Houserule: attuned magic items

[Zombimode]

One flaw of the way magic items are set up that has bothered me for some time is the relative uselessness of effects of magic items that allow a saving throw.
I'm not talking about scrolls, wands etc. Those are fine (as you can pick spells that allow no save, or where the save is largely irrelevant).

I'm talking about magic items with predefined effects that just happen to allow a save. Often these effect interact with the enemy in some way or are on the flashy side of things.
That is to say they are items that I would like to use as a player and would like to see more often (or at all) and give out as treasure as a GM. But since the save DCs are so low, these items come off as quite underwhelming.


I'm toying with an idea for a houserule to make them a bit more appealing: Attunement for magic items.

Effect:
- save DCs against effects of the items are based of half character level + ability mod of a chosen mental ability OR
- half char level + ability mod of any chosen ability
- OR ....?

Availability:
- fixed at one attuned item OR
- using the general number of soulmelds progression
- OR ....?


Comments? Do you like the idea?
Or is this a bad idea? If so, why?

[NOhara24]

I think it's a great idea, but your formula may need tweaking. You could always calculate the save the traditional way. 10 + Spell Level + Spellcasting stat modifier, if the item itself casts a spell of some kind.

Otherwise, just be selective when you give a magical item the "attuned" attribute, there's no way to know what specific magical items become horribly broken when sweeping rules adjustments like this are made.

[Zombimode]

10 + Spell Level + Spellcasting stat modifier Thats how the DCs are normally calculatet. And since the stat modifier is based on the Minimum score necessary to cast the spell in question, the DCs for effects based on low Level spells are very low.

Or do you mean using the characters stat mod that is using the item? Then which stat should be used?
I'm reluctant to specify a stat since that would just favor certain character types over others.

You could key types of item to specific stats. Like weapon effects are based on Str or Dex, armor and shield abilities are based on Con, other "martial" items could also based on physical stats, while other item types are based on mental stats.

I'm just pondering ideas here.


Otherwise, just be selective when you give a magical item the "attuned" attribute, there's no way to know what specific magical items become horribly broken when sweeping rules adjustments like this are made.

Yes, that is a good point :smallsmile:

[Khedrac]

It's certainly an area worth exploration, I tend to avoid items with save DCs simply because they are so low.

That said, an item usable pretty much at will with a low DC can be useful - someone is going to roll a 1 at some point, but a lot of the weapon abilities are 3/day or similar - and with a DC of 14-ish there is simply no point once one reaches the levels where the item is affordable.
I think the limited use per day items are in more need of assistance than others - perhaps either only they should get the boost or they should get a larger boost?

[NOhara24]

Or do you mean using the characters stat mod that is using the item? Then which stat should be used?
I'm reluctant to specify a stat since that would just favor certain character types over others.

You could key types of item to specific stats. Like weapon effects are based on Str or Dex, armor and shield abilities are based on Con, other "martial" items could also based on physical stats, while other item types are based on mental stats.

I'm just pondering ideas here.



That's exactly what i'm saying - use the player's stat mod who is using the item.

[Zaq]

That's exactly what i'm saying - use the player's stat mod who is using the item.

This is both good and bad. If the intent is to increase the power of these items (and that does certainly seem to be the intent), then why would we want to disproportionately benefit casters (who have high spellcasting stats and who don't really need much out of their items that they couldn't get already) more than non-casters? Applying the houserule as you present it would indeed make save-based items more useful for some characters, but it very much would not do that for other characters. I suppose it's not nothing, but I feel like we can do better.

The way 3.5 is set up, I do completely understand that it's kind of sketchy to try to apply a blanket "just use your highest/primary stat, it's cool" rule across the board. Some stats are easier to pump than others, and there isn't a good definition for "primary stat" the way there is in, say, 4e or Legend. And if a character is unusually dedicated to boosting one specific stat, there can be some seriously lopsided results, and this rule would (perhaps inadvertently) reward that, which is possibly not a very good thing. So simply using your highest stat is going to introduce a different set of issues. But I feel like it's not really going to be an improvement to always tie it to the usual spellcasting stat specifically because the greatest benefit goes to the characters who need it the least.

[martixy]

Hm. You are definitely onto something here.

It can either be gated behind a feat, or possibly as a UMD-related skill trick.
Me, I'd put it as a skill trick, just because UMD has no associated tricks.

As far as stats go... highest mental stat seems reasonable. Mental stats are much harder to boost to unreasonable levels than physical stats.