Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 7379440" data-attributes="member: 20564">So this looks like depending on the die roll it customizes a little-loved item to one of the same category, or upgrades it for a random which may be a good or ill fit.I'm going to assume you are using the DMG rolled magic item distribution.  Here's a breakdown of what to expect given that:  <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?395770-Analysis-of-quot-Typical-quot-Magic-Item-Distribution" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?395770-Analysis-of-quot-Typical-quot-Magic-Item-Distribution</a>Non-consumable magic items by the DMG method are pretty rare, so having the players "big find" being unusable or little-loved (+1 poor armor that is bypassed by better mudane armors) is a good thing.  So if you're not customizing the items to be the focused on the characters I'm okay with that part.On the other hand, it's a huge deal to upgrade an item to one of a higher step.  You can get powers that throw off your current level power curve, and can make a lucky PC a lot more powerful than the others.  I'm loathe to allow that.The flip side is taking an item that you have leveled beyond and upgrading it.  That's powerful based on the rarity rules, but powerful =/= abusive.I see you tried to balance between those by requiring either a second item or gold.  Here's a breakdown of about of gold found using the charts: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?402507-Deconstructing-5e-Typical-Wealth-by-Level" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?402507-Deconstructing-5e-Typical-Wealth-by-Level</a>That's per character - but I can see party funds to try for something big.  Assuming five PCs pooling thei wealth, and half their gold spent on other stuff:1000gp spare at level 4  (420 each, half spent leaves 210, times 5 = 1050)5000gp spare at level 6  (4500 each, half spent 2250, times 5 = 11250, so more than twice over)20000gp spare at level 7 (8400 each, half spent 4200, times 5 = 21000)Those are really low amounts for chances to get items that powerful.  Going back to the first link, we have:1 rare permanent item at level 10 and another at level 13.1 very rare permanent item at level 16.1 legendary permanent item at level 19.Increasing the old up would get to ludicrous levels.  I would suggest increasing it some, but also shifting the percentages to reduce the chance of powering up an item.  If you want to tend toward keepign items relevant more than giving something beynd them, make it a d20 roll where you add your level needing a 20+ to upgrade an uncommon to rare, a 25+ to upgrade a rare to very rare, and a 30+ to upgrade a very rare to legendary.  This still gives a 5th level character a 25% chance to upgrade an uncommon to a rare, which they wouldn't have until 10th normally so it is possible to get something super special, but in normal operation you'll have the best chance either be upgrading lower level items or customizing on-level items.Finally, the idea that an item is upgraded, passed to another character to try to then customize/upgrade it again is something that you should really avoid.  Perhaps if you snub Dolgana Foremaster's spirit by putting in one of her own creations she gets all snitty and just takes the items/gold without giving anything and the forge leaves immediately.</blockquote>

Verification