Custom and variant Magic Items from my campaign. Balance not guaranteed. [PEACH]

[Shark Uppercut]

Weapon Charms and Armor Badges.
This is pretty basic, I wouldn't be surprised if other DMs have done the same. It's basically required if a character wants to keep using the same non-magic, non-masterwork weapon they started with, and not enchant it.
Make the enchantment into a thing you put on the weapon. It costs as much as adding another +1 to a weapon or armor normally would.
Each weapon has 1 slot for a charm, armor 1 slot for a badge. E.g:

Volcanic Death Weapon Charm, 2,000g. (Flaming weapon quality)
A palm-sized rat skull, eyes glow like embers, gives off faint amount of heat and smoke. Strung up on a blackened leather strap. Gives the weapon +1d6 fire damage.


Last Stand Armor Badge, 30,000g. (Pathfinder Determination armor quality)
Silver, with a sun and eight rays of light. Once a day, Breath of Life CL10 when wearer drops below 0 hp.


I also toyed around with the idea of weapons that activate a spell every time they crit. It's already a thing with 'Burst' weapons, but I wanted a system that would accept any offensive spell. I also threw in the idea that armor or shields could cast a beneficial spell on you every time an attacking enemy rolled a nat 1.
The quickest thing I could come up with was, +1 for lvl 0 or 1 spells, +2 for lvl2 spell and +3 for lvl3 spells.

In other words, a +4 sword is balanced against a +1 sword that casts Cure Serious Wounds CL7 on you when you crit.
Or +4 armor vs +1 armor that casts Cure Serious when an enemy rolls a natural 1.


Then I went crazy, and made rules for weapons that cast a spell every time they hit someone. Or armor that casts a spell every time someone misses you. Obviously, they would have to be much more expensive to be balanced. So it would go like,
+3 for lvl 0 or 1 spells and +5 for lvl2 spells.

Result: A +1 Longbow that automatically casts Summon Nature's Ally 1 CL1 every time it hits someone is a +4 weapon.
But these are pretty rough ideas.

New Weapon Enhancements:
Loner-Bane. (+1 enhancement) Is a Bane weapon against anyone without combat allies within 60ft. Someone is a "combat ally" if they are conscious, and have a present desire to help the victim. If a bodyguard doesn't know their master is being attacked, they don't count.
All-Bane (+1 enhancement) This weapon has no special effect until it is washed in a creature’s blood or essence. Afterwards, it is a Bane weapon attuned to that creature type or subtype, until it is washed in blood again.

This is just something I made to see if I could.
Master Assassin’s Crossbow: Glamered Shadowy +1 Loner-Bane Merciful Hand Crossbow, 24,850g.
Can transform to look like any small handheld item about a foot long. Gives wielder +5 Stealth, Bane is for anyone without combat allies within 60ft. When Merciful, bolts can be easily removed and don’t leave bloody wounds, just bruises.



My "Dota is so cool" stealth and counter-stealth consumables:
Smoke of Deceit, 750g. Basically an Oil of Invisibility Sphere CL5. Yes, this oil affects multiple people.
Dust of Appearance 2.0, 750g. Throwable as a Glitterdust CL3 grenade, or gently shaken out as Glitterdust CL3 without the ability to blind.

And just in general, it's fun to generate offensive potions. You can drink a potion of Haste, why not throw a potion of Slow at your enemies?
Balance-wise, I'm uncertain if a multi-target spell should still affect multiple targets when it's a potion.


In a low-level campaign that wants to avoid character death, healing and buffing potions are important. So much that I decided to give them away at double the rate! For free!
Well no, not really. Take any potion that characters are probably going to use a lot of. Swap it for a bottle with two specially salted leeches. Consuming a leech counts as drinking the potion, but also does 1 Constitution damage. E.g:

Bottle with a pair of salted leeches that suckled a Swamp Drake (Potion of Resist Acid CL3), 300g.
Slightly acidic to the touch, do 1 Constitution damage. Grown in the Great Swamp.

If your loot table has too many potions, you can get a lot of mileage from refluffing.
A 25g potion of Stabilize is actually a magical bandage. A Virtue potion is a magic fortune cookie.


