How do you handle magic items? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

How do you handle magic items?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Apr 10, 2005 0:47:22 In most of my games, characters are pretty accustomed to saving up gold, going to some big city, and purchasing new magic items or having old ones updated.

While I'm not crazy about it, we as players also come up with wish lists for the DM's to throw in the occasional goodie in with the haul.

So, what do you guys do for handing out the goods in your campaigns? Do you give out the usual amount of ceramics? If your characters do have a few gold coins in their pockets, do they utilize the elven market? Or the Veiled Alliance? Or do you just encourage psionic items, and make them as available as magic in normal campaigns?
#2
dawnstealer
Apr 10, 2005 1:35:44 Ha! My players thank the gods when they get a metal dagger, much less anything magical...

That's not to say elves haven't sold them "magic" items, though. :D
#3
zombiegleemax
Apr 10, 2005 2:09:04 In my campaigns there are a couple of rules that I follow.

Players tend to panic when they see gold coins because only the big merchant houses can "make change" for anything they purchase, unless they are "big ticket items." Buying a scuppernog and a room for the night with a gold coin would be like buying a pack of gum with a thousand-dollar bill! The CP, bit, and bead is the staple in my campaign, but due to events in my campaign world, city-states don't honor an equal exchange rate of anything less than a silver. (Silver ang gold can be resmelted).

I did taunt my PCs with Ceramics that had been "Minted" in Kalidnay centuries earlier, around 10k of them, and the PCs were really choked when hardly anyone would honor the CPs at a 1:1 value, if at all. "We don't trade in relics here, street rat, move along."

Magic treasure in my campaign is rare and steel is even more rare. Bronze and Brass are more common from me - particularly in the form of arrow heads and spear tips. In a current ongoing campaign, my PCs picked through the remains of an ancient battlefield and found a single magic steel dagger (it was +3 vs Pixies).

Mundane magic items that helps with survival in the desert and protects against the elements are my favorite types of magic treasure, but they are given out maybe every other adventure - more often than not, the seeking of a magic item is the focus of an adventure. Psionic artifacts are more coveted and eaiser to find than magic since virtually everyone can use psionic items, where as that's not the case with magic.

In short - no "Monty Hall" here, more like "Weakest Link" with me.
#4
Sysane
Apr 10, 2005 9:21:49
That's not to say elves haven't sold them "magic" items, though. :D

Thats funny. Pretty much every DS campaign I've ran has had the staple of anelf hiding in an alley way beckoning the PCs over to buy a metal dagger.

"Psssstt....Hey buddy. Want to buy a steel dagger?" (Flashes a metal dagger beneath his cloak)

Which always turned into a brawl with a gang of elves soon after.
#5
dawnstealer
Apr 10, 2005 12:20:47 Mine tend to go more like this:

"Hey, Buddy. Hey! Pssst! Over here"

"Yeah?"

"You look like the kind of great wanderer who would need something like this." Pulls a bone dagger from a weathered sack.

"Got one, thanks."

"But not one like this," looks around carefully for 'templars.'"This one's magic!"

"Really?"

"Really!" Hands it to the PC but keeps a close eye on him. PC hefts it a bit - it's well-made elvish dagger material, all right. He looks over at the PC Sorcerer. Magic? The other PC nods.

"I'll take it!"

Sure enough, they get a dagger they pay through the nose for that has 'Magic Aura' cast on it. I love elves.
#6
terminus_vortexa
Apr 10, 2005 13:13:46 We usually make them ourselves. Our party is unusual, in that we include nonstandard classes for a Dark Sun campaign, like the warlock and the Erudite. Warlocks can make basically any magic item, and we use a modification of Noonan's defiler rules that let you defile to pay XP and GP costs, rather than pay out of pocket. We have a few clerics and a druid in the group who heal the Defiling damage to the land and cast Atonement for our Warlock and Defiler/Erudite, because the party is actively attempting to restore Athas and only defiles to increase their chances of success. They made a bargain with the Spirits of the Land and the Elemental Powers to heal all damage they do , so they are not assaulted by every druid and elemental they encounter, nor does Oronis shun them.The Erudite is a erudite/defiler/Mind Mage/Cerebremancer( Talk about a walking artillery platform!!!), and has access to a multitude of spells and powers, so he can make pretty much anything as well.My DS game is pretty high-powered, due to the fact that it is part of a multi-plane campaign. But we make our own stuff, and having Warlocks and high-level prestige-classed Psions and Erudites goes a long way towards assuring a well-equipped party. I also allow powers like Greater Fabricate and True Creation to make materials not normally found on Athas, like Blue Ice (from Frostburn) for armor and adamantine and whatnot. But our characters are all currently level 50+, so these items are not as unbalancing as one would assume. Normal item creation rules for time and such apply, though. And if there is anything they can't make or don't want to take the time to make, they can always go see Oronis or the Wanderer, or even parley with the elemental lords for specialty items related to the Elemental Planes.

