Quick poll about magic items in a typical campaign
- Thread starter Li Shenron
- Start date
Evilhalfling
Adventurer
Too easy to buy/make-
I cut way back on the rings of protection because even a 1+ takes a lvl 12
caster and my world has only few of them. In contrast everyone and their pet wolf has an amulet of NAC because of the high number of druids, and the ease of creation. In my 6th/7th party has no rings but everyone has some sort of amulet -
I don't have magic shops, but large cities have a mage who is dedicated to crafting items - and large temples do the same for thier worshipers. I have no problems with a plethora of potions, scrolls can usually be traded, not sold.
I miss the wierd old collect the crap creation from 1st & 2nd but this would entail a compleate shut down of PC feats -
perhaps next campaign I will break it down to 3 feats - create temporary items - (scrolls and potions) where most of the ingrediates can be bought, craft arms and armor - where it is mostly the metal and ability to forge the item, and craft wonder(including wands,rods,staves,rings) which collection of materials is nessary - each item requiring a quest. Caster levels 1st, 5th and 9th
I cut way back on the rings of protection because even a 1+ takes a lvl 12
caster and my world has only few of them. In contrast everyone and their pet wolf has an amulet of NAC because of the high number of druids, and the ease of creation. In my 6th/7th party has no rings but everyone has some sort of amulet -
I don't have magic shops, but large cities have a mage who is dedicated to crafting items - and large temples do the same for thier worshipers. I have no problems with a plethora of potions, scrolls can usually be traded, not sold.
I miss the wierd old collect the crap creation from 1st & 2nd but this would entail a compleate shut down of PC feats -
perhaps next campaign I will break it down to 3 feats - create temporary items - (scrolls and potions) where most of the ingrediates can be bought, craft arms and armor - where it is mostly the metal and ability to forge the item, and craft wonder(including wands,rods,staves,rings) which collection of materials is nessary - each item requiring a quest. Caster levels 1st, 5th and 9th
jmucchiello
Hero
Funny, I can't remember any character I've ever played or partied with above 8th or 9th level that wasn't defined by his magic items since I started playing in the 80s. By mid to high level, every character ends up having a magic item that you associate them with. And the higher level the game the more artifact like the items became.
If anything, 3.xE games, with their holy grail of balance, reduce the amount of artifacts that land in the party's hands. So, because balance is so important, magic items have to be awarded slowly and steadily instead in a big lump like they once were.
If anything, 3.xE games, with their holy grail of balance, reduce the amount of artifacts that land in the party's hands. So, because balance is so important, magic items have to be awarded slowly and steadily instead in a big lump like they once were.
Wombat
First Post
I think back to some great myths, legends, and tales I have read over the years where The Hero has one (or two) Great Magical Dingus (Dingi). That item is Important and of Great Power that Wows The Masses.
In a standard D&D campaign you walk down to M-Mart, choose the colour of +2 sword you want, and just walk along to the Magical Armour aisle, then the Potions and Other Expendables, etc.
I find the concept of magical shops especially silly; the last time I had one the guy would sell people items that he claimed were magical, but due to an Anti-Magic Field in the store you were essentially taking potluck
Too many magical items too readily available removes the wonder of magic. Then again, I find that D&D in general downplays the wonder in favour of simply keeping score; this is one of the major reasons I do not play in any pre-set worlds -- I want far fewer magical items, no magical shops, and the possibility that a spell will fail (as well as adding fumbles to combat and other skill use).
In a standard D&D campaign you walk down to M-Mart, choose the colour of +2 sword you want, and just walk along to the Magical Armour aisle, then the Potions and Other Expendables, etc.
I find the concept of magical shops especially silly; the last time I had one the guy would sell people items that he claimed were magical, but due to an Anti-Magic Field in the store you were essentially taking potluck
Too many magical items too readily available removes the wonder of magic. Then again, I find that D&D in general downplays the wonder in favour of simply keeping score; this is one of the major reasons I do not play in any pre-set worlds -- I want far fewer magical items, no magical shops, and the possibility that a spell will fail (as well as adding fumbles to combat and other skill use).
dcollins
Explorer
I chose "characters are gadgetized" but I could have as easily chosen "magic items don't feel special", pretty similar.
When I think of classic fantasy characters who have magic items, they generally have just a few, and they're immediately identifiable to that character. King Arthur: Excalibur and his magic scabbard. Frodo Baggins: his mithril shirt, magic ring and sword, and a potion. That's about it.
One thing I've thought of was to establish a hard limit on permanent magic items stacking up (say, before a magic aura is corrupted and stops working or gets cursed). Maybe you could allow this to scale by campaign type. Low Magic: 3 items. Medium Magic: 5 items. High Magic: 10 items. This would include everything outside of potions and scrolls.
I wouldn't allow new item invention that just gloms on all the abilities that they would otherwise trinketize. I'd use the existing by-the-book items, and force the PCs to choose which more powerful items they will take to define their character (whether that's bought or selected from party loot).
When I think of classic fantasy characters who have magic items, they generally have just a few, and they're immediately identifiable to that character. King Arthur: Excalibur and his magic scabbard. Frodo Baggins: his mithril shirt, magic ring and sword, and a potion. That's about it.
One thing I've thought of was to establish a hard limit on permanent magic items stacking up (say, before a magic aura is corrupted and stops working or gets cursed). Maybe you could allow this to scale by campaign type. Low Magic: 3 items. Medium Magic: 5 items. High Magic: 10 items. This would include everything outside of potions and scrolls.
