No magic items: Required Magic Items

[Fiery Diamond]

D&D is notoriously unbalanced. Leaving aside the fact that, given similar optimization levels, mundanes will never be on the same playing field as magic-users, there is also a disparity in reliance on magic items. A naked sorcerer fares much better than a barbarian with masterwork gear and nothing else, especially as you go up in level. So, to some extent, there's the idea that mundanes require magic items to function.

Suppose you were to have a campaign with the following assumption: no magic items exist except for plot and story. So you can't buy a flaming sword and boots of striding and springing, but if you slay a dragon and forge his fang into a blade you might end up with a +5 keen longsword.

The question is this: what magic items would you say are ESSENTIAL to have, simply because lacking their effects puts you way behind the curve, and how might you go about refluffing those effects as natural passive bonuses granted to characters for free as they level (as well as what level would you hand them out)? As an example, if you think stat boosters are required, what levels would you hand out free bonuses to replace the missing stat boosters in such a campaign and what would your preferred explanation be?

[Gavinfoxx]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851

[Boci]

You're gonna have to set some parameters. With the right monster and encounter selection I doubt any magical item is essential, but the DM may find himself short on variety.

[Kelb_Panthera]

The only things that are strictly -necessary- are the +X to Y bonus items.

As long as they get level appropriate improvements to saves, ac, their primary ability score, and attack bonus, they'll be fine.

The list of abilities in the previous link aren't so much necessary as -very- nice to have when you encounter the thing they are answer to.

The only time magic items of a non +X variety are necessary is if the party is facing a spellcaster with no spellcaster of their own to answer the foe's magic.

[Theomniadept]

Gotta disagree with Kelb, a lack of Healing Belts makes resting take up a lot of in-game time and may force parties to go into battle with no HP. Also, resistances and immunities to things like Mind-Affecting and Death Effects are almost necessary given 3.5's huge amount of save-or-die spells. Not to mention without True Seeing illusion spells dominate like transmutation and conjuration. And as the OP said, the party clearly has the possibility of going up against magic-using dragons.

[Kelb_Panthera]

The necessity to rely on non-magical healing is, perhaps, aggravating but it does not make the game unplayable. There are also at least two, if not more, feats that accelerate natural healing and I don't recall the OP saying there would be no spellcasters. Demanding that a cleric or bard burn slots on healing spells is, IMO, a bit rude but politely asking doesn't hurt.

The relative difficulty in replenishing hit points also tends to make players act a bit more conservatively towards risking them. This is simply different from normal, not necessarily better or worse.



Mind-affecting foes are only as common or rare as the DM makes them. Their commonality in the whole of available monsters doesn't seem to be anything resembling overwhelming. Same goes for death effects and other instant-lose condition causing effects. I won't deny that creatures with these abilities become more dangerous (probably warranting a CR increase) but they hardly make the game unplayable any more than a lack of magical healing.

[ArcanistSupreme]

The only things that are strictly -necessary- are the +X to Y bonus items.

As long as they get level appropriate improvements to saves, ac, their primary ability score, and attack bonus, they'll be fine.

Is there a table out there somewhere for suggested ranges of saves, AC, ability scores, and attack bonuses for each level?

[Crake]

You're gonna have to set some parameters. With the right monster and encounter selection I doubt any magical item is essential, but the DM may find himself short on variety.

Not true, simply make many of your encounters have NPCs who have the same constraints of mundane gear and you can have the campaign be quite varied. Sure it's humanoids they're fighting most of the time, but humanoids are an incredibly flexible and varied opponent, since they can be anything almost.

I'm actually running a game much like this at the moment, it's a cityscape game, so there's no shortage of humanoid NPCs to challenge and fight for various reasons, but I have also introduced some changes, for example wrought iron (things like fire pokers, but not steel swords) and cold iron weapons have a 50% chance to hit incorporeal just like magical weapons do, most things that have DR/magic have it be DR/magic or material of some kind, for example, gargoyles normally have DR 10/magic, but i've given them DR 10/magic or adamantine.

Basically, you'll have to make some adaptions, and some monsters will be nigh unfightable (I'm looking at you allips) but as long as you don't throw those into the mix, then you should be good.

[Boci]

Not true, simply make many of your encounters have NPCs who have the same constraints of mundane gear and you can have the campaign be quite varied. Sure it's humanoids they're fighting most of the time, but humanoids are an incredibly flexible and varied opponent, since they can be anything almost.

Yeah, but humanoids are harder to make. They take more effort and the DM is still restricted to the PCs capabilities, plus needs to take intro account how the classes he is using perform without wealth. The Dm is going to be shorter on variety than one who uses WBL.

[SinsI]

No need for magic items at all:

Druid + Vow of Powerty
Totemist/Incarnate + Vow of Powerty
Binder + Vow of Powerty.