As far as non-magic items go, we generally just tend to take what we want from whomever we feel like.
#7
judicator_shekar
Apr 10, 2005 15:12:56 As I am currently DMing a DS campaign, I'll share my take on magic and psionic items.

1) I have imposed a 'scarcity of magic' rule in which I limit the availbility of magic items. This has created a situtation in which most people (even those posessing many character levels) do not have magic items in their posession.

2) I support point #1 with various things, one of which being Templar reposession. I actively make sure that the party is looking out for the Templar, who generally collect and store any source of magic that might be used against them (they're a paranoid bunch).

3) During character creation (we started at 5th level), I allowed only 50% of the party's money/recources to be spend on obviously magic items. This lead to some very interesting roleplaying opportunities, in which one player purchased property in Tyr, another financed an astounding collection of alchemical supplies, a third bought a cart with exotic items purchased affar, while the last set about constructing an expedition to restore an ancient monument.

The effect of all these things is to make magic items, no matter how weak, seem amazingly powerful to the party. The situations resulting from this involve party members going to great lengths to find the right buyer for their items, or the opposite, namely finding the right place to purchase (supplies are ridiculously scarce).

Hope that helped.
#8
Kamelion
Apr 10, 2005 16:24:01 I use a similar approach, where most of the rewards come in forms other than magic items. - property, favours, enormous herds of kanks - that kind of thing.
#9
xlorepdarkhelm_dup
Apr 10, 2005 16:41:25
In most of my games, characters are pretty accustomed to saving up gold, going to some big city, and purchasing new magic items or having old ones updated.

While I'm not crazy about it, we as players also come up with wish lists for the DM's to throw in the occasional goodie in with the haul.

So, what do you guys do for handing out the goods in your campaigns? Do you give out the usual amount of ceramics? If your characters do have a few gold coins in their pockets, do they utilize the elven market? Or the Veiled Alliance? Or do you just encourage psionic items, and make them as available as magic in normal campaigns?

I restrict magic items extremely - especially Arcane ones. Divine magic items, in cities with Sorcerer-Kings, generally are reserved for the local Templars, but also possibly for Clerics and even the remote Druid who may be permitted to be in the city (but generally, I have Clerics andDruids be harrassed by the local Templarate, who consider them more or less as rivals). As such, Magic items are usually at the minimum confiscated when entering a city-state (unless the gate guards are otherwise compensated).

I do allow for a more wide-spread psionic item market - however for Sorcerer-King controlled city-states, I do have a level restriction placed upon them, with the SK usually requiring that for whatever reason they might come up with, Psionic items that have higher than level 4 powers (or the equivalent effects) are taken at the gate (once again, gate guards can be bribed).

In the city-states where there are no Sorcerer-Kings, Tyr tends to have a slowly more open-market for magic items. Balic really depends on the section of the city you are within, and Raam has no legitimate government, and follows the basics of Anarchy in this as with all other things.

The "lost cities" are unique as well - with Kurn retaining the appearance of a "typical" Sorcerer-King controlled city-state in the Old town, and as such, magic items and psionic items are controlled materials upon entry (however, such items can find their way back to their prospective owners through various means as to avoid too much suspicion). And Eldaarich is... well pretty close to an anarchic state dueto the pervasive insanity that exists there.

But generally, my players, like Dawnstealers, thank the "gods" whenever they come into the presence of a magical item.

I do somewhat compensate for the lack of magic items with slightly higher-than-standard starting stats, but that really only makes for more powerful starting characters. I also more or less disposed of CR's when handling my games.
#10
ruhl-than_sage
Apr 10, 2005 19:44:23
I did taunt my PCs with Ceramics that had been "Minted" in Kalidnay centuries earlier, around 10k of them, and the PCs were really choked when hardly anyone would honor the CPs at a 1:1 value, if at all. "We don't trade in relics here, street rat, move along."

