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View Full Version : Wanted: cool item ideas for lvl 6 party [3.5]



unimaginable
2010-07-24, 10:05 PM
I've just taken over in a rotating DM game, and the PCs are currently way behind in expected wealth by level. Previous DM had his chapter entirely take place inside the mind of a powerful creature and had us gain two levels without giving us any money or items whatsoever. Party is now lvl 5 and needs some goddamn loot. Now I'm in charge, and loot there shall be.

I've already given a chunk of petty cash (1200 gold) and a handful of so-so items (amulet of natural armour, ring of protection, +1 greataxe and +1 chain shirt) from a nothing combat to start off the campaign. At this point, I can afford to give each individual PC somewhere in the area of 10,000 worth of equipment, spread across the next several sessions. I figure the bulk of that ought to be one really awesome, flavourful item per character, spread out just enough to make it not seem like utter handouts.

So... anyone got any ideas for items newbies with lvl 5 characters would cream their pants over, but which wouldn't be too overpowered?

Need items for the following characters:

A half-orc battle sorcerer, barbarian by trade if not by class. Has an affinity for machinery (previous DM gave her a steam-powered chainsaw). Would generally like to get better at killing things.

A monk. Was a fighter, had a transcendent experience during the last chapter, rebuilt as a monk. He asked to be allowed to use "his father's greatsword" as a monk weapon, and monks are underpowered enough that I didn't object.

A do-goody druid who likes healing people and always tries to prevent things from getting violent before joining in anyway.

Brief notes on the chapter as I have it sketched out:
Party is currently on the material plane, but has spent time in Sigil and Baator. They arrive to find a town greatly increasing its defences due to threat of attack from the North; doing so has caused conflict with a nearby group of druids, the Circle from which the party druid originally hails, due to the chopping down of trees to build walls. Party tries to resolve conflict, druids accuse them of arrogance and suggest they prove themselves by resolving a "real" moral dillema. Portal opens to the Beastlands.

In the Beastlands, an Obyrith escaped from the Abyss has gone into hiding and is being hunted by Tanar'ri. Eladrin show up to fight back the Tanar'ri and prevent their expansion in the plane, but their methods of fighting the demons are upsetting the local ecosystem in a way which will almost certainly kill one specific Fey, a Glaistig who can't leave her pond, and who is well liked in the Fey community for her beautiful voice; while they know that the Eladrin mean well, they cannot abide their actions leading to her death. PCs show up and have to try to resolve some of that mess in any of a number of ways. Tanar'ri, Fey, Eladrin and a human kingdom roughly based on Medieval England are all, therefore, possible sources of items, via gifts, loot, theft, etc.

Also, any thoughts on that convoluted mess of plot, or pointers for where I might find good inspiration would be appreciated. :smallsmile:

unimaginable
2010-07-24, 10:13 PM
Hm, should've posted this in Roleplaying Games. Oops... hope it gets some replies anyway. Would a mod mind moving it? Thanks. :smallsmile:

Ajadea
2010-07-24, 11:33 PM
+1 merciful something or other (scimitar?) of purple prose-covered lore-y goodness for the druid maybe.

How about an item that lets the sorcerer rage 1/day? She's already about an inch away from being a barbarian.

The monk...not sure. Bonus feats? Maybe a dream gives him back two of the fighter bonus feats he once had.

Violet Octopus
2010-07-25, 12:05 AM
How about an item that lets the sorcerer rage 1/day? She's already about an inch away from being a barbarian.
Except rage prevents spellcasting. The Spell Rage mechanic that Complete Warrior's Rage Mage gets doesn't do the trick either.

But some kind of altered rage mechanic could work, e.g. +2 to Cha instead of +4 to Con, can only cast conjuration, transmutation, necromancy or evocation spells, fatigued as normal, restricted skill use as normal (except Concentration and Spellcraft?)

Alternately, something that lets the sorcerer quicken a spell 1/day (or 1/X caster levels) for no cost as part of a full-attack action. Spellgauntlets or something.

