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Post by Sol on Feb 3, 2005 4:08:25 GMT
Admittedly it is pretty munchkin to give out a +8/+10 sword on the second adventure. It is like giving out a +8 sword to a Level 2 character in D&D... so wrong.
Yet I somehow love it! Sol
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Post by Nathan P. Mahney on Feb 3, 2005 4:50:14 GMT
It is very cool, and so appropriate to the story being told, but Joe really overshot himself by making the bonus so high. Back before I owned Book 2, I sometimes used to pretend that I had the Sommerswerd. My made-up stats for it gave me a +5 to CS, and even then I thought that I was probably overestimating things. Imagine my delighted surprise when I received my +10 bonus!
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Post by Sol on Feb 3, 2005 14:27:31 GMT
I suppose that at the time, Joe had to consider the possibility that there would only be two books and didn't want to miss his chance to introduce this amazing Kai Treasure.
I suppose that the sword might have been made more balanced if its powers started out weak (+2) and maybe raised by one point each book until a certain (+8?) maximum was reached. This would have made sense since the Sun-Sword DOES grow in power later, but even so, Joe still gets stuck with the +8 even if the problem is delayed.
Funny - I always found Book 2 to be pretty boring, but I would never dream of skipping it due to the presence of the Sommerswerd.
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Post by Zipp on Feb 3, 2005 19:21:44 GMT
I suppose that at the time, Joe had to consider the possibility that there would only be two books and didn't want to miss his chance to introduce this amazing Kai Treasure. This can't be true, because Joe has stated numerous times that he had books 1 through 12 planned out before the series even got published. I suppose that the sword might have been made more balanced if its powers started out weak (+2) and maybe raised by one point each book until a certain (+8?) maximum was reached. This would have made sense since the Sun-Sword DOES grow in power later, but even so, Joe still gets stuck with the +8 even if the problem is delayed. This would've been cool. There are ways around massive bonuses. Joe actually choose a fairly good way (he just ignored it). For example, I know there are going to be ways in my book to tweak combat using guns and such that will max your stats. But I have to assume that not everyone will have the A. knowledge, B. items, and C. luck to pull this off. It would make the books too dificult, therefore, to compensate for all of this. Joe tried to compensate only for major battles (where we all believe he OVER COMPENSATED) until later books. The problem with the item in Lone Wolf, is that you HAVE to get it. And then its such a story item that no one is going to let it go. And, as mentioned earlier, it comes in at a very early time in the books. I think Joe should've gone ahead and just compensated for the sword in every battle. Sure, he wanted the books to work as stand alones, but they don't anyways, not for most of them. Funny - I always found Book 2 to be pretty boring, but I would never dream of skipping it due to the presence of the Sommerswerd. Only after I beat it 70 times.
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Post by longhairyuppiescum on Feb 4, 2005 17:53:08 GMT
... Also, why do you think it is they are allowed in 13 and 17 but not 15? ... Somewhere on da net is a answer by JRD regarding this. I was looking for it but didn't found it anymore. I think I read about it in an interview or something... ? Who can help? (It was not the interview on the Monastry I think..)
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Post by Peregrine on Feb 4, 2005 19:13:43 GMT
The customary explanation, I believe, is that the full list in 13 was a bit big to be lugging around. So a couple of items got dropped for 14 through 16, and restored in 17 when a couple of other items were delisted for story reasons. It seems sensible (read: the Project Aon advice is ) to use whichever list you enter the series with.
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