In a current ongoing campaign, my PCs picked through the remains of an ancient battlefield and found a single magic steel dagger (it was +3 vs Pixies).

I like your style. :D good job on giving them a bane weapon that works against an extinct race.
#11
objulen
Apr 11, 2005 0:27:56
I restrict magic items extremely - especially Arcane ones. Divine magic items, in cities with Sorcerer-Kings, generally are reserved for the local Templars, but also possibly for Clerics and even the remote Druid who may be permitted to be in the city (but generally, I have Clerics andDruids be harrassed by the local Templarate, who consider them more or less as rivals). As such, Magic items are usually at the minimum confiscated when entering a city-state (unless the gate guards are otherwise compensated).

I do allow for a more wide-spread psionic item market - however for Sorcerer-King controlled city-states, I do have a level restriction placed upon them, with the SK usually requiring that for whatever reason they might come up with, Psionic items that have higher than level 4 powers (or the equivalent effects) are taken at the gate (once again, gate guards can be bribed).

This option makes the most sense to me. It makes more sense in Dark Sun for character's to be using psionic items when applicable.
#12
pringles
Apr 11, 2005 0:53:27 Magic and steel is very rare in my game I Dm, except in Tyr were steel is less rare.

Just to give you an idea, in 1 year and a half of campaign, the steel and magical item the PC got were;

(they are average level 9-10)
- two steel hallbard
- one bronze dagger (they lost it)
- The Belt of Rank (returned to Kled, they no longer have it)
- one gold ring of fire resistance (they lost it)
- one steel ring of jump (they lost it)
- one gold ring of Wizardy lvl 1
- one steel +1 sabre found in an old shipwreck on the silt sea
- one arm in steelplate (lost it)
- a golden medaillon of protection +2
- Bracer of Defense
- an obsidian long sword +2 (lost it)
- 5 bronze tipped arrow (lost it)
- The scourge of Rkard
- The Hearthwood spear (they gave it back to Nok)
- One steel helmet (now destroyed)
- Cloak of deeppocket (destroyed)

