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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jay Verkuilen" data-source="post: 7751937" data-attributes="member: 6873517">I think the idea is OK but there are details that aren't so great. It doesn't scale well. IMO one way would be for there to be a Legendary action after each PC's turn with many of them being things like "make a saving throw roll now" or "recover X hit points" where X is a non-trivial amount. That would mean that a smaller party wouldn't get totally hammered by many Legendary actions and a larger party would be able to skate by and simply overwhelm the creature by exhausting Legendary resistance. Not all items that require attunement are that awesome. WotC tends to slap attunement on things that they decide are powerful for the level at which you are expected to acquire them, but such items often don't remain amazing at higher levels. But they're just useful enough you often have to go through a tradeoff calculation as to whether they're still worth keeping. I've seen it happen pretty often that the DM hands out some item nobody can use or wants to. In one game, the DM handed out a Moonblade which we recovered after killing a pretty nasty black dragon and literally nobody in the party could make effective use it. Yes, that was bad planning, but it's also emblematic of how too many balancing restrictions get in the way. (What he should have done was alter the item to be something we could actually benefit from because it was something plot-important.) I don't hand out tons, but magic geegaws were always part of the game and part of the fun. I'd like people to be able to make use of what they get without going through a bunch of attunement math, short resting to attune and then reattune, and not just go "meh." IMO there are ways to make items cool by having them grow, for instance, or do something without attunement and do more with it, which makes it more tempting. Or have items have some variable cost for attunement rather than just being an all or nothing thing. Like a lot of things, WotC opted for simplistic and missed out on a lot of possibilities. For example, here's an item of my own design which illustrates the general idea of "attunement to get something extra":Ysviden's Rifle (Very Rare, Attunement: Special)The gith pirates making up the Brotherhood of the Leviathan founded by the legendary Admiral Timerish slowly mine the star leviathan corpse they use as an anchorage for the components needed to make smoke powder. As such, they have developed firearms and explosives to a high art. Weapons such as Ysviden's Rifle exhibit the pinnacle of their manufacture using a combination of magic and clockwork. This rifle is an example of the highest reaches of their gunsmithing art. It was made for the githyanki assassin Ysviden, the lover of Captain Sitirthra, who later became a vampire. She slew many using this weapon. It is a masterfully crafted double-barreled rifle with a complex clockwork sight. As a weapon it must be loaded with smoke powder and bullets as usual for smokepowder weapons, and has a range of 90/300. It hits with such force and precision as to inflict D12 force damage. Its full potential is realized only in the hands of a wielder who has the Sharpshooter feat and attunes to the weapon. As an action, the wielder can aim at a target using the clockwork sight, gaining advantage and a doubled critical range on the first shot taken against the target.And another example of avoiding attunement by requiring a cost. Figurine of Wondrous Power: Sly the Xorn (Very Rare) This small figurine of a three legged, three armed barrel-shaped creature made of gold with three small ruby eyes and a gaping maw where a head would be. Unlike most Figurines, it can be summoned once per long rest. Summoning it requires an action, during which point 50 gold worth of precious metals or gems must be sacrificed, and remains for an hour. It can be dismissed as an action. It, will, however, make apparent that it can be bribed with additional precious metals or gems to act in its summoner's favor. While it only speaks Terran, it is intelligent enough to understand a bribe in any language or even no language at all. When it is activated, its summoner should make a Persuasion check (DC 20), with success meaning that it will engage in tasks that are favorable to the summoner. It is typically neutral towards its summoner unless the summoner has a clear affinity towards Elemental Air, in which case it will be hostile (+5 DC on Persuasion), or Elemental Earth, in which case it will be positively disposed (-5 DC). A bribe worth at least 250 gold of precious metals or gems grants the summoner advantage on this roll. Failure by more than 5 indicates that it will attempt to steal precious metals and flee or otherwise cause problems for its summoner. It does not mind fighting for the summoner and will also scout through stone, excavate, etc. However, if it is slain it cannot be summoned again for a week. It is destroyed if it is slain by lightning or thunder damage or an air elemental. </blockquote>

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