Complex underpowered magic items in Magic Item Compendium

[VirgilCaine]

Quick update:
Meteoric Knife
1 charge - returning
2 charges - returning & flaming
3 charges - returning, flaming & 3d6 explosion.

For 500 extra gp, that's a steal. Yes, not every PC will like it, but for the rogues out there...

Cheers!

A rogue making a thrown sneak attack with that using all five charges is a great way to open a big fight or one shot something.

Also, it also has that old school flavor to it with the charges and the varied abilities. Not bad.

 

[Asmor]

...all five...

Three, sir.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

What I like about the MIC is the many magic items that aren' t terribly expensive, have nice benefits, and aren't in effect constantly. So a DM can put them in the hoard without worrying about badly overbalancing things in the game. The items are somewhat self-policing because they have limited utility per day.

The main drawback is they are fairly complex and it can be hard enough to get a player to remember all of his bonus when written on his sheet. Add a variable use magic item...

I agree with much of this. As a DM, your options of magic items to put in treasure are limited at the lower levels due to cost. The MIC addressed this issue very nicely.

As for the fact that PC's may not be able to remember all the items on his list, I say too bad. If you can't remember what items your 1 character has I have no sympathy. DM's have to remember a whole heap of different things for each character/monster that the party encounters, be it spells, abilities, magic items, tactics, etc.

Going from a DM to a player, I found it quite easy to choose which option to take and what limited use items I had used up. On the other hand, I had one player that couldn't seem to remember any of the spells, items, weapons, etc., that his character had. He would constantly forget to use a spell or item when it was the perfect opportunity to do so. This probably said more about the player than anything else though!

Olaf the Stout

 

[-SIN-]

Quick update:
Meteoric Knife
1 charge - returning
2 charges - returning & flaming
3 charges - returning, flaming & 3d6 explosion.

For 500 extra gp, that's a steal. Yes, not every PC will like it, but for the rogues out there...

Cheers!

Considering the price of a standard masterwork dagger, any character can benefit from paying the extra for this item! I mean, nearly every single character has a dagger.

 

[MarkB]

As for the fact that PC's may not be able to remember all the items on his list, I say too bad. If you can't remember what items your 1 character has I have no sympathy. DM's have to remember a whole heap of different things for each character/monster that the party encounters, be it spells, abilities, magic items, tactics, etc.

In any case, MIC has a very nice Magic Item Record Sheet in the back, which is also downloadable from WotC's website, and should make it easy enough to keep track of what you have and what it does.

 

[Obergnom]

I recently started a campaign at six level, no player was allowed to buy items above item level 6.

All of them are equiped with a bunch of cool x charges per day items, and having played at that level earlier, it makes the game much more interesting. Sure, they do not have a +2 to ability item, but what they have instead quite often saved their lives.

Favorites so far (Besides that bedroll that makes resting in armor with added endure elements possible):
Chronocharm of the Uncaring Archmage (Cast 1 Full Round spell per day as a standart action, 500gp, the cleric used it every day)
Belt of One Mighty Blow, adds a bunch of damage dice to the fighters attack, used every day, the player likes it. He has brute gauntlets to. (Which allow to add some extra damage but with 3 charges) - He uses these items to deliver the killing blow earlier when the fight seems to go against them.

The effect of the MIC on our group: Characters are much more fun to play, they lose some "all day +1" but get a bunch of cool abilities. I really like that book.

 

[hong]

The item levels seem to me to be tuned for 2 purposes:

- Equipping NPCs
- Use prereqs, if anyone should want to go down that path

Note there's nothing stopping a character from having an item way higher than their level. It just means that a large chunk of their total wealth is taken up by that one item. If anything, I'd hazard a guess that most PCs that have been played up to now, would have items that are higher than their level by the MIC guidelines.

 

[Henry]

I'd hazard a guess that most PCs that have been played up to now, would have items that are higher than their level by the MIC guidelines.

In fact, I don't think I've ever seen an "organic" game that didn't. As a DM I don't think I' ve ever hit the "wealth" guidelines spot on, much less kept them to within 1/4th or 1/8th of their total wealth for one item. Even in our pre-gens, we used the apparently common house rule of "max of half total wealth for one item." However, for future pre-gen games, I think I'm going the Magic Item Compendium system's route.

 

[hong]

In fact, I don't think I've ever seen an "organic" game that didn't. As a DM I don't think I' ve ever hit the "wealth" guidelines spot on, much less kept them to within 1/4th or 1/8th of their total wealth for one item. Even in our pre-gens, we used the apparently common house rule of "max of half total wealth for one item." However, for future pre-gen games, I think I'm going the Magic Item Compendium system's route.

I don't see any problem with retaining the half-total-wealth rule. It never caused imbalances then, it shouldn't cause imbalances now. The MIC rules are basically a fast way to equip characters without having to add up gp costs, and they don't mandate a hard cap on items.

 

[Henry]

I don't see any problem with retaining the half-total-wealth rule. It never caused imbalances then, it shouldn't cause imbalances now. The MIC rules are basically a fast way to equip characters without having to add up gp costs, and they don't mandate a hard cap on items.

True - but I'm thinking it's going to lead to a slightly smaller power curve on the game, if people aren't gunshotting their wealth into two or three really big-ticket items, and rounding it out with about 100 gp of common gear. It'll lead to a slightly different feel than a game where the "big six" are worshipped, in any event.