Nightcloak
First Post
Mr_GrinReaper said:
A couple of dire rats really got around once upon a time
The Essential Guide to a GM’s Notebook *Updated 11/10 - Chapter 12*
- Thread starter Nightcloak
- Start date
A couple of dire rats really got around once upon a time
derbacher
Explorer
Nightcloak said:Egads man!
You're suppose to scare and entertain the players. Not kill them off
I would have liked to have seen the look you got when a giant centipede breathed a cone of cold on them. That must have been good.
Yeah, they had info on it terrorizing a wild elf community, so they knew it was unusual. But when it flew in and used the cold breath.....
Priceless!
Clueless
Webmonkey
Wow - very very awesom set of instructions for getting a game in order. And here the only thing I could offer to this isn't even for the d20 system since it's Shadowrun (automatic deck-system target number calculation sheet, if wanted I'll post a link).
But this is very awesome, I'm already putting some of these links to use - I wanna see more.
But this is very awesome, I'm already putting some of these links to use - I wanna see more.
Nightcloak
First Post
GM Notebook Essentials #10: Prepared Treasure List - part 1
All right. You have maps for adventures, NPCs to engage your players, and Monsters for your players to fight. You have names ready to go, rules at the ready, and your d20 waiting to roll some criticals. You are ready to roll on anything and not miss the action. But what happens when the action is over? If your players are like mine, then you hear the same war cry after the dice stop rolling: “We loot the Dead!”
Yes. Treasure. The great score card of how players measure their characters and the memento of the adventures they complete. Treasure, as a concept, is a corner stone of the d20 game: Players are required to gather treasure if they hope to survive at higher levels. Just like the NPCs and monsters you may need on the fly, you will also need some prepared treasure. It may be for some mark your rogue pickpockets, or a random NPC that gets the business end of the player’s sword, or a monster the players stumbled into; but in the end, the players are going to turn to you with those bright big eyes and wonder what exciting bounty they will receive for their work.
You better have an answer.
If you don’t have the answer, then you’ve dashed the player’s hopes for a big payoff, figuratively and literally, after all the hard work they have done. But we’re not going to let that happen. The notebook is filling up but there is plenty of room still!
Be it generators on your computer or online websites (the site with the NPC generator also has some great treasure generators), or an old fashion flip through the DM guide, or even some random dice rolls – you need to start generating some treasure and prepare for the players when they learn the pointy end goes into the monster. Always remember to “Rule 0” something that you don’t like or has the potential to bring trouble to your game.
If you have the luxury of always knowing the level of your players, like a weekly campaign, then you can periodically scale the list to the range of your players. Otherwise you might as well get a few at each Challenge Rating. Either way, you will want some extra low-level treasure prepared for rogues to pickpocket or other DNPCs the players may end up searching.
But don’t stop there! As I pointed out in the post about monsters, the average GM has tons of books lying around. Time to rifle through them for treasure goodness also. Just like the monsters that never get used, so is it easy for treasure to get overlooked. Especially magic items. How many times have you flipped through a new book and have said, “That’s cool” but yet only ended up using a few items that were relevant to your game at the time. I suffer from this problem, especially since I can go through streaks of buying new books and quickly forget one book after scavenging a few details for a current campaign (damn Ebay and it’s book lots!)
Revisit those literal treasure troves of information and find a bunch of cool items to add flavor and fun to encounters. Those wide eye looks you get will turn to wonder when you surprise them with something new and interesting. It’ll be like Christmas morning as far as the players are concerned.
As always, the operating principle is to open up the game and have fun. Take each treasure type and run with it to it’s full potential.
Here is checklist of things to cover to spice up the treasure mix:
1. Coins. This one is easy to give out. It is the most numerous and available treasure to choose from. It should be the default choice of treasure. But that doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Give out odd numbers of coins, say 358 silver pieces instead of 300. Or large amounts of a coin that is of a lesser value, say 10000 copper pieces instead of 100 gold pieces. Some unusual coins, say an ancient empire had square coins. Or even introduce a new metal, like a mithral coin being worth 100 gold pieces.
