Making all Magic Items "intelligent?"

[Planesdragon]

IMO, the biggest "muchkinism" of D&D is the overabundance of magical items. It just doesn't feel like fantasy if somone can have a magical sword and not know it, or if they can use magic that is more reliable than my car.

To fix this, what if we made every magical item "intelligent?" What are some ways we could balance this and make it simple? (Items just need ego scores--not necessarily special abilities et al.)

As an aside, this would only apply to permanent items. Scrolls and Potions would be treated as "pre-cast spells" simliar to how they are now, and I'd consider making staves and wands more permanent--X charges, recharging at rate Y, etc.

 

[Beholder Bob]

Well, that would possibly solve it, but can you imagine, as a DM, having to role play 3 swords, a rod, 2 suits of armor, and 5 rings! I like the concept, limiting players to realistic amounts, but something else would be easier. I have 2 suggestions (not mutual)

1) magic is the great preservative, retarding decay and change. If you carry permanent magic items whose value exceeds your total XP x 10, you have a harder time developing (gaining XP). As an variation on this, just take the XP value of permanent magic items carried, if that total was added to the PC's XP would put him up a level, treat him as higher level for encounters / XP rewards. He he. That'l fix 'es wagon.

2) going with your suggestion, but tweaked. Magic items have destiny, goals, and alignments. Some have an awareness, some just naturally lean towards one or more of the above without the ability to think (Johan’s dagger was not intelligent, but it was cruel. Its cuts tended to infect, the blade slipped out of the hand and cut the innocent, and even while sheathed, the hilt managed to strike an orphan in the eye - poor child). Carrying items with conflicting goals adds penalties to the PC (the items 'fight' among themselves at the worst times), and when items share destiny / alignments / what ever, they gain a communal destiny (or ego if at least 1 item is intelligent). So, your good/holy armor, shield, ring, and sword, combined, have an ego of X. Sorry, you carry the items of legendary heroes and martyrs and you failed that will save, you stay behind to cover your friends retreat.

 

[Planesdragon]

Well, that would possibly solve it, but can you imagine, as a DM, having to role play 3 swords, a rod, 2 suits of armor, and 5 rings!

Hence, the "simple" bit. I think I'd tweak this and solve it via dice-rolling; the magic items should be semi-sentient, but by and large no more of a RP hassle than the PC's horses.

2) going with your suggestion, but tweaked. Magic items have destiny, goals, and alignments. Some have an awareness, some just naturally lean towards one or more of the above without the ability to think... So, your good/holy armor, shield, ring, and sword, combined, have an ego of X. Sorry, you carry the items of legendary heroes and martyrs and you failed that will save, you stay behind to cover your friends retreat.

Oooh... I like it. It very, very much fits into my game setting. /me gets ideas of items stacking to work together and lock PCs into a not-conducive-to-long-life role, and working against disaligned items.... oooh....

 

[Beholder Bob]

I just thought of something that may also work. Imagine a world with few magic items, but also one where magic items grow in power when weilded long periods of time by the same person, awakening the item itself. The +1 sword you found is actually a +4 flame burst sword, but when found, is simply a +1 sword. When you run your game, cut treasure in 1/2 or 1/4, but keep track of the amount missed and divy it up between the magic items held by the players. The +1 chain mail worn by the fighter upgrades to +2 after the player has 'missed' 1000 GP of treasure. It is possible then, to limit the items held, even to have a magic item that appears non-magic masterwork until owned long enough. Also, that wicked +1 longsword that gained keen a while back has blossomed...into a +1 keen unholy sword. Destiny kicks in over time, and that innocent ring is actually the one true ring - but only a certain nasty guy is able to trigger all of its powers - he made it after all. If you can survive while wearing the ring for a couple of years, maybe you can use its powers too. Or you may just become the next golum. All of a sudden, most magic swords have names and history - but most require a lot of research & good bardic friends.

 

[ichabod]

This is how I do it. All permanent items are intelligent and have an alignment. If you are using an item with a different alignment, you have to make a will save every day or it doesn't function (one save per item, no passing around to see who can make it work). The DC of the check is 5, plus 5 for every step of alignment difference, plus 1 for every 2,000 gp in the market price of the item.
I also have a third level spell which allows an magic item creator to use xp from a willing target. If the item uses 80% or more of your xp, you can use without a save even if your alignment changes.

 

[tensen]

I am not one big for stores to sell magic items in...
potions might be at an apothocary... or a church.... but anything else should be rare..

In doing so, I considered heavily the ways to make magic items.
An act or a deed creates the effect, and so it makes any magic items found have something of a history that can be learned.

How to create a magic item?
Well, a slim chance upon some great deed, and you need to sacrifice the XP that would have been gained for the action.
Slaying a firebreathing dragon... possibility of the item getting the flaming weapon attribute, or flaming burst..... but you don't get the XP for defeating the dragon.

The advantage of this is that the players stay with their items, and don't turn them in for the next greatest magic item that gets found. If they have a family heirloom masterwork sword.. they keep it and hope that it might someday become enchanted from a deed they do.

Of course reading the thread with intelligent weapons, I am now considering whether the type of deed may also influence it.

Hacking to bits the evil overlord, might be a great deed freeing the village and all. But because you were doing such a violent deed, and caused the overlord more suffering than was necessary, the weapon might have some sort of blood lust.

 

[der_kluge]

So, you would go from having an abundance of small powered items, to a handful of extremely powerful items.

I don't think giving every little +1 sword an intelligence is what you're really looking for, but giving them all a backstory, and a history probably would.

Giving them a name is the easiest step. The Sword of Markaine (+1 sword), or the Jericho's Trumpet (horn of blasting). Something like that.

 

[Planesdragon]

I don't think giving every little +1 sword an intelligence is what you're really looking for, but giving them all a backstory, and a history probably would.

"intellignece" shouldn't mean "unique magical abilities." It should, IMO, mean "items with a presence and ego that need to be controlled."

It doesn't mean anything rules-wise if a character's +1 dagger was forged by a priest, wizard, battle-lord, demon, etc... but if that character needs to make will saves to use the dagger, history suddenly becomes important.