Mercurius
Legend
I just started playing a character in our ongoing 4E campaign that I've been DMing for about two years; as it is the first time I've played (and not DMed) 4E, it has given me a different perspective on the game.
One of the areas that I've been thinking about since being a player is magic items. The campaign is up to 11th level so I made an 11th level elf ranger. We use a house rule whereby we convert the usual starting magic items into currency, and then buy magic items as we see fit. So I had 32,000 GP to play with and was able to suit up with the usual array of weapons, armor, a defense item, and one or two other goodies.
In our world I have let PCs buy magic items up to level 10 - beyond that, you usually won't find in the typical "Ye Olde Magick Shoppe." I have also enabled players to sell items they don't need at half price of their list price, which gives them more cash to work with. And I have allowed players to "up" the bonus on their items by paying the difference between their current item's value and what they want to improve their item to. I'm also thinking about some kind of "items of legacy" house rule that allows a player to unpack a magic item's power over time, whether through DM ruling or even just allowing the character to "build" their item, perhaps through the assistance of a magic item crafter, an "Artisan" or "Enhancer."
I will probably remain the primary DM of the campaign as it is "my" world, but there will also be one or two others that will be DMing (with someone else currently DMing). We're doing mainly an individual-adventure-based campaign, with the same group of PCs but without an overarching metaplot (unless something naturally develops). But other DMs are free to develop certain aspects of the campaign world and to run their adventures however they want to.
One of the issues that I see arising are house rules and guidelines around things like magic items as I described above. So what I'm planning on doing is writing up a document about magic items (and perhaps other aspects of the game) - guidelines for purchase, what's available in various towns, and general rules for developing items of legacy. This would give a framework for every DM to work with, and for the players to follow, no matter who is DMing.
Obviously a lot of this depends upon the specific campaign world, what the flavor is, and so on. Without getting into too many details, I followed a rather "classic" points of light design approach - the world is set about a thousand years after a magical apocalypse destroyed a high civilization; current human civilization is just barely surviving with the help of the more advanced dwarven and, to a lesser degree, elven civilizations. The campaign is centered in one of the larger cities which lies on the edge of the heavily populated region and where various wilderlands meet; it is an "adventuring city," the headquarters of an adventuring guild, with countless adventurers going off to search the many ruins of previous civilizations for items and artifacts from the lost age. So there is a fair amount of magic, but it is mainly unknown. There is a kind of "magic item economy" in that there are magic shops in the city that sell common items and a few uncommon ones (and occasionally a rare), and there are also wizards who make their living enchanting or enhancing items.
So here are a few thoughts I've had - let me know of any potential problems, or whatever your response might be.
MAGIC ITEM GUIDELINES
Starting Magic Items - PCs get the usual starting range (one below level, one of level, one above level, and money equal to one below) but converted to GP and are able to buy whatever they want.
Buying Magic Items - PCs can generally buy Heroic tier items in large cities; higher level items, and more rare items, depend upon DM discretion, but are generally unavailable for purchase. But common items - potions, low-level weapons and armor - are easy to find.
Magic Item Cost - I'm thinking of scrapping the entire item cost list - it just seems too inflated. I don't think a static increase (e.g. 1,000 GP x level) works either, so I'm thinking of something similar to the current list but without the steep increase. Any recommendations?
Enhancing Items - Item enchantments can be "upped" by an "Enhancer" at the cost of the difference between what the item was and what it will become. For example, under the current cost rules, a +2 magic weapon (level 6, 1,800 GP) can be enhanced to +3 (level 11, 9,000 GP) for the difference of 7,200 GP. This takes out the middle stage of selling the lower level item and buying a higher one, plus it allows a character to develop their own magic items, sort of self-made items of legacy (see below).
I'm also thinking of being able to add new powers in a similar way, perhaps with an added fee for multi-powered weapons and/or limiting the added powers to the bonus. For example, a magic weapon +2 is level 6; a vicious weapon +2 is level 7; a frost weapon +2 is level 8, and a vicious frost weapon +2 would be level 9. Or something like that.
To simplify this process, I would convert all weapon (and armor) powers into an equivalent bonus - that is, what they are above the base (the delta as someone said in a different thread?). So all item powers would range from +1 to +4. Following this logic, I could limit the total number of powers to what is possible with the bonuses. That is, a given weapon (or armor) could never exceed its "bonus tier"; a +2 weapon, for instance, could never be higher than 10th level total. I'm not sure about that, though.
Items of Legacy - Magic items can develop new powers as the player increases in level, perhaps twice in a tier. I'm not really sure how to handle it, but it might be similar to enhancing items except that it would be decided by the DM, sort of like a "special surprise" awaiting the PC with the item of legacy.
I've also contemplated scrapping magic item bonuses altogether in favor of inherent bonuses, but am not sure I want to open up that can of worms. I'd probably wait until we started with 1st level characters again.
