Ability increasing magic items...

[Abraxas]

originally posted by kreynolds
Now, there is no rule that states that a magic item that grants a bonus to Strength cannot grant a bonus greater than +6. WotC simply stopped there in the DMG and splat books.

I was under the impression that they stopped at +6 because you need a caster level equal to 3 times the bonus. The core rules only go up to 20th level, so an item granting a +6 bonus is the most powerful item that could be created by a core rules character.

Of course I don't have my books with me and now that I think about it I may be misremebering - The bonus x 3 may only apply to weapon and armor enhancements. If that is the case then I suggest this as a house rule that I am using.

I don't think enhancements greater than +6 would be unbalancing.

 

[kreynolds]

I'm getting to the point where I like magical items to have a little bit of flare in them and not just be about increasing the numbers. I know I'm in the minority there.

Nah. You're not the minority. One of my old characters from 2nd edition, now a PC in a game dual run by myself and another DM, is a wizard. I love whippin' up magic items for him because they're all unique. It's because of the wizard that I'm all fired up about magic items. Actually, it got so bad that I even started writing stories about that particular wizard. (Yup, I'm one of those guys you occasionally see at Starbucks sittin' in front of a laptop diligently typing away )

 

[kreynolds]

I was under the impression that they stopped at +6 because you need a caster level equal to 3 times the bonus.

That only applies to the enhancement bonus of a weapon...

+1 weapon = 3rd level caster
+2 weapon = 6th level caster
+3 weapon = 9th level caster
+4 weapon = 12th level caster
+5 weapon = 15th level caster

Of course I don't have my books with me and now that I think about it I may be misremebering - The bonus x 3 may only apply to weapon and armor enhancements. If that is the case then I suggest this as a house rule that I am using.

Yup.

However, I just glanced at the Ability Scores section in the front of the PH (a fellow DM found it for me), and there it states that magic items only grant bonuses to ability scores up to +6, which I think is just complete crap. *shrug*

 

[Crothian]

Nah. You're not the minority. One of my old characters from 2nd edition, now a PC in a game dual run by myself and another DM, is a wizard. I love whippin' up magic items for him because they're all unique. It's because of the wizard that I'm all fired up about magic items. Actually, it got so bad that I even started writing stories about that particular wizard. (Yup, I'm one of those guys you occasionally see at Starbucks sittin' in front of a laptop diligently typing away )

We are still in the minority, trust me on this. I want a play a Wizard that modifies all the magical items he ever finds. I think that would be a lot of fun. Give them all unique abilites that aren't in the DMG. To many things seem like they come off of an assembly line. Nothing has flavor or history, or even reason for being.

 

[James McMurray]

I think the 600,000 figure comes from having 6 items that each grant +10 to a different stat. Of course, its the rare character that needs that many bonuses, usually just two or three stats +10 would be enough.

Personally, I won't allow them because I like for my games to keep moving. Down-time is fine and dandy, but I don't want the whole party to wait while one guy makes a 100 day item. Sure, they could go adventuring wthout that person, but they're a tight-knit group and since its the cleric that would be making it, they aren't brave enough.

As for too-powerful? I don't know. I'd say definitely test it first. If you operate under the assumption that magic items can be sold, than a decently leveled character could sell enough gear to get himself a ring of +12 to a stat fairly easily. All those bonus spells, +6 to Spell DCs, or even just +6 hit points per level could be pretty tough to design encounters around.

 

[kreynolds]

To many things seem like they come off of an assembly line. Nothing has flavor or history, or even reason for being.

Then you'd probably get a kick outta some of the items that I've made. Most of them are made to fit with certain personality types as well. For instance, one of my players has a PC that's a princess. She has a magical glove similar to a Glove of Storing, but it holds 4 daggers and lets her throw them all during a full attack action. The best part is that the daggers disappear after hitting, or missing, their target and automatically return to the glove. In fact, the original 4 daggers are never actually thrown, just magically duplicated and only exhist long enough to be thrown.

But the best part about the glove? The one thing that makes it unique? Well, she's a princess, and she can't very well walk around wearing chain or black leather gloves at a formal dinner, so the gloves automatically alter their appearance, including style and color, to match her current attire. It's not a big deal, but it certainly makes them different, especially sense they always appear as women's gloves, even if worn by a man.

 

[kreynolds]

I think the 600,000 figure comes from having 6 items that each grant +10 to a different stat.

Actually, that figure usually comes from someone that has no clue as to how the numbers behind magic items work, and I know this because they are specifically referring to a single item that grants all 6 stat bonuses. I've discovered that very few people that play D&D have a clue about this. Most people, about 90%, for some reason when it comes to the cost mechanics of magic items, you can actually watch their IQ drop right before your eyes. Go figure.

 

[Varius]

you can actually watch their IQ drop right before your eyes.

How much is it for the magic item that lets you do that?

It is wayy to powerful......

 

[Gromm]

How much is it for the magic item that lets you do that?

It is wayy to powerful......

Theoretically 100,000 gp per +10, double for everyone past the second for not taking a slot for a total of 1.1 MXP (or Mega=million).

Items of that level will probably be addressed in Epic book. Not that I'd know of course.

 

[kreynolds]

Theoretically 100,000 gp per +10, double for everyone past the second for not taking a slot for a total of 1.1 MXP (or Mega=million).

Items of that level will probably be addressed in Epic book. Not that I'd know of course.

Ummm...Gromm? That's not what he was asking. You might wanna check his post again.