Item level as a function of character level

[Asmor]

I'd actually suggest that you just make the enhancement bonus tied to the character themselves.

So it's not that your +1 sword turns into a +2 sword, but rather that you turn into +2 (which increases the likelyhood of using improvised attacks. the horror) and you find a Flaming Weapon or whatever.

Alternatively, anyone who wields an otherwise non-magical weapon treats it as a Magic Weapon of, say, 5 levels lower than them (that way once you hit level 6, every weapon you wield is at least +1, though you're still slightly better off using an actual magic weapon).

 

[Mercule]

Alternatively, anyone who wields an otherwise non-magical weapon treats it as a Magic Weapon of, say, 5 levels lower than them (that way once you hit level 6, every weapon you wield is at least +1, though you're still slightly better off using an actual magic weapon).

I was thinking that magic weapons scale with the character, non-magic weapons don't. That means the 30th level paladin who picks up an off-the-rack longsword gets no bonuses or other abilities. But, "magic weapon" is something of a binary proposition, other than special properties like "flaming".

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

I've been doing this for a few years now. It works quite nicely in 4E as well.
A couple of notes:

If items scale with their wielder, then the cost to craft the weapon will be the cost to craft the highest level weapon of that type that character can use. Ex: A 20th level Wizard, wanting to craft a magic staff, can't make a +1 staff and have it be +4 or 5 in his hands, he must pay the cost to make a +4 or 5 weapon. (Yes, it is technically cheaper to make things at lower levels, but the 4E treasure and wealth rules, if used, mean the characters will always be expending an equivalent ammount of their resources)

The main advantage, I have seen, is that players will grow more attached to the trinkets they pick up because they know there is no longer any metagame reason to discard them. Further, a player can tell me "hey, I really would like to see my rogue/warlock with a Pact blade" and I can have it come up in a treasure pile somewhere. Further, I don't have to strain plausability by having one come up every 5 levels.

One downside: Players will want to amass magic items. They will probably, at some point, unless you create special crafting rules, want to deck out their characters fully. (My group I DM for did it around level 5 or 6) At a certain point, loot might become pretty much meaningless to them. No need to spend it to upgrade stuff; All of it will be spent on consumable items like potions, scrolls, etc. I would suggest cutting back on monitary rewards once the characters have all their equipment. Providing non-physical rewards (loyal henchmen, titles of nobility, landgrants, unique and pricesless trinkets, etc) to adventures can still keep the players interested.

 

[Runestar]

I don't see how it will be possible to price it properly. If I never have to upgrade my eq, this means that the +1 sword I find at 4th lv will remain useful to me all the way to lv30. This means I never have to fork out extra money to upgrade said item (and that I can safely sell any future magic weapons I find). Likewise, this frees up more cash, which probably gives players more leeway to do more funky stuff, like getting more magic eq than what their wealth guideline normally suggests.

 

[Ltheb Silverfrond]

If you use scaling magical items, then it is indeed impossible to assign monitary value to them. I run a semi-low magic campaign, and I typically do not have 'magic shops' or the like. (Though minor, magical items, like Cloaks of Elven Kind, or other magic items that do not scale, are passed off as simply master-craft items of a semi-magical nature) Most magic items I run this way are found or made, and are typically unique. And when a player wants to make a magic item, I typically have have them go on a quest for components, research, etc, instead of imposing a gold cost. (At least I did in 3E; with 4E I don't worry about it as much)

I still hand out a good number of magic items now and then, but with 4E discourages pileing on magic items, it doesn't matter if the party has way more wealth than they should, as potent magic items are limited by uses per day/milestone.

It's worked pretty well thus far. I am finding 4E to be almost exactly what I want in a game system.

 

[FireLance]

I don't see how it will be possible to price it properly. If I never have to upgrade my eq, this means that the +1 sword I find at 4th lv will remain useful to me all the way to lv30. This means I never have to fork out extra money to upgrade said item (and that I can safely sell any future magic weapons I find). Likewise, this frees up more cash, which probably gives players more leeway to do more funky stuff, like getting more magic eq than what their wealth guideline normally suggests.

It's a little more work for the DM, but it isn't impossible. Say, you let a PC's weapon upgrade from a vicious longsword +1 to a vicious longsword +2 at 7th level. When giving out treasure around the time that the PC hits 7th level, simply remove a magic item of about 7th level or so (ideally, another magic weapon) from the treasure that they find. If the module or your DM notes indicate that they should have found a frost mace +2 and 2,000 gp in the treasure room, just tell them they found 2,000 gp.

If you're a stickler for the PCs being no worse off, you could add back the difference in value in gp. For example, the frost mace +2 is technically worth 800 gp more than the vicious longsword +2, and the PC could have sold the vicious longsword +1 for 104 gp. So, you tell the players that they found 2,904 gp instead.