Magic Item Resizing

[weckar]

So, at one point I could have sworn I read the rule (3.5) that any magical item will resize to best fit its user. Now I am in a situation where that could really come in handy, but I cannot find it at all! Did I dream this one up, or what?

Also, - specifically in the case of weapons - if it does exist; does it specifically become the user's size, or could it be larger is the user would normally use oversized weapons?

[Daefos]

Also, - specifically in the case of weapons - if it does exist; does it specifically become the user's size, or could it be larger is the user would normally use oversized weapons?

I'm also not sure where exactly the item resizing rule is, but I'm pretty sure it specifically doesn't apply to magical weapons and armour.

[Uncle Pine]

DMG 213 has a paragraph detailing how magic items and sizes work. Basically, magic items are supposed to fit everyone unless there's a good reason for them not to do that. Weapons and armors are specifically excluded and need to be used by appropriately sized creatures.

If you need to resize a weapon, look for the Sizing special ability from MIC 43 (+5,000 gp).

[rel]

Try 'size and magic items' p.213 DMG.

Damn, Ninja'd while looking it up.

[Pugwampy]

There was always a gnome player in my group or I always tossed gobo,s with magic loot . Goodies always needed resizing .

First i would make use of loopholes . A small size magic ring I would say could be worn as a necklace or a staff could be used as a wand for a medium person .

Things like boots of haste or magic weapon well cannot avoid that so I would say quarter or even half its price in gold to have an NPC town wizard resize it .

My last campaign had fairy folk resizing things for free and almost instantly and well players abused that of course .


The dark priest wore a human monk preserved in amber as a pendant .

The gnome ranger carried a balista in her pocket . Wanted the balista as an ornament for the living room. That was shrunk to the size of a hand . Naturally it was sized to normal when there was a siege .

[weckar]

Right, for some reason not a place I'd look. Figures it applies to rings and the like, but not weapons and armour.

[Vogie]

There was always a gnome player in my group or I always tossed gobo,s with magic loot . Goodies always needed resizing .

First i would make use of loopholes . A small size magic ring I would say could be worn as a necklace or a staff could be used as a wand for a medium person .

Things like boots of haste or magic weapon well cannot avoid that so I would say quarter or even half its price in gold to have an NPC town wizard resize it .

My last campaign had fairy folk resizing things for free and almost instantly and well players abused that of course .

The dark priest wore a human monk preserved in amber as a pendant .

The gnome ranger carried a balista in her pocket . Wanted the balista as an ornament for the living room. That was shrunk to the size of a hand . Naturally it was sized to normal when there was a siege .

Those all make sense, but because there are slot limits, that can get silly.

I want these two rings to be rings, and then I'll wear this one as a necklace.

[Uncle Pine]

Those all make sense, but because there are slot limits, that can get silly.

I want these two rings to be rings, and then I'll wear this one as a necklace.

You can do that even without houserules: just buy a hand of glory.

[Vogie]

You can do that even without houserules: just buy a hand of glory.

Right - because Hand of Glory is a neck slot item that happens to be able to hold a ring. It's also 8k Gold.

But you shouldn't be able to wear 2 rings, then decide ring three will be resized to a choaker, and ring 4 will be resized to a bracelet filling the wrist slot.

Edit: Also, Ring 5 is now a circlet.

Inb4 Legend of the Five Rings.

[Pugwampy]

But you shouldn't be able to wear 2 rings, then decide ring three will be resized to a choaker

Yeah its that wierd thing about being DM . I can do whatever the heck I like hey ?

I see nothing wrong with giving up your amulet space for a third ring .

[Malimar]

Yeah its that wierd thing about being DM . I can do whatever the heck I like hey ?

I see nothing wrong with giving up your amulet space for a third ring .
Sure, there's nothing wrong with it, other than the rules say a ring made for a neck slot is 1.5x as expensive and takes a different crafting feat, not to mention the possibility that rings are balanced around only being able to wear two at a time, so at the very least you need to be conscious of the fact that you're employing Rule Zero and not just inventing rules for a situation that isn't covered by them.

[Jay R]

Yeah its that wierd thing about being DM . I can do whatever the heck I like hey ?

No, no, no, no, no.

You can do whatever you think will be best for the game. Never change anything without carefully thinking it through. Especially, think about how the players will try to abuse the new rule.

Apply the Spider-Man principle - with great power comes great responsibility.

[Zanos]

Right - because Hand of Glory is a neck slot item that happens to be able to hold a ring. It's also 8k Gold.

But you shouldn't be able to wear 2 rings, then decide ring three will be resized to a choaker, and ring 4 will be resized to a bracelet filling the wrist slot.

Edit: Also, Ring 5 is now a circlet.

Inb4 Legend of the Five Rings.
You can't decide that, because magic item slot affinities are magical. You can put ten rings on your fingers and only two of them will work. Or wear a normal belt and then tie three hundred million around your body (http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/b/b8/Hennet_Sam-Wood_PHB3e.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140912004315) and still only one works. Why? Because magic.

[Vogie]

You can't decide that, because magic item slot affinities are magical. You can put ten rings on your fingers and only two of them will work. Or wear a normal belt and then tie three hundred million around your body (http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/b/b8/Hennet_Sam-Wood_PHB3e.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140912004315) and still only one works. Why? Because magic.

Says You. If your DM is Pugwampy, and he's okay with placing resized ring 3 around the neck, ring 4 around the arm and ring 5 around the head, they're no longer rings. They're an amulet, a bracer and a headband.

