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[+]"Instrument of the Bards" Alternative/Reflavouring for Non-Musician Characters?
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<blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 9256404" data-attributes="member: 2629"><p>I make homebrew items all the time - over half of what my PCs find is homebrew, taken from a third party source, etc... </p><p></p><p>There are two ways to think about introducing the items:</p><p></p><p>1.) Cater to the PC - This gives a very flavorful option that builds upon the PC and helps create a good story.</p><p></p><p>2.) Agnostic to the PCs - This preserves that sense of 'realism' where the world is not built just for the PCs, but is a 'real place' in which they live ... and it encourages players and PCs to get creative with how they use the items they find.</p><p></p><p>To me, both are critical. To that end - finding an instrument when you're not a musician can encourage you to be creative as a player and isn't an entirely bad thing.</p><p></p><p>On the other hand, if you want something that caters to the PC and builds upon the character concept, just look to that character concept for inspiration. </p><p></p><p>In your case, I might add an <em>Intelligent</em> Tome of Leadership and Influence - that was read 35 years ago and can't be read again for 65 years. It complains constantly about how people only care about it for 6 days a century. It carries with it the personality of a washed up actor (or orator of some type) that laments that nobody wants them for good roles/speeches anymore, despite having so much to offer! And it does have things to offer. It provides bonuses to certain knowledge checks, perhaps. And it can cast a few cantrips and a few spells as well! But IT casts them and IT chooses when to cast them. The PC can try to persuade the book to cast (or not to cast) those spells, but it is a stubborn book and sometimes decides <em>it</em> is the one that knows best.</p><p></p><p>Now - a premise like that can be gold - or reallllllllllllly annoying. You'll have to decide if something like that would work for your group. A lot of it comes down to how well the DM can sell it, and how well the DM will incorporate it into the game.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jgsugden, post: 9256404, member: 2629"] I make homebrew items all the time - over half of what my PCs find is homebrew, taken from a third party source, etc... There are two ways to think about introducing the items: 1.) Cater to the PC - This gives a very flavorful option that builds upon the PC and helps create a good story. 2.) Agnostic to the PCs - This preserves that sense of 'realism' where the world is not built just for the PCs, but is a 'real place' in which they live ... and it encourages players and PCs to get creative with how they use the items they find. To me, both are critical. To that end - finding an instrument when you're not a musician can encourage you to be creative as a player and isn't an entirely bad thing. On the other hand, if you want something that caters to the PC and builds upon the character concept, just look to that character concept for inspiration. In your case, I might add an [I]Intelligent[/I] Tome of Leadership and Influence - that was read 35 years ago and can't be read again for 65 years. It complains constantly about how people only care about it for 6 days a century. It carries with it the personality of a washed up actor (or orator of some type) that laments that nobody wants them for good roles/speeches anymore, despite having so much to offer! And it does have things to offer. It provides bonuses to certain knowledge checks, perhaps. And it can cast a few cantrips and a few spells as well! But IT casts them and IT chooses when to cast them. The PC can try to persuade the book to cast (or not to cast) those spells, but it is a stubborn book and sometimes decides [I]it[/I] is the one that knows best. Now - a premise like that can be gold - or reallllllllllllly annoying. You'll have to decide if something like that would work for your group. A lot of it comes down to how well the DM can sell it, and how well the DM will incorporate it into the game. [/QUOTE]
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[+]"Instrument of the Bards" Alternative/Reflavouring for Non-Musician Characters?
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