2. Gems. Another common type of treasure. The key here is to remember that you can have various types from 1 gp all the way to a million gp if you want. 10 small gems worth 10 gp each is more interesting that a bag of 100 gp. What really brings gems alive, however, is the type. Don’t just tell the players they have found a gem, but describe a clear but milky shaded crystalline stone with sharp edges. A quick appraisal score will reveal it to be a smoke-quartz.
3. Mundane Items. There called mundane because they are not magical, but they are still more interesting than another bag of gold coins! Holy water and alchemist fire is great at low levels, while anti-toxin is always useful. Masterwork items come in handy, say a masterwork lock-pick set or healing kit. An exotic and well-described pair of masterwork daggers is more interesting than 600 gp any day of the week.
4. Commodities. Very common in the world at large but rarely used by players, commodities are the preeminent mundane item, but can certainly be more interesting than a few gold pieces. Plus you can get adventure miles out of these. Defeating some bandits could yield a treasure haul that is nothing more than a bunch of stuff they have stolen: Silk, salt, tobacco, or even cattle! Those kegs of ale may be worth a lot if you can deal with getting them to market. Imagine the conundrum of your players when they can either cash in the exotic keg of Hammer and Anvil Dwarven Ale or brag how they drank it instead!
5. Art. This is a pretty broad category. Art can be anything from paintings to vases to statues to something exotic, like a song. Art is all over the spectrum. It is interesting and can inspire lots of roleplaying as the players try to figure out what something is worth, try to ship it somewhere, and sell it off. The real difficulty with art is in the GM being inspired to come up with interesting items. Start a list now, and don’t be afraid to use books for inspiration. If you jot a few ideas down occasionally then you will have a list in no time. If you ever have time, tune in to The Antique Road Show on PBS and end up with tons of art and antique ideas.
6. Jewelry. Close to gems, but a category all it’s own. Jewelry is wealth that you can actually ware. Metal, gems, and art combine to make the ultimate treasure. It can be a ring, necklace, broach, belt (buckle), earrings, or even a bracer. Why give the players 1000 gp when you can give them a platinum necklace with a medallion crafted like a phoenix and set with ruby eyes.
7. Potions and scrolls. These are the most common magic items and should be used frequently. Of course, intelligent monsters will attempt to get mileage out of these when they can. But don’t let your players find yet another potion of cure light wounds . Just as you searched other books for interesting magic items, you should look for interesting spells that you can introduce by way of scrolls and potions. There are tons of new spells out there waiting to be introduced to your players. Instead of a potion of Spider Climb , how about giving them a potion of Location Loresight . Plus you give wizards the fun of deciding whether to use that scroll or save it and copy the new spell into their spellbook.
8. Armor and weapons: Specific types. There are a slew of special types of armor and weapons out there. You don’t need to keep piling abilities onto a standard suit of chain mail to make it interesting. Specific armors and weapons are rare but are underused and can add lots of flavor. Players will remember that shield with the lion’s head that would bite their enemies long after they found that +3 shield, used it for a few levels, and sold it. Heck, they may even keep it instead of selling it off later!
9. Armor and weapons: Abilities. Lots of books have additional abilities for weapons and armor written up, and they are in-line with the DMG system of an “equivalent bonus modifier” for calculating the price of magic items. Why give a war hammer the same old +2 bonus for the “Flaming Burst” ability when you can flip open the Magic of Ferune and give it the Thundering quality for the same +2 bonus.
Creating lists of treasure will keep you prepared for a multitude of situations. It is just as necessary as having prepared NPCs and monsters. You will eventually need it. But don’t just settle for the usual. Spice up those hauls with a little TLC and watch your players excitement in your game continue to grow.
Treasure is the last point of an encounter, like the punctuation at the end of a sentence. Make it an exclamation point!
