Does a magic weapon still feel... magic?

[Plane Sailing]

3e helped codify magic items, which helped defray some of the bizarre and inconsistant magic item mechanics of earlier editions. This, I feel, was an overall improvement.

However it did have the disadvantage of making some things feel a little "off the shelf".

This is my feeling exactly. Prior to 3e my variant D&D was one where there was no minor magic - all magic items had been created during the magewars, a particularly nasty time in history. This meant that *all* magical items were named for their creator and other significant information. There was no such thing as a plain +2 sword for instance. It worked very well and gave exactly the "feel" I was wanting for my campaign world.

Unfortunately this was one of the single most difficult issues to translate into 3e rules. I think that 3e is miles better than any previous D&D rules, but the presence of magic items is pretty much integral to the whole thing - it is almost like it now only fits the "D&D setting" whereas with looser rules it was more malleable for different settings.

I once worked out ways in which I'd run a rarer-magic campaign, but now I'd just Mongoose' Conan d20 (or possibly a d20Modern variant).

Cheers

 

[Psion]

I once worked out ways in which I'd run a rarer-magic campaign, but now I'd just Mongoose' Conan d20 (or possibly a d20Modern variant).

*coughgrimtalescough*

 

[Evilhalfling]

I have a similar problem, except mine is entirely due to player crafting, the party mage now has 4 craft feats - (6th lvl) and is churning out magic items for all - This was what I was afraid of in 3rd ed. any party of 7th lvl pc's will have a 7th level wizard (at - 1000 xp) and 12 + 1, items (currently 7) this seems to devalue magic, and logically it should have happened before.
This really devalues items - Items not immediatly usefull are sold off (1/2price)
and recycled as wanted.
His xp isn't hurting to badly, due to his never having missed a game and rp awards. At 8th lvl he prolly intends to craft a +2 stat item for everyone in party. 800 xp 10k gold.
The items I introduce sometimes have back story, and frequently crafted for the owner by an allay.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I have a similar problem, except mine is entirely due to player crafting, the party mage now has 4 craft feats - (6th lvl) and is churning out magic items for all -

It all depends on the amount of time you give them. One campaign I play in is the other way around - the party wizard managed to scribe five scrolls and create half a wand before he bit the dust because the campaign was driving on at such a rate he never had the luxury of time to sit down and craft the things. If the DM gives them plenty of time with no challenges this will be more of a problem.

 

[Zelgadas]

One thing that might help is to simply replace D&D's Item Creation feats with those found in Arcana Unearthed. It's not a huge shift, just a slight change in nomenclature that makes all the difference in the world. For instance, you no longer have "Scribe Scroll" and "Craft Wand". Instead, you have "Craft Spell-Completion Item" and "Craft Charged Item". This may not seem that significant at first, until you realize that a charged item no longer has to be a wand, it can be anything you want it to be. It gives you quite a bit of freedom to make weird magic items, with relatively little headache. For instance, say you want to give your ranger a magic bow, but you don't want it to just be a +1 bow. Find a nifty spell that the ranger could make good use of, like flaming arrow. Make the bow a charged item, useable by rangers, that casts flaming arrow when a command word is spoken.

You can also make magic items that characters might not necessarily be used to. Let's say they find some loot, the wizard casts detect magic, and sees that a piece of chalk is radiating abjuration. Maybe that piece of chalk is a single-use item (or even a charged item) that casts protection from evil, or a similar spell, when a circle is drawn around the user. Maybe it's a cup that casts detect poison on any liquid inside it (a constant item, probably). In other words, use atypical items, and give them a "gimmick" of some sort. It might just be a scroll in a different form, but having to use it in a certain way could preserve that feel of magic and weirdness that you're looking for.

 

[Bigwilly]

Some examples of 'magical' items from my campaign

Typical unnamed +1 longsword, etc. : enchanted but not really magical

Frostbite : +1 rapier, +2d6 cold damage - wielder also takes 1d6 cold damage on a successful hit. Found with a 3.0 version of a Ring of Warmth (prevents 5 pts of cold damage). Until recently this was the Paladin's main weapon. The fact that it had a name and a 'curse' - I called it a stressed weapon as it had more dice of elemental damage than plusses of enchantment - made it magical.

The Sunbeam Blade : The paladin found the hilt of this Holy Avenger longsword and had a new adamantium blade crafted for it. She has now taken the Anointed Knight prestige class and is powering it up. Definitely magical and may end up being overpowered! This one falls into the category of an item that grows with the character. It's also got a name and a history.

Serlon the Shifter : +2 intelligent chaotic (slightly insane) blade. Can change shape from a small dagger to a large shortsword as a free action. Can detect law and can polymorph wielder to help defeat law. This item is hated by the group's Paladin, which is probably why the Gnome illusionist/rogue is hanging onto it. Definitely magical! Intelligent items are always a bit magical - mainly because they give the DM a chance to stir things up within the party.

Doublet of displacement : the gnome made this from the skin of a cloaker that tried to eat him (personal involvement). While it's only enchanted with a minor displacement effect, because he made it himself and it's a wee bit different (not a cloak), its definitely magical.

From these examples I can see that giving an item a name, history or just making it a bit different can make it magical. Looks like I'll need to do this more often in my campaign.

Bigwilly

 

[Li Shenron]

Great suggestions, I especially like the one about weapons which become better in time. This could be easily done by detracting the upgrade cost from treasure (which may help with another problem - the tons of gold coins that players have to find at higher levels ), and explained simply with the fact that not all powers manifested or were detectable at first time.

Keep hints coming

 

[Psion]

Great suggestions, I especially like the one about weapons which become better in time.

If you like those, you might look at Artifacts of the Ages (or the PDF equivalents.) Some of which showed up in UA.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

If you like those, you might look at Artifacts of the Ages (or the PDF equivalents.) Some of which showed up in UA.

You could also borrow from Earthdawn, which, IMHO, had one of the best systems for magic items.

Each item has various powers. In order to unlock the powers, the PCs have to research the history of the item, finding out the name of the person who forged the weapon to gain a +3 to hit and the name of the last creature it slew gain extra damage against that creature type for example. In addition to the knowledges, they had to expend Legend Points (Earthdawn's equivalent to XP) to tie the weapon to their Pattern. Also, at some levels they had the option to go out and do deeds relating to the weapon to gain Legend Points that could be used only to "power up" the weapon.

They also had to weave an "astral thread" to the item, but I skipped that because it would require some odd rewriting of the way magic works in D&D.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I have a similar problem, except mine is entirely due to player crafting, the party mage now has 4 craft feats - (6th lvl) and is churning out magic items for all

Look at it this way: the player is establishing his own goals and helping the party. There's always a bright side.