Tag: Magic Items

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Friday Favourite – What’s a +1 Sword?

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From July 13, 2009, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: What’s a +1 Sword?

“That’s a beautiful blade,” noted the barkeep as he served the adventurers their ale. “Is it magical?”
“It sure is,” replied Delian the Paladin. “I found this in the ogre’s lair. It’s a +1 sword.”
“What’s a +1 sword?”

How often do you refer to your PC’s gear only in gaming terms? Sure the people sitting at your dining room table playing D&D know what a +1 sword is, but how would you describe the same weapon in character to an NPC? You’d sound pretty stupid if you called it a +1 sword. Not to mention that no one would understand what you mean when you call it a +1 sword.

Magical treasure is the most common reward in D&D. All PCs strive to acquire magic loot be it a magical wand, a suit of magical plate mail or even a magic sword. In most Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings magic items are fairly commonplace. To an experienced gamer owning a magical weapon may not seem like a big deal. In fact most PCs or NPCs worth their salt have one. But just because the magic items are common doesn’t mean that they aren’t special. It’s not like they’re mass produced in a factory and are indistinguishable from one another – quite the opposite in fact. Creating a magic item of any kind requires time, resources and aptitude. Anyone who chooses to create a magic item wants to make it unique. So just because you’ve got a magic sword and I’ve got a magic sword doesn’t mean that they’re the same.

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Friday Favourite: Intelligent Magic Items

On Friday we comb through our extensive archives to find an older article that we feel deserves another look. From July 14, 2009, Dungeon’s Master once again presents: Intelligent Magic Items.

Having a magic sword is one thing but having an intelligent magic sword is a whole new level of coolness. So far there are no mechanics in 4e Dungeons & Dragons for creating intelligent magic items. However a creative DM can always introduce one as he sees fit.

Continuing our look at magic items that began in yesterday’s article What’s a +1 Sword?, today I’m going to share some of the pros and cons I’ve experienced by introducing an intelligent magic item to my campaign. Over the years I’ve have many games that included intelligent items. It’s not something I would recommend for everyone, especially new gamers, but it can add a new and unpredictable element to your game.

I suspect that the forthcoming Adventurer’s Vault 2 will reintroduce us to intelligence items. There are also a few intelligent artifacts in the DMG if you need an immediate fix. Until then here are some of the pros and cons that come with intelligent items in D&D.

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What Would It Take For You To Give Up Your Favourite Magic Item?

If your DM asked you to either have their PC give up his favourite magic item or cut off his own leg I’m betting it would be a really tough choice. And I think most players would rather the PC lose the leg than their magic item. That’s how important magic items are to most players.

When a PC acquires a new magic item it often become a significant part of that character. Many of us define our PCs by the items they possess, especially the really cool or powerful items.

Magic items are often seen as a sort of status symbol at the gaming table. If your character has magic armor, a magic cloak, a magic weapon or two, and numerous other miscellaneous baubles in his inventory he’s going to be deemed “better” than other PCs in the party who have fewer items with lower plusses. It’s not usually talked about but it happens.

With everyone clamouring for more items the DM’s natural instinct is to award magic items every time the PCs complete a quest or defeat a really difficult encounter. That’s just how D&D works – you kill monsters and take their stuff. And if they don’t have anything useful you sell what they had and buy something you can actually use. The result is a party with a ridiculous amount of magic items in their combined inventory, especially at higher levels. Welcome to the world of Monty Haul gaming.

So what’s a DM to do when he realizes that the party has too much stuff? The simplest solution is to take it away. However, this is not going to go over well with the players. After all, they didn’t do anything wrong. In fact they did everything right. They killed the toughest monsters and rightly earned all of their best stuff. Just because the DM was too generous doesn’t mean the players should suffer. So what other options are there?

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6 Tips for Making Potions Fun Again

potionsSome of my fondest memories of D&D involve a situation where a character drinks an unidentified potion. The results were usually chaotic, hilarious, or both. However, as D&D changed so to did the mystery and wonder that potions can bring to the game.

