I have done this in recent games that I have DM'd and have specifically asked for this in games I have played. I love the concept of items that grow with you rather than be cast aside at the first glitter of something new (WoW I'm looking at you).
Some that I have created: Rapier of Deception - started off simply as magical (so it could damage those pesky immune to non-magical creatures). Next it gained a twinkling guard so that once per opponent you could attempt to blind them for a round (only works on each person once, afterwards they learn to shield their eyes). Finally it gained a shadowy appearance such that enemies had to roll a perception versus his stealth check to realize he was actually drawing a weapon- failure caused opponents to be surprised (which worked well as he is an assassin rogue). I created this for a party member that left but forgot to write it down, so I recreated for this new guy.
Clothing of obstruction - reduces all target damage by 3 as it gets caught up the robes. Not armor so it will work with other special abilities.
Dual Lightsaber - (a thread here someone was asking about his character that was modeled on the Jedi concept, something I found intriguing so I made a Stout Halfling Barbarian Wizard). This is an 18 inch rod that when the button is pushed becomes a magical quarterstaff. It has the ability to cast Searing Smite (right now twice, then add more times) as a bonus action. In all ways it functions like the spell so it lasts for 1 minute and requires concentration rolls when hit. Finally, I said that when Searing Smite is active and he wields the quarterstaff with 2 hands it provides the protection of a shield.
For a warlock I gave him a rod of the pact keeper reskinned as a dagger with a jade spell gem in the hilt. My plan is to add bonuses as he advances and maybe allow him to find more spell gems. (As an aside - spell gems are pretty powerful for warlocks)
Ring of Phantom Steed - as characters advance they have a percentage chance when using it to call a flying creature, but as a baseline they can summon any medium creature they want - large cat, snake, etc.
A fiddle for a bard - provides a +1 to spells cast, when played provides +1 to AC, also forces the attacker to make a will save to even attack the bard. Finally it will gain spells like a ring of spell storing as the bard advances.
Almost every character I make I try to create a magical weapon and magical armor that will grow with the players. So far the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
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Wow, good stuff. I feel like the main benefit of this is to help customize the PC for the player. If the player has a single niggling mechanic that just won't fit into the class, it can be relegated to the relevant item as a small, but able to grow, magical benefit. That is the key purpose of the Shield-fists I mentioned above, as the player wanted some shield-like punching weapons that got stronger as he leveled. It will be an interesting, and very violent, character. I did it previously as well, for a different person who wanted a fist-fighter without the monk chassis. A Simple fighter, with a scaling Unarmed Fighting style got the job done in that case.
That rapier sounds quite fun, and fairly similar in the vein of items I am talking about. I actually have a plan for a full campaign built on a set of these items.
PCs all ordered unique magic items from a Magic Shop. They all go to pick up on the same day but, as they reach the street with the shop, it explodes. When they reach the location all that is left is a smooth hemi-spherical crater, and their weapons. When they pick up the gear, a portal opens above them and sucks them into a Chaotic hellscape. Cue Adventure, where most days are spent pushing through a few miles of terror, camping for the night (which will probably be interrupted by a fight), then doing it more the next day.
I would probably aim for the items to have something like 6-8 distinct tiers. For example, a Longsword is just a plain Longsword until you have dealt 200 damage with it, at which time it Awakens into Excalibur, and deals 1d4 Slashing+1d4 radiant instead of just slashing. Later on it gets bonuses like a single maneuver from the battle master list, and then some sort of defense buff. The end goal is to make the Player into King Arthur, through a combination of their class abilities and the Weapon abilities.
