PDA

View Full Version : [D&D 3.5] What magic item makes a good general gift for level 12 characters?



KillianHawkeye
2010-03-05, 05:34 PM
It's taken longer than I planned, but finally I'm about to finish my X-mas themed adventure. In the spirit of the holidays, I'm planning on having the King grant each of the PCs a gift once the BBEG has been defeated, but I'm not sure exactly what to give them and need a little help.

Are there any fairly good or useful magic items that would be useful to a 12th level character regardless of class? I'm trying to avoid having to give out personalized gifts, in part because my players tend to change from week to week. I have a couple of (vague) ideas, but I'd like to see what the playground can suggest for me. Non-item suggestions are also welcome, but so far the PCs haven't done anything with the one piece of land they've acquired, nor would most of them be interested in noble titles.

Many thanks in advance! :smallbiggrin:

Yorrin
2010-03-05, 05:40 PM
+3 Armor, +3 Weapons, +4 Ability Score Item (ie- Cloak of Cha), +3 Cloak of Resistance, just to name some universally useful stuff.

Defiant
2010-03-05, 05:42 PM
That just gave me an idea for an awesome magic item.

+4 ability-boosting item (enchantment bonus)

Takes a standard action to change what ability it boosts.

:smallbiggrin:

Jack_Simth
2010-03-05, 05:46 PM
Portable Holes, Luckstones, Third Eye Sense (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#sense) (although that one will eventually give you, the DM, a headache), almost any of the Psychoactive Skins (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#psychoactiveSkins).

Godskook
2010-03-05, 05:47 PM
Belt of Magnificence, iirc, gives +2, +4 or +6 enhancement to all stats. Price is similar to owning all 6 stat-boost items.

Belt of Battle. Everyone now has a few extra actions today, right when they need them.

Upgraded belts of healing. I homebrewed a version called potionade(In sig), but you can just keep adding charges to taste, really, at a linear cost. Especially since there's no penalty for owning more than one of them, outside of having to change them between battles.

Weapon/Armor crystals are nice, and giving them 'extras' doesn't hurt so much(as long as they don't sell them), since only one can be used per weapon/armor, leaving the spares to new party members who show up next week.

A good resource for further shopping would be this:
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19872102/Bunkos_Bargain_Basement:_Magic_Items_That_Are_a_St eal!

I almost always find useful gear there.


Finally, it would help to know what kind of budget you're working with, and how much you want to spend on individual items. If you're looking for single items worth 200k+, the advice is different than if you're looking for a 5 items per character, valued at 20k or less total.

Draz74
2010-03-05, 05:55 PM
Belt of Battle was my first thought, though it's overpowered for my tastes.

Other than that, most of my ideas are pretty cheap (but still useful) to characters that high in level:


Tome of Battle maneuver-learning items should be useful to almost anyone. Even casters love getting Rings of the Diamond Mind.
Rods of Viscid Globs
Rings of Communication
Handy Haversacks ... duh.

... I forget what else I had in mind.

ericgrau
2010-03-05, 06:08 PM
amulet of health
slippers of spider climbing

Lapak
2010-03-05, 06:16 PM
A Deck of Many Things for them to share!

Oh, wait. Probably not that one.

In terms of the generally-useful stuff, I'd go with Cloaks of Resistance. Always useful, saves them the trouble and lets them buy or make interesting things instead.

If you wanted something fun and themed, you could give them each a different Figurine of Wondrous Power.

Thrawn183
2010-03-05, 06:22 PM
Rings of Freedom of Movement. Come on, it's christmas, don't give 'em coal.

Mercenary Pen
2010-03-05, 06:31 PM
Rings of Freedom of Movement. Come on, it's christmas, don't give 'em coal.

Unless of course coal is rarer and more valuable than gold in your setting- in which case give them lots of coal.

KillianHawkeye
2010-03-05, 06:54 PM
Finally, it would help to know what kind of budget you're working with, and how much you want to spend on individual items. If you're looking for single items worth 200k+, the advice is different than if you're looking for a 5 items per character, valued at 20k or less total.

Good question! I don't have a specific value in mind, but it shouldn't be something that outshines their existing equipment. I dunno, probably nothing worth more than 30 - 50K. Maybe a +2 Tome/Manual of <Increase X Ability Score> at the most.

Ideally, I'm looking for something useful (but not extremely useful) which isn't necessarily a must-have item. In other words, not another magic sword or ring of protection, because those are the things the players (or my players, at least) focus their efforts on acquiring.



Great suggestions so far! This really helps! :smallsmile:

ericgrau
2010-03-05, 07:34 PM
In that case wondrous items are my favorite for cool effects. Here's what I found in the above price range:

Carpet of Flying (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#carpetofFlying)
Amulet of Proof against Detection and Location (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#amuletofProofagainstDetectionand Location)
Scarab of Protection (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#scarabofProtection) (SR 20, plus absorbs up to 12 energy drain, negative energy and death effects)
Ring Gates (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#ringGates) (not just for comic books!)
Crystal Ball (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#crystalBall)
Orb of Storms (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#orbofStorms) (from controlling the weather to flavorful massive damage)
Wings of Flying (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#wingsofFlying)
Cloak of Etherealness (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#cloakofEtherealness)

alisbin
2010-03-05, 08:23 PM
its a little under your budget given, but there are SO many cool things that can be done with an immovable rod that i'd suggest a set of those (5k each, so give 4 of them to someone).

Hecore
2010-03-05, 08:46 PM
A fun idea might be the Bracelet of Friends (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#braceletofFriends). The king has already pre-activated the charms, and each one will let the players call on someone to aid them in their journey. One might be a skilled archer, another a court wizard, the third a diplomat and the fourth a seasoned warrior - or any other group of people that may be useful. The summoned individuals would only stay around for a little while before returning, but it would make for an interesting item that has some utility.

Throw in a bit of gold or minor magic items so that each player gets something of their own as well, and you'll at least have a memorable reward.

KillianHawkeye
2010-03-07, 01:56 AM
Well I ended up giving them their choice of stat increase books. They seemed to really like it, since they're not the most common items, and they're nice and simple.

Thanks for everybody's suggestions!

PhoenixRivers
2010-03-07, 02:05 AM
Ring of Blinking
Ring of Invisibility
Bag of Tricks
Cube of Force