[many and fabulous bazaars] item design discussion

[CapnZapp]

In this thread, I present selected items from my "many and fabulous bazaars" thread. Feel free to ask questions, and even more welcome, critique my item implementation (including items I've skipped you have opinions on)

Specifically, I'm picking items from my second iteration of the shoppes inventories. That would be from this post onwards: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ort-Nyanzaru&p=7376376&viewfull=1#post7376376

 

[CapnZapp]

Gloves of Improved Two-Weapon Fighting 8000 sp
While wearing these gloves, you fight as though you possess the Dual Wielder feat. If you already have this feat, you instead get to make two attacks whenever you use a bonus action to attack with your off hand per Two-Weapon Fighting.

Obviously these are made to allow TWF too keep up somewhat with GWF. Also, they're the first item that grant a feat. What should that be worth? (Remember, d20 feats are individually much less valuable than 5e feats, and especially when you get them without sacrificing an ASI).

In this case, I'm aware the price is generous. Consider it a (possible) gift to the Rogue player.

Vicious Short Bow of the Jaguar +2 (req attn) 9950 sp
Your speed increases by 10 feet. You gain low-light vision and advantage on Wisdom
(Perception) checks that rely on smell. When you score a critical hit with the bow, the target takes an extra 7 damage.

I don't subscribe to Sane's d20:ish pricing of magic weapons and armor - they should cost much more: say four times as much (for simplicity). That would mean a +2 weapon should go for ~16K. In this case, more since the very nice Speed increase, but less because a shortbow isn't a "best in class" weapon. The price is then halved since attunement is required.

Well, at least that's my best guesstimate at keeping things real. Feel free to disagree

(Keep in mind that the typical wealth of the DMG is assumed. Or to be honest I'm vaguely sticking to the XP for GP wealth curve)

 

[Blue]

Gloves of Improved Two-Weapon Fighting 8000 sp
While wearing these gloves, you fight as though you possess the Dual Wielder feat. If you already have this feat, you instead get to make two attacks whenever you use a bonus action to attack with your off hand per Two-Weapon Fighting.

The first part of these is nice - +1 AC and bigger weapons. The second part is really nice. Potentially three attacks per round for characters without Extra Attack who are willing to dip Fgt 1 which is not a bad choice for a melee character anyhow. I could see a Rogue with a single magical weapon wielding it in their "off" hand because they get more attacks with it.

Could be a lot of fun with Hunter's Mark & Hex - this is probably stronger for a Ranger then a Rogue, especially since there isn't as much competition for Bonus Actions. Hexblades willing to multiclass for the fighting style will like it for even more chances to apply Curse damage as well as Hex.

All that said, it's not overpowered. I don't know the wealth guide off the top of my head, I'd like this to be available at earliest 6th - keeps power levels in line with other PCs, and lets Extra Attack have at least one level to shine.

 

[CapnZapp]

I don't know the wealth guide off the top of my head, I'd like this to be available at earliest 6th

This is an excellent way of discussing price, so don't worry [emoji2]

 

[CapnZapp]

From page 2: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ort-Nyanzaru&p=7377160&viewfull=1#post7377160

Panther Strike Bracers 3500sp (requires attunement)
Panther strike bracers allow you to answer an unsuccessful melee attack against you with an unexpected riposte. Spend your reaction to make an opportunity attack immediately after an enemy
has missed you with a melee attack. If this opportunity attack also misses, the bracers can't be used
again until you take a short rest.

This was the result of a recent discussion on how to improve the Sneak Damage of a "classic" fencing melee rogue.

Darkhidden Ring 6700 sp
You are invisible to darkvision. You remain visible to regular vision.

I imagine this being quite difficult to adjucate. But a ring like this appeared in d20, so I hope it can't be too impossible...

 

[CapnZapp]

Boots of the Battle Charger 2000sp
While wearing these boots, you gain the use of the Charger feat.

While this feat is among the weaker ones, you still gain something for "free" (if we define "mere gold" as not paying anything compared to paying an ASI). I consider this way a good way to introduce feats nobody would otherwise use. (I have a hunch nobody will use it anyway...)