In 4e D&D the system became so magic heavy that potions were of little consequence. At low levels when a potion can actually make a difference, identifying them is automatic during a short rest. I can’t remember the last time characters had a potion in their inventory that they couldn’t identify.

I’ve recently started using the D&D Next rules during public play and in my home games. It draws heavy influence from the older editions of D&D where magic was rare (much more so than it is in 4e). It’s been so long since I’ve played in games with limited magic treasure that I’ve really had to change my gaming mentality to keep things interesting. By thinking back to those fantastic campaigns I was part of in my younger years, I remember the awe and wonder in the simplest elements of the game. Everyone in the party doesn’t need a +1 sword to make their character interesting and to have fun. But when magic is introduced, it’s a big deal.

In a system with limited magic items, even consumables such as potions and scrolls are deemed valuable and important. They always have been, but when there are over 100 other magic items in a party, no one cares about a simple potion. But in a party where there are only one or two magic items, discovering a few potions in the treasure horde is a real find.

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Magic Items With Charges

Magic wands used to be packed with power in previous editions of D&D. Wands were like loaded guns waiting to go off. Finding a magic wand in a treasure trove was a big deal because if it had the right magic contained within, it could drastically change a party’s balance of power. Now in 4e D&D wands are just sticks that Wizards, Bards, Artificers and Warlocks use to focus and channel their magic through.

Wands and other consumable or limited-use items used to be a big part of D&D. These items could replicate almost every power spell-casting classes brought to the table from healing to flying, from turning someone invisible to shooting fireballs. With the right items you could often make up for an individual character’s inadequacies or an unbalanced party’s shortfalls. No one was forced to play a Cleric when you could just buy everyone a Wand of Cure Light Wounds.

In 4e D&D things changed, and although there are still consumable items they certainly don’t pack the punch we saw in previous editions. By removing the abundance and variety of throw-away items, players quickly realized that there are going to be certain things unbalanced parties simply cannot do on their own.

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No New Magic Items

What if it was no longer possible to make new magical items? We don’t often focus on the magic item creation side of the game; we just assume that somewhere in the background new items are being created. When your PC needs new magical items he can usually got to “Ye Olde Magic Shoppe” and purchase what he needs. But if the supply of new items stopped how would the economy of D&D change and what would that mean for your campaign?

How things play out really depends on whether or not you’re introducing this idea to an existing campaign world where magic used to be plentiful and is about to dry up, or if you’re establishing this as the norm for a brand new setting. If the PCs and other inhabitants of the world don’t know any differently then this is just going to mean a shift in the way your players think about acquiring items. If items have always been rare then the world’s mentality should reflect this. The idea of a party walking around and each PC having 10 or more magic items would be absurd. But if this is a sudden change then the only way to acquire new magical items is to find them in a treasure horde or take them from someone else. Both situations present interesting challenges and both could make for a very interesting long-term campaign.

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Editorial Player Resources

Will D&D Essentials Ruin LFR?

Love it or hate it, D&D Essentials is here to stay. Some of the changes presented in D&D Essentials are optional, however many are not. The Living Forgotten Realms (LFR) program is in the process of getting a makeover in order to adhere to the new core rules introduced with D&D Essentials. Some players like LFR as it is today and wouldn’t change a thing. Others have been grumbling about power-creep for some time. Perhaps these changes will address some of those concerns. But regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, be forewarned that change are in the works so get ready.

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Brave Warrior, Heal Thyself

What do you do if you need healing and none is readily available? You’re in the thick of battle and you realize your hit points are getting dangerously low. You call out to the healer for help, but he’s got nothing to offer. He’s already expended this encounter’s allotment. Or worse yet, maybe your party doesn’t have a leader? No problem, you use your second wind. But what if you’ve already done that too. Now you’re in a situation with no healer and no way to easily expend a healing surge. What now?

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