Charge! Should I be worried about this druid?

[Saeviomagy]

I see this the other way - items in 4E are ultra-specific, and very, very many builds - in fact most - depend on a specific set of items to work. Thus we get wish lists and such. Denying a player the magic items his build is centered around nerfs many, many concepts.

I don't think this is actually true. There are a very small subset of items that fall into this category, and a small subset of builds that rely on them. Most builds just benefit from certain items to do a little more of whatever it is that they do (and that is usually damage).

Typically the builds that need certain items to do whatever they do are exploiting odd number niches of the game (the most common of which are "dealing excessive damage in some wierd way" or "making an effect unsaveable"), and frankly they can sod right off.

 

[DracoSuave]

He started with the totem and the badge, and I gave him the horned helm as treasure in the first fight -- there's a bard in the party who enjoys arcanotaxidermy, so he knew that if the fighter hit the Witherling Horned Horror just right with his Viscious Fullblade, he'd cleave the top of its skull off making a nice hat for the druid..

This is a -great- way of dropping magic treasure.

Consider this idea stolen'd.

 

[eamon]

I don't think this is actually true. There are a very small subset of items that fall into this category, and a small subset of builds that rely on them. Most builds just benefit from certain items to do a little more of whatever it is that they do (and that is usually damage).

Well, that's part of the problem - sure any big three upgrade to defenses or attack and damage is nice - but most item special abilities are pretty pointless to most characters.

It's not that they can't use them, it's that they're almost never worth the level increase over a plain old +X item; and they further typically have daily powers, which conflict with using actually useful item powers - so you end up with a +X item with extra cost and a daily item power that's liable to never be used (or only be used as a gag - when it doesn't actually matter).

There are a few problematic items, but there's also a bunch of items that are useful - just only in very specific builds. If you don't take into account player wishes when determining items, they'll be pretty boring.

I mean, every DM must have had the scene where you distribute your handpicked items, and the players go "meh" and sell them at the first opportunity (right?). Well, with a 5-to-1 buy to sell ratio, players are less likely to sell the items - so now they'll go "meh" and just rarely use the item.

 

[msherman]

This is a -great- way of dropping magic treasure.

Consider this idea stolen'd.

There's a bunch of item/monster acanotaxidermy combos like that if you look in the right places. Another one I did in the same session was harvesting a Demonskin Tattoo from the flesh of a defeated Bloodseep Demon.

Usually I require some off-screen downtime (between sessions) before such an item is usable, as the acanotaxidermist cures it and such. But the druid in my game wrote up his background as being from an uncivilized forest tribe, so he's ok with wearing a skull or a patch of flesh fresh off the vine, as it were.