Lucky Dagger: too exploitable?

[GimmeYerGold]

I hate to be a buzz kill, but I have a question...

Why the connection of a dagger and gold coins? Perhaps, I could understand if it helps FIND gold, like some
of the suggestions have been, to get more gold when drawing a treasure card. But still - why the connection.

Typically, special weapons offer something to do with combat, or at least healing or magic or something of that
nature...not something benign like gold or treasure.

Part of it is adding "flavor" to the mechanics. If you see the armory selection as a sort of tech tree, a Hero chooses his path and how he'll interact with the dungeon and his fellow Heroes based on the items he customizes himself with. Instead of having only "good" and "better" items, there are some that open up different play styles. With the Lucky Dagger, there is certainly a flavor of thuggery or roguishness when a Hero opts for a simple dagger so that he has the chance to get gold from killing Monsters.

It can be seen as something of a novelty item, but for some players, they will see a strategy, or even a nice challenge to aim for, outside of the tried-and-true approaches to play.

I'm also experimenting with the balance of the equipment limitations--one of my other ideas is a walking staff that allows you to roll one extra movement die. You forfeit a shield or a more powerful weapon so that you can higher movement.

I'm looking to add things like this to increase the purchasing power of Heroes like the wizard, who have extreme equipment limitations. It's fun to collect gold, but there's little point if there's nothing to spend it on.

[mako-heart]

Lucky dagger reminds me of the Jewel sword from Castlevania SoTN each time you kill a monster it turns it into a jewel at random and has lower atk stats im thinking like 2 ,
at the time you swing the sword to deal the final blow roll a 1d6 on a 1 you get a diamond , 2 garnet , 3 aquamarine , 4 opal , 5 zircon, 6 nothing
the values are up in the air to the evil wizard player to decide. Too exploitable? im thinking no, this weapon should be played late in the game as an option for players to steer there character as they see fit. i could see this as a treasure hunter character class with this sword as a starting weapon.

i had to bump this because nobody read it...

[GimmeYerGold]

Lucky dagger reminds me of the Jewel sword from Castlevania SoTN each time you kill a monster it turns it into a jewel at random and has lower atk stats im thinking like 2 ,
at the time you swing the sword to deal the final blow roll a 1d6 on a 1 you get a diamond , 2 garnet , 3 aquamarine , 4 opal , 5 zircon, 6 nothing
the values are up in the air to the evil wizard player to decide. Too exploitable? im thinking no, this weapon should be played late in the game as an option for players to steer there character as they see fit. i could see this as a treasure hunter character class with this sword as a starting weapon.

i had to bump this because nobody read it...

It's been forever since I've played SoTN! Evidently, this idea has been considered by other rpg-developers. Heroquest has gems and jewels to boot.

[Teldurn]

"Each time you take a monster's Body point with this dagger, roll 4d6 (or anything else, according to your taste). The result is the number of gold coins that seem to simply fall into your lap."

This connects "lucky" and "dagger", avoids the aforementioned problems, opens up tactics for the player
PLUS (and that's where the Evil Wizard player's fun lies in):
The player might resort to attacks with 1 AD although he could also use 3 AD with a longsword, for example. There's considerable risk in this because of counter-attacks.
And that will keep the EWP in the game for more fun for everyone involved. In theory.

I like this one the best so far

I agree. This is the simplest and best version of this item.

Heroquest has gems and jewels to boot.

The game also has gems and jewels inside boots!

[TMU]

"Each time you take a monster's Body point with this dagger, roll 4d6 (or anything else, according to your taste). The result is the number of gold coins that seem to simply fall into your lap."

This connects "lucky" and "dagger", avoids the aforementioned problems, opens up tactics for the player
PLUS (and that's where the Evil Wizard player's fun lies in):
The player might resort to attacks with 1 AD although he could also use 3 AD with a longsword, for example. There's considerable risk in this because of counter-attacks.
And that will keep the EWP in the game for more fun for everyone involved. In theory.

This!

[Big Bene]

"Each time you take a monster's Body point with this dagger, roll 4d6 (or anything else, according to your taste). The result is the number of gold coins that seem to simply fall into your lap."

Does this mean explicitely that taking a heroe's body points will not produce gold? When I take more than one body point with a single blow (e. g. using potion of strength), do I get more gold?

[torilen]

Certainly the idea of a staff offering higher movement is a good idea.
And I agree, if you're going to implement the lucky dagger, you'll need to offer great things for
the players to purchase.

Here is a manageable idea for working the lucky dagger:
Give each monster a certain number of gold coins that the dagger would give for killing that monster.
If the player kills the monster, he can get the figure or a token for it or something, and then it can
all be calculated at the end of the quest.
It would have to be decided, though, whether he has to kill the monster on his own, or if he can simply
help kill the monster.

[GimmeYerGold]

"Each time you take a monster's Body point with this dagger, roll 4d6 (or anything else, according to your taste). The result is the number of gold coins that seem to simply fall into your lap."

Does this mean explicitely that taking a heroe's body points will not produce gold?

I think so, since it says "a monster's Body point." I think if not, then it could be exploited more. When all the Heroes have completed the quest, they just take a few friendly stabs at eacb other on the way out, and collect some extra spending cash!

When I take more than one body point with a single blow (e. g. using potion of strength), do I get more gold?

I think the implied bonus of rolling with more combat dice would be that you'd have a better chance of scoring at least 1 body point of damage, thereby getting a chance to roll the gold coin dice, making a "luckier" dagger. A Hero wielding a lucky dagger with courage cast on them would have the same strength as a barbarian wielding a broadsword.

[Teldurn]

Let's assume each monster's body point damage is 4d6 gold coins. So then does that mean a Hero with Lucky Dagger + Courage = 3 CD. If all of them roll skulls = 12d6? Or would it be 4d6 x3?

In the case of the second option, to clarify: for instance, you roll 4d6 and get the result 6. Triple that, you get 18 gold.

A third alternative would be to increase the die type for each additional combat dice added to the successful attack. d6>d8>d10>d12>d20. If you can somehow manage to get 4 combat dice with a dagger attack and roll 4 skulls, you'd upgrade the die type three tiers from d6 to d12, and you would roll 4d12.

[GimmeYerGold]

Let's assume each monster's body point damage is 4d6 gold coins. So then does that mean a Hero with Lucky Dagger + Courage = 3 CD. If all of them roll skulls = 12d6? Or would it be 4d6 x3?

In the case of the second option, to clarify: for instance, you roll 4d6 and get the result 6. Triple that, you get 18 gold.

A third alternative would be to increase the die type for each additional combat dice added to the successful attack. d6>d8>d10>d12>d20. If you can somehow manage to get 4 combat dice with a dagger attack and roll 4 skulls, you'd upgrade the die type three tiers from d6 to d12, and you would roll 4d12.

In any case, "take a Monster's Body Point" implies you can only roll the same number of (base gold coin bonus dice) as the Monster's lost Body Points. The Monster can't lose more Body Points than it has. So, if you wanted to hit jackpot, you'd have to go toe-to-toe with a Chaos Warrior with 3 Body Points or greater to benefit from any interpreted gold coin dice multipliers. This could prevent any exploitation, as the danger of going up against a beefier monster is greater than buffing a Hero to go up against a goblin.