[Bayar]

Says You. If your DM is Pugwampy, and he's okay with placing resized ring 3 around the neck, ring 4 around the arm and ring 5 around the head, they're no longer rings. They're an amulet, a bracer and a headband.

Can they be crafted using Craft Wondrous Item? Can one resize such wondrous item to a normal ring size and wear it as a ring?

[Jay R]

According to the DMG, they can, for an additional 50% cost.

[Stealth Marmot]

So, at one point I could have sworn I read the rule (3.5) that any magical item will resize to best fit its user. Now I am in a situation where that could really come in handy, but I cannot find it at all! Did I dream this one up, or what?

Also, - specifically in the case of weapons - if it does exist; does it specifically become the user's size, or could it be larger is the user would normally use oversized weapons?

They don't normally, but it's a popular houserule that they do.

[Pugwampy]

If your DM is Pugwampy, and he's okay with placing resized ring 3 around the neck, ring 4 around the arm and ring 5 around the head, they're no longer rings. They're an amulet, a bracer and a headband

Believe me I have allowed much worse in my games . Things i regret .

The Great DM Pugwampy prophet of the dice gods is a fan of great ideas . Blank stares annoy him . People needing spoon feeding annoy him .

Lord Pug encourages players to think for creatively and out of the box . To take what is given and use it to their advantage .
If a player is dying for 3 rings at once and asks resize one as a headband , I see no problem with that . Heck i might give bonus XP for it being a cool idea . That is far more creative than selling one ring to buy a magic headband . When i cough up interesting goodies I prefer them to be used not sold .


From a balance view , how is 3 magic rings one sized up any different from two magic rings and one real magic headband ?

[Bayar]

From a balance view , how is 3 magic rings one sized up any different from two magic rings and one real magic headband ?

If the effect on the sized up ring was already available in a real magic headband, none. If not, then it would cost more to have it on a headband (guess that can be explained by the resizing cost).

Then again, magic headbands usually are made with Craft Wondrous Item, requiring Caster level 3. While Forge Ring, requires Caster Level 12. Because of the whole Tolkien thing of needing a powerful crafter to create magic rings and what-not.

[Stealth Marmot]

From a balance view , how is 3 magic rings one sized up any different from two magic rings and one real magic headband ?

Not truly gamebreaking, but the different slots have a tendency to do different things by default and certain slots had substantially more useful or powerful effects than others. I mean, what's the most powerful or useful bracer ability you can get besides armor? There aren't many. There is a reason there is a magic item cost increase due to it being in a slot not normally used for a certain ability. A headband of strength costs 50% more than a belt of strength for example.

Does it wreck your game balance if you ignore it? Not really. Especially if you limit custom magic items. I find using common sense and limiting the total number of magic items you can wear to 13 works well enough.

[jmax]

If you're in a fairly high-magic setting, and particularly if your party has access to (greater) teleport, ask your DM if there are any NPCs around with the equivalent item in the right size or body slot. Perhaps major cities' mages' guilds have "Want to Trade" bulletin boards a la Craigslist. "Want to trade: +1 freezing dagger for +2 equivalent dagger in halfling size." Your DM would be reasonable to impose delays, and you may not always be able to get exactly what you want, but if you're willing to sweeten the pot with a little gold you might be able to get something close at a far better exchange rate than selling loot for half price. In addition to size problems, it's good for switching around common items that are available for multiple body slots.

At lower levels, you could (politely) planar bind a lantern archon and hire it to serve as a personal shopping assistant. Self-only greater teleport at will, and it can carry 50 pounds of objects. Give it your Craigslist post on a nice sheet of parchment marked with your personal seal and have it jump from guild to guild and shop to shop looking for someone interested in making an appropriate trade. Better yet, make lots of copies and leave one in each location. If your DM likes the idea, suggest it as a vector to justify the DM providing additional equipment options throughout the game. It could also be a great way for the PCs to meet new peers.

Note: If you actually give it the item in question to carry around, there's a possibility your archon will get mugged. But archons are incarnations of pure law and good, so they should never cheat you! (The merchants are another story.)

I've found the personal shopping assistant to be a great way to justify in-game the DMG suggestion that, in general, players should be able to find whatever magic item they want of an appropriate value for the local municipality. Of course, it does logically extend that "local" becomes irrelevant. I also love the idea of little balls of light popping in and out of shops all over the continent working as brokers on behalf of good-aligned adventurers.

Your DM may find this simplifies the placing of treasure by removing the need to worry about whether the PCs will sell an item you expected them to keep (or vice versa) and thereby alter wealth-by-level in a way you don't expect. And of course the DM retains full authority to say "nobody is willing to make that trade regardless of on-paper gold prices" or "that item just isn't available for trade". And if the PCs abuse this too much, the DM can declare that the lantern archons have unionized and will no longer work for employers who don't pay a fair wage :smallbiggrin:

[Stealth Marmot]

If you're in a fairly high-magic setting, and particularly if your party has access to (greater) teleport, ask your DM if there are any NPCs around with the equivalent item in the right size or body slot. Perhaps major cities' mages' guilds have "Want to Trade" bulletin boards a la Craigslist.
Magelist! I love it.

[jmax]

Magelist! I love it.

I am totally stealing that name. Thanks!

[Stealth Marmot]

I am totally stealing that name. Thanks!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBPbvMS8Wz0