Creating Magic Items with Multiple Properties

[Alex319]

This idea was inspired by this thread:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...gic-items-wizards-coast-cannot-publish-9.html

where people were complaining about magic items only having one power. So I came up with a way to give magic items multiple powers. The system below works for the "big three" - weapon, armor, neck slot item.

Steps:

Choose Base Items: Choose the base item (a weapon type, armor type, or neck slot item.)

Choose Magical Enchantments: Choose any number of magical enchantments to put on the level. A magical enchantment is any existing magical item that can be applied to the base item type that you choose. Each enchantment has two variables that can be determined from its stat block:

Minimum enhancement bonus (MEB): The minimum enhancement bonus that that item is available at. This is easy to see by just looking at what enhancement bonuses you can get in the stat block.

Level cost (LC): The number of levels a magic item of that type is above a normal magical item with that enhancement bonus and no other properties (5n-4 where n is the enhancement bonus.) All the given items have LC from 0 to 4.

For example, the Dragonslayer Weapon (PHB 233) has MEB=2 and LC=3. The Vorpal Weapon (PHB 236) has MEB=6 and LC=4.

Choose Enhancement Bonus: Choose the enhancement bonus of the item. The enhancement bonus you choose must be at least as high as the highest MEB of all the enchantments you chose.

Determine Properties: The weapon has all the properties and powers of each of the enchantments you selected. For enchantments that have different effects based on their level, the enchantment's effect is based on the item's enhancement bonuses (the levels given all correspond to the levels for the enhancement bonuses you can get that item at) regardless of the final level the item ends up at.

Critical Bonus Damage: For weapons, choose any of the critical bonus effects on any of the enchantments you chose to be the critical bonus damage. (Normally you will choose the highest damage one but sometimes there will be special effects on some of them that you would rather have instead).

Note that some enchantments have LC=0 because they have a special property or power which is balanced out by having no bonus critical damage (in contrast with the "vanilla" magic items that have +1d6 per plus critical damage). You can only have one of these enchantments on an item, and treat it as having LC=1 unless you choose to have no critical bonus effect.

Determine Level:

The level is determined as follows:

Start with (5n-4) where n is the enhancement bonus, for the base magical item. Then add in the LCs for each of the enchantments you put on, to get the final level.

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EXAMPLE:

Andrew the Dragon Slayer wants to have a sword which he can use to slay dragons but which is also useful against a wide variety of other monsters. He chooses a sword, and chooses the "Dragonslayer Weapon", "Flame Weapon", and "Frost Weapon" enchantments (PHB 233-234).

Dragonslayer Weapon has a MEB of 2, Flame Weapon has a MEB of 1, and Frost Weapon has a MEB of 1. This means he can choose any enhancement bonus from 2 on up. Since he's on a budget he chooses enhancement bonus 2.

He chooses the Dragonslayer Weapon's critical effect since it's better.

The level is calculated as follows:

Base +2 weapon = 6
Dragonslayer = +3 LC
Flame = +4 LC
Frost = +2 LC
Total = Level 15

Note that even though the overall weapon is level 15, he still only gets resist 5 from the Dragonslayer's property, since it's enhancement bonus is only +2, and the level 14 to get resist 10 corresponds to enhancement bonus +3.

So the overall weapon is:

Fire and Ice Sword of Dragonslaying +2
Level 15
Enhancement: +2 Attack and Damage Rolls
Critical: +2d8 damage; +2d12 against dragons
Property: Resist 5 against dragon breath
Powers:
(At-Will) Switch damage type to fire
(At-Will) Switch damage type to cold
(Daily) Deal extra 1d6 fire + 5 fire ongoing
(Daily) Deal extra 1d8 cold + slow (save ends)

(Note that the player could use both at-wills and have it do both fire and cold damage, and it would use the normal rules for multi-typed damage.)

 

[Alex319]

Correction to above: In the example, the weapon will of course also have the Dragonslayer's daily power (next attack vs. dragon has +5 power bonus and ignores all resistances)

 

[willows]

The main problem with this is that it effectively gives you more item slots.

 

[keterys]

The main problem with this is that it effectively gives you more item slots.

At the cost of a +1 enhancement and things like the multiple dailies not necessarily working well...

But the balance point would be difficult and not work with certain properties. Like a Jagged at just 1 level higher? No.

 

[Obergnom]

hmm, I think this system might be quite useful for to make treasure found by the group special. While the avagare "Loot Shop" might sell you Flaming Swords, the Holy Flame of Tempus (holy flaming sword) is a special one you would never be able to buy in a shop.

I like your system

 

[Engilbrand]

The math is balanced around that weapon being a +3 or +4, not a +2. More powerful weapons aren't available until the higher levels for a reason. There's no real problem with this being a +3 or +4 and having those powers. The biggest issue is that it's similar to the 3.5 LA problem. A character with 2 hd and a +4 LA was supposed to be equal to a level 6 character, but that was almost always not the case. More powers aren't necessarily worth it if they aren't very good.