On-Line Resources:
Great On-Line Treasure Generator
All right. You have maps for adventures, NPCs to engage your players, and Monsters for your players to fight. You have names ready to go, rules at the ready, and your d20 waiting to roll some criticals. You are ready to roll on anything and not miss the action. But what happens when the action is over? If your players are like mine, then you hear the same war cry after the dice stop rolling: “We loot the Dead!”
Yes. Treasure. The great score card of how players measure their characters and the memento of the adventures they complete. Treasure, as a concept, is a corner stone of the d20 game: Players are required to gather treasure if they hope to survive at higher levels. Just like the NPCs and monsters you may need on the fly, you will also need some prepared treasure. It may be for some mark your rogue pickpockets, or a random NPC that gets the business end of the player’s sword, or a monster the players stumbled into; but in the end, the players are going to turn to you with those bright big eyes and wonder what exciting bounty they will receive for their work.
You better have an answer.
If you don’t have the answer, then you’ve dashed the player’s hopes for a big payoff, figuratively and literally, after all the hard work they have done. But we’re not going to let that happen. The notebook is filling up but there is plenty of room still!
Be it generators on your computer or online websites (the site with the NPC generator also has some great treasure generators), or an old fashion flip through the DM guide, or even some random dice rolls – you need to start generating some treasure and prepare for the players when they learn the pointy end goes into the monster. Always remember to “Rule 0” something that you don’t like or has the potential to bring trouble to your game.
If you have the luxury of always knowing the level of your players, like a weekly campaign, then you can periodically scale the list to the range of your players. Otherwise you might as well get a few at each Challenge Rating. Either way, you will want some extra low-level treasure prepared for rogues to pickpocket or other DNPCs the players may end up searching.
But don’t stop there! As I pointed out in the post about monsters, the average GM has tons of books lying around. Time to rifle through them for treasure goodness also. Just like the monsters that never get used, so is it easy for treasure to get overlooked. Especially magic items. How many times have you flipped through a new book and have said, “That’s cool” but yet only ended up using a few items that were relevant to your game at the time. I suffer from this problem, especially since I can go through streaks of buying new books and quickly forget one book after scavenging a few details for a current campaign (damn Ebay and it’s book lots!)
Revisit those literal treasure troves of information and find a bunch of cool items to add flavor and fun to encounters. Those wide eye looks you get will turn to wonder when you surprise them with something new and interesting. It’ll be like Christmas morning as far as the players are concerned.
As always, the operating principle is to open up the game and have fun. Take each treasure type and run with it to it’s full potential.
Here is checklist of things to cover to spice up the treasure mix:
1. Coins. This one is easy to give out. It is the most numerous and available treasure to choose from. It should be the default choice of treasure. But that doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Give out odd numbers of coins, say 358 silver pieces instead of 300. Or large amounts of a coin that is of a lesser value, say 10000 copper pieces instead of 100 gold pieces. Some unusual coins, say an ancient empire had square coins. Or even introduce a new metal, like a mithral coin being worth 100 gold pieces.
2. Gems. Another common type of treasure. The key here is to remember that you can have various types from 1 gp all the way to a million gp if you want. 10 small gems worth 10 gp each is more interesting that a bag of 100 gp. What really brings gems alive, however, is the type. Don’t just tell the players they have found a gem, but describe a clear but milky shaded crystalline stone with sharp edges. A quick appraisal score will reveal it to be a smoke-quartz.
3. Mundane Items. There called mundane because they are not magical, but they are still more interesting than another bag of gold coins! Holy water and alchemist fire is great at low levels, while anti-toxin is always useful. Masterwork items come in handy, say a masterwork lock-pick set or healing kit. An exotic and well-described pair of masterwork daggers is more interesting than 600 gp any day of the week.
4. Commodities. Very common in the world at large but rarely used by players, commodities are the preeminent mundane item, but can certainly be more interesting than a few gold pieces. Plus you can get adventure miles out of these. Defeating some bandits could yield a treasure haul that is nothing more than a bunch of stuff they have stolen: Silk, salt, tobacco, or even cattle! Those kegs of ale may be worth a lot if you can deal with getting them to market. Imagine the conundrum of your players when they can either cash in the exotic keg of Hammer and Anvil Dwarven Ale or brag how they drank it instead!