I wouldn't allow new item invention that just gloms on all the abilities that they would otherwise trinketize. I'd use the existing by-the-book items, and force the PCs to choose which more powerful items they will take to define their character (whether that's bought or selected from party loot).
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RuminDange
First Post
I think a lot of way magic items are handled in game as well as by players and DM's is depends on the mood set by the campaign. I feel as though magic items have lost their special feel but that could also be the result of players who don't always look at a cool item with a history the same as I do. Most of my players want magic items but they tend to horde everything they can like a greedy little dragon even though they are human, elf or whatever. They would toss a cool sword with a name and history if they run across one that is a higher bonus to hit and damage.
I have one player who loves her equipment just they it is with several weapons or items that have histories and names, and any items she gets beyond what she has she hands out to her cohorts, followers, druids that serve her grove or people the rescue. The others hold on to everything.
Now in context, I set this campaign up 4 years ago as a very high magic world. There is to some degree the "magic shop" in some larger towns ran by the same wizard who trades magic for magic and he isn't cheap. In small towns might have a potion dealer or something, but not much else. The one mage that handles all the shops is a long story and since some of my player visit here, I'll not get into it. But I will say is he tends to in all places at once kind of thing and they already know not to cross him.
Of course this campaign has been epic for some time now with the majority of characters in the 33-37 level range. But the next campaign world I run I'll things different.
The other largest problem I can see, since I also voted other, is that too many of players play CRPG's and those promote the magical gadgets and toss one item for the next that comes along. CRPG's also tend to cause other problems I tend to have with some to of the players in relation to role-playing and doing paperwork for their characters...one just hates to do bookkeeping himself.
RD
I have one player who loves her equipment just they it is with several weapons or items that have histories and names, and any items she gets beyond what she has she hands out to her cohorts, followers, druids that serve her grove or people the rescue. The others hold on to everything.
Now in context, I set this campaign up 4 years ago as a very high magic world. There is to some degree the "magic shop" in some larger towns ran by the same wizard who trades magic for magic and he isn't cheap. In small towns might have a potion dealer or something, but not much else. The one mage that handles all the shops is a long story and since some of my player visit here, I'll not get into it. But I will say is he tends to in all places at once kind of thing and they already know not to cross him.
Of course this campaign has been epic for some time now with the majority of characters in the 33-37 level range. But the next campaign world I run I'll things different.The other largest problem I can see, since I also voted other, is that too many of players play CRPG's and those promote the magical gadgets and toss one item for the next that comes along. CRPG's also tend to cause other problems I tend to have with some to of the players in relation to role-playing and doing paperwork for their characters...one just hates to do bookkeeping himself.
RD
Li Shenron
Legend
jmucchiello said:
Your comment about previous editions is interesting...
It is also my opinion that Artifacts are (nowadays at least) the only type of magic item still awe-inspiring. Probably the reason is not in their stronger power, but in the fact that this power (1) defies the laws of magic - in the sense that may not have an equivalent, or that may break the rules or the numerical limits about what can be done by magic items of a type - and (2) they work in a less reliable way, for example they work differently depending on who is the user, and it's even very hard to find out which are their powers exactly. When magic items are too standardised (and 100% predictable) they become science or technology, and then you have to come up with something beyond to still inspire some awe.
Kalendraf
Explorer
I vote for all of the above.
In the past I ran a much higher magic game and encountered all of the problems you list. Items became more important than characters to the point of characters not caring if they lived or died (since you can get raised), but worring always about their precious items and who in the party would inherit them if they died for good. I tried to keep shopping interesting, but then it seemed to waste too much time, so it eventually turned into a full-catalog of items available based on the cities gp-limit.
Now my main campaign is lower-magic, complete with more wierd custom items I've made up, and it's been helping make magic more balanced as well as more exotic and intriguing.
In the past I ran a much higher magic game and encountered all of the problems you list. Items became more important than characters to the point of characters not caring if they lived or died (since you can get raised), but worring always about their precious items and who in the party would inherit them if they died for good. I tried to keep shopping interesting, but then it seemed to waste too much time, so it eventually turned into a full-catalog of items available based on the cities gp-limit.
Now my main campaign is lower-magic, complete with more wierd custom items I've made up, and it's been helping make magic more balanced as well as more exotic and intriguing.
Hmmm...
I voted for none of the above. In one of the campaigns I play in, magic items are esentially thought of as tools. Magic is not "mysterious". That's just the way the campaign is, not better or worse for it. Another campaign I play in, magic items are EXTREMELY rarae. I'm 12th level and I have a +1 hammer and wierd, magic helm that i don't even know what it does. It would seem that the question is really a matter of taste for the type of campaign you like to run.
Personaly, I have a bitchin good time in both campaigns. From the poll's results and peoples response, it seems that people tend to favor lower magic campaigns. It might have to do with the inordinate number of DM's (as opposed to players) on this board.
I voted for none of the above. In one of the campaigns I play in, magic items are esentially thought of as tools. Magic is not "mysterious". That's just the way the campaign is, not better or worse for it. Another campaign I play in, magic items are EXTREMELY rarae. I'm 12th level and I have a +1 hammer and wierd, magic helm that i don't even know what it does. It would seem that the question is really a matter of taste for the type of campaign you like to run.
Personaly, I have a bitchin good time in both campaigns. From the poll's results and peoples response, it seems that people tend to favor lower magic campaigns. It might have to do with the inordinate number of DM's (as opposed to players) on this board.
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