Does anyone have Guidelines or Rules for Designing New Magic Items/ Enchantments

[CapnZapp]

Well, gold is much less useful in the new edition (in that all the cool items are above your level and thus beyond your financial reach anyway) so I have good news for you:

Your players can sit on their pile of gold all they like: and the game will still work for them!

Yes, the only things they could have bought for that money are items of approximately their own level (or lower), which in my experience equates to items that are nice-to-haves rather than must-haves.

This applies even if the player collects gold as fast as he can: assuming the DM follows the level/gold curve, the PC can never get ahead. And even if he has a sudden windfall, the "item prices increase fivefold for every five levels" progression ensures a PC can never become truly rich, in the "I can buy whatever I want" sense.

Thus IMO 4E supports the "greedy player" far better than previous edition (although admittedly possibly as an unintended consequence )

 

[keterys]

There are so many solid lower level items now that you still always have something worth spending money on, all the same. It just is probably not a +X item, but one of the secondary slots.

 

[CapnZapp]

There are so many solid lower level items now that you still always have something worth spending money on, all the same. It just is probably not a +X item, but one of the secondary slots.

If you mean there are Heroic-tier items that remain useful all up into Epic tier, you're absolutely correct.

But those items are also at Epic Tier essentially free, and thus unbalanced.

Yes, these items are worthwhile to spend money on. But that's only because mistakes have been made and it doesn't change my basic point. Besides, if you can only hold off five levels or so, you will find that your pile'o'gold won't be reduced in any perceptible way when you do get them

 

[keterys]

That might be true at Epic - I haven't looked too closely at that high a level, but I can think of plenty of items to spend money on up through level 13, and that's without even considering replacing a +X item occasionally.

I mean, as soon as the party hits level 16, for example, you have a few bracers of +X damage to buy and that eats up a fair chunk of change. Horned Helms get to be improved. Strikebacks and Healing Sashes aren't negligible amounts of money until mid to high Paragon. I haven't looked but I imagine that new +damage on bloodied glove has paragon and epic versions too, so those get upgraded along the way. It's worth picking up a Keog. Ointment for the group, as well as a dust of appearance, once you're at least 5 levels over those... everybody should get a tattoo, and plenty of those scale (like the demonskin). Any time you have a couple of items you replace per tier you've got a sizable money outlet.

Yes, you're never in danger of bankrupting yourself, but there is still a definite penalty to being the type to hoard money and never spent it. And the guy who wants to burn money on RP still has some minor penalties, though the x5 factor makes those less of a big deal in Paragon or Epic.

 

[CapnZapp]

It's worth picking up several items (it would be a damn shame if there weren't!) but nothing essential.

Let's end this circular discussion once and for all:

Yes, there are nifty things to be bought, but if your DM follows the treasure guidelines, you never need to buy anything at all.

That's my entire point: all gear you absolutely must have is gear you can expect to loot off fallen enemies.

That doesn't mean gold is worthless. It just means 4E is the D&D edition that best supports the other poster's wish (without too much of a stretch); to not have to feel obligated to spend cash on personal dungeon-related stuff!

 

[keterys]

Ah, okay. Yeah, I actually don't allow magic item purchases in one of my games and it's been going swimmingly even without that.