D&D 5E Dissapointed with Attunement

FireLance · Oct 10, 2012

Libramarian said:
I don't mind it. The delay is not meant to be consequential; it's just a rule so PCs can only have 3 magic items. They're overcompensating a bit on flavor in general, presumably in response to criticisms of the last edition.

I mentioned in another thread that attunement is not required for many magic items, so what it actually limits (or so it seems to me) is the number of complex or powerful magic items that a character can use at any one time.

So, by the rules, you can wear black dragon scale of resistance, wield a spellguard shield and a flame tongue longsword, have a ring of feather falling and a ring of the ram on your fingers, a belt of giant strength on your waist, boots of striding and springing on your feet, a cloak of invisibility on your shoulders, a hat of disguise on your head, a necklace of fireballs around your neck, several ioun stones orbiting around you, and benefit from all of them normally without needing to be attuned to any of them.

tlantl · Oct 10, 2012

I see attunement as a really good way of attaching a character to an item. At the same time limiting him to only one instance of a particular item, such as the staff of power. You can only have one attuned to you at a time so if you some how found a way to get more than one you wouldn't be able to use it.

Ten minutes to attune to an item is, in my opinion, too short a period of time to become intimately connected to a magical device. I think it should take a day or even a week to absorb the magical essence and become one with the object.

I think that any object that can be attuned can also be used immediately but only a fraction of it's potential should be available. Perhaps that staff of power has 1-2 charges and can only be used to cast burning hands, for example.

Li Shenron · Oct 10, 2012

Jeff Carlsen said:
Instead, it's just a ten minute period of concentration to prevent swapping items. This is a seriously missed opportunity.

I agree completely.

How about 1 whole day, and the attuning process requires you to use the item (unless it has charges or is "consumable") rather than the silly candles & chanting?

This would mean that you just don't switch your major items on an encounter basis, but you can switch them almost on daily basis - except that there is a "cost" of 1 day during which the item is only partially functional, i.e. only the basic non-attunement-based features would work.

Jeff Carlsen · Oct 10, 2012

Jester Canuck said:
I totally agree. But I want them to test the baseline first, which is what we're doing. They can add the coolness later.

Without the coolness it becomes an obvious balance mechanic with little story connection. It's only half an idea.

Jack7 · Oct 10, 2012

I too like the attunement idea, and I’ve done stuff like this in previous games and campaigns going all the way back to AD&D. But like many of you I don’t care for this particular attunement process.

However, like many of you I’m just using the idea as a general design concept and changing it to fit my game and milieu.

Still, I like that 5E is doing this kind of thing. But to me it’s just a stepping off point, a starting place.

You change the design to fit your game and your players. The design is just a concept outline, easily modifiable at will.

You’re not limited to their design parameters in any way.

bogmad · Oct 10, 2012

So, by the rules, you can wear black dragon scale of resistance, wield a spellguard shield and a flame tongue longsword, have a ring of feather falling and a ring of the ram on your fingers, a belt of giant strength on your waist, boots of striding and springing on your feet, a cloak of invisibility on your shoulders, a hat of disguise on your head, a necklace of fireballs around your neck, several ioun stones orbiting around you, and benefit from all of them normally without needing to be attuned to any of them.

Exactly. You can still get what will most likely turn out to be static benefits from magic items, but attunement seems like a way to avoid the magic item power bloat and choice indecision that 4th edition ended up giving you, which also happens to help speed up play.

Jester David · Oct 11, 2012

Jeff Carlsen said:
Without the coolness it becomes an obvious balance mechanic with little story connection. It's only half an idea.

But it's super important for
a) the super obvious balance mechanic to be balanced
b) start generic then add specificity.

They have a year to add flavour

Jeff Carlsen · Oct 11, 2012

Jester Canuck said:
But it's super important for
a) the super obvious balance mechanic to be balanced
b) start generic then add specificity.

They have a year to add flavour

Sure. I'm just making it very clear that I want the flavor. Without it, I don't like the mechanic.

howandwhy99 · Oct 11, 2012

I think attunement is a rationale for class & race-specific magic items.

The Axe of the Dwarven Lords works differently for dwarves than it does for other races. Why? It's attuned to them. Being an artifact it aids non-dwarves as well, but in dwarven hands it packs a wallop.

Check out "Spell Scroll" under scrolls. They're bringing back Prot. from Undead scrolls from AD&D which don't distinguish between arcane or divine power. Spell scrolls have their class requirement baked in with an even more stringent one than any attunement: the spell must be on the caster's list. (Scrolls by magic type would have to be a house rule as some spells are shared across power types w/o changes in D&Dn)

Alarian · Oct 13, 2012

We've used attunement in our campaign for many years. The 10 minute thing though makes it almost useless. In our campaign, attunement takes anywhere from 1 day to several months depending on the power of the item with most items falling into the 1 week or less category. Not all items require attunement (i.e. a +1 sword wouldn't, but a +1 sword that shoots a magic missile once a day would).

I like the new rule a lot, but it definitely needs some tweaking still.