D&D 3E/3.5 Using 3E Magic Items in 5E?

[jrowland]

In our PotA campaign, I ran a 3 player party of optimizers, but felt being a bit generous on magic would help...

It helped a bit too much. And I didn't use 3e items.

For example,
I gave them a +1 Longsword that, on a crit, also created spectral hawks that fluttered around the targets face until the start of the wielders next granting ADV to all attack. Figured that was rare enough to not be OP (and more flavorful than a simple +1)...

Well, hell. That effect alone turn the tide of many battles. In addition, slash/blunt/pierce resistance is nothing vs magic sword, so those defenses become moot.

There were a few other items (a spell shield, a wand of Magic Missile, and wand of Cure wounds (1st level)

all together they made a huge difference.

 

[Dualazi]

I would strongly urge caution with this. Ultimately it'll come down to how you and your group do things, but in many cases what you describe is game warping, simply because it brings back all the stack nonsense from prior editions. Case in point, you say you like items that give +strength rather than setting your strength to a given value; this immediately makes +stat items the most desirable for any character that they pertain to, because they affect so much so reliably. Likewise, if you don't reduce the enhancement bonuses appropriately, then they can combine with the aforementioned stacking to either make players auto-hit against all foes, or force you to begin scaling up enemy defenses, which brings back the "treadmill" people seemed to hate.

 

[Xeviat]

From my experience, people say they hate the treadmill and then complain because they haven't "improved" in a few levels. Skills are the worst here, as they only improve when you gain 4 levels or expertise.

I'm going to look over the items tonight and see what would be appropriate. [MENTION=9505]Kalshane[/MENTION], your suggestions seem like a direction I'd be leaning in.


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