Friendless said:OK, maybe I just don't see the value in these items. My problem is that once you have a few of these 3 charge items you've got so many aces in so many holes that you forget to use any of them. You spend half of each combat checking your magic item list trying to figure out whether there's anything you should be using right now.
Well, it depends how many you have. Consider the job of a 10th level Sorcerer, who probably has 15 different spells he needs to keep in consideration for each combat, not counting magic items like wands.
Players tend to like complexity a lot more than DMs. It gives them options and things to do when it is their turn. A DM is looking to reduce complexity at every turn - which is why I prefer the simpler monsters of MMIV to those devils of MM1 with 20+ spell-like abilities!
Anyway... item levels. Should PCs not get a +5 sword till 18th level? Should PCs not get a +2 sword till 9th level? Another of my NPCs is a prince of a distant country and in theory he could buy whatever he wanted...
Item levels are... very interesting. I'm not quite sure of their application yet. I appreciate the idea... I don't think some key items are costed correctly.
Incidentally, a +2 weapon is a 11th level item (too high?), but will most likely be an upgraded item in the hands of a PC - thus, a 10th + 6th level item. (see page 229).
If you examine the values of the average treasure (in the DMG), you'll find an 11th level treasure has an average value of 7,500 gp. Now, that could be a +2 weapon as the entirity of the treasure. Multiply that 11th level treasure by 13.33 (encounters/level-up) and divide by 4 (PCs in party)... hmm.
Cheers!