Kinak
First Post
That would definitely fit in, as long as you can't turn around and sell the item. So more along the lines of a bonded weapon than a traditional magical item.
That said, I don't really like spending XP in play (just stockpiling them for levels). But I could easily see spending some of the second tier resources you get from leveling up.
Investing feats is the obvious one, but I could see bonding with an item by investing permanent HP (returned slowly if you unbind) which has the advantage of giving fighter classes increased access. Investing skill points in the appropriate skills could also work ("This sword is my life's work.")
That's not how it's traditionally worked in my games, though. Sometimes the PC describes the item, does the in-character research, and I tell them what special components they'll need (anywhere from an easy encounter to an arc of adventures, depending). Other times, they'll find creation rituals that serve as combination of plot hooks and character customization options.
In my epic game, one of the players' favorite pieces of treasure was a tome that had creation rituals for turning bits of dragons into low-level magical items. They didn't need the items, certainly, but would still jump at the chance to fight dragons so they could make whole sets of magicl items for their minions. If nothing else, explains where those +1 daggers come from
Cheers!
Kinak
