Need ideas for a magic item for my new player

[Regissoma]

So I am once again getting a new player to D&D in the campaign I am running, and the group is quite optimized for what they do. This new player wants to try being a ranger and I was able to convince them to atleast go as a swift hunter so she doesn't fall too far behind everyone else. However, I fear since she is still new that I would give her a magic item(can be made to be a custom item) for her character to keep up with everyone else. What should I make that magic item be and do?



Dragonblooded Human(crafter/buffer) plans to go into sublime chord
Artificer 5/Bard 4

Dwarf
Crusader 9

Gnome
Rogue 5/Assassin 4

Strongheart Halfling and Warforge(brothers playing together; Warforge is the halfings mount)
Halfling: Warblade 9 going warbow
Warforged: Dungeon Crasher Fighter 6/Warforged Juggernaut 3

[Nibbens]

So I am once again getting a new player to D&D in the campaign I am running, and the group is quite optimized for what they do. This new player wants to try being a ranger and I was able to convince them to atleast go as a swift hunter so she doesn't fall too far behind everyone else. However, I fear since she is still new that I would give her a custom magic item for her character to keep up with everyone else. What should I make that magic item be and do?



Dragonblooded Human(crafter/buffer) plans to go into sublime chord
Artificer 5/Bard 4

Dwarf
Crusader 9

Gnome
Rogue 5/Assassin 4

Strongheart Halfling and Warforge(brothers playing together; Warforge is the halfings mount)
Halfling: Warblade 9 going warbow
Warforged: Dungeon Crasher Fighter 6/Warforged Juggernaut 3

The thing I don't understand is the "custom." Why would you make it custom? Why not just give him an equivalent of Magic Items (just basic stuff +3 armor, +2 weapons and whatnot) to even him out with the other party members.

[Lightlawbliss]

if you really want custom, you might do something like an intelligent item that casts a situational spell or two a few times a day. That would also allow you to introduce/suggest some ideas to him he might not know exist without breaking immersion.

[Vogonjeltz]

Energy Bow for ranged attacks

[Gildedragon]

Look at Weapoms of Legacy, ignore the payments outside of cash, look at the handbook (more complete list) make something cool that fits their chosen fighting style
Get the fella bane-fierce bane returning morphing shuriken keyed to each creature type, shape them into daggers, sheathing is clear, ranger becomes more effective
Crown of white ravens variants

[Regissoma]

Sorry about that I meant to say that it can be a magic item and that I wouldn't mind if it were to be a custom magic item. It has been a very tiring day at work so I wasn't thinking straight. So far liking the ideas everyone has mention thanks guys, and feel free to keep suggesting ideas. I like to give my players a nice few choices between a few items if I am giving them one.

[Trasilor]

Hank's energy bow...for a ranged swift-hunter.

On a side note - I didn't think the swift-hunter build was that powerful.

What about the ranger does the player like? Perhaps a refluffed swordsage

[Regissoma]

She likes to play ranged characters, and just wanted to do something basic for her first character. So I started mentioning a few classes that had ranged attack options like a ranged fighter, the ranger, and warlocks; however, she was drawn to the ranger and well thats what we are going with.

[Cyrion]

What's the general flavor of the campaign and encounters? If the party is going to be running into a lot of evil creatures, I've found that a holy bane (usually evil outsiders because they're often reasonably common) bow can be very useful (though having both holy and bane may be a bit out of reach at 9th level). Coupled with some reasonable choices for feats that should result in some very significant damage output in many of the encounters. It will allow her to be effective but also still have some holes that she'll discover and search for ways to fix in future characters.

[fishyfishyfishy]

Magic Item Compendium is your friend. There are dozens of cool items a swift hunter could make use of. The Chronocharm of the Horizon Walker is especially nice to trigger skirmish.

Personally I would give her a bag of quals feather tokens (make sure there are several tree tokens) and let her figure it out from there. You'd be surprised how many problems can be solved by conjuring up a tree.

[Regissoma]

Thanks for the help everyone, it seems she wants a tripped out bow(weapon of legacy).