Magic Items that lost their magic

[Hereticus]

Have you seen cloak of invisibility then?

23rd level. Plenty of value wrung from your skill monkey by then...

If you've seen it, then it can't be very good.

 

[Hereticus]

Gauntlets of Ogre Power that raise your Strength to 20 are just fine, I think, as long as PCs don't have access to them whenever they want (ie, they are in the DM's hands).

Unfortunately to get magic items in 4.0E, you just imagine that item, stick it in a microwave, add gold, an Viola... instant magic item!

 

[CubeKnight]

How is that any different from not having the option to take the glasses of int at all, thus staying an "idiot"? You weren't stupid to begin with, the glasses simply make you smarter than you were (and as a wizard, you would likely start out with a high int score and max it out every chance you get).

You don't want your PC to be a drooling idiot, then don't dump int to begin with. Don't start off with a 6 int, rely on a headband of int to get back up to average int, then complain that stat buffers are a crutch because you are not as smart without it.

That's not what I mean (and this is the reason why I mostly stay a lurker, people always seem to misunderstand you).

I mean, thinking that no matter how Strong/Intelligent/whatever you are, that you'd be simply worse off if you didn't have [insert-item-here]. I want to be the strong/intelligent/whatever one. Because of what I am, not because of what I own.

I'm not sure how to explain it, truly. That's why I said it may very well be a purely psychological effect.

 

[billd91]

I mean, thinking that no matter how Strong/Intelligent/whatever you are, that you'd be simply worse off if you didn't have [insert-item-here]. I want to be the strong/intelligent/whatever one. Because of what I am, not because of what I own.

But it is, and has always been, a mix of the two. Gear is important, but so are the other developments in a character - fighters included. A poorly equipped character may not be able to fight at the same level as he would were he fully equipped, but there's still a big difference between a well-equipped commoner and a character several levels higher. Always has been.

 

[LostSoul]

Unfortunately to get magic items in 4.0E, you just imagine that item, stick it in a microwave, add gold, an Viola... instant magic item!

4E still has a DM.

 

[Jack99]

Really? I missed the "Sacred Cows" chapter in the 4E DMG. Are you just making this up?

When trying to be snarky, make sure you do not look foolish . The devs have indeed stated on two seperate occasions that the + items where left in the game for bovine reasons. One of the places was an online article, the other a post iirc.

Except, it divorces those mathematically-required bonuses from the items themselves, letting you focus on items that do things rather than merely provide bonuses.

Me, if I were to take the numerical bonuses off of items and put them on characters, I'd probably put them at 3/8, 13/18 & 23/28, to spread the boosts out a bit. I might do that on my next campaign, even.

This is what I will be doing for my next campaign. I did it for 3.5, and worked great.

Regarding making magic item rare things, making signature weapons. Simply toss the player a weapon, and then proceed to upgrade it as the player gets to higher level (for example at 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd and 28th level).

@Rechan - I agree with your premise, maybe we should remedy that?

 

[jdrakeh]

4e still has a dm.

Lies!

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

I also consider that a flavor choice.

Well, I would try to avoid conflating utility and flavor. They can coincide, but they don't have to. Flavor for example might be that your magic missiles look like skulls. But that doesn't give you any utility.

Here's a quick and dirty example of what I'd like to see:

Sword of the Icy Field (Level 6)
Property: Gain resist 5 cold.
Proeprty: Gain Ice Walk.
Power (At-Will): As a move action, freeze all non-magical, non-animated liquid in a close burst 2. Anyone in the liquid are pushed back 2 squares. The frozen liquid can be walked on, but is treated as challenging terrain (wielder of Sword is immune).
Power (Encounter): Attack: Level+2 vs. Reflex; Anyone in the liquid when the At-Will power is used are immobilized (save ends) instead.
Power (Daily): Standard action. Create an ice wall 5 with 8 until end of your next turn. Wall has 40 HP, vulnerability fire 5. Wielder is treated as having Phasing with regards to the created wall. Sustain minor: wall persists.


Shield of the Abating Flame (Level 11)
Property: Resist fire 10.
Property: All enemies that use the Fire keyword are treated as marked by the Shield's wielder.
Power (Encounter): Immediate reaction, when missed by a melee attack. Target takes 1d8+con fire damage.
Power (Daily): Immediate reaction, when hit by an attack that deals fire damage. Gain hit points equal to half the damage dealt by the attack, before applying the shield's fire resistance.
Power (Daily): Minor action. The wielder of the shield may transfer any benefit of this shield's abilities to any non-combatant ally he is carrying/holding hands with.

Yes, that's how I would imagine it, too. Maybe someone else gives you some XP for it, I am not allowed to.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Heck, Adventurer's Vault even has a ritual to transfer an enchantment from one item to another, which means you can use that +3 sword to upgrade your +1 w/power to a +3 w/power.

Nope. The +x and the properties/powers are one enchantment. You can't upgrade, you can just change. If you find a +3 Flaming Longsword but prefer Greataxes, the ritual is good for you. If you have a +1 Flaming Longsword and a +3 Greataxe, you can't combine them to a +3 Greataxe. You'll either get a +3 Longsword or a +1 Flaming Greataxe.

 

[GnomeWorks]

But it is, and has always been, a mix of the two. Gear is important, but so are the other developments in a character - fighters included. A poorly equipped character may not be able to fight at the same level as he would were he fully equipped, but there's still a big difference between a well-equipped commoner and a character several levels higher. Always has been.

The problem with any amount of the necessary functionality of the character being based on gear is that you have to replace the gear with better gear as you progress, or else you fall behind.

This creates problems for some folks, since it means that you have to toss less-powerful items in exchange for higher-powered items, regardless of the utility or significance of the less-powerful items, in order to keep up with the encounters you face.