Vest of Bravery 6000 sp
The wearer of this silk vest with platinum embroidery gains a +2 bonus to Strength and Wisdom saves

I believe we can be generous with save bonuses, since the base system is so harsh. Of course, the point is to shore up a character's poor saves rather than to power up another character's best saves even more... but I leave that up to the players.

The real cost of this item is hidden: I prefer a fairly strick "body slot:ish" system and won't allow you to wear two vests. So the cost of picking this item is making yourself ineligible for the Vest of Resistance (coming up in a future installment). I love subtle things like this

[STRIKE]Wand of Endure Elements 8000 sp[/STRIKE]

Just a quick explanation - "strike" means item is removed. You can still read up on what the wand did in my first iteration (earlier in the fabolous bazaars thread). In this case, the sole character dependent on heavy armor had fixed his heat problem (=that heavy armor more or less can't be worn in the jungle climate) by other means, so I had an NPC buy the wand - it had played out its role.

 

[CapnZapp]

Page 4

Circlet of Revelations 3000 sp (req attn)
You gain the racial feat Drow High Magic. This item is part of the Caelynnvala’s Boons set.

The item sets are discussed at the end (in twenty pages or so), so we'll defer discussion until then.

Orb of Spell Sequencing, Lesser 11000 sp (requires attunement by a Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard or Warlock)
A spell focus. This orb stores spells cast into it, holding them for up to eight hours. The orb can store up to 5 levels worth of spells at a time. You may cast a spell of 1st through 3rd level into the orb by touching it as the spell is cast. The spell has no effect,other than to be stored in the orb. The level of the slot used to cast the spell determines how much space it uses. While you hold the orb, you can take the Cast Spell action to use it as your spell focus to cast up to three of its stored spells in a single turn. This makes you suffer one level of exhaustion.

This is my stab at mission impossible - making something playable and balanced out of the Simbul's madly broken 3rd edition stuff

This orb lets you cast three spells (for instance, a level 3 spell and two level 1 spells) with a single Cast Spell action. So it does mess with the action economy, but in a restrained fashion.

But I deliberately do not mess with the spell slot economy - since you must use your spells within 8 hours, you can seldom use up surplus slots from the "day before" to gain extra slots today. Also, it's an echo of vancian casting since you must decide exactly which spells you cast into the orb.

Finally, note its called "lesser" - but of course is anything but. I'm not sure they will ever find any non-lesser creation of the Simbul, since that would be scaringly powerful

 

[CapnZapp]

[STRIKE]Sentira Shell Mail +1 2250 sp[/STRIKE]
Non-metal Scale Mail; provides a +1 bonus to AC and Constitution saves made to maintain Concentration.

The Druid has horrible AC given only core magic items. This item was purchased earlier by my Druid (hence the strike tag, indicating its unavailability)

Circlet of Resolve 5000 sp
While wearing this plain silver headwear you gain a +2 bonus to Constitution and Intelligence saves

Again, it might seem like a mistake to include items like this one for so little money (and/or no attunement), but it's deliberate on my part, to allow characters a chance of shoring up their bad saves so nobody will be faced by an eventual DC 21 save they simply can never make. I believe the game is better for allowing everybody a shot at having positive save bonuses for all six abilities. Quite unlike AC and other defenses, there's plenty of space for saving throw bonuses in 5E.

Wand Bracelet 12000 sp
This golden chain wrist bracelet has a number of small metal objects hanging from it like charms. A wand bracelet can store one to three items, each weighing no more than 3 pounds, which appear as charms along the bracelet. You can make one of the charms from the bracelet appear in your hand as your free object interaction. This makes any other charm held disappear. In addition, if you store two or three implements or spell foci, holding one counts as holding all of them for purposes of spells cast through them. You can change which items you store during a short rest.

In a magic item heavy campaign, one issue a spellcaster can run into is getting "too many" spell foci (or "implements" as 4E used to called them). Each time you cast a spell you can after all only use one spell focus.

 

[CapnZapp]

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ort-Nyanzaru&p=7380892&viewfull=1#post7380892

Amulet of Natural Armor 1000 sp (req attn)
You gain a +1 bonus to AC.

At low levels this item would be lovely, and quite a bargain. However, as soon as you have four attunable items, this one just might not cut it anymore. Which is my way of saying I don't think it's unbalanced or a mistake.

