Single defining item of power vs. a dozen minor charms and trinkets

[Quasqueton]

Does the exponential cost of magic items cause PCs to take several minor items instead of one major item? Does it cause adventurers to choose a collection of "trinkets" over a single "quality" item?


For instance, a +1 weapon costs 2,000gp and a +2 weapon costs 8,000gp. A character could buy four +1 weapons for the cost of a single +2 weapon. Or two +1 weapons, and a +2 strength item.

Instead of increasing his +2 weapon up to a +3 weapon, a character can get a +2 strength item, a +2 constitution item, a +1 shield, and +1 armor. In effect, instead of building up to a potentially legendary item, the character has a collection of trinkets.


Same with AC bonus items. A +2 suit of armor costs 4,000gp. For that price, a character could buy a +1 suit of armor, a +1 shield, a +1 ring.

And, again, instead of improving his +2 suit of armor to +3, he can get a +1 ring, +1 amulet of natural armor, and a +1 shield.


And instead of acquiring that single belt of giant strength +6, the character can buy several individual items to boost all his stats and then some: +2 strength, +2 dexterity, +2 constitution, +2 intelligence, +2 wisdom, +2 charisma, +1 weapon, +1 armor, +1 shield, +1 ring, +1 amulet, and a handy haversack to carry the remaining 2,000gp in. Again, instead of a fantastic item like Thor's belt, the character has a dozen minor items like "fantasy cyberware".


It just seems to me that the exponential cost of magic items makes for situations where characters end up having many minor items scattered about their bodies like pins on a waitress' shirt, instead of one or two major items of power like a legendary hero. Instead of constantly improving a favorite or defining item to ever increasing power, the rules make it more economical to carry around a bunch of charms and fetishes.

And like is discussed in the thread about looting dead companions: splitting up a dead friend's mish-mash of magic trinkets is a lot different than taking a fallen comrade's defining single item ("Rogar's Great Smiter" or "Gallan's Cloak of Presence").

Quasqueton

 

[nsruf]

Agreed. And it gets worse if you start the game with mid-to-high level PCs and let players buy gear instead of having to find/earn it. For my current campaign, where everybody started at level 10, I told them to not sweat the small stuff and buy something big and memorable, but did they listen? No. One even got a +2 item for each of 3 stats...

And for weapons, the new DR rules also no longer encourage weapons with big bonuses. Although I like them otherwise.

One of the problems I have with D&D then it is the over-reliance on magic items, and the huge bag of trinkets every character seems to carry around. Not a terrible problem, but I would prefer a game closer to the literary roots of the genre. Maybe the Conan RPG is what I am looking for.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I kind of like it that way, for a couple of reasons.

As a player, I like variety. A +5 Holy Vorpal Sword of Being a Bad Ass, no matter how special or unique, becomes old news after swinging it 500 times. But getting several less powerful things that aren't used every session makes them more memorable when they do come into play. It also makes me think more about situations; every problem doesn't become a nail I can only hit with my magic hammer, as it were.

As a DM, it makes my life a little simpler, as I find it easier to balance encounters and set DCs.

 

[Umbran]

As a player, I'd prefer not to have a single major "defining" item. I don't want my characters defined by their items, I want them defined by their psychology and behavior.

Heck, I would prefer my character define the items. If folks recall my items, I want that to be because my character used it, not because it was in and of itself impressive. A good real-life example is the Bowie knife. It's large and sharp, but not really any more useful than other knives. However, it is associated with Jim Bowie, who is a bit of history in and of himself. And that makes the knife attractive in a mythic way.

 

[Guilt Puppy]

I've seen the same, and I tend to do the same making high-level characters (usually because a DM sets a max item cost which kind of enforces that, but through my own powergaming greediness too, I'll admit)

That's one of the reasons I try to keep a rein on magic items -- every once in a while, PCs will have a magic item shop or stockpile open to them where they can get down and customize, but even then it will usually be "one item within this price range."

The last campaign I ran (to completion, I might add very proud of that), I think I had a grand total of around 12 magic items in the whole campaign (ended at 16th level or so). Now, the players were still generally close to the "treasure totals" (a bit above or below at certain times, but I tried to stick to it), but the magic items were generally bigger and better, and always had unique histories (both pre-game and during the game... it's not the +2 crossbow, it's Serengael, the crossbow bequeathed to them upon the death of an elven assassin they found mortally wounded in an alley) and I found that game balance held up just fine. Now, I'm always the sort to cater to the players to some degree, so it was made clear to them that if they wanted a certain item or ability, they could find it somewhere, if they were willing to go to the trouble... The Dwarven Defender on the flying carpet was something to be feared (made him take a feat to maintain his stance while the carpet was moving, but he was happy, the character wasn't broken, the game went well.)

Anyway, the short of it is, if you want players to think of magic items as more than just stat boosters, you have to set the tone. Granted, there are some players out there who will bestow names upon found items and imbue them with personality, but those players will get bored if their DM doesn't follow suit. How much will your party's wizard have gone through before he's capable of crafting a given item? How long will the party use it before they decide to sell it off? That much history should be visible upon every magic item your players see, or else your world is that much more geared toward stats and bonuses, and the players are blameless for following suit.

Another benefit to a variety of magic items is, IME, that versatility of thought which I feel is misattributed to having a whole slew of magic items. When you've only got a limited number of powerful items available, you quite often have to get creative with their usage -- and there's a lot more passing around of items as well, which has the side effect of giving them a bit more identity... It's not owned by anyone, which means it doesn't get subsumed by their character sheet -- it's an object, and all the things that come with being an object.

Further, using this method, I've yet to see any one item become completely old news. This may happen for certain items that are geared too perfectly for a given character (I have no problem with having a few of these, mind you, if said player really wants one), but so long as there are enough items of abnormal but broadly-applicable use, they'll all have their moments to shine, and they'll all see new uses as well. Remember that flying carpet mentioned earlier? Ever guess that would become an integral part of the door-bashing process? A great piece of sneaking equipment as well -- who needs Boots of Elvenkind when you don't have to walk, anyway? I could go off for a long time on how limitation breeds creativity, but you get the idea.