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1 year ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 11:40PM
#61
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Date Joined:
Feb 15, 2008
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I'm gonna crosspost something I wrote in response to Robert Schwalb's blog post on magic items. I'll preface it by saying I think magic items should be in the DMG, but that is based on the assumption that magic items are designed to be rare and not necessary in making effective characters. If they're a critical part of game balance, then they need to be in the PHB.
I think that DMs should be highly encouraged to devise their own magic items, with some sort of lore and backstory to them. The DMG should give some properties that can be applied to normal weapons to make them magical, and some special weapons that go beyond, but they should be presented not as an official weapons list but instead as a list of examples and guidelines for making your own weapon. There could also be a lot of help in coming up with a history and purpose for the weapons you introduce to the game. This help would come in two parts, cool premade fluff for premade items that can be taken directly or used as an example, and some general ideas for how to come up with cool item fluff.
"So shall it be! Dear-bought those songs shall be be accounted, and yet shall be well-bought. For the price could be no other. Thus even as Eru spoke to us shall beauty not before conceived be brought into Eä, and evil yet be good to have been."
- Manwë, High King of the Valar
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1 year ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 11:45PM
#62
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I think that DMs should be highly encouraged to devise their own magic items, with some sort of lore and backstory to them.
+!
+∞
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1 year ago ::
May 24, 2012 - 1:46AM
#63
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Date Joined:
Mar 26, 2008
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This is one area where walking it back a bit, edition-wise would make me very happy.
And I'm generally pretty progressive on the edition wars front.
in 4th ed I've lost interest in the magical
items. They're not that magical. They're not optional, they're a requirement.
In Pathfinder I likewise have lost interest in magical items. I'm going to need the +X to AC, Attack or Saves so most of my money is going to be poured into them. I don't bother looking at the magical items for cloaks anymore, because they don't pump up saves so there I mathematically am at a severe disadvantage if I actually use them. I have a little surplus money (I build my characters on hitting/being hit/saving on a 10 on the dice), but I normally lower my Dex or Strength so that I can boost Int or Charisma for roleplaying benefits. Which means I need to put that surplus money into magic items after all.
So keeping magic items firmly out of my hands as a player and into the hands of the GM would be a nice change as I won't be told "You're at a magick shop, feel free to buy whatever you want" because I don't know what is available. Instead my GM will have to put more work into deciding what items are given to the party.
My GM recently rolled to see what items the town had. It would have been awesome because he rolled some fun, flavourful stuff. But we couldn't buy it, because I'm saving up for my mithral full plate +1 so I can get my AC high enough to not get hit on a 2.
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1 year ago ::
May 24, 2012 - 6:59AM
#64
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Date Joined:
Mar 22, 2008
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My GM recently rolled to see what items the town had. It would have been awesome because he rolled some fun, flavourful stuff. But we couldn't buy it, because I'm saving up for my mithral full plate +1 so I can get my AC high enough to not get hit on a 2.
So you can get hit on a 3 instead? Full plate to full plate +1 in that situation is worthless. In fact, if you're getting hit on a 2 while in full plate, your DM is either throwing you up against things you have no business fighting, or you are about 10-12 levels behind in magic items. Both are DM flaws, not system flaws.
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1 year ago ::
May 24, 2012 - 7:30AM
#65
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Date Joined:
Nov 27, 2006
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DMG.
Magic items shouldn't be a commodity that PCs require to maintain balance or feel entitled to--they should be fun rewards and/or plot points.
Which has exactly squat to do with where they're found in the books. They should be in the PHB for the same reason the spells and class and race abilities and every other piece of equipment the PCs have is there; there will generally be multiple PHBs floating around a table, but usually only one DMG. If a player needs to look up something his character can do, it'll be a lot easier for him to do so if he doesn't have to ask the DM for his book in the middle of whatever, or make the DM stop and read it to him. He can easily look it up between turns, or while another player is doing his thing.
There's also the 'if a player wants to make a magic item, he'll need to know what it is he can make' thing as well.
1) So what if there's multiple PHB & only 1 DMG at the table? I don't know about you, but as the DM I'm hardly ever using the DMG during play. So it's a simple matter of the player looking though it....
Besides, as a player, don't you all record ALL of the details about all of your items?
And if you're looking up the villans equipment between turns? You've no reason/bussiness doing this, so stop.
2) I'm a salesman. Have been for so long that part of me is always thinking in that mode. So having the magic items in the DMG, knowing full well that EVERYONE wants/needs to know about them, seems a natural move....
Look;
I could sell every player 1 book, & every DM 3 books min.
OR
I could sell every player 2 books!, & every DM 3 books min.
Wich do you think I'm going to do?
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