Magic Items: Unique of Factory Chrunned?

[JoeGKushner]

I love magic items with details. however I don't always have time to detail them. So party members tend to wind up with some items, often of a lesser power, +1 or something, with no history. I may make up some backstory latter though.

What about other people? Does every gem have a backstory or ?

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Tend towards a by DMG guideline magic level in my games...

Powerful items do, minor stuff doesn't.

Powerful stuff often gets customised in ways that commisioned items wouldn't. Something minor like a per day cantrip or non-magical circumstance bonus to some skill or other. Found this persuades players more towards upgrading the item rather than simply buying a more powerful version later.

For my next campaign I'm going to write up these items onto cards, with their backstory. Makes it more accesible and helps keep track of whose got what. See how that works.

What constitutes a minor or major item depends entirely on character level and changes as the campaign progresses...

 

[diaglo]

not every gem has a backstory.

but every magic item does.

edit: whether the pc discovers the backstory is another matter entirely.

 

[Ibram]

Most scrolls and potions do not have a back story (the one exception was the Scroll of Horus-Re, which was not a "Scroll" the the traditional sense).

I've never given out a charged item, and I doubt that I ever will.

a permenent magic item gets a back story... but then those are so rarely given out IMC that I have plenty of time to create a unique story for each (about 4-5 magic items are given out each campaign).

 

[FireLance]

Even the most mundane item has a backstory. It's just that the backstory of most items is terribly boring: This sword was made by Wally the Weaponsmith for Baron Ben. It was issued to Gary the Guardsman, who polished it every day of his 10-year tour of duty. Since it was The Time of Peace, it was never used. After Gary got his honorable discharge, it hung over the fireplace until Gary's son Fred the Fighter decided to start his adventuring career.

Magic items of lesser power, especially in worlds where they are more common, may have similarly dull backstories.

 

[Zappo]

What, "was made in a factory along with 99 more and then put in a crate" isn't a backstory? Everything has a backstory. Only sometimes it is even remotely interesting. Magic items tend to have more coloured histories, but only because they have more coloured makers and users. There's nothing intrinsic in magic items that draws exceptional events to them, though, and minor ones are easy enough to make that very rich enemies can conceivably mass-produce them.

As for unique effects, about 10% of the items I place in my campaigns are either made up by me or heavily modified. I figure that wizards tend to stick with tried-and-tested items, since creating an entirely new spell or item involves quite a bit of trial-and-error IMC.

 

[der_kluge]

Artificer's Handbook has a random magic item history generator in the back.

Here's an example:

Fashioned by the leader of a giant clan in exile, Dierdre the Dread Lord, the item was sold to Gavan Garrick. The item was made to help slay a vampire mage. Following his adventures, the owner fled from creditors, leaving his belongings behind and the item was eventually traded to Reddist the Beastmaster for his support in a war.

Yea, ok. It's a little silly, I admit, but when someone casts legend lore, and you don't have anything prepared, it's good in a pinch.