What's wrong with the magic item Christmas tree?

[billd91]

I am not sure I get what you mean? Isn't it this way in 3E already? Aside from the Tomes, there is only one type of bonus to enhance each ability score.

There's also a size bonus conferred by a spell like Righteous Might. With the tomes, that's 3 possible bonus types (at least for strength) right there. I'd extend the limitation of bonuses farther, of course, and fix the problem of too many interlocking buffs throughout the game.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

There's also a size bonus conferred by a spell like Righteous Might. With the tomes, that's 3 possible bonus types (at least for strength) right there. I'd extend the limitation of bonuses farther, of course, and fix the problem of too many interlocking buffs throughout the game.

Hmm, that is certainly another issue. But it is not the reason people deck out with six standard magic items. It's mostly an issue for AC, where you have Deflection, Natural Armor, Enhancement to Armor, Enhancement to Shield, Dex Bonus as "standard" options to improve your AC. (There might also be ways to get insight and size bonuses... Dodge only came from feats or class abilities as far as I know so are not part of the Christmas Tree issue)

My aim was more to avoid that everyone would try to get his Belt of Giant Strenght, Glove of Dexterity, Headband of Intellect, Periapt of Wisdom, Cloak of Charisma and Amulet of Health (or at least the two or three items on that list he needs for his class.)

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

Hell, even most of the D&D fiction doesn't feature magic item proliferation in the quantities displayed in the game.

To be fair, with the number of bland items a "typical" D&D character finds, do you think the acquisition of those items would be worth recounting in the fiction? I would think this would fall into an assumed area of any fiction linked to D&D and wouldn't take up any more page count than Regdar using the facilities at the local pub.

 

[billd91]

Hmm, that is certainly another issue. But it is not the reason people deck out with six standard magic items. It's mostly an issue for AC, where you have Deflection, Natural Armor, Enhancement to Armor, Enhancement to Shield, Dex Bonus as "standard" options to improve your AC. (There might also be ways to get insight and size bonuses... Dodge only came from feats or class abilities as far as I know so are not part of the Christmas Tree issue)

My aim was more to avoid that everyone would try to get his Belt of Giant Strenght, Glove of Dexterity, Headband of Intellect, Periapt of Wisdom, Cloak of Charisma and Amulet of Health (or at least the two or three items on that list he needs for his class.)

The reason they deck out with the 6 is because they can and they offer a lot of bang for the buck. Everyone wanted the big items in 1e/2e too, but it wasn't a strategy anyone could rationally depend on since the DM was in control of magic item distribution. 3e's magic item creation rules made it a rational game playing strategy. And since they are useful in many situations and are relatively cheap single-purpose items, it's far better to get rid of quirky multifunction items in favor of upgrading the big 6. The only real answer to the big 6 (which 4e has a version of as well with respect to armor, weapons/implements, and NAD boosters just as bad as 1e-3e did), is for the DM to control the distribution of magic items or bonuses and set that expectation among the players.

Personally, I really don't mind a proliferation of minor bonus items as long as they aren't crowding out the more interesting and flavorful magics. I wouldn't mind seeing all low-bonus items made even cheaper than they are. Think of them as lucky charms that people might have that actually provide a bit of benefit. The effect on game balance is minimal. In fact, I'm sorely tempted to increase the number and sorts of these things for my PF campaign, allowing more to be off slot as well, and just make it harder to obtain the more powerful versions. I'm also tempted to make more of the items multi-function as well (back to rings and cloaks of protection that improve both AC and saves rather than breaking out the two bonuses).

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

5) There's only so many slots! Monks need to boost their Wisdom with a periapt of Wisdom. Monks also need Amulets of Mighty Fists. Guess which slots they take up? Oh, isn't that the same ones...

Don't forget the Amulet of Nat Armor. I actually suspect that the slot placement of certain items was intended as a balancing factor: for example, periapts of wisdom using the same slot as an AC booster so that clerics, druids and monks have a hard time getting as good an AC as the fighter. (Hey, I never said it worked!)

Remember how people thought that spontaneous casting was awesome sauce at the start of 3e? Well I don't think it's coincidental that such characters have to choose between cloaks of charisma and cloaks of resistance, or spending exorbitant amounts of gold on cloaks of charismatic resistance.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

I actually suspect that the slot placement of certain items was intended as a balancing factor

I certainly believe it was intended as a balancing factor. Then a later book came out saying "these items just cost more." And another later book came out and said, "you know, they don't even cost more." I really think that was a mistake to lift the slot restrictions.

 

[billd91]

I certainly believe it was intended as a balancing factor. Then a later book came out saying "these items just cost more." And another later book came out and said, "you know, they don't even cost more." I really think that was a mistake to lift the slot restrictions.

If it was intended as a balancing factor, then it was pretty haphazard. The sorcerer might have to choose between a cloak of charisma and a cloak of resistance, the but wizard doesn't despite filling the same niche in the party. I think they were looking to keep the number of items down by linking certain types of magical enhancements to certain slots, but I really don't think they analyzed how they'd bear out across all classes and the trade offs that would be necessary. If they did, then I can't say they did a great job of it.

I've never found the specificity of a slot and the magic most attuned to it to be a very valuable factor in keeping my game balanced. I'm content to let people swap what sort of benefit they're getting from a slot through magic item commission.

 

[Stoat]

I liked that the Magic Item Compendium eased up on the rules for combining different types of magic into a single item. IMO, a Cloak of Resistance that's also a Cloak of the Bat is automatically more flavorful and more interesting than the sum of its parts.

I think WotC should've gone ahead and added an inherent AC bonus based off of character level when it did 3E. Because AC doesn't scale with level, and attack bonus does, the designers had to fill the gap with magic doodads. Thus, the ring of protection, the amulet of natural armor AND the magic armor/bracers become de rigeur. That's three of the big six right there.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

I liked that the Magic Item Compendium eased up on the rules for combining different types of magic into a single item. IMO, a Cloak of Resistance that's also a Cloak of the Bat is automatically more flavorful and more interesting than the sum of its parts.

I think WotC should've gone ahead and added an inherent AC bonus based off of character level when it did 3E. Because AC doesn't scale with level, and attack bonus does, the designers had to fill the gap with magic doodads. Thus, the ring of protection, the amulet of natural armor AND the magic armor/bracers become de rigeur. That's three of the big six right there.

I also liked the MIC 's changes to body slot restrictions. They were haphazard, not entirely sensible (why is con an amulet? why not a vest or belt? why can't charisma come from a circlet or crown?), and tended to screw over classes that were either the weakest in the game (like monk and bard) or at least weak compared to their peers (sorcerer).

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I liked that the Magic Item Compendium eased up on the rules for combining different types of magic into a single item. IMO, a Cloak of Resistance that's also a Cloak of the Bat is automatically more flavorful and more interesting than the sum of its parts.

It also encourages PCs to keep and upgrade items, rather that discard and replace them.

In our Shackled City game, my mystic theurge took a Helm of Read Magic and Comprehend Languages we'd acquired as treasure and worked on it throughout the entire campaign, dubbing it his mindscape helm.