kenween wrote...
within NWN "Uber" has a specific meaning.
An item is "uber" when creating it requires the use of an editing program outside of the nwntoolset or of the nwn basic program. Programs such as Leto sometimes enable this, but a more powerful erf or bic editor is usually used. An "uber" character is one which can only enter a server where "Enforce Legal character" (ELC) and "Item Level Restrictions" (ILR) are both DISABLED for entry.
The use of a high level bic editor is usually needed to breach ELC and ILR. Builds and items such as these have the capacity to do up to 15,000 or more damage in one hit.
The knowledge of what "uber" really is important to nwn because there is an active community which plays according to these rules & specifications. Uber is not just some "overpowered" quality. it is a specific set of restrictions.
That, with one exception, is "Ueber" in NWN - the part about the ELC and ILR must be disabled is not exactly accurate, but will not be discussed further here.
What one really is discussing in this thread is "Where does Monty Haul begin"? and is an age-old discussion point among D&Ders (and one has to go back quite far to understand the reference Monty Haul to begin with). All the old D&Ders here will recognize the reference, I am sure.
Basically, Onion summed it up quite well - when items (even gold can be considered here) outmatch the challenge of the environment (meaning that one can basically easily beat any challenge by having the right item - and with Bags of Holding, Portable Holes, etc, in Monty Haul style campaigns, one normally had an item for just about any and every occassion). This basically matches what was said by another poster (name forgotten, apologies) - when classes are rendered obsolete by items, then those items are indeed overpowered.
In essence, it means that one does not need to have the basic party members anymore to appropriately challenge an encounter. One just needs the appropriate item in question. IMHO that is when things start to become Monty Haul. And when those items are just lying around everywhere, well, it just gets worse.
In D&D (the original version), magic items were rare. Things did change towards the Monty Haul crowds (who wanted, craved, more magical power, more levels, more class powers, etc). AD&D satisfied them for awhile, but they wanted still more (because such cravings never truly get stilled - one can never have enough items, power, levels, etc). Then came 2nd ED, then 3.0, then 3.5...and now 4.0. And it continues on.
I would TEND to say that this sort of mentality is normally the PGers (Power Gamers) one, as they are normally ones that are mostly interested in the numbers aspect of the game. The RPGers normally are more interested in the Storyline/Character part of the game, and the numbers are just things that facillitate that.
Note that I prefer a PG style environment with a Storyline (call it RPG lite, if you will). I also prefer low magic environments, because I find them easier to balance (nothing higher than +5, except for artefacts). Note that even this is not a good explanation - due to the pecularities of the stacking rules for NWN, +5 properties when not properly controlled will result in AC outstripping AB early and never becoming equal thereafter.
Perma Haste is both a curse and a blessing - for the Builder it is a curse, no doubt about it. Single-handedly the most "broken" thing that there is. It totally unbalances things. Either no-one has it, or everyone and their dog does. For Players, Perma Haste is a godsend, especially for movement. Getting from point A to point B as quick as possible so that one can get down to enjoying what one wishes is imperitive. A form of Perma Expeditious Retreat would have been a much better option IMHO.
I personally do not like Perma Haste, due to the "all or nothing" aspect of it - much like a few other abilities in NWN.
As for the "Mages excell in a low magic environment" statement - this is true if care is not taken to balance the environment against this (this does NOT mean nerfing spells! Nerfing things is a cop-out, the lazy man's solution to things. It NEVER truly works as intended, due to the incredible amount of circular dependencies in the D&D ruleset).
Balancing the environment for Mages (let us not forget the CoDzillas here, as well!) includes such things as DMZs, (Dead magic zones) WMAs (Wild magic areas) creatures with Dispels, Dispel traps, Anti-Magic rays, etc. Anyone who has designed a low magic world who does not take into account Mages and CoDzillas truly has not done their homework and will find their worlds overrun by said classes quickly. I do not want to get started on rest restrictions, because that tends to start arguments.
I personally prefer balanced environments, where everyone can have fun. Such places are of course rare and far between. I have only had the honor to play on a few of them.
I can say that for those who have enjoyed the very rare DMed Private Campaign, that it does not suffer from any of the above. For obvious reasons, of course. Such things are among my most favorite ways of playing NWN.
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