What's wrong with the magic item Christmas tree?

[FireLance]

Out of general curiosity, what's a "fun" magic item?

I personally find magic items with encounter powers to be the most "fun":

1. I get to use them in most fights, so I usually remember to do so before the monster gets to the spleen-chomping stage.

2. Their abilities don't fade into the background like most constant properties do.

3. The effect is more significant than an at-will power.​

 

[Aus_Snow]

Or is it purely a style issue

Yes.

 

[The Human Target]

It bothers me a bit when the charaters have great difficulty being effective without a long list of magical items.

I would prefer to see characters with 3-5items, that have interesting histories and powers, that augment the character, that make the character more unique, rather than be necessary for the character to survive and prosper in their adventures.

Unfortunately, for my game of choice, that has never really been true, and the christmas tree effect is needed to make the character more effective. or just plain effective.

Agreed.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Out of general curiosity, what's a "fun" magic item?

In 3.5, the book Complete Scoundrel had the Rod of Ropes.

That was a fun magic item.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Out of general curiosity, what's a "fun" magic item?

In the original "Christmas Tree Phenomenon" it was any item that didn't just boost your attack, defense or an ability score. To me "fun" magic items have some off-beat use to them.

I personally find magic items with encounter powers to be the most "fun":

1. I get to use them in most fights, so I usually remember to do so before the monster gets to the spleen-chomping stage.

2. Their abilities don't fade into the background like most constant properties do.

3. The effect is more significant than an at-will power.​

I like Firlance's idea of "fun" magic items as it relates to 4E.

In 3.5, the book Complete Scoundrel had the Rod of Ropes.

That was a fun magic item.

I liked the drow magic item from 2E/3E, the rod of viscous globs. Fun to say and a fun visual for what you were doing to your enemy. (Although it was more fun in 2E because it usually worked more effectively instead of making you feel like you wasted an action.)

 

[Dausuul]

It might seem obvious, but if the system expects a level 20 character to have a +5 weapon in order to fight a level 20 monster, then a level 20 character that only has an ordinary weapon will have a harder time taking on that same level 20 monster. However, the character doesn't have to stop adventuing just because fighting level 20 monsters is difficult. Depending on the campaign style, the DM can plan for him to encounter a level 15 or 16 monster, or he can go look for a level 15 or 16 monster to defeat. Not following the default progression guidelines might mean more work, and you might make some mistakes when eyeballing encounter difficulty, but it shouldn't bring your game to a grinding halt.

This is mostly true in 4E, where all characters use essentially the same item mechanic. It's a bloody nuisance, but you can adjust monsters to fit PCs with weaker gear. (Personally I prefer the inherent bonus system, which involves less number-crunching and can be handled entirely automatically by the Character Builder.) In 3E, however, where different characters had different levels of dependence on their gear, it wasn't that simple.

A 3E fighter stripped of her gear is crippled (relative to her fully equipped self); a 3E wizard stripped of his gear is only moderately inconvenienced. Hence, a reduced-difficulty monster suitable for the fighter is a speed bump for the wizard. Given that high-level wizards already overshadow high-level fighters in 3E, exacerbating the issue is a Bad Thing.

 

[chitzk0i]

When I made a 14th level fighter/barbarian near the end of 3.5, I had an entire sheet of legal-size paper devoted to his magic items. I did get a certain enjoyment out of administrating the list, but it also took a lot of effort to do so, so I'm glad I won't have do that again.

 

[billd91]

A 3E fighter stripped of her gear is crippled (relative to her fully equipped self); a 3E wizard stripped of his gear is only moderately inconvenienced. Hence, a reduced-difficulty monster suitable for the fighter is a speed bump for the wizard. Given that high-level wizards already overshadow high-level fighters in 3E, exacerbating the issue is a Bad Thing.

Oh, I don't know about that. If the fighter's missing his best sword, use a monster with a lower AC than the high end. The fighter makes up for the lost damage potential by hitting with his later iteratives, getting more power attack damage, and since most of the wizard's spells don't require an attack roll, his impact on the monster isn't changed much.

This is one reason I prefer 3e/PF to 4e.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Out of general curiosity, what's a "fun" magic item?

I ask this because I've found that most of the items in AVs 1 and 2 that are not routinely blasted as being broken or boring (like, say, the Iron Armbands of Power) have such niche uses that they're not likely to be useful in any given situation, and by the time I remember that my belt or gloves did something that would've helped me, two rounds have passed and the DM is rolling to see if the monster eats my spleen.

Brad

A good combat item?

Example: Flaming Sword. The most important power here is - deal fire damage instead of normal damage. That's neat. You don't need it all the time, but now you are the guy with the sword that can burst into flames. You are not just the guy with the sword that makes him hit better.

Good non-combat items would be something like the Map of Orienteering. A thing handy to have. A Hat of Disguise. Maybe problematic due to combat applications and resulting power issues, but interesting nonetheless: A Broom of Flying.

Looking at an entirely different game: Shadowrun
- Mostly a boring item: APDS ammunition. Wow, you can deal even more damage than usually against most foes.
- Mostly an interesting item: Gel ammunition. Hey, now you can use your gun and don't always kill people.
- Sometimes problematic, but still interesting: DMSO weapons. Put a chemical in it and shoot it at range. Problematic because there are many overpowered combinations, but it is more interesting then APDS because you an do so many things in it.

 

[S'mon]

EDIT: There's a relatively popular manga/anime called BLEACH and in the latest issue, the bad guy "seals" the magic item of the commandeer of the good guy forces.

Said commander promptly starts wrecking the crap out of the bad guy's secret weapon and laughly points out (paraphrasing), "I'm the top dog not because I have the strongest magic item, but because I'm THE STRONGEST one period!!"

Completely cool scene and what every PC should be even without their magic items.

I guess you don't like Elric, then?

I didn't like it playing Diablo that a PC was little more than the sum of their items. I have no problem with D&D-level items, though. Frodo would be dead without his elfin chain; Merry(?) couldn't have killed the Witch King without his magic sword, Elric couldn't summon and command Beast Lords without the Actorios Stone, or slaughter armies without Stormbringer.