Creating Special items

[Theone0581]

Hey, guys. I am going to make this short and to the point. I am getting ready to run my campaign soon, and I wanted to have items out of the magic item compendium to act as rewards that I can give my PCs, and not something that they can simply go and buy at a store. However, I was told by my friend that, as the idea is nice it does not follow the rules. He told me that, if the item exist in the world, it can be made some way or some how. He did tell me that I can make the reagents difficult to obtain. I don't like the idea of using reagents because I feel that it would kind of defeat the purpose of what I am trying to do. He also suggest that I can make a special reagent that can be used almost like a currency, and that the items that are in the book, were once created by a special elvish race that was long forgotten, but the items could be created by obtaining the crystals that were lost with the race. He told me to kind of think of the crystals as power points. The idea of this has potentional, but I am not entire convenced that, that is the rout that I would like to take.

So do you guys have any ideas on what I could do to limit the items out of the book so that only I as the DM can offer the items to the PCs on my terms.

 

[xigbar]

Your the DM, you can say that they are too rare, that you're more likely to find the item pre-made in a dungeon than as parts in a store.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

Tell your friend that while you appreciate the input, you're the DM, the world operates how you want it to.

Tell your PCs before the game starts that Feats that create magical items (Craft Magical arms & armor, Craft Wondrous Items, Craft Ring, etc.) will not be accessable to them. Explain the reason however you want, such as explaining that only the Expert NPC class can do such things and it is not the job for adventurers but for dedicated craftsmen, or the knowledge of such a craft has been lost to history and all that is left are artifacts from a bygone age, or whatever you like. Ban Artificer class.

If you want to create a system of reagents to manage crafting of magical items, that's cool too. Just don't allow someone to mess with the vision you have in your head of how you want your game to run, as long as it's within reason and is Fun for you and your players.

 

[Theone0581]

lol, yes my friend has DMed a lot longer than I have, and over the years of just being in games with him, he is a total rules whore. I cant tell you guys how many times we hold up the games because he needs to look up something in the book to make sure its lagit. Hes pretty lawful, if you ask me.

Thanks for the quick input. I think am going to go with what you guys are saying, and just have the items available for me as the DM give away. I will have to think of some situation or another to explain to the PCs why they cant have access the this book, and not just simply tell them no without some role-playing reason.

I wouldn't mind if the PCs used the create magical items feat, if they want but only allowing them them to create items out of the DM guide. Anything out of that book is fair game.

I am not going to allow anything that's not core in regards to class. I am running Shackled City in mid August, and investing in a lot of my time in prep work and on top of that summer classes, I simply dont have enough time to go over all the other classes to see what I want to allow and dont want to allow, so I will stick with what I am sure of.

 

[Belzbet]

It ReALLY IS NOT in the rules that any item in the world can be bought by the players. Take artifacts, they are items but they cannot be bought or made. ALso, the only items that are available are the ones that the community the Players are in can actaully make and afford (remember city gp limits). Just because it says in the PH that the Players should be able to buy the items seen in the book if the city is wealthy enough doesn't mean that the actually can. I dont want to simply say: your the DM so it is. But your friend is wrong. The rule relating to item acquisition in the DMG and the PH ONLY extend to those books the magic item compendium is totally EXTRA (IT IS UP TO THE DM TO INCULDE THAT BOOK). However, giving a reaon behind why the items are not available (such as that they were made by long lost elves) is an excellent idea.

 

[Theone0581]

I completely understand what your getting at, and thus is the reason why I have made up my mind, and only make the items that I want available in the magic item compendium to be available under the circumstances that I see fit, but will fit in a background story, if someone wants to look up the history on a specific to determine its rarity.

My friend means well, he just likes thing to be be plaid sticky core rules only, and has a hard time with the idea that sometimes house rules can apply.

 

[Greenfield]

We ran a game in which all the creation feats for permanent items had been "lost" over time. They had been closely guarded guild secrets, and were eventually lost when the last few holders of them died.

The long term goal of that campaign was to rediscover the lost secrets of the past.

In that world, permanent magic items were as rare as he's teeth, and highly prized. Magic swords all had names and well known histories. They were traditionally held by noble houses, only, as were things like magic armor, boots, etc.

We shifted the various Wondrous items that were "consumable" to an extended version of Brew Potion or Craft Wand.

It made the game world interesting.

Another approach is this: Yes, there are guild halls and such in many cities that trade in magic items. You want a what? Hmm. Well, I know a guy who knows a guy who might have a lead on one of those....

I presumed that adventurer grade items weren't just sitting on the shelf like Walmart. They're in the hands of adventurers. You pay the guild a fee to see if they can find one for sale. They keep that fee, whether they find one or not. You're paying for the labor to research.

Once they find one, they'll broker the deal (and take a cut in the process), and it will probably call for the buyer to pay both another magic item and some cash for the greater item.

This emphasizes how rare these items are and how much in demand they are, and gives me, as the DM, some time to consider whether I want to allow said item into the game.

I "ration" the amount of EXP is available to NPC crafters in a given period of time, with the note that the local nobility or the guild or the church has first call on that craft potential. Magic within the city or realm goes first to the good of the realm (as defined by the people in power), then to the local citizenry, and last to out of town troublemakers like the PCs.

Thus, a writ from the local noble to authorize the creation of a specific bit of magic is a prize in and of itself.

Of course to do this, you also need to limit PC access to the item creation feats.

 

[jefgorbach]

Another simple way to rationalize why items are limited is simply limit the number of high level NPCs - not every village HAS mid-level spellcasters of every class, let alone those who selected the crafting feats.

Consequently while low level potions/wands might be available locally, anything above a your chosen level requires visiting one of the relatively few major metropolitan locales which even HAVE so-called magic shops; and even then likely lack people standing-by to craft custom items.

Likewise the PCs might have the capability of self-crafting whatever they want, but generally not the time to do so if they wish to complete the adventure within the required deadline(s).

 

[Theone0581]

So this is what I was thinking, and you guys let me know if it will work. Taking control over what items that PCs can have out of MIC and then only allowing them to appear to play a role on my terms. The PCS can use items out of the DM guide and can create them as they so desire. Here is where I am going to include my house rule. PCs can only create items that our in the DM guide...as simple as that.

 

[the Jester]

Hey, guys. I am going to make this short and to the point. I am getting ready to run my campaign soon, and I wanted to have items out of the magic item compendium to act as rewards that I can give my PCs, and not something that they can simply go and buy at a store. However, I was told by my friend that, as the idea is nice it does not follow the rules. He told me that, if the item exist in the world, it can be made some way or some how.

Try this as a response: "While that may be true in games that you run, I am running this one, and it is not true in my game."

Continued argument? "If you find it objectionable, you are welcome to either play a non-crafting class or sit this campaign out. You are not, however, welcome to continuously contradict me or try to force your dming style on my game."