AVP2 excerpt: Story Items! ARMOR!

[Rechan]

AV2 Excerpts: Story Items -- Armor

Looks like Story Items are just items that come with adventure hook suggestions and a history.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Yeah I would have preferred if the story elements had some sort of crunch element. Like you progress through a story tied to the item you gain more control/abilities the item has. Just having a history makes it no different then a normal item it just has a more text.

 

[Ainamacar]

Yeah, I'm a bit underwhelmed, although the items themselves are OK. The background is nice (and is probably there, at least in part, to address the complaint about 4e magic items feeling too vanilla) but does it really deserve a separate name? Weapons of Legacy was a good idea, if roughly executed, but I guess this isn't another try at that.

 

[Rechan]

Yeah I would have preferred if the story elements had some sort of crunch element. Like you progress through a story tied to the item you gain more control/abilities the item has.

Yep.

Just having a history makes it no different then a normal item it just has a more text.

Three paragraphs do not make a +1 sword any more special, as long as said three paragraphs have nothing to do with the campaign, and the +1 sword is just going to get tossed for the +2 sword in a few levels.

WotC is accused of not providing fluff. Here's fluff, but it's fluff that's not that useful. But of course, now some people have "stuff to read for the sake of reading".

 

[Kez Darksun]

Yeah, add me to the underwhelmed list. I mean its nice they include the flavor and I do appreciate it, but I was hoping it would have been like Fallen Seraphs suggestion and been something that could grow with you as you level. Just adding back fluff to magic item descriptions does not an impressive preview make.

 

[AllisterH]

Count me as another not impressed from a player perspective.

Conversely, depending on the story hooks, as a DM, I might actually purchase this instead of just using the CB/Compendium a la Adventurer Vault 1

 

[mevers]

Yep, agree with everyone so far. Just a lot of useless fluff that I doubt most players will even read, and will forget when they throw it away for the next plus.

However, I will probably use these in my campaigns. I really hate discarding magic items for the next plus, so have my own system for increasing the power of magic items as they level, and these give me nice backgrounds for those items.

So not a complete waste of space. But it would be nice if the items were designed to level up with the PCs as they go instead of me needing to do the work.

 

[Belphanior]

I'm also not very impressed with the fluff I've seen from the armor items.

But my immediate thought upon reading the Holy Radiance Armor was: "how long?"

By a strict reading the light you shed either only lasts an instant or forever. I'm sure it's supposed to be for the rest of the encounter or 5 minutes, but it doesn't actually say so. The other item, the shield, mentions you can end the effect as a minor action, but again no duration. The generic rules on magic items on PHB p.226 don't give a default duration either.

I've come to expect better quality of WotC than this.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I would like to add another "meh". Two things come to my mind:

1) Most of the story is still written as if a historian wrote it down some time later. I think there should also be some stories that are told in form of fiction. Maybe desribe the descent of the Halflings into the sewer system and how they first use the Shield.

2) I agree that it would be nice if there was a mechanic that would support the item "growing" with the PCs, preferably based on the items history.

It could start with something simple as "the items enhancement bonus increases by 1 when the owners level is equal or higher than the items level."

 

[Thanee]

Still not learned enough from Earthdawn they have.

Bye
Thanee