D&D 5E (2014) Attunement

[Crothian]

No we have not run into this problem. We are 8th level and we have found just 4 magical items that require atunement. It feels great having a D&D game that once again does not need magical items or feats to work.

 

[pming]

Hiya!
[MENTION=6786202]DaveDash[/MENTION], I just finished re-reading the magic item parts of the Hoard stuff in the DMG and couldn't find anything that gives and "X amount of magic items are assumed". Just because there are magic items in the book and just because they can be "rolled" via the tables doesn't mean they are assumed to be needed. In other words, 5e doesn't have the 3.x/4e/PF design structure of actually assuming that a "Level X character has Y number of items, giving him a CR of Z...so lets build monsters/NPCs/adventures with that in mind".

Anyway...if I was you, as I said, I'd just nix the whole attunement thing. If you just up the number, I have a feeling your players will still complain once they hit it. Upping it again...same thing. They seem to be used to just "having their cake and eating it too" without having to make any sacrifices. When the whole attunement thing was brought up in my game...maybe the second session we ever played?... one or two players balked at it at first. They figured "a magic item should be a bonus...I shouldn't be penalized for being good at adventuring or lucky...". IIRC I told them I'd revisit the whole number of attuned items if/when it comes up. It's been, what, 10 months sense we started playing (WOW! ...has it been that long?...) and we have *never* even come close to anyone hitting the 3-limit max. Yes, I am a stingy b-stered when it comes to treasure and magic, and I'm giddy with delight that the 5e designers didn't make the "magic items are assumed" mistakes that were made with 3.x/4e/PF.

Here's a neat thought: Maybe you can create "sets" of magic items that can be attuned "together"? Taking a page from the MMO side of things (I can't believe I just said that...I feel dirty now... ), maybe have the Iron Mask of Balguur, the Scale Coat of Balguur, and the Iron-Clad Boots of Balguur. If you have all three you can "group attune" them so they only count as ONE attunement slot. You could do the same with any magic item; maybe have Gloves of Missile Snaring, Ring of Jumping, and Slippers of Spiderclimb all be "group attuned" for only Rogues...everyone else has to attune them individually. Of course, giving them all names might be cooler (re: "Gloves of Nix, Jumping Ring of Nix, and the Silk Slipers of Nix the Spider").

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Mephista]

What's the DMG recommendation? I never noticed that.

It's another reason why I like 5E. Zero magic items is the default. It's very easy to expand magic items without hurting game balance.

I remember an article or some such that suggested around 6 permanent items per adventurer over the course of their career. Magic items are assumed, but its not as part of the monster math. Magic items are pure gravy.

There's a difference between the "assumed" and "default" amount of magic items, and how many are required. 6 are the default, but none are required.

Yet there's a huge amount of consumables in there that ironically are incredibly powerful (potions), yet you end up collecting a massive number of them - and they stack. The Paladin in my group drank a few (oil of speed, potion of storm giant strength, etc) then went off to solo a CR18 Dragon at level 14.

Don't those require Concentration, and thus don't stack? Potions are not exempt from Concentration rules, so...



Now, on the subject. If its too much of a short change, why not just go back to the christmas tree style? One left hand, one right, one armor, one set of boots, one necklace/cloak, one ring on each hand, set o' bracers, one head. That's nine items (unless you're a heavy weapon user), which should be plenty.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

All sitting there gathering dust in various bags of holding.

Sounds like AD&D to me...

 

[seebs]

I don't think this is really a problem; yes, it's tuned for a specific style of play, but then, the entire game is tuned for that. So basically attunement represents the upper bound on how much Fancy Magic you can have before things stop working as well.

 

[bedir than]

I can't fathom this being an issue, because a vast majority of magic items don't require attunement.

 

[Celtavian]

I remember an article or some such that suggested around 6 permanent items per adventurer over the course of their career. Magic items are assumed, but its not as part of the monster math. Magic items are pure gravy.

There's a difference between the "assumed" and "default" amount of magic items, and how many are required. 6 are the default, but none are required.

Don't those require Concentration, and thus don't stack? Potions are not exempt from Concentration rules, so...

Some potions require concentration, some do not.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Just looked through the DMG. Absolutely none of the potions, elixirs, or oils in there require concentration.

The potion of animal friendship says that it grants you the ability to cast a spell. That spell doesn't require concentration.

Of the other potions, all of the ones that name a spell (rather than describing a non-spell effect) specify that you gain the effect of the spell--not that you can cast it. The ones that give you the effects of spells that would require concentration even go out of the way to say that concentration isn't required.*

Gaining the effect of a spell is not a game element that requires concentration on your part, unless you are casting the spell in some way, or unless something specifically says it does.

*The sole exception is the potion of mind reading which grants you the effects of a concentration spell without spelling out that you don't have to concentrate. Given the way the rules work, that is likely a mistaken omission of the redundant "no concentration required" statement.

 

[DaveDash]

Just looked through the DMG. Absolutely none of the potions, elixirs, or oils in there require concentration.

The potion of animal friendship says that it grants you the ability to cast a spell. That spell doesn't require concentration.

Of the other potions, all of the ones that name a spell (rather than describing a non-spell effect) specify that you gain the effect of the spell--not that you can cast it. The ones that give you the effects of spells that would require concentration even go out of the way to say that concentration isn't required.*

Gaining the effect of a spell is not a game element that requires concentration on your part, unless you are casting the spell in some way, or unless something specifically says it does.

*The sole exception is the potion of mind reading which grants you the effects of a concentration spell without spelling out that you don't have to concentrate. Given the way the rules work, that is likely a mistaken omission of the redundant "no concentration required" statement.

That's right. It makes potions extremely potent.

They also generally last an hour.

And the DMG treasure tables shower you in them.

My group had to prove themselves to a NPC by doing an arena fight against a champion. The champion was a Balor.
The Wizard cast Maze on the Balor, they cast some buff spells on the Paladin, he drank a couple of potions to put himself into killing machine mode, then the rest of them jumped into their portable hole.

The Wizard dismissed maze, and the Paladin by himself ripped into the Balor. Killed it in two rounds.

 

[Chocolategravy]

Has anyone run into the issue of attunement allowing for too few of magical items?

I don't use it, there are a number of problems with it in addition to the number limit. Losing attunement on death, for instance, causes all sorts of problems with hoop jumping and record keeping that 5E was supposed to try to avoid.

Your proficiency limit may work for you, but note of course if someone dies and they have 6 attuned items getting them re-attuned will be a pain in the butt.

Another option for you may be to give a "lesser" effect if the item isn't attuned, allowing them to still use the item, but to still give them reason to attune.