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View Full Version : [3.5] Help Needed With Augment Crystals



Reaper_Monkey
2009-06-13, 07:56 PM
In Brief: Does anyone know how to design Augment Crystals from scratch?

In Full: The book Magic Item Compendium introduces a new type of item, the Augment Crystal, which are very handy and offer some nice bonuses, although the list of ones available is quite small. There are also no rules of how to make more of these, and trying to backwards engineer them is next to impossible due to the wildly changing prices and power from one crystal "set" to the next.

It often seems that a crystal actually costs less than the equivalent weapon upgrade they're emulating, which is odd as they offer more advantages (does not count towards the exponential cost increase of +1 bonuses, and can be transferred onto new or your allies weapons if needed). Of cause they have their limits of only one crystal per weapon, but that's hardly counter-balancing its usefulness much.

The reason I ask this is due to the fact that my character is Large, and finding weapons which I can wield is a pain in the a:smallannoyed::smallmad::smallfurious:, but I also found a weapon enchantment that allows the weapon to be resized to any size the wielder desires (Sizing, also from Magic Item Compendium) which costs a flat base cost of 5,000gp. Having this applied to every weapon I find will be both costly and still require down time, but in a crystal it means I only need to get this once and can always use any weapon I find :smallsmile:.

But, of cause, this means working out how the hell the crystal costs are actually worked out so I can obtain one. Does anyone know/have worked out a rule, or have any other more hard and fast rulings that would work here?

Kosjsjach
2009-06-13, 08:38 PM
I don't think it's supposed to be done. Some crystals also emulate feats, or class features, or just do their own thing.

What's stopping you from buying a Medium-sized weapon, getting the Sizing property (like you said, +5000gp), and upgrading it and using crystals on it like regular folks?

Sstoopidtallkid
2009-06-13, 08:49 PM
I don't think it's supposed to be done. Some crystals also emulate feats, or class features, or just do their own thing.

What's stopping you from buying a Medium-sized weapon, getting the Sizing property (like you said, +5000gp), and upgrading it and using crystals on it like regular folks?Some DMs prefer to include loot for the players rather than the players buying and upgrading weapons on their own. Some campaigns don't have ready access to Magic Mart and must depend on defeated enemies. Some blacksmiths simply can't work a 12-ft sword.

If the property is just +5k to buy, then I'd make it the same costfor a crystal. A non+X enhancement is basically unslotted, so changing it to something that needs a slot(though an odd one) probably balances with increased versatility. Talk to your DM, of course, but same price seems fair IMHO.

Deth Muncher
2009-06-13, 10:14 PM
Some DMs prefer to include loot for the players rather than the players buying and upgrading weapons on their own. Some campaigns don't have ready access to Magic Mart and must depend on defeated enemies. Some blacksmiths simply can't work a 12-ft sword.

If the property is just +5k to buy, then I'd make it the same costfor a crystal. A non+X enhancement is basically unslotted, so changing it to something that needs a slot(though an odd one) probably balances with increased versatility. Talk to your DM, of course, but same price seems fair IMHO.

This.

It really wouldn't be all that game-breaking to have a 5k Sizing Crystal in the slightest. Hell, you could even have it as part of a miniquest for your character, with DM approval of course. Everyone loves story-loot.