My "What god's Cleric made this Potion of Cure Light Wounds?" table. Because every potion should have marks from its manufacturer, holy symbols, probably a cool bottle shape too.
Obviously, refluff as required. Roll a d53.
1-3 Zeus
4 Hera
5 Heracles
6-7 Poseidon
8-9 Hades
10 Hermes
11-12 Apollo
13-15 Artemis
16 Athena
17 Aphrodite
18 Ares
19-20 Dionysus

21-23 Odin
24-25 Thor
26 Baldur
27 Aegir and Ran
28 Frey
29-31 Freya
32 Heindallr
33-34 Hel
35-36 Loki
37 Njord
38 Skadi
39-40 Tyr
41 Surt / fire Jotuns
42 Thrym / frost Jotuns
43 Utgard-Loki / mountain Jotuns

44-48 Someone who worships angels in general
49-53 Someone who worships demons in general


Similarly, my "Whose Cleric made this Incense of Meditation?" table. Roll a d4.
Aesir/Vanir incenses are usually alpine, woodsy or ocean-spray scents. Brown, red or metallic wax/incense melted onto an animal tooth or horn.

Olympian incenses are usually citrus, lemony or mahogany scents. Several bundled bundled turquoise, green or yellow sticks.

Demon lords / Abyss worship incenses are usually spiced, if not sulfurous, mildewy or rotten scents.

Angel executives / Heaven worship incenses are usually flowery or fruity scents or frankincense and myrrh. Cylindrical candles or crumbled potpourri.


I also make variant Riding Dogs and Heavy Warhorses, because I wanted animals that aren't animal companions to have some personality. And yes, they do have minor magic powers. Will post them later when I have time.

Lastly, I have races too. They're not that important because they're somewhat customized for my campaign world's backstory. I added and subtracted until everything had around 10 race points.

Dwarves don't have Hardy. Defensive Training and Hatred are keyed to Dragons. Like gnomes they have minor SLA's if their Cha is 11, they get Know Direction, Mending and Resistance.

Elf Magic only gives +1 to beat SR, but also gives +1 to fire magic DCs. Like gnomes they have minor SLA's if their Cha is 11, they get Flare, Light and Purify Food and Drink.

Drow have Fire Vulnerability instead of Light Blindness, 60ft Darkvision, no Poison Use or SR.

"Orcs" and "Half-orcs" use Tiefling stats, because they drank demonic blood and I recycle from Warcraft, sue me. All 10 races of PF Tiefling exist, they're the 10 orc tribes. Also +2 Survival.

Gnolls get Scent, and since it's PF we don't have to worry about Monstrous Humanoid racial HD.

[noob]

You know dust of appearance existed in warcraft 3 before being in dota(the reason why dota took the dust of appearance was that it was at first a warcraft 3 mod).

[Shark Uppercut]

Um, thanks for the trivia?

Anyway. There are a few items I designed that would actually be able to grow with the characters.
For example, a sword that functions as a +1 weapon for a 1st level character, a +2 for a level3 character, and so on. The sticking point is that it has be have a constant price.
Here's the best I've come up with. (These are designed for characters stopping at lvl13)

Power Armor Badge 11,000g. A weathered adamantine shield. Gives the armor an enhancement bonus of +1 per 2.5 levels, rounding up to at least +1, maximum +5.

Oblivion Grimoire 18,000g.You can cast Summon Monster N 1/day as a standard action, where N is the highest level spell a Wizard of your level could cast.

Power Weapon Charm 22,000g. Tiny adamantine sword on a leather strap. Gives the weapon an enhancement bonus of +1 per 2.5 levels, rounding up to at least +1, maximum +5.


The weapon charms aren't meant to be obscure enchantments, they're supposed to be tactical choices. Switch between Flaming and Frost and Shock charms to deal with regeneration. Put on the Ghost Touch charm for wraiths. Use the Merciful charm if someone's being Dominated.
Likewise, the armor badges are supposed to be tactical. Use the Glamered badge for fancy social situations. Use Energy Resistance badges for elemental enemies. Use the Power badge as a safe default.


Now about those animals I mentioned. Specifically Riding dogs, Heavy warhorses and Nightsabres. Why did I pick them?

Riding Dogs are awesome. A lvl1 character buying a riding dog is making better investment that any follower or hireling. They become cannon fodder eventually, but you're not supposed to use them at lvl7. They are your dungeon survival buddies from level 1-4.
Heavy Warhorses are a prime part of Fantasy D&D. Magic, intelligent horses are awesome, but pretty much nonexistent in the rules.
Nightsabres use Lion stats. They are straight-up stolen from the Night Elf mounts in WoW. Feel free to ignore them if you don't like WoW. As a pet lion, they're only appropriate after about lvl5, probably becoming cannon fodder at lvl10.


And before your talk about Druids and Cavaliers... You shouldn't have to be a class with an Animal Companion or Mount class feature to have a cool animal by your side. Disney princess are not all Druids.

