Hal
2009-06-08, 11:30 AM
One of the things that has stuck in my mind with 4e and loot is the distribution of magic items. It's not terribly useful when my DMs use random loot; the utility of the item might best benefit someone who's already swimming in magic items, but selling the items at 1/5 their purchase price is a terrible waste. However, it breaks both immersion and flow when the DM says, "Okay, you find a level 5 magic item. Make it whatever you want." Good for the player who gets it, but it tends to result in ~20 min. breaks where players are delving through AV to find something suitably useful.
I might be DMing in the near future, and I had an idea I wanted to run past the fine folk here.
My plan was to first do loot almost entirely in gold pieces, with consummable magic items thrown in (because most players don't want to spend much money on something they can't keep).
As for weapons and armor, here was my idea: Give the players one "versatile" weapon and some "versatile" armor. The weapon/armor can change form only so long as that player holds on to it. The armor would be able to change type (in case a player took training in hide/scale/plate). The weapon would be restricted by type; it can be any heavy blade, but it can't turn into a crossbow.
These items would always be a magic weapon/armor with an enchantment at or below the character's current level. The player can change the enchantment on the weapon or armor, but only during a short rest, and there is still only one use of a daily power through the equipment, even if you change its enchantment.
My main motivation for this was to get away from handing out magic items in the fashion I've seen so far. It'll give the players a chance to try out different enchantments on gear to see what works for them (hopefully without slowing down the game to find a new enchantment after every encounter). Plus, I'd like to think that this could be an interesting plot device.
This isn't helpful to characters who dual-wield, but I figure the flow of gold should make it possible to buy secondary weapons (or items for other slots).
I worry this could be over-powering, since the players wouldn't be stuck with whatever decision they made on their equipment, but the gear would never be enchanted above current level and would require time to "adjust," so I'm not sure how overpowered it could be.
Any thoughts?
I might be DMing in the near future, and I had an idea I wanted to run past the fine folk here.
My plan was to first do loot almost entirely in gold pieces, with consummable magic items thrown in (because most players don't want to spend much money on something they can't keep).
As for weapons and armor, here was my idea: Give the players one "versatile" weapon and some "versatile" armor. The weapon/armor can change form only so long as that player holds on to it. The armor would be able to change type (in case a player took training in hide/scale/plate). The weapon would be restricted by type; it can be any heavy blade, but it can't turn into a crossbow.
These items would always be a magic weapon/armor with an enchantment at or below the character's current level. The player can change the enchantment on the weapon or armor, but only during a short rest, and there is still only one use of a daily power through the equipment, even if you change its enchantment.
My main motivation for this was to get away from handing out magic items in the fashion I've seen so far. It'll give the players a chance to try out different enchantments on gear to see what works for them (hopefully without slowing down the game to find a new enchantment after every encounter). Plus, I'd like to think that this could be an interesting plot device.
This isn't helpful to characters who dual-wield, but I figure the flow of gold should make it possible to buy secondary weapons (or items for other slots).
I worry this could be over-powering, since the players wouldn't be stuck with whatever decision they made on their equipment, but the gear would never be enchanted above current level and would require time to "adjust," so I'm not sure how overpowered it could be.
Any thoughts?