5. Art. This is a pretty broad category. Art can be anything from paintings to vases to statues to something exotic, like a song. Art is all over the spectrum. It is interesting and can inspire lots of roleplaying as the players try to figure out what something is worth, try to ship it somewhere, and sell it off. The real difficulty with art is in the GM being inspired to come up with interesting items. Start a list now, and don’t be afraid to use books for inspiration. If you jot a few ideas down occasionally then you will have a list in no time. If you ever have time, tune in to The Antique Road Show on PBS and end up with tons of art and antique ideas.
6. Jewelry. Close to gems, but a category all it’s own. Jewelry is wealth that you can actually ware. Metal, gems, and art combine to make the ultimate treasure. It can be a ring, necklace, broach, belt (buckle), earrings, or even a bracer. Why give the players 1000 gp when you can give them a platinum necklace with a medallion crafted like a phoenix and set with ruby eyes.
7. Potions and scrolls. These are the most common magic items and should be used frequently. Of course, intelligent monsters will attempt to get mileage out of these when they can. But don’t let your players find yet another potion of cure light wounds . Just as you searched other books for interesting magic items, you should look for interesting spells that you can introduce by way of scrolls and potions. There are tons of new spells out there waiting to be introduced to your players. Instead of a potion of Spider Climb , how about giving them a potion of Location Loresight . Plus you give wizards the fun of deciding whether to use that scroll or save it and copy the new spell into their spellbook.
8. Armor and weapons: Specific types. There are a slew of special types of armor and weapons out there. You don’t need to keep piling abilities onto a standard suit of chain mail to make it interesting. Specific armors and weapons are rare but are underused and can add lots of flavor. Players will remember that shield with the lion’s head that would bite their enemies long after they found that +3 shield, used it for a few levels, and sold it. Heck, they may even keep it instead of selling it off later!
9. Armor and weapons: Abilities. Lots of books have additional abilities for weapons and armor written up, and they are in-line with the DMG system of an “equivalent bonus modifier” for calculating the price of magic items. Why give a war hammer the same old +2 bonus for the “Flaming Burst” ability when you can flip open the Magic of Ferune and give it the Thundering quality for the same +2 bonus.
Creating lists of treasure will keep you prepared for a multitude of situations. It is just as necessary as having prepared NPCs and monsters. You will eventually need it. But don’t just settle for the usual. Spice up those hauls with a little TLC and watch your players excitement in your game continue to grow.
Treasure is the last point of an encounter, like the punctuation at the end of a sentence. Make it an exclamation point!
On-Line Resources:
Great On-Line Treasure Generator
Nightcloak
First Post
GM Notebook Essentials #10: Prepared Treasure List - Part 2
"Even gleaning a fraction of the power I harness on a daily basis would drive you MAD" - Vaarsuvius from OOTS
Now that your notebook has treasure prepared and ready to roll, time to throw one extra caveat to the whole program. Making the magic of your world yours! You just did it with monsters, time to carry that thought over to treasure and really kick the doors open…
D&D as a game has specific conventions in place regarding magic. These are universally expected and bind the participants in common knowledge. This is good as it binds the rules and gives a common ground for new players to learn the magic system and a guide for spell casters in the creation of magic items. These conventions are:
1. Armor and weapons are either specific (Elven Chainmail) or conventional with its bonus build system (+2 Flaming Sword = +3 weapon).
2. Wondrous items are thematically tied to their powers by common sense (Wings of Flying) or legend (Carpet of Flying).
3. Rings are unique and overall powerful with dramatic effects (Ring of Wishes) or continuous effects (Protection).
4. Wands and Staffs have charges of existing spells
5. Rods provide a specific and powerful effect.
6. Potions are essentially spells that anyone can cast (by drinking the potion) but limited by level.
7. Scrolls are spells another spellcaster can finish.
This list is well known by experienced gamers, and accepted. You’ve experienced it a thousand times and know it intuitively probably without giving it much thought.
