Stat and skill increasing items

[hong]

Well, I've banned all stat and skill-increasing items from the game. Actually I did this a few years ago, but now a couple of new players are joining the game, new to 3.5 and the first thing they bought when generating characters were these kinds of items, because they are just that good. I decided to invest a bit and see if everyone else has problems with these items or not.

I figured, "I spend 8 levels getting a +2 bonus to a stat, and then I can buy it for 2000 gp?"

See, you wouldn't have this problem if you banned used imbued magic.

 

[Ricochet]

The "magic item slot" restriction is a good idea.

We have skill-increasing items, but as another poster also did, they are limited to a few uses a day, or even charges. Manuals aren't banned in our games, because the cost is appropriate.

Anyway, thanks for all the replies.

 

[drnuncheon]

I agree that if magic is freely available, the stat and skill boosters are too cheap - but I tend to run a fairly low magic item game because I want the characters to be more important than their gear. 3.5 made a step in the right direction with the raised cost for skill items, but I'm not sure they went far enough for my tastes. I was considering raising the prices on those items, but I hadn't thought of going to a cubic scale. Hmm...

+2 to a stat = 8000 gp, +4 to a stat = 64000 gp, +6 to a stat = 216000 gp

Of course, you'd have to make adjustments for the AC-boosting items as well - at least, some of them. I'd think something granting an armor bonus could remain the same since it's really competing with, well, armor. It's an interesting thought.

J

 

[Mallus]

I'm thinking of doing a house rule that all stat boosting items must be rings, and thus you can only have two of them. Or i might just say no more than one stat boosting item per character. Or something like that.

Why not just control the availability of those items as DM? Decide what items are available in the market, and what gear recovered from defeated opponents is actually usuable by the party --or how its usuable ("Well, Sir Dastard's gauntlets function like Gauntlets of Strength +4, but they draw their power from his demon patron. They'd corrupt your soul if any of you wore them. However, the Chrurch of St. Saintly would look on you with great favor if you turned the gauntlets over to them for destruction").

Why make a houserule for something that can be handled without one?

 

[Tessarael]

Slot restrictions will have minimal impact, except for skills that you want to use in conjunction. e.g. There is no penalty usually to swap a Ring of Climbing +10 for a Ring of Diplomacy +10.