Gloves of Swimming and Climbing 1460 sp (req attn)
DMG172

Definitely an item that can't compete for attunement slots (but is nice to have at low levels). The reason I'm including it will become apparent at the end

Leather Armor of Blocking 1750 sp
When you are attacked in melee, you may make a melee attack roll as a reaction. Use the result as your AC against melee attacks this turn. Whenever you successfully block an attack in this fashion, you deal 2d4 magical bludgeoning damage to the attacker.

Shame noone bought this, I would be interested to see it playtested. My design assumption is that it provides AC 20, 21 or so on average. Of course getting a low AC is worse than getting a high AC is good, so they probably made the right call to ignore it. The fact it only provides AC 11 + Dex by itself is of course atrocious, but as I said, I'm assuming that's about what you'd get on rolling a 1 anyway.

There's a design mistake: it should say round, not turn. Using up your reaction to gain AC against a single monster's attacks is obviously not an attractive deal.

Rusty Scimitar of Gore +1 toss a coin: even 22 sp odd 2200 sp
This weapon appears to be in poor condition and does not register as magical. Whenever you use a bonus action to attack with this weapon, make two attacks instead of one.

The bit about the price is just for fun. At the level my adventurers are at, two grand more or less won't unbalance things. This is an overt attempt at retaining two-weapon fighting's relevance as we head into third tier. My rogue chose the next item on the list instead, the corrosive weapon.

Enemy Spirit Pouch 2000+ 2d6x100 sp
A small collection of teeth, small scales, knots of hair, and strange bits of jerky fills this pouch. Choose a type of enemy(PHB91). You gain a +1 bonus to proficiency on attack rolls and ability checks pertaining to creatures of this type. If you have the favored enemy class feature, the bonus is doubled for your favored enemies. The worn leather bag’s strings are long enough to allow the pouch to be worn as a necklace. As part of the purchase, the pouch is tied around your neck, and it loses its power if you ever remove it.

Readding attack bonuses to the PHB ranger. My party currently doesn't have one, but a PC could die, or one could multiclass just for this item. Undead and yuan-ti would have been good favored enemy choices...

Zombie Hide +1 4000 sp
This Hide +1 armor grants the Deathless Fortitude property to its wearer: If damage reduce you to 0 hit points or below, you must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, you drop to 1 hit point instead.

I'm quite pleased the attention this one got. Nobody chose it but they did appreciate how the lowly zombie's ability could be good for a properly configured player character. Of course, no player wants to rely on a tactic requiring you to hover at death's door.

Bog Crown (req attn) 4800 sp
This laurel is made of spongy, fungus-riddled wood, and carries a faint odor of rotting vegetation.
As an action you can transform into an amphibian version of yourself: you remain humanoid and generally recognizable, but you become shorter and gaunt, you sprout gills and bulging eyes, and your hands and feet sprout webbing. Anything worn except the crown are merged into your new form and becomes non-functional. You become slippery – your unarmored AC is 12 + Dexterity and you gain advantage on Dexterity checks made to escape grapples. You are treated as a marshland native (for purposes of disease, exhaustion and so on). You gain low-light vision, breathe air and water and you gain advantage on Strength (Athletics) and Wisdom (Survival) ability checks made to climb, swim, forage and navigate in swamp terrain. If you are a spellcaster, the Swamp circle spells (PHB68) are added to your class spell list and become known and prepared to you while you remain in amphibian form.

Essentially, you get a Gollum form. I suspect it wasn't chosen because they're past the level where terrain poses a challenge. Also, the player most interested is playing a Draconic sorcerer, and that means the AC upgrade becomes a downgrade.

This would probably be very cool and welcome on a level 5ish spellcaster with no built-in armor (most wizards, non-draconic sorcerer that isn't the group's face, or circle druid)

The spells (darkness, acid arrow, water walk, stinking cloud, freedom of movement, locate creature, insect plague, and scrying) aren't perhaps top notch, but they do reinforce the imagery of the item.

N.B. Like many items, Magic Item Companion has been a huge inspiration, although in many cases not more than that - i.e. I have had to reinvent the item mechanics, or replace them outright.