Time to throw it out the window!!!
Just because the rules say it is one way doesn’t mean that it has to work that way in your campaign. Spellcasters are usually loners, with massive powers, who live in towers after all. Why would a loner like that follow standard and excepted ideas on what a magic item should do or look like? Because that is how the “laws of magic” work? Bah I say. Wizards are supposed to use magic to change reality and make wondrous things happen!
How about a hat of protection +2? Or how about a broach (a very unused space on the character according to the magic placement rules) that has 10 charges of spell in it. Or maybe a 20,000 gp necklace that has 1 charge – a wish spell – but you have to break it (consume it like a potion) to use it. Now that is interesting, do your players take a chance on the wish or sell the necklace for the sure thing – the 20,000 gps.
Or you can just have loads of fun and decide that ages ago a female noble paladin had a set of beautiful diamond tear drop earrings enchanted like a Belt of Giant’s Strength. She wanted to be prepared at court and formal settings. Now imagine the conversation between your players:
Player 1: “Gee Orgak. Your barbarian looks just precious in those earrings!”*Snicker*
Player 2: “Hey man, they are +6 to strength! I can’t pass on that!
Player 1: “I understand. You just look dashing with the battle axe, the beast scale armor, and the diamonds!” *Choke* *Chortle*
Player 2: “I feel a rage coming on!”
Player 1: ROFL
Here is the standard items re-listed, but this time by function and not item:
1. Spell Completion: Scrolls have it now, but any item can realistically do it: Coins, statuettes, jewelry, or even a pair of gloves (a spell on each). Instead of a scroll with many spells on it, how about a necklace with lots of charms on it or maybe a shield with runes inscribed on the edges.
2. Items with Charges: Anything can have charges. Some items that are not a wand or a staff already have charges (like the Ring of Wishes or the Necklace of Fireballs). How about a wizard’s hat, or a pair of boots enchanted with expeditious retreat , or even a potion (look, it’ll refill 10 times).
3. Continuous Items: The combos within the continuous affect category are endless:
I. No reason for a wand or staff to have a continuous enchantment on it. Just pick a staff and roll a random wondrous item, say a Staff of Defense +2.
II. Weapon and armor are not safe either. How about a Shield of Flying. Does your player go into those sea caves the +3 Plate or the Plate of Water Breathing!
III. Wondrous items can be mixed and match in endless combos. Boots of Protection, Gloves of Archery, Robe of Holding (Type II), or even the dreaded Horn of Wonder! The fun is endless; you can even roll them random if you want. Just roll on the charts twice. Once for the item and once for the power. I’d watch out for silly combos, however. A portable hole of flying will just cause a lot of blank stares at you from across the table.
4. Rods: They provide continuous powerful effects normally. Sounds like a staff in classic sword and sorcery to me! How about a Staff of Absorption instead. Or a ring that gives the powers of metamagic feats.
5. Combat - To Hit and Damage: Weapons are the standard to have these bonuses, after all – they do the actual hitting and damage. But why? How about a ring that gives your weapon +3 to hit and damage and makes it a ghost touch weapon as well. Or a belt that is +1 AC and gives weapons the keen ability. Of course, for pricing reasons (i.e. balance) these bonuses don’t stack with normal magical weapon bonuses. That’s OK, it makes the game interesting when the player has to decide if he would rather wear a Ring of Protection +3 or his ghost touch ring of +3 to hit/damage. Sure, the +3 is meaningless since he already has a +3 weapon, but there is also the fact that the current dungeon is below a graveyard… You don’t need to go crazy, just a few new items to shake things up. Another note on pricing and balance. If you do this, figure in an extra +1 to the cost modifier. Your creating powers that can be transported from weapon to weapon. That is a real nice ability and should cost extra. That way it won’t be abused at low levels. At higher levels, the difference at that level of play is more negligible – especially when compared to the higher bonuses a standard item would give vs. the versatility of the lower powered item.