And of course, a lot of scroll and fruits
#13
xlorepdarkhelm_dup
Apr 11, 2005 18:53:15 For me, it's not just steel, it's metal in general. And I usually have metal weapons worth about 100x that of their non-metal counterparts (in other words, they retain their gp values).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Apr 10, 2005 0:47:22	In most of my games, characters are pretty accustomed to saving up gold, going to some big city, and purchasing new magic items or having old ones updated. While I'm not crazy about it, we as players also come up with wish lists for the DM's to throw in the occasional goodie in with the haul. So, what do you guys do for handing out the goods in your campaigns? Do you give out the usual amount of ceramics? If your characters do have a few gold coins in their pockets, do they utilize the elven market? Or the Veiled Alliance? Or do you just encourage psionic items, and make them as available as magic in normal campaigns?
#2 dawnstealer Apr 10, 2005 1:35:44	Ha! My players thank the gods when they get a metal dagger, much less anything magical... That's not to say elves haven't sold them "magic" items, though. :D
#3 zombiegleemax Apr 10, 2005 2:09:04	In my campaigns there are a couple of rules that I follow. Players tend to panic when they see gold coins because only the big merchant houses can "make change" for anything they purchase, unless they are "big ticket items." Buying a scuppernog and a room for the night with a gold coin would be like buying a pack of gum with a thousand-dollar bill! The CP, bit, and bead is the staple in my campaign, but due to events in my campaign world, city-states don't honor an equal exchange rate of anything less than a silver. (Silver ang gold can be resmelted). I did taunt my PCs with Ceramics that had been "Minted" in Kalidnay centuries earlier, around 10k of them, and the PCs were really choked when hardly anyone would honor the CPs at a 1:1 value, if at all. "We don't trade in relics here, street rat, move along." Magic treasure in my campaign is rare and steel is even more rare. Bronze and Brass are more common from me - particularly in the form of arrow heads and spear tips. In a current ongoing campaign, my PCs picked through the remains of an ancient battlefield and found a single magic steel dagger (it was +3 vs Pixies). Mundane magic items that helps with survival in the desert and protects against the elements are my favorite types of magic treasure, but they are given out maybe every other adventure - more often than not, the seeking of a magic item is the focus of an adventure. Psionic artifacts are more coveted and eaiser to find than magic since virtually everyone can use psionic items, where as that's not the case with magic. In short - no "Monty Hall" here, more like "Weakest Link" with me.
#4 Sysane Apr 10, 2005 9:21:49	That's not to say elves haven't sold them "magic" items, though. :D Thats funny. Pretty much every DS campaign I've ran has had the staple of anelf hiding in an alley way beckoning the PCs over to buy a metal dagger. "Psssstt....Hey buddy. Want to buy a steel dagger?" (Flashes a metal dagger beneath his cloak) Which always turned into a brawl with a gang of elves soon after.
#5 dawnstealer Apr 10, 2005 12:20:47	Mine tend to go more like this: "Hey, Buddy. Hey! Pssst! Over here" "Yeah?" "You look like the kind of great wanderer who would need something like this." Pulls a bone dagger from a weathered sack. "Got one, thanks." "But not one like this," looks around carefully for 'templars.'"This one's magic!" "Really?" "Really!" Hands it to the PC but keeps a close eye on him. PC hefts it a bit - it's well-made elvish dagger material, all right. He looks over at the PC Sorcerer. Magic? The other PC nods. "I'll take it!" Sure enough, they get a dagger they pay through the nose for that has 'Magic Aura' cast on it. I love elves.
#6 terminus_vortexa Apr 10, 2005 13:13:46	We usually make them ourselves. Our party is unusual, in that we include nonstandard classes for a Dark Sun campaign, like the warlock and the Erudite. Warlocks can make basically any magic item, and we use a modification of Noonan's defiler rules that let you defile to pay XP and GP costs, rather than pay out of pocket. We have a few clerics and a druid in the group who heal the Defiling damage to the land and cast Atonement for our Warlock and Defiler/Erudite, because the party is actively attempting to restore Athas and only defiles to increase their chances of success. They made a bargain with the Spirits of the Land and the Elemental Powers to heal all damage they do , so they are not assaulted by every druid and elemental they encounter, nor does Oronis shun them.The Erudite is a erudite/defiler/Mind Mage/Cerebremancer( Talk about a walking artillery platform!!!), and has access to a multitude of spells and powers, so he can make pretty much anything as well.My DS game is pretty high-powered, due to the fact that it is part of a multi-plane campaign. But we make our own stuff, and having Warlocks and high-level prestige-classed Psions and Erudites goes a long way towards assuring a well-equipped party. I also allow powers like Greater Fabricate and True Creation to make materials not normally found on Athas, like Blue Ice (from Frostburn) for armor and adamantine and whatnot. But our characters are all currently level 50+, so these items are not as unbalancing as one would assume. Normal item creation rules for time and such apply, though. And if there is anything they can't make or don't want to take the time to make, they can always go see Oronis or the Wanderer, or even parley with the elemental lords for specialty items related to the Elemental Planes. As far as non-magic items go, we generally just tend to take what we want from whomever we feel like.
