MadBlue
Explorer
Rings of Protection. Just about every PC has one, because at one point or another, they're going to encounter NPCs that have one (especially if they encounter NPCs from the DMG). Cloaks of Resistance and items that boost ability scores tend to be popular items as well.
It gets kind of boring when these kinds of items pop up over and over in a campaign. Granted, as a DM, it's my responsibility to restrict access to items, but when most of the adversaries are classed NPCs, it becomes necessary to boost the NPCs' ACs, Saves and abilities to keep them challenging. And against monsters and other non-classed adversaries, it becomes necessary to boost the PCs' ACs, Saves and abilities to make sure they're up to the challenge that the creature's CR represents.
In my next campaign, I want the characters to be more reliant on their own abilities than magic items, so I'm working on the following house rules regarding level dependent benefits:
Feats: Lvl 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19
This applies to creatures too. There are so many new Feats that really serve to flesh out a character, and it's a shame to limit (most) characters to just 7.
As a result, Leadership would become available at level 5 instead of level 6. Feats with a prerequisite BAB of +6 would wind up becoming available to a single-classed Fighter (and Ranger in the case of Manyshot and Improved TWF ) earlier than to other single-classed characters with a +6 at 6th level (since there's no Feat at 6th level), which I think is kind of neat. I'm also toying with the idea of giving characters a bonus Feat at 1st level (which must be a Regional, Ancestor or Heritage Feat). In that case, Humans would get the Human Paragon's "Adaptive Learning" special ability as a racial trait, since if everyone is getting a bonus Feat at 1st level, it makes the Human's Bonus Feat less of a draw.
Defense Bonus: Lvl 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18
This is a Dodge bonus. It applies to Touch AC, but is lost in situations where the character loses their Dex bonus to AC. It reflects that characters are better able to defend themselves as they advance in level. It applies to all classes equally because each class effectively has a Defense Bonus of +0 now, so adding the same bonus to all classes is more balanced than having a different rate for each class, even though it might not be as "realistic" (but like I said, everyone essentially has the same bonus now, so it's just as "realistic" as it is now). I've used this in a previous campaign, and it's worked well. It really cut down on the number of Rings of Protection floating around.
Saving Throw Bonus: Lvl 5, 10, 15, 20
Haven't used this yet, so I'm not sure of what kind of effect this would have on the game. But I figured if I restrict access to items that boost Saves, such as Cloaks of Resistance, it would be OK.
Action Points: 5+1/2 Lvl +/- Charisma modifier
These are AP as they're used in Eberron, not the UA variant.
Ability Score Increases
I don't know if I want to touch this or not. The chargen system I use starts characters out based on 78 points (not 78 point-buy, but the total of each character's ability scores add up to 78, which gives them an average of 13 in each ability - Abilities start at 6 and there is a pool of 12 "die rolls" (2x1, 2x2, 2x3...) that a player selects from to increase each ability score (two "die rolls" to each ability)), so the characters wind up being a bit more powerful than if they were built with standard character generation methods, so a boost might not be needed. Still, I'm wondering if I should buff the Ability Score Increases from +1 to +2 or have them occur more often. Of course, I'm planning on limiting access to items that boost ability scores.
Regarding the magic items I'm planning on limiting access to, if a PC wants to create them, that's fine with me. They'd be spending the XP and the time in the campaign to do it, so it's a sufficient investment on the character's part. They're just not going to find them for sale or in the possession of most NPCs. I'm not going to be running an especially low-magic campaign, just that I want to cut down on the magical awards, and give more varied items. Spells too, if the party casters want to further boost ACs, Saves and ability scores with spells, they're welcome to it. They just won't have as many slots open for other spells.
Another idea I might adopt is that of "leveled items". Items, such as armor or weapons that increase with the wearer's/wielder's level. For example, maybe there's a sword that only functions as a +1 sword in the hands of most characters, but if the character has a BAB of +6 or higher, it has other abilities as well. That way characters won't be trading up their weapons all the time.