6. Combat - Defensive: Same as weapons. Why let the armor and shields have all the defensive fun? How about a helmet that gives you a +2 to AC and the fortitude ability. Or bracers that give you +1 to AC and fire resistance. Don’t go crazy with combos but just think of a few new and interesting items to add flavor to the game. To price properly, they can’t stack with other bonuses from armor, but again that makes things interesting. The same pricing bump of a +1 modifier should be used.
Why have a continuous stream of magic items that the players will just sell off. Magic should be, well… magical. Not another commodity the players crunch numbers on to insure their character is set for the next level and tricked out to maximize his potential.
Break open the doors and go to town on those conventions. It may take some consideration to insure balance and pricing, but it is well worth the effort. Players love to brag and show off what their characters can do and the stuff they have. Just as they will describe that one “killer combat” for years to come so will they remember the cool magic items their characters had.
Make magic magical again and an adventure onto itself!
"Even gleaning a fraction of the power I harness on a daily basis would drive you MAD" - Vaarsuvius from OOTS
Now that your notebook has treasure prepared and ready to roll, time to throw one extra caveat to the whole program. Making the magic of your world yours! You just did it with monsters, time to carry that thought over to treasure and really kick the doors open…
D&D as a game has specific conventions in place regarding magic. These are universally expected and bind the participants in common knowledge. This is good as it binds the rules and gives a common ground for new players to learn the magic system and a guide for spell casters in the creation of magic items. These conventions are:
1. Armor and weapons are either specific (Elven Chainmail) or conventional with its bonus build system (+2 Flaming Sword = +3 weapon).
2. Wondrous items are thematically tied to their powers by common sense (Wings of Flying) or legend (Carpet of Flying).
3. Rings are unique and overall powerful with dramatic effects (Ring of Wishes) or continuous effects (Protection).
4. Wands and Staffs have charges of existing spells
5. Rods provide a specific and powerful effect.
6. Potions are essentially spells that anyone can cast (by drinking the potion) but limited by level.
7. Scrolls are spells another spellcaster can finish.
This list is well known by experienced gamers, and accepted. You’ve experienced it a thousand times and know it intuitively probably without giving it much thought.
Time to throw it out the window!!!
Just because the rules say it is one way doesn’t mean that it has to work that way in your campaign. Spellcasters are usually loners, with massive powers, who live in towers after all. Why would a loner like that follow standard and excepted ideas on what a magic item should do or look like? Because that is how the “laws of magic” work? Bah I say. Wizards are supposed to use magic to change reality and make wondrous things happen!
How about a hat of protection +2? Or how about a broach (a very unused space on the character according to the magic placement rules) that has 10 charges of spell in it. Or maybe a 20,000 gp necklace that has 1 charge – a wish spell – but you have to break it (consume it like a potion) to use it. Now that is interesting, do your players take a chance on the wish or sell the necklace for the sure thing – the 20,000 gps.
Or you can just have loads of fun and decide that ages ago a female noble paladin had a set of beautiful diamond tear drop earrings enchanted like a Belt of Giant’s Strength. She wanted to be prepared at court and formal settings. Now imagine the conversation between your players:
Player 1: “Gee Orgak. Your barbarian looks just precious in those earrings!”*Snicker*
Player 2: “Hey man, they are +6 to strength! I can’t pass on that!
Player 1: “I understand. You just look dashing with the battle axe, the beast scale armor, and the diamonds!” *Choke* *Chortle*
Player 2: “I feel a rage coming on!”
Player 1: ROFL
Here is the standard items re-listed, but this time by function and not item:
1. Spell Completion: Scrolls have it now, but any item can realistically do it: Coins, statuettes, jewelry, or even a pair of gloves (a spell on each). Instead of a scroll with many spells on it, how about a necklace with lots of charms on it or maybe a shield with runes inscribed on the edges.