 

[CapnZapp]

Page 10

Etherbound Belt (req attn) 300 sp
The bearer can see creatures in the Border Ethereal that overlap with their plane as clearly as if they were fully in the bearer's plane. Such creatures appear as apparitions or ghosts.
Victorious Bracers (req attn) 400 sp
Whenever the bearer kills a creature they gain temporary hitpoints equal to the creature's Hit Die.
Dynamic Mask (req attn) 600 sp
The bearer gains +2 to Charisma saving throws.

These are either inspired by or directly lifted from a page on "Minor items". The idea is that you can hand out quite powerful abilities, and they still won't be overpowered if they require attunement. Indeed, these are excellent low-level treasures, since only at low levels do you have an attunement slot open for something as specific as this.

[STRIKE]Anklet of Translocation 1400 sp[/STRIKE]
Once per day you can spend your reaction to teleport 30 feet to a spot you can see.

My players love movement since it lets them control the battlefield, and readily snatched up this already during their first visit to the Grand Souk (as indicated by its overwritten status)

[STRIKE]Gloves of Lightning 2200 sp[/STRIKE]
These flexible leather gloves are covered with small copper rivets. Three times per day the wearer may choose to deal an additional 2d8 points of lightning damage upon a successful hit with either an unarmed attack or with a light melee weapon.

Intended for Monks etc who otherwise has many fewer ideal items.

An example for what I wasn't fully prepared for - items which allow the player to choose when to apply extra damage will invariably be saved for "the crit of the day". I don't mean to say a player crits every day, but close enough that these items really provide twice the damage than what I perhaps intended. Oh well. At least it means they won't be used during the day's first combat (if you don't roll a crit) so I guess it kind of evens out in the end.

Charger’s Headdress 3550 sp
Fashioned from a mountain ram’s horns, this headdress gives you a boost of vigor on a successful charge. This item is part of the Aspect of the Ram set.
You gain a Ram melee weapon attack, dealing 2d4 + Strength damage. You may only perform one Ram attack per round. If you move at least 20 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a ram attack on the same turn, the target takes an extra 5 (2d4) bludgeoning damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier) or be knocked prone.
Property: When you successfully ram a creature prone, you may steal its pride,giving you temporary hit points equal to the damage inflicted by the ram attack. Once you have used this property, it cannot be used again for a day.

Continuing the "possibly my design mistake" subject, I guess this item is confusing. At least one of my players thought it required you to have a "charge action".

But that's an echo of past editions - there is no "charge" action in 5E. Maybe it would have been better to avoid using the term in this carefree manner.

You might wonder why I specifically designate only one of its abilities as a "property". This is because of the item set benefits we'll discuss in ten pages or so.

The Aspect of the Ram item set is from 4E, by the way (Adventurers Vault number something, I think). Feel free to compare and contrast!

By the way: doesn't 4th edition have the worst magic items! They're all so incredibly minor and niggly, and still so very restricted and limited. I've found the edition's items all but useless for function. I can still use them for descriptions and inspiration on "real" functionality, though. </rant>

In order to not end on a negative note, let's take one more

Fleece of the Heavens 3850 sp
This fleece cloak lets you charge unhindered through the spirit world. This item is part of the Aspect of the Ram set.
Your Speed is increased by 10 ft.
Property: When you take the Dash action, you may teleport the distance instead of running normally. Once you have used this property, it cannot be used again for a day.

Again the "charge" confusion: this item neither grants nor requires a "charge".

"through the spirit world" really suggests ethereal travel, but for simplicity I decided to keep the original mode of travel (i.e. teleportation).

The final property could have been better phrased. The intention is that with a Speed 40 ft, say, you can "teleport-Dash" 40 ft, not all of your movement that round. You get to teleport, yes, but only the distance you would otherwise Dash. And you do need to spend your action (or bonus action) on the Dash action.

All three items from Aspect of the Ram are carefully calibrated to serve a "charger build" (my design mistakes notwithstanding). There is no "charge" action, but several builds have what it takes anyway. One item even gives you the otherwise-weak Charger feat, so anyone can teleport-Dash and then still attack (with a +5 damage bonus to boot).

One more note: while the Ram attack granted by the headdress may be weaker than your ordinary attack, even if we momentarily ignore the knock prone ability it does "count double" when you activate the "steal pride" property: each point of damage doesn't only damage your opponent, it also provides you with a temporary hit point.