Magic Items that lost their magic

[Piratecat]

On a totally different note: Since when is your avatar animated? (Why do I notice it just now?)

Heh. It's only been seven years!

 

[Runestar]

Stat items in 3.5 ed is one of those third ed problems that I dont think was really a problem. The problem was that ability buff spells were such low levels and gave a pretty noteworthy bonus. The items themselves only required a fairly conservative approach from the DMs to stop PCs getting items with too high a bonus.

I think the real issue was that everybody wanted the big 6, and players would only consider acquiring other magic gear as an afterthought after the basic stat boosters had been settled. It made them somewhat boring and predictable, every PC is going to eventually want (and ultimately acquire) a cloak of resistance, ring of protection, amulet of NA, +x shield (animated and/or made of mithral as necessary), and stat-boosters corresponding with their key stats, regardless of what their build comprises.

The only exception to this I saw was a player who played a barb that dumped AC, and focused on effects that punished the enemies for attacking him.

Stat bonus items aren't any more "flavorful" than the "1/day, do something cool", and are possibly a lot less so. The 4e gauntlets also give a boost to Str and Athletics, so a good roleplayer has some room there as well.

Why do I need them to be flavourful?

You won't see Batman dropping his utility belt and replacing it with a girdle of giant strength to throw people around with it. You won't see Ironman giving up his suite for another one he found on a dead super-villain.

One issue might be that they never really found equipment worthy of replacing their existing gear with. Batman did eventually soup up his batsuit with all sorts of fancy abilities (in Batman Beyond), and if he found a belt of strength, he would likely find some way of combining it with his utility belt (something like the new pricing rules in MIC). In one episode, he also had this suit of armour that did the fighting for him. So he really isn't above this.

Likewise, I think that if IronMan encountered a superior suit of armour, he would not hesitate to incorporate its design into his existing armour somehow. Power is power, regardless of where it comes from (so long as it does not violate your own personal code/ethos), and you are routinely engaged in life-and-death struggles with supervillians. So it makes little sense to forgo such power simply to "look cool", because "being cool" doesn't save you from an enemy's attack. Cold hard stats do that.

 

[Oni]

If a character in a comic or movie had "Gauntlets of Ogre Power", they'd work like 4e, not 3.5 -- every so often, that character would use a "signature move" that indicated their incredible strength....much like a daily power...

Really? Gully from Battlechasers begs to differ. Gloves on, super strong.

When something has a limitation in those venues the normal practice is to really talk up the limitation, if something can only be done once a day the creators will make sure you know it so that it'll build tension.

 

[Storminator]

I think the GoOP should have gotten the rules for the Iron Armbands. That's a lot more in keeping with what people expect. Perhaps add a daily power that adds to an Athletics check.

I like the concept that magic items are quite limited. I have a PC right now that doesn't care a lot if he gets magic items - he has other priorities but that doesn't destroy his effectiveness as an adventurer.

PS

 

[Hjorimir]

Taking the Ring of Invisibility as an example, I'll say I'm SO happy WotC went this way. Magic like that devaules the skills of characters who specailize in Stealth. For too long utility magic has marginalized character skills. You want to sneak in somewhere...hire a sneak!

 

[Plane Sailing]

Taking the Ring of Invisibility as an example, I'll say I'm SO happy WotC went this way. Magic like that devaules the skills of characters who specailize in Stealth. For too long utility magic has marginalized character skills. You want to sneak in somewhere...hire a sneak!

Have you seen cloak of invisibility then?

 

[Storminator]

Have you seen cloak of invisibility then?

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

PS

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Have you seen cloak of invisibility then?

No. I certainly wouldn't acquire a Cloak of Invisibility even I could see.

 

[Stalker0]

I don't mind that magic items got nerfed in 4e but I think far too many items have really crappy dailies. Almost always I'm looking for items with a decent property not a once per day little firecracker.

Now there are a few items in their that are worth just a daily, but that's the exception not the rule.

 

[Rechan]

Personally I am glad magical items got the short end of the stick.

For me the only magical items that are truly fun are the non-combat related ones. Immovable Rods, Decanters of Endless Water, etc. Those do things players can't, and their use is mainly to facilitate creativity. Or things like slippers of spider climbing or gloves of storing.

What sort of bling that gives me +X isn't really important to me, and I didn't like how characters were defined/differentiated only by their equipment. The lionshare of abilities, now, are generated from the PCs classes, not the baubles they find.

I've also disliked, even with 4e, you still wind up with a closet's worth of magical items. Rarely have I seen in fantasy fiction where a character had more than two magical items.

But then, I've always felt that a character should only have 1-3 magical items, which function like a swiss army knife of thematic effects.