Any comments?
MadBlue
It gets kind of boring when these kinds of items pop up over and over in a campaign. Granted, as a DM, it's my responsibility to restrict access to items, but when most of the adversaries are classed NPCs, it becomes necessary to boost the NPCs' ACs, Saves and abilities to keep them challenging. And against monsters and other non-classed adversaries, it becomes necessary to boost the PCs' ACs, Saves and abilities to make sure they're up to the challenge that the creature's CR represents.
In my next campaign, I want the characters to be more reliant on their own abilities than magic items, so I'm working on the following house rules regarding level dependent benefits:
Feats: Lvl 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19
This applies to creatures too. There are so many new Feats that really serve to flesh out a character, and it's a shame to limit (most) characters to just 7.
As a result, Leadership would become available at level 5 instead of level 6. Feats with a prerequisite BAB of +6 would wind up becoming available to a single-classed Fighter (and Ranger in the case of Manyshot and Improved TWF ) earlier than to other single-classed characters with a +6 at 6th level (since there's no Feat at 6th level), which I think is kind of neat. I'm also toying with the idea of giving characters a bonus Feat at 1st level (which must be a Regional, Ancestor or Heritage Feat). In that case, Humans would get the Human Paragon's "Adaptive Learning" special ability as a racial trait, since if everyone is getting a bonus Feat at 1st level, it makes the Human's Bonus Feat less of a draw.
Defense Bonus: Lvl 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18
This is a Dodge bonus. It applies to Touch AC, but is lost in situations where the character loses their Dex bonus to AC. It reflects that characters are better able to defend themselves as they advance in level. It applies to all classes equally because each class effectively has a Defense Bonus of +0 now, so adding the same bonus to all classes is more balanced than having a different rate for each class, even though it might not be as "realistic" (but like I said, everyone essentially has the same bonus now, so it's just as "realistic" as it is now). I've used this in a previous campaign, and it's worked well. It really cut down on the number of Rings of Protection floating around.
Saving Throw Bonus: Lvl 5, 10, 15, 20
Haven't used this yet, so I'm not sure of what kind of effect this would have on the game. But I figured if I restrict access to items that boost Saves, such as Cloaks of Resistance, it would be OK.
Action Points: 5+1/2 Lvl +/- Charisma modifier
These are AP as they're used in Eberron, not the UA variant.
Ability Score Increases
I don't know if I want to touch this or not. The chargen system I use starts characters out based on 78 points (not 78 point-buy, but the total of each character's ability scores add up to 78, which gives them an average of 13 in each ability - Abilities start at 6 and there is a pool of 12 "die rolls" (2x1, 2x2, 2x3...) that a player selects from to increase each ability score (two "die rolls" to each ability)), so the characters wind up being a bit more powerful than if they were built with standard character generation methods, so a boost might not be needed. Still, I'm wondering if I should buff the Ability Score Increases from +1 to +2 or have them occur more often. Of course, I'm planning on limiting access to items that boost ability scores.
Regarding the magic items I'm planning on limiting access to, if a PC wants to create them, that's fine with me. They'd be spending the XP and the time in the campaign to do it, so it's a sufficient investment on the character's part. They're just not going to find them for sale or in the possession of most NPCs. I'm not going to be running an especially low-magic campaign, just that I want to cut down on the magical awards, and give more varied items. Spells too, if the party casters want to further boost ACs, Saves and ability scores with spells, they're welcome to it. They just won't have as many slots open for other spells.
Another idea I might adopt is that of "leveled items". Items, such as armor or weapons that increase with the wearer's/wielder's level. For example, maybe there's a sword that only functions as a +1 sword in the hands of most characters, but if the character has a BAB of +6 or higher, it has other abilities as well. That way characters won't be trading up their weapons all the time.
Any comments?
MadBlue
Last edited:
