Forum > Rolemaster
Play Balance Issues - have a PC with an OP weapon
Druss_the_Legend:
Iv posted about this in the past but would be interested in what current forum members do to address play balance issues like this.
I have a PC with an OP weapon. it hits for large amounts of damage. Understandably he is rather attached to the sword after a number of years now so the horse may well have bolted.
How do I balance the weapon without the player feeling resentful? How would you do it? I have some ideas such as:
1. having them find a cursed weapon that replaces his old sword
2. having it break (im slack on breakage rules so this might be too heavy handed to introduce them now)
3. having the weapon be stolen or confiscated as part of the story (seems more likely as he has made enemies and they certainly would know about the combat threat he poses but probably attribute his prowess in battle to him and not his sword)
4. let him keep it but somehow lessen its effectiveness (its magical so maybe the magic wears off or needs recharging)
5. the sword itself is sentient and starts to develop its own goals and motivations and steers the PC in a certain direction.
6. The sword was confiscated for a time by an NPC who was using it so he might come looking for it? The NPC is a fighter type and probably took a liking to it for the time he had it and could have event added some other 'enchantment' to it that is a drawback?
7. Having the party face an enemy with charm/mind control who uses the PC and his deadly sword against the party making them see how dangerous both of them are to have around (note the PC is quite resistant to magic from his background)
8. let him keep it and just make the enemies he fights tougher (assassins with paralysing poison would deal with him pretty quickly)
intothatdarkness:
I always liked having ways to limit the number of uses. In my setting, the more powerful weapons tend to be ancient Dwarven items. They're powered by runes, but those runes have a set number of uses per day. You could also have it start to lose power, or maybe it absorbs a certain number of hits and once it's "full" it doesn't work until it recharges itself overnight (by using those stored points).
Sentient weapons are interesting, but that can sometimes be difficult to navigate if the player decides the GM's using the weapon to square things or otherwise single out that player.
Having the weapon stolen could provide a nice side quest of some kind, and when the player recovers it you could institute some changes (limited charges, whatever) and say the people who stole the weapon tried to figure out what makes it tick and somehow 'broke' it.
It also stands to reason that a character with a hyper-powerful weapon would attract a lot of attention from other powerful NPCs who would really like to have said weapon.
Druss_the_Legend:
--- Quote from: intothatdarkness on July 20, 2022, 06:10:27 PM ---I always liked having ways to limit the number of uses. In my setting, the more powerful weapons tend to be ancient Dwarven items. They're powered by runes, but those runes have a set number of uses per day. You could also have it start to lose power, or maybe it absorbs a certain number of hits and once it's "full" it doesn't work until it recharges itself overnight (by using those stored points).
Sentient weapons are interesting, but that can sometimes be difficult to navigate if the player decides the GM's using the weapon to square things or otherwise single out that player.
Having the weapon stolen could provide a nice side quest of some kind, and when the player recovers it you could institute some changes (limited charges, whatever) and say the people who stole the weapon tried to figure out what makes it tick and somehow 'broke' it.
It also stands to reason that a character with a hyper-powerful weapon would attract a lot of attention from other powerful NPCs who would really like to have said weapon.
--- End quote ---
capture by enemy guys seems doable. could even lure him into a trap.
Previous owner hears about the weapon and learns of its location and sends some henchmen to get it back. Would def spark a side quest to recover it. still prob finds its way back to the PC though. back to square one.
allowing a sentient weapon to find its way into his hands that replaces it could get me back to square one, if the new weapon is cursed its going to want to become his new favourite weapon of choice but still adds a complication that is going to be unsatisfactory to the player.
im considering giving him a cursed weapon that sets him against his allies in battle. he already has frenzy and is rather dangerous to everyone when he uses it. could be a kind of Bloodlust Curse (harder to stop than frenzy and could 'turn on' without the player being ready for it. This would turn the attacking power of the weapon against the party and could initiate them getting rid of it themselves perhaps.
Cory Magel:
1. The character must sacrifice the sword in some way to save something more important to them (although I'd try to make sure there's a reasonable, if balanced, replacement).
2. Unbeknownst to the character the sword has slowly been corrupting them somehow. They have blackouts, there are reports of that character doing 'bad' things, etc. Essentially slowly force the realization that they'll need to give it up or lose control completely.
3. Cause it to be a liability in terms of it being hunted (and therefore the party) due to its power.
MisterK:
What Cory said.
I've actually used all three. The player kept the blade throughout a five-year campaign (because it was also a plot device), but was always trying to find a less dangerous replacement for "everyday use".
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