2. Items with Charges: Anything can have charges. Some items that are not a wand or a staff already have charges (like the Ring of Wishes or the Necklace of Fireballs). How about a wizard’s hat, or a pair of boots enchanted with expeditious retreat , or even a potion (look, it’ll refill 10 times).
3. Continuous Items: The combos within the continuous affect category are endless:
I. No reason for a wand or staff to have a continuous enchantment on it. Just pick a staff and roll a random wondrous item, say a Staff of Defense +2.
II. Weapon and armor are not safe either. How about a Shield of Flying. Does your player go into those sea caves the +3 Plate or the Plate of Water Breathing!
III. Wondrous items can be mixed and match in endless combos. Boots of Protection, Gloves of Archery, Robe of Holding (Type II), or even the dreaded Horn of Wonder! The fun is endless; you can even roll them random if you want. Just roll on the charts twice. Once for the item and once for the power. I’d watch out for silly combos, however. A portable hole of flying will just cause a lot of blank stares at you from across the table.
4. Rods: They provide continuous powerful effects normally. Sounds like a staff in classic sword and sorcery to me! How about a Staff of Absorption instead. Or a ring that gives the powers of metamagic feats.
5. Combat - To Hit and Damage: Weapons are the standard to have these bonuses, after all – they do the actual hitting and damage. But why? How about a ring that gives your weapon +3 to hit and damage and makes it a ghost touch weapon as well. Or a belt that is +1 AC and gives weapons the keen ability. Of course, for pricing reasons (i.e. balance) these bonuses don’t stack with normal magical weapon bonuses. That’s OK, it makes the game interesting when the player has to decide if he would rather wear a Ring of Protection +3 or his ghost touch ring of +3 to hit/damage. Sure, the +3 is meaningless since he already has a +3 weapon, but there is also the fact that the current dungeon is below a graveyard… You don’t need to go crazy, just a few new items to shake things up. Another note on pricing and balance. If you do this, figure in an extra +1 to the cost modifier. Your creating powers that can be transported from weapon to weapon. That is a real nice ability and should cost extra. That way it won’t be abused at low levels. At higher levels, the difference at that level of play is more negligible – especially when compared to the higher bonuses a standard item would give vs. the versatility of the lower powered item.
6. Combat - Defensive: Same as weapons. Why let the armor and shields have all the defensive fun? How about a helmet that gives you a +2 to AC and the fortitude ability. Or bracers that give you +1 to AC and fire resistance. Don’t go crazy with combos but just think of a few new and interesting items to add flavor to the game. To price properly, they can’t stack with other bonuses from armor, but again that makes things interesting. The same pricing bump of a +1 modifier should be used.
Why have a continuous stream of magic items that the players will just sell off. Magic should be, well… magical. Not another commodity the players crunch numbers on to insure their character is set for the next level and tricked out to maximize his potential.
Break open the doors and go to town on those conventions. It may take some consideration to insure balance and pricing, but it is well worth the effort. Players love to brag and show off what their characters can do and the stuff they have. Just as they will describe that one “killer combat” for years to come so will they remember the cool magic items their characters had.
Make magic magical again and an adventure onto itself!
Ringmereth
First Post
Great job! This would make an awesome 3rd-party publication: a 'DM's Notebook', complete with all that stuff: random treasure, random NPCs and stats, and all the other good stuff you've worked on. I know I'd buy one.
Nightcloak
First Post
Thatnks everybody. I appreciate the kind words. More to come, but the next two are straight forward utility - less of the fun "go for it" items.
Almost there, I can see the finish line on this little project!
Wow. That would be interesting.
I do take some fun grief around here from the GMF Family as it is, I hate to see what they would do if someone paid me for this 
Almost there, I can see the finish line on this little project!
Ringmereth said:
Wow. That would be interesting.
I do take some fun grief around here from the GMF Family as it is, I hate to see what they would do if someone paid me for this
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
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