How much background do your magic Items have

[Evilhalfling]

This is a sideline from the Magic shops thread.
I had an list of all the players items on hand and it came out to average
7 permant items per person 2 with history, 3 generic and 2 crafted within the party.

for 11th lvl PC's with lower than normal wealth. (27-66k)

If you have a big basket of items - how much story is behind each one?
How many have names? Is this important to you or your group?

The low magic tone of my world is partially based on demographics, as even large cities are uncommon. Some items are common - they are useful, and require little in the way of prerequsite spells, as opposed to cheap items that are hard to make - such as all rings.
there should be lists of items that can be crafted in a small city (7th-10th lvl mage, 7th-12th cleric) and under 15,000 gp - these are what is most likely to turn up for sale.

 

[philreed]

I'm a strong believer that every magic item should have some type of background flavor. For that matter, I feel that any found treasure should have a story of some sort behind it.

I've written numerous PDFs that include treasures with backgrounds. And will write many, many more.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I couldn't give a toss about the backstory of a magic item.

Icewind Dale has a history for every single one of its many many magic items. It's annoying having to scroll past to get the to the actual stats at the bottom. Why couldn't they be at the top?

 

[shilsen]

I'm a strong believer that every magic item should have some type of background flavor. For that matter, I feel that any found treasure should have a story of some sort behind it.

I couldn't give a toss about the backstory of a magic item.

I strike a balance between these two positions. A particular dragon's treasure hoard in my last campaign contained (among other things) a generic suit of chainmail armor +1 and a scimitar +1 which happened to be centuries old, intelligent, talking (which usually involved hitting on every woman in sight, but that's another story ) and crafted by people who had a strong influence on the current plot that the PCs were involved in unravelling. Every magical item in my game doesn't have a major background. But some do and they're relevent and make the game more interesting.

 

[Ant]

In our current campaign only select magic items receive special treatment. Here's the current list:
Death's Head
Demon Bow
Infernal Rage
Smashing Fist of Kord
Orbs of Karass
Scorn and Retribution
Tinker's Folly

 

[The Amazing Dingo]

My campaign tends to focus on a few high-powered magical objects. I don't tend to go over the limit/suggestions of gp per PC level but this is one way to keep the magic down - magical items tend to have a more "legendary" status (even if not artifacts) when most of the magical items are more expensive.

Nonetheless, because I have fewer magical items (for example, the 11th level fighter has a longsword worth about 35k-40k and a suit of armor worth about 20k) they almost demand a background because they are special. Besides, I love writing up backgrounds for magical items because that whole option just screams *plot hooks*.

 

[Ibram]

Just about every magic item (not encluding one shots) has some sort of back story, even if its only a sentence or two. Rather then giving out a whole host of minor magic items I prefer to give each character 1-2 items with several powers.

The items I give usualy evolve over time (becoming more powerful or gaining new abilities) which keeps me from having to hand out new items each level.

In dooing so I reinforce the idea that magic is rare, powerful, and mysterious. It also prevents the game from taking on the min-max aspect that is so common in computer RPGs.

 

[The_Gneech]

It varies; I like to give anything that's intended to be used more than once at least a name if I can ... e.g., a +1 merciful spiked chain the characters encountered didn't really have any history, but it was named "Gentle," which does at least hint at one.

-The Gneech

 

[philreed]

It varies; I like to give anything that's intended to be used more than once at least a name if I can ... e.g., a +1 merciful spiked chain the characters encountered didn't really have any history, but it was named "Gentle," which does at least hint at one.

And a hint is plenty to start. It gives you time to come up with a background based on how it's used in the game.

Example: A PC uses "Gentle" and always scores a hit, even on the most difficult of attacks. Sure, it's really just that the die rolls were really lucky but wouldn't it be fun if the background was discovered and revealed that the weapon was astonishingly lucky? And what does it mean when the weapon suddenly starts missing a lot, no matter how easy the attack should be? Is it the die rolls or is there something in Gentle's background that explains this sudden shift in luck?

 

[Ferret]

I'd liek to give all of my items some background, but realistically only the important ones get it.

I does make me think of the time I put a plain, normal bastard sword in the treasue, with a black onyx gem on the hilt. They wouldn't touch it.