Magic Items that lost their magic

[Hjorimir]

Have you seen cloak of invisibility then?

Yeah, but I take solace in the fact that it is a 23rd-level item.

 

[Stormtalon]

But wait. You've spent this whole time playing the game with the bookkeeping annoyance of having to keep track of the +1 from the Sword of Coolness. And you haven't quit yet. So I don't think you've have that much of a problem keeping track of the +3.

If this is really your preference, then I say sell the +3 sword (and don't screw over the player with the "1/5 rule"), then spend the money on upgrading your Sword of Coolness +1 to it's +2 version. Then take the remaining money and buy some potions, magic whetstones, or combine with other people's money to get them an upgrade. The guidelines in the Adventurer's Vault book actually give specifics on upgrades, but it's pretty easy to figure out how it should work.

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.

 

[vagabundo]

I also consider that a flavor choice.

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.

I like ur magic items...


Seriously though, this is how magic items should have been. Your examples almost seem like Artifacts and that is not a bad thing. Perhaps we need a book or Artifacts from WotC rather than another Adventurers Vault...

 

[C_M2008]

Magic items haven't been "magic" since 2e IMO. Most of the Flavour has been missing since, a failing of the last two editions.

Everything is modularized enchantment wise so just about any enchantment can go on anything. I miss the flavor of the unique items, the handaxes of hurling, the shortsword of quickness, etc.

I agree artifacts are finally as good as they shoud be, lovely treatment for once(every other edition buggered this up).

I would like to see magic items divorced from combat bonuses someday, and while I can do it now I'd like it to be inherent in the system. "Accuracy" could become a generic enchantment giving the effect of a +1, just like anything else; give it an encounter power that lets you reroll an attack or damage roll with an at-will or encounter attack power=done.

 

[jbear]

yeah I like Rechan's Items, and the idea of having the PHB and AV Iems as a more common genre of Items that can be obtained fairly easily, and making special items (not as powerful as artifacts) with a variety of cool effects which can be unlocked or whatever as rewards for awesome quests (in the DM's hands). Noted. Another arrow in the quiver. Cheers.

Also PCat's idea of adding non-combat effects is a nice one i'll put up my own sleeve as well. Cheers again.

As for the OP's complaint about Guantlets of Ogre Power, why don't you just change the name of the Iron Arm Bands. That's +2 DMG on your melee attacks... the equivalent of a flat +4 bump to STR, only it's not applied to accuracy. Sounds like that's what you're looking for, only the name is different (not a hard problem to solve).

As 4e grows compexity is being added to the game, and in a way that doesn't put things out of balance so far. I'm sure WOTC is aware of the complaint of blandness of Magic Items. Maybe this will slowly develop over time as well, in one of the aforementioned directions. Time will tell. In the meantime, some people have given some great suggestions on how to spice things up yourself. Don't argue over maths...Let your imagination be your playground.

 

[CubeKnight]

Add one to the list of those who dislike +X items. I simply don't like them, and as some of you, I'd rather have my char be powerful, not his gear.

 

[Runestar]

Add one to the list of those who dislike +X items. I simply don't like them, and as some of you, I'd rather have my char be powerful, not his gear.

I have never really understood the need to make such a distinction, IMO.

Unless you routinely run into situations where your party will find themselves stripped of their gear and forced to rely solely on their innate abilities, I am not sure why it matters where their abilities come from. +1 to hit and damage is still a bonus, it works the same manner (lets you hit your foe more easily and deal more damage) regardless of whether it came from having a high str, a +1 weapon, a feat or a class feature.

Relying on gear doesn't mean your character is any less powerful. It just means that he is not quite strong enough to stand toe to toe with equal-lv challenges without them. But then realize that this is not a very meaningful comparison, since those monsters were designed and balanced based on the assumption that players would be appropriately equipped for their lv to begin with. The concept of lv is a metagame concept after all.

 

[CubeKnight]

I have never really understood the need to make such a distinction, IMO.

Unless you routinely run into situations where your party will find themselves stripped of their gear and forced to rely solely on their innate abilities, I am not sure why it matters where their abilities come from. +1 to hit and damage is still a bonus, it works the same manner (lets you hit your foe more easily and deal more damage) regardless of whether it came from having a high str, a +1 weapon, a feat or a class feature.

Relying on gear doesn't mean your character is any less powerful. It just means that he is not quite strong enough to stand toe to toe with equal-lv challenges without them. But then realize that this is not a very meaningful comparison, since those monsters were designed and balanced based on the assumption that players would be appropriately equipped for their lv to begin with. The concept of lv is a metagame concept after all.

It may very well be purely psychological. How would you feel if you knew that, if you lost your Glasses of Intelligence +6, you'd be an idiot, instead of the amazing scientific you are?
Edit: And that's a 'generic' you, not aimed at Runestar or anyone in particular.

 

[ExploderWizard]

While I think some magic items are indeed a bit too weak to be worth taking up a slot, I think that one of the best things 4e did was to get rid of stat boosts, so I for one am very glad the Gauntlets of Ogre Power and similar items DO NOT grant a stat boost.

Me too. They shouldn't add to any stat. They should do what they are supposed to do- give the wearer the strehgth of an ogre while worn. If your character is already that strong or stronger then they provide no benefit. Seems simple to me. Why did they ever have to get saddled with a boring +X to strength?

 

[Runestar]

It may very well be purely psychological. How would you feel if you knew that, if you lost your Glasses of Intelligence +6, you'd be an idiot, instead of the amazing scientific you are?
Edit: And that's a 'generic' you, not aimed at Runestar or anyone in particular.

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.