#7 judicator_shekar Apr 10, 2005 15:12:56	As I am currently DMing a DS campaign, I'll share my take on magic and psionic items. 1) I have imposed a 'scarcity of magic' rule in which I limit the availbility of magic items. This has created a situtation in which most people (even those posessing many character levels) do not have magic items in their posession. 2) I support point #1 with various things, one of which being Templar reposession. I actively make sure that the party is looking out for the Templar, who generally collect and store any source of magic that might be used against them (they're a paranoid bunch). 3) During character creation (we started at 5th level), I allowed only 50% of the party's money/recources to be spend on obviously magic items. This lead to some very interesting roleplaying opportunities, in which one player purchased property in Tyr, another financed an astounding collection of alchemical supplies, a third bought a cart with exotic items purchased affar, while the last set about constructing an expedition to restore an ancient monument. The effect of all these things is to make magic items, no matter how weak, seem amazingly powerful to the party. The situations resulting from this involve party members going to great lengths to find the right buyer for their items, or the opposite, namely finding the right place to purchase (supplies are ridiculously scarce). Hope that helped.
#8 Kamelion Apr 10, 2005 16:24:01	I use a similar approach, where most of the rewards come in forms other than magic items. - property, favours, enormous herds of kanks - that kind of thing.
#9 xlorepdarkhelm_dup Apr 10, 2005 16:41:25	In most of my games, characters are pretty accustomed to saving up gold, going to some big city, and purchasing new magic items or having old ones updated. While I'm not crazy about it, we as players also come up with wish lists for the DM's to throw in the occasional goodie in with the haul. So, what do you guys do for handing out the goods in your campaigns? Do you give out the usual amount of ceramics? If your characters do have a few gold coins in their pockets, do they utilize the elven market? Or the Veiled Alliance? Or do you just encourage psionic items, and make them as available as magic in normal campaigns? I restrict magic items extremely - especially Arcane ones. Divine magic items, in cities with Sorcerer-Kings, generally are reserved for the local Templars, but also possibly for Clerics and even the remote Druid who may be permitted to be in the city (but generally, I have Clerics andDruids be harrassed by the local Templarate, who consider them more or less as rivals). As such, Magic items are usually at the minimum confiscated when entering a city-state (unless the gate guards are otherwise compensated). I do allow for a more wide-spread psionic item market - however for Sorcerer-King controlled city-states, I do have a level restriction placed upon them, with the SK usually requiring that for whatever reason they might come up with, Psionic items that have higher than level 4 powers (or the equivalent effects) are taken at the gate (once again, gate guards can be bribed). In the city-states where there are no Sorcerer-Kings, Tyr tends to have a slowly more open-market for magic items. Balic really depends on the section of the city you are within, and Raam has no legitimate government, and follows the basics of Anarchy in this as with all other things. The "lost cities" are unique as well - with Kurn retaining the appearance of a "typical" Sorcerer-King controlled city-state in the Old town, and as such, magic items and psionic items are controlled materials upon entry (however, such items can find their way back to their prospective owners through various means as to avoid too much suspicion). And Eldaarich is... well pretty close to an anarchic state dueto the pervasive insanity that exists there. But generally, my players, like Dawnstealers, thank the "gods" whenever they come into the presence of a magical item. I do somewhat compensate for the lack of magic items with slightly higher-than-standard starting stats, but that really only makes for more powerful starting characters. I also more or less disposed of CR's when handling my games.
#10 ruhl-than_sage Apr 10, 2005 19:44:23	I did taunt my PCs with Ceramics that had been "Minted" in Kalidnay centuries earlier, around 10k of them, and the PCs were really choked when hardly anyone would honor the CPs at a 1:1 value, if at all. "We don't trade in relics here, street rat, move along." In a current ongoing campaign, my PCs picked through the remains of an ancient battlefield and found a single magic steel dagger (it was +3 vs Pixies). I like your style. :D good job on giving them a bane weapon that works against an extinct race.
#11 objulen Apr 11, 2005 0:27:56	I restrict magic items extremely - especially Arcane ones. Divine magic items, in cities with Sorcerer-Kings, generally are reserved for the local Templars, but also possibly for Clerics and even the remote Druid who may be permitted to be in the city (but generally, I have Clerics andDruids be harrassed by the local Templarate, who consider them more or less as rivals). As such, Magic items are usually at the minimum confiscated when entering a city-state (unless the gate guards are otherwise compensated). I do allow for a more wide-spread psionic item market - however for Sorcerer-King controlled city-states, I do have a level restriction placed upon them, with the SK usually requiring that for whatever reason they might come up with, Psionic items that have higher than level 4 powers (or the equivalent effects) are taken at the gate (once again, gate guards can be bribed). This option makes the most sense to me. It makes more sense in Dark Sun for character's to be using psionic items when applicable.
#12 pringles Apr 11, 2005 0:53:27	Magic and steel is very rare in my game I Dm, except in Tyr were steel is less rare. Just to give you an idea, in 1 year and a half of campaign, the steel and magical item the PC got were; (they are average level 9-10) - two steel hallbard - one bronze dagger (they lost it) - The Belt of Rank (returned to Kled, they no longer have it) - one gold ring of fire resistance (they lost it) - one steel ring of jump (they lost it) - one gold ring of Wizardy lvl 1 - one steel +1 sabre found in an old shipwreck on the silt sea - one arm in steelplate (lost it) - a golden medaillon of protection +2 - Bracer of Defense - an obsidian long sword +2 (lost it) - 5 bronze tipped arrow (lost it) - The scourge of Rkard - The Hearthwood spear (they gave it back to Nok) - One steel helmet (now destroyed) - Cloak of deeppocket (destroyed) And of course, a lot of scroll and fruits
#13 xlorepdarkhelm_dup Apr 11, 2005 18:53:15	For me, it's not just steel, it's metal in general. And I usually have metal weapons worth about 100x that of their non-metal counterparts (in other words, they retain their gp values).