Comments?
One of the areas that I've been thinking about since being a player is magic items. The campaign is up to 11th level so I made an 11th level elf ranger. We use a house rule whereby we convert the usual starting magic items into currency, and then buy magic items as we see fit. So I had 32,000 GP to play with and was able to suit up with the usual array of weapons, armor, a defense item, and one or two other goodies.
In our world I have let PCs buy magic items up to level 10 - beyond that, you usually won't find in the typical "Ye Olde Magick Shoppe." I have also enabled players to sell items they don't need at half price of their list price, which gives them more cash to work with. And I have allowed players to "up" the bonus on their items by paying the difference between their current item's value and what they want to improve their item to. I'm also thinking about some kind of "items of legacy" house rule that allows a player to unpack a magic item's power over time, whether through DM ruling or even just allowing the character to "build" their item, perhaps through the assistance of a magic item crafter, an "Artisan" or "Enhancer."
I will probably remain the primary DM of the campaign as it is "my" world, but there will also be one or two others that will be DMing (with someone else currently DMing). We're doing mainly an individual-adventure-based campaign, with the same group of PCs but without an overarching metaplot (unless something naturally develops). But other DMs are free to develop certain aspects of the campaign world and to run their adventures however they want to.
One of the issues that I see arising are house rules and guidelines around things like magic items as I described above. So what I'm planning on doing is writing up a document about magic items (and perhaps other aspects of the game) - guidelines for purchase, what's available in various towns, and general rules for developing items of legacy. This would give a framework for every DM to work with, and for the players to follow, no matter who is DMing.
Obviously a lot of this depends upon the specific campaign world, what the flavor is, and so on. Without getting into too many details, I followed a rather "classic" points of light design approach - the world is set about a thousand years after a magical apocalypse destroyed a high civilization; current human civilization is just barely surviving with the help of the more advanced dwarven and, to a lesser degree, elven civilizations. The campaign is centered in one of the larger cities which lies on the edge of the heavily populated region and where various wilderlands meet; it is an "adventuring city," the headquarters of an adventuring guild, with countless adventurers going off to search the many ruins of previous civilizations for items and artifacts from the lost age. So there is a fair amount of magic, but it is mainly unknown. There is a kind of "magic item economy" in that there are magic shops in the city that sell common items and a few uncommon ones (and occasionally a rare), and there are also wizards who make their living enchanting or enhancing items.
So here are a few thoughts I've had - let me know of any potential problems, or whatever your response might be.
MAGIC ITEM GUIDELINES
Starting Magic Items - PCs get the usual starting range (one below level, one of level, one above level, and money equal to one below) but converted to GP and are able to buy whatever they want.
Buying Magic Items - PCs can generally buy Heroic tier items in large cities; higher level items, and more rare items, depend upon DM discretion, but are generally unavailable for purchase. But common items - potions, low-level weapons and armor - are easy to find.
Magic Item Cost - I'm thinking of scrapping the entire item cost list - it just seems too inflated. I don't think a static increase (e.g. 1,000 GP x level) works either, so I'm thinking of something similar to the current list but without the steep increase. Any recommendations?
Enhancing Items - Item enchantments can be "upped" by an "Enhancer" at the cost of the difference between what the item was and what it will become. For example, under the current cost rules, a +2 magic weapon (level 6, 1,800 GP) can be enhanced to +3 (level 11, 9,000 GP) for the difference of 7,200 GP. This takes out the middle stage of selling the lower level item and buying a higher one, plus it allows a character to develop their own magic items, sort of self-made items of legacy (see below).
I'm also thinking of being able to add new powers in a similar way, perhaps with an added fee for multi-powered weapons and/or limiting the added powers to the bonus. For example, a magic weapon +2 is level 6; a vicious weapon +2 is level 7; a frost weapon +2 is level 8, and a vicious frost weapon +2 would be level 9. Or something like that.
To simplify this process, I would convert all weapon (and armor) powers into an equivalent bonus - that is, what they are above the base (the delta as someone said in a different thread?). So all item powers would range from +1 to +4. Following this logic, I could limit the total number of powers to what is possible with the bonuses. That is, a given weapon (or armor) could never exceed its "bonus tier"; a +2 weapon, for instance, could never be higher than 10th level total. I'm not sure about that, though.
Items of Legacy - Magic items can develop new powers as the player increases in level, perhaps twice in a tier. I'm not really sure how to handle it, but it might be similar to enhancing items except that it would be decided by the DM, sort of like a "special surprise" awaiting the PC with the item of legacy.
I've also contemplated scrapping magic item bonuses altogether in favor of inherent bonuses, but am not sure I want to open up that can of worms. I'd probably wait until we started with 1st level characters again.
Comments?