 

[BobTheNob]

I like it too. I had a very similar thought and was convinced that the tradeoff of lower enhancement bonus for greater powers was a fair one (as has been pointed out...giving up accuracy on that key ability can be a real bummer)

I would respond though with an observation about our groups game. A while ago we implemented a house rule that effectively downgrades all daily item powers to encounter powers, letting you use them a hell of a lot more often (we are still tweaking that one, but everyone, including me : the gm, loves it!). Our group is now geared up to the point that no-one really has a slot free. With this, the sum of all gear gives them a vast array of powers they can call on.

So, I do love your idea, but having played for a while now, I wonder not at its validity or implementation, but its relevance. From our groups perspective I would simply say it isnt needed.

Best of luck with it.

 

[Alex319]

The math is balanced around that weapon being a +3 or +4, not a +2. More powerful weapons aren't available until the higher levels for a reason. There's no real problem with this being a +3 or +4 and having those powers. The biggest issue is that it's similar to the 3.5 LA problem. A character with 2 hd and a +4 LA was supposed to be equal to a level 6 character, but that was almost always not the case. More powers aren't necessarily worth it if they aren't very good.

Well, the idea is that you have to give up something for the extra powers. If you could get a +3 sword with multiple powers for the same price as a +3 sword with only one power, there would be no reason to ever get a sword with only one power.

would respond though with an observation about our groups game. A while ago we implemented a house rule that effectively downgrades all daily item powers to encounter powers, letting you use them a hell of a lot more often (we are still tweaking that one, but everyone, including me : the gm, loves it!). Our group is now geared up to the point that no-one really has a slot free. With this, the sum of all gear gives them a vast array of powers they can call on.

You mean that the powers have the same effects but you can use them once per encounter? Wow that is a big boost to power. (Dwarven Armor = a free healing surge's worth of healing every encounter that you don't have to give up an HS for?)

So, I do love your idea, but having played for a while now, I wonder not at its validity or implementation, but its relevance. From our groups perspective I would simply say it isnt needed.

I see you have a system that works for you. The main reason I put this system up is to address the desire (in the thread I linked at the tom) for more "interesting" magic items that have more powers.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Honestly I just don't trust any kind of math to balance things properly in any game. Point systems always have a big huge loophole hidden someplace in there. I've written up a lot of point systems for different games and while they can be helpful they are never bulletproof. So if I were going to create items like this I might use a point system in theory as a rough estimate, but I'd never show it to the players and I'd certainly either not do obviously broken combos or just uprate (or downrate) them based on my gut feeling. Given the small number of such items you'll probably end up making like this in a campaign I figure its probably not worth the effort to hammer out a system like this. I think you did a pretty good job as a first cut though.

Personally though I don't think that magic items seem too "vanilla" because of some mechanical lack. I think if they seem too vanilla its because the huge variety of standard items in 4e encourages an "off the rack" mentality in players where they just buy or the DM just drops an item out of the book and never gives it a special feel. That feel should come from history and maybe small quirks of the item and possibly that it may be a bit mysterious at first.

If you look at the 1e/2e magic weapons they are a pretty small list and they aren't really actually much different from the 4e ones. A 2e flametongue and a 4e Flaming Sword? Pretty much identical. In fact the "magic items are boring" feeling existed in 1e and 2e just like it can in 4e. Its only when you make the items FEEL special that they will be special. That can only come with adding a sense of depth to your campaign.

I think you'll find that the +2 flaming freezing dragon slaying sword (with bottle opener shaped pummel) is STILL less interesting than the sword wielded by the hero Rordan when he was slain in the epic Battle of Three Days by the Arch Lich Ugar of Mlat and subsequently recovered from Ugar's bodyguard by the hero Toris, then lost to history when Toris' grandson perished while exploring the Well of Stars (+3 Lifedrinker Broadsword with some personality). This sword, if recovered is distinctive in design and can be recognized for what it is by those knowledgeable in such things. Possessing it could bring you fame and also have RP consequences. It surely will not make your character boring.

What's boring is picking yet another +3 XYZ Bastard Sword off the rack at Ye Olde Magic Shoppe. Making XYZ a combination of enchantments won't really cure that. It won't HURT, but its not the cure.

 

[BobTheNob]

You mean that the powers have the same effects but you can use them once per encounter? Wow that is a big boost to power. (Dwarven Armor = a free healing surge's worth of healing every encounter that you don't have to give up an HS for?)

Yes, we are running with 95% of all dailies reduced to encounters, and yes, its a power boost, but it aint as bad as you think. When I put it together, I had a broad set of conversion rules by which to review each item before it entered play, mainly hitting things like surgless healing, recovering expended powers and things that last till end of encounter (i.e. the sort things that were worthy of being daily)

Dwarven armor, which one of our players has, got nerfed to requiring a healing surge. The players loves that item in that form and refuses to give it up for other armor.