RandomCasualty at [unixtime wrote:1163014092[/unixtime]]Well, magic items are a rather tough situation to handle in 3rd edition, mainly because almost anyone can use any item. Fighter types often don't need combat power as much as they need versatility and utility abilities. It isn't just "I need a sword that does more damage", it's about finding ways out of a forcecage and stuff like that. And when you hand out a utility ring, you're really not sure which party member will end up getting it. If you as a DM directly hand it to the character in some fashion, then you're better off just outright buffing the character and letting the group know why, as opposed to a painfully obvious "stealth" buff.
Meh, it's easier to target a magic item to a specific character than you think, especially when wrap it into the plotline of the adventure. Especially when they don't want their class modified. Like I said earlier, if a character wants to take a DM's house class, that 's different. However, this is for an example of when a character just wants to be a straight fighter or sorcerer.
I've always beleived that when you make a change for game balance, you should let everyone know about it. If they agree with you, fine, if they don't, okay, you're the DM, hopefulyl they can learn to accept it and move on. But at the very least, they know you're not doing it because of favoritism but rather because you feel a certain way about game balance.
Fine, be my guest. However, the point is that the group should already be on board since they were going to be the ones freaking out due to dragging around the unoptimized class character, right?
Well, it's not necessarily someone throwing a temper tantrum. They may just not be having much fun and decide to quit the group because their character sucks.
We, in a sense, that's still not handling it like an adult. An adult looks over the situation, and if it was really affecting them that their character sucks, they would optimize it to the prestige combo du jour for their next character. Otherwise, if they're cool with the optimized character, they go with the flow of their unoptimized character. Like I said, if they're taking this option, they know that they're slightly sacrificing power for simplicity of class.
Let me elaborate: I'm an engineer and sometimes with the paperwork and number-crunching at work, if I have a gaming session after work, the last time I really want to do is keep track of a notebook full of spells and skills for optimum effectiveness. Just give me a few feats to keep track of and away I go while I relax my mind, or just give me a few spells that I can blast over and over. Yeah, I'm not the most powerful dude in the group, but that's the price I'm wlling to pay for my simplicity. Now, I'm sure that there are groups out there that would kick me out due to my "laziness" and I'm cool with that. If you live in an area where you have gamers calling you night and day to join your group, then boot me and find another "dedicated" player.