Shadow Band from AV

[aurance]

Epic magic items get to be more awesome.

Yes, but clearly there is a limit to how awesome an item should be, albeit this limit is more of a very fuzzy line than a sharp divide.

Some of them let your character grab the spotlight just with that one item.

Then that item should see very limited use.

If it starts an arms race, it's a real short one, because you're going to retire these characters at 30th level. You're in the home stretch to legendary status, so you better be inspiring some legends.

Inspiring legends has very little to do with using overpowered items. Also, it is not automatically assumed that you retire upon hitting 30 - as a matter of fact, the default "end game" is the climax of the epic quest, which happens after you hit 30. Besides, regardless of where my game ends, at level 10, 20, 30, or after, I'd like to be able to play and DM a balanced game at all points. If I create a level 30 PC for a one-off adventure, I'd like game to be just as fair as a game I play at level 1.