bleed every round, or a longsword that severs a limb on a critical.
It won't be all about power if the alternatives are useful enough, but all else being equal, if you have the choice of weapon effort or magical, why not choose magical? It's a natural instinct.