Magic items without creation - need creative ideas plz

[lastalas]

I am working on building a campaign world for my group. I haven't DM'ed in a long time, so this is me trying to get back into the saddle.

In short, the world I am creating has been ravaged by war for generations. All children are groomed for the military and after 5 years of compulsory service (if they survive) they are thanked, given a fake gold watch (kidding), and are dropped off at a nearby town to begin a new life.

The end result is that classes that require training and time have all but disappeared. The military has no need of the wizened wizard, when the hotshot sorcerer over there can blow up people just as well. So at the outset there are no wizards. In that vein, the crafting of magic items has been lost. No one takes the time learn the skills to craft such items. By the time a smith becomes a smith, he is 1/2 through his life, and masterwork is considered the best at this time.

So that's the quick summary....

I was thinking that magic items would become a result of a person's actions. In other words, as the great hero slaughters the many evil Orcs, his sword might become known as Orcbane and gathers powers by virtue of the PCs actions. However, this becomes limiting, and how does one handle armor or wands or staffs, etc. How can I allow PCs a fair chance with the appropriate magic with a world low in magic at the moment?

All thoughts are appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Sravoff]

Interesting idea, and I very much like.

Perhaps allow spells to be cast through a stick, and eventually, I don't know how long, the stick ecomes a wand.

Same could work for staffs and such

no idea about armor..stumped.

-Sravoff

 

[Jack Simth]

The Practice Effect? A slow soaking up of the emotions of the holder?

The shield/armor that, time and time again, deflected blows and saved the warrior's life, might become better at it. A shield that repeatedly found itself trying in vain to defend a fallen warrior might pick up the Dancing quality. Armor/Shield/weapon who's wearer/wielder was desparate for the stuff to be effective against those bizzare incorporeal critters might pick up the Ghost Touch ability. Someone who was constantly fighting White Dragons might find that his sword catches fire at the dardest times. The walking stick the Sorceror carried with him at every battle might resonate with the Fire spells cast. Et cetera, et cetera.

But then, Sorcerors are instinctive spellcaster; why should the Craft Wand feat he picks up be learned any differently than the Fireball he picks up? He might just see a way to store a bunch of his spells... if he could only get that nifty chunk of bone, some ruby dust, some gold filligee, and a bit of time to put it all together, he's sure he could pack like 50 castings of that Fireball for later use... he can see how to do it, but it will take him a week and a half to put it all together... well, good thing he's stationed at a fort, on call and on lookout at the moment, with nothing better to do for eight hours a day....

 

[Cabral]

Look into the material for Earthdawn (original produced by FASA, now produced by Living Room Games, I think)

The magic item creation system from earthdawn is, I think, conceptually what you are looking for. If I recall correctly, it revovles around naming your item and connecting part of your essence to the item to "power" it.

 

[lastalas]

Excellent ideas so far all, thx much...keep em comin

 

[Jack Simth]

As for specific, off-the-cuff mechanics, I might suggest permitting the players to divert XP as they get it to their items; say, with "emotional enchantment" costs being equal to twice the XP of forging the item normally (2*base market price/25) but no GP cost (provided it's a masterwork item) with the ability added in based on something the player has done with it - e.g., Bane to an enemy type they've been exposed to a lot, the Flaming/Flaming Burst if they've been in the cold/heat (Either: "Too.... cold.... must.... warm.... up...." or it takes the desert heat into itself) facing lots of fire creatures (soaks up the essense of the fire-critters), or facing lots of fire-susceptible creatures (learns to hate them, and exploit what hurts them most) (ditto for Frost & cold, Shocking & Electricity, et cetera); Returning might get placed into the daggers of someone who throws them a lot, Distance on the bow of an archer who's always going for the long shot, seeking for the archer that's constantly shooting at night..... basically, if the player can come up with some vaugly plausible reason (under the enhancement mechanism, of course) that the item might pick up something of the power, go for it... at the cost of the XP.

 

[lastalas]

I hadn't thought of an xp payment, I like that....But, here is the mental roadblock I keep coming across, what about normal straight bonuses. Fighters will need armor with bonuses, etc....it could cost a lot for equipment with heavy classes to compete. Plus, passive items (like armor and shields) would seem harder to "describe" to influence abilities....That means the mechanic needs to be fair but favor equipment classes or the spellcasters will be virtual god within 10 levels.

 

[Jack Simth]

Oh, not all that much harder to describe - the Fighter really wants to (Avoid Blows/Hit Things); he beleives in his (armor/shield/sword)'s ability; over time, that belief settles in, making his (armor/shield/sword) better at it's job.

Also, anywhere that an item requires a minimum caster level (such as the Enhancement Bonus * 3 for armor and weapons) enforce a Character level minimum of about the same (E.g., you can't believe yourself into Armor+1, Shield+1, and Sword+1 until at least 3rd level; likewise, the Sorceror constantly casting Eagle's Splendor over and over doesn't get the spell to settle into his cloak until he hits 8th).

 

[lastalas]

I think you may be on to something....I just picked up Magic of Incarnum and it has a mechanic called essentia - basically they are points u pump into items for effects. the amount of essentia is limited by level....so what if we were to marry the 2 approachs.

Each level, or relevant situation, the PCs receive points to pump into their items, with some limits, and the bonus can be used to mix and match on the treasure charts to find a comparable bonus item. So as he slaughters Orcs he gets more notoriety and points which over time he puts into his sword, so it grows with him.

 

[Rackhir]

One quick point. You do understand that making a masterwork item can take far longer than enchanting an item? It's 1day/1000 gp of value. It can take a decent craftsman like 2-3 months to make a MW mighty bow (800 gp) so the MW is where the bottle neck is for most of the items.