Re: steel

[Joel Gunderson <belgarat@expert.cc.purdue.edu>]

Hey guys,

	I must say that I agree with Ster(kevin).  I would definitely like
to see the hit and damage bonuses of non-magical weapons go away.  They
are a poor representation of the increased durability of the weapon.  This
would also increase the rarity of a normal once-enchanted weapon again,
instead of making them appear to be a useless piece of metal that a mage
has wasted a lifetimes worth of experience building.

	On the topic of Centralia and associated BS, I would just like to
state what I believe to be the main reasons that those players have been
getting such a bad rap.  The first reason is tech items a.k.a. guns.  I
don't approve of their use in any way in a fantasy game setting.  Since we
have taken care of this problem at the last GM meeting, my emotions have
since been pacified.  The second reason is that most people feel that the
players from Centralia hang on to their characters for too long.  I don't
really care, except for the fact that they sometimes tend to play them in
low power games, and this scares away potential new players.  I have
noticed a large decline in this lately, as well.  I believe that these
were the main reasons that Centralia players were shat(past tense of
shit?) upon so heavily.  

Thanks,
Foo aka Joel

P.S.  This was a relatively short gripe, but hey, I was just added on to
the list so give me a break.  Don't worry, I'll get better with time.

On Tue, 16 Jun 1998, Kevin Collins wrote:

> Hey guys,
> 
> 	I have always thought that the occurance of steel is fine just
> the way it is.  Steel should be common, but not necessarily of high
> quality.  In the middle ages, blacksmiths would coat their finished 
> products in pig's fat.  It would be placed in a leather bag/stomach.
> After cooking the bag in the forge for several hours, the carbon from the
> fat would be absorbed into the iron.  That is how the production of steel
> was done commonly.
> 	I also disagree that steel or any other material should give a 
> bonus "to hit" or "to damage".  The edge that can be put on a iron, steel,
> or adamantite weapon isn't that noticable.  The only differences is the 
> duration of the edge.  Instead of bonuses, steel and adamantite weapons
> should require less upkeep and repair than iron weapons.
> 
> Kevin
> 
>