For the druid, maybe a symbiotic prehensile vine that grafts to the forearm and grants extra reach for their healing spells and any other touch spell that requires a willing target. Extra 10 feet, maybe.

For the monk, yeah, perhaps fighter bonus feats. A headband or diadem that grants Blind Fight and Improved Initiative. Or something else that ties into the monk's spiritual awakening.

DracoDei
2010-07-25, 12:16 AM
Well, I have a few cool ideas, but none of them are particularly suited to those characters I don't think (although one of them really depends more on the player)...

A belt that grants strength 24 or more (not a bonus, flat raise to a score, like they had in 2nd edition)... but only in parts of the body that are moving veeeeerrryyyy sllooooowwwwwwwlllllllyyyyyyyyyyy. Drawing a bow would be a full round action, although nothing would stop you from walking around (clumsily due to stance) with it drawn. Good for lifting up portcullises moving heavy furniture around and maybe bear-hugging treasure chests until they crack open. This encourages creative thinking, and solving problems like an engineer, rather than always just hitting things with sharp objects or setting them on fire.


Have one of the outsiders they encounter be wearing a belt with a padlock incorporated into the front of the buckle... the padlock has nothing to do with putting on or taking off the belt, and the key is on a short chain that is also welded to the buckle. When the lock is closed, the wearer is under a Dimensional Anchor effect (useful for outsiders wanting to avoid Banishment/Dismissal). This is very thematic treasure, and should have a high GP value, but isn't ESPECIALLY useful to most parties with the way most GMs run their games (Banishing party members raiding other dimensions splits the party if it works).

Jallorn
2010-07-25, 12:27 AM
I would recommend original magic items if you're willing to risk a slight increase to their effective power. Make it something that could have more uses than you'd expect and you've given them something interesting that they need to figure out as well as made them more effective. Now this is better when tailored to a characters less obvious abilities and in some way related to their story, and a lot harder than it first sounds. Some less interesting ideas include a weapon for the Sorcerer through which he can channel certain spells, a cord/ cloth gauntlet that allows the Monk to use his Greatsword as a reach weapon as a standard action (and makes it so that he can't be disarmed), and one of my better ideas is an item of some kind (staff, wand, orb, etc.) that makes weapons a hundred times heavier within a certain area for a period of time. Essentially disarming everyone for a while.

unimaginable
2010-07-25, 12:47 AM
How about an item that lets the sorcerer rage 1/day? She's already about an inch away from being a barbarian.She actually used to be a barbarian/sorc multiclass until I took over as DM and convinced him (the player) to rebuild as Battle Sorc to make her better at both combat and spellcasting. Barb/sorc multiclass just doesn't work that well.

Hm... maybe an item that can be activated to cast the spell Rage once per day? She's often in a situation where she wants to slaughter people but has trouble getting others to go along with it, so having a spell which causes others to rage is just awesome. The player is pretty reasonable and I don't think he'd abuse it to ruin the other players' autonomy.

Oh, by the way, one of the main antagonists is going to be a steam-punk, mad-scientist style Eladrin; he's the one causing problems for the Fey, because he's tinkering with a device to bring in an excess of Positive energy to help in healing for the Eladrin against the demons. So he can have any sort of fancy machinery, especially anything related to energy types.

A couple of my original ideas for items were to have an archery thing from both sides in the Eladrin/Fey conflict, but that was for the rogue PC whose player had to quit the gaming group because he won't be in town much (it was going to be an enchanted bowstring from the Fey that could eventually be strung onto the antlers of the White Stag for a totally awesome bow, but still be good in the meantime, or something like Bracers of Archery from the Eladrin. I could still have something like that, but let a different character have it instead...). Also, for the monk, my initial thought was a magical scarf that could allow him to deliver unarmed attacks at reach, and possibly also grant some kind of rudimentary/hard to control flight type thing... but he seems to like using a greatsword for weapon, so I think I need something new.

Thanks everyone for the ideas so far -- keep 'em coming! :smallsmile: