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<blockquote data-quote="Riastlin" data-source="post: 5374519" data-attributes="member: 94022">A big part of the problem is that with 4e, the devs made a concerted effort to make a character defined more by his or her abilities, than by the magic items carried.&nbsp; In older editions, it was often the case (though not always obviously), that the items bore a much bigger impact on what a character could do than the character's actual powers did.&nbsp;So with 4e, magic items were intentionally made less powerful -- and in many respects, less interesting as a result.&nbsp; The flip side of this was that the devs decided that since magic gear was less powerful, it should also be more plentiful.&nbsp; Unfortunately, this only adds to the &quot;boring&quot; factor of magic items in 4th Ed.&nbsp; Pre Essentials, a party &quot;knew&quot; that they would find 5 magic items each level (or roughly one every other encounter).&nbsp; There was also the built in need to have a variety of +x items in the weapliment/armor/neck slots in order to keep up with the monsters, so even those items don't seem all that interesting since they are more a necessity than a bonus.&nbsp;I think one solution (though it would be difficult to implement mid-campaign), is to use the inherent bonus system and then provide fewer magic items (I would also limit the Create Magic Item ritual).&nbsp; With an inherent bonus system, magic items are no longer as big a necessity for things like defenses and to-hit.&nbsp; This then provides you room to give out more &quot;flavorful&quot; items that might not have as obvious a use in combat.&nbsp; Additionally, you can create magic items that &quot;grow&quot; with the character.&nbsp; Perhaps the sword doesn't offer any to-hit or damage bonuses, but it gains properties as the character levels, or gains encounter/daily powers.&nbsp; Finally, with inherent bonuses, you can even toss in an occasional +1 item and suddenly it becomes special again.&nbsp;As for your current problem though, I agree with the above poster that you have to take a look at what your PCs like to do and try to find something that helps them along those lines.&nbsp; A horned helm is great for the character that likes to charge for instance.&nbsp; Likewise a skull mask is great for a character that likes to intimidate her enemies in combat or people on the street in a SC.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Riastlin, post: 5374519, member: 94022"] A big part of the problem is that with 4e, the devs made a concerted effort to make a character defined more by his or her abilities, than by the magic items carried. In older editions, it was often the case (though not always obviously), that the items bore a much bigger impact on what a character could do than the character's actual powers did. So with 4e, magic items were intentionally made less powerful -- and in many respects, less interesting as a result. The flip side of this was that the devs decided that since magic gear was less powerful, it should also be more plentiful. Unfortunately, this only adds to the "boring" factor of magic items in 4th Ed. Pre Essentials, a party "knew" that they would find 5 magic items each level (or roughly one every other encounter). There was also the built in need to have a variety of +x items in the weapliment/armor/neck slots in order to keep up with the monsters, so even those items don't seem all that interesting since they are more a necessity than a bonus. I think one solution (though it would be difficult to implement mid-campaign), is to use the inherent bonus system and then provide fewer magic items (I would also limit the Create Magic Item ritual). With an inherent bonus system, magic items are no longer as big a necessity for things like defenses and to-hit. This then provides you room to give out more "flavorful" items that might not have as obvious a use in combat. Additionally, you can create magic items that "grow" with the character. Perhaps the sword doesn't offer any to-hit or damage bonuses, but it gains properties as the character levels, or gains encounter/daily powers. Finally, with inherent bonuses, you can even toss in an occasional +1 item and suddenly it becomes special again. As for your current problem though, I agree with the above poster that you have to take a look at what your PCs like to do and try to find something that helps them along those lines. A horned helm is great for the character that likes to charge for instance. Likewise a skull mask is great for a character that likes to intimidate her enemies in combat or people on the street in a SC. [/QUOTE]

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