So how are they special?
First, the NPC trainers that breed them raise them with an intense training regimen. Guard dogs lose Skill Focus (Perception) and gain a feat randomly chosen by the DM. Likewise, Heavy Warhorses and Nightsabres lose Run and gain a random feat. Additionally, they gain 4 ranks to put in a random skill, which becomes a class skill.
Yes, a horse can have a Knowledge skill at 4 ranks, -4 Int, +3 Class skill = +3 total. They can't communicate with their rider, but they can still react to important things they find out.

This training alone doubles their normal price. Guard dogs now cost 150g, Heavy warhorses are 300g, Nightsabres are 600g. While we're at it, given them 3 Int instead of 2. It won't give more skills, but it justifies them using Int-based skills slightly, and guarantees they know a little Common.

Then comes the magical augmentations. Basically, they have permanent magical effects. Each effect increases the price by 10-50%.

If it helps, here are some examples. Assume that other than the swapped feat, extra skill, and magic buffs, they use the Bestiary stats of Guard Dogs, Heavy Warhorses and Lions.

Brutus, 345g. Guard dog bred by Boggards in the Great Swamp. Muddy brown mastiff, messy eater, licks you a lot. Anytime he’s poisoned, effects kick in 3 hours later, as Delay Poison. Feat is Great Fortitude. Stealth +9

Calisto, 472g. Guard dog, Athenian Magehound. White husky, very good mannered. Water seems to evaporate off her instantly. Has Bear’s Endurance +4, Shield of Faith +2, pet or scratch her to give Guidance for a minute. Feat is Toughness. Swim +9

Penny, 567g. Guard dog, Bugatti Greyhound. Lean and shivery, whimpers when nervous, which happens often. Has constant Water Walking and Water Breathing, pet or scratch him to receive Guidance for a minute. Feat is Weapon Focus Bite. Intimidate +5

Whisper, 897g. Heavy Warhorse, specially bred by Lynx Catfolk in the north. Dusky white and skittish. Her mane seems to get everywhere, especially in your eyes and mouth. Has Owl’s Wisdom +4 and Darkvision 60ft. Feat is Weapon Focus Hooves. Spellcraft +3.

Hextooth, 4,719g. Nightsabre with rippled jade fur. Confident in combat, eats her kills, protests violently if you take then away. Fangs glow a sickly lime green. Has Bear’s Endurance +4, teeth have Keen Edge and Exhaust on hit, as Ray of Exhaustion. She can lick your face to Stabilize you. Feat is Natural Moves. Knowledge Nature +3.

[rferries]

Um, thanks for the trivia?

Anyway. There are a few items I designed that would actually be able to grow with the characters.
For example, a sword that functions as a +1 weapon for a 1st level character, a +2 for a level3 character, and so on. The sticking point is that it has be have a constant price.
Here's the best I've come up with. (These are designed for characters stopping at lvl13)

Power Armor Badge 11,000g. A weathered adamantine shield. Gives the armor an enhancement bonus of +1 per 2.5 levels, rounding up to at least +1, maximum +5.

Oblivion Grimoire 18,000g.You can cast Summon Monster N 1/day as a standard action, where N is the highest level spell a Wizard of your level could cast.

Power Weapon Charm 22,000g. Tiny adamantine sword on a leather strap. Gives the weapon an enhancement bonus of +1 per 2.5 levels, rounding up to at least +1, maximum +5.


The weapon charms aren't meant to be obscure enchantments, they're supposed to be tactical choices. Switch between Flaming and Frost and Shock charms to deal with regeneration. Put on the Ghost Touch charm for wraiths. Use the Merciful charm if someone's being Dominated.
Likewise, the armor badges are supposed to be tactical. Use the Glamered badge for fancy social situations. Use Energy Resistance badges for elemental enemies. Use the Power badge as a safe default.


Now about those animals I mentioned. Specifically Riding dogs, Heavy warhorses and Nightsabres. Why did I pick them?

Riding Dogs are awesome. A lvl1 character buying a riding dog is making better investment that any follower or hireling. They become cannon fodder eventually, but you're not supposed to use them at lvl7. They are your dungeon survival buddies from level 1-4.
Heavy Warhorses are a prime part of Fantasy D&D. Magic, intelligent horses are awesome, but pretty much nonexistent in the rules.
Nightsabres use Lion stats. They are straight-up stolen from the Night Elf mounts in WoW. Feel free to ignore them if you don't like WoW. As a pet lion, they're only appropriate after about lvl5, probably becoming cannon fodder at lvl10.


And before your talk about Druids and Cavaliers... You shouldn't have to be a class with an Animal Companion or Mount class feature to have a cool animal by your side. Disney princess are not all Druids.

So how are they special?
First, the NPC trainers that breed them raise them with an intense training regimen. Guard dogs lose Skill Focus (Perception) and gain a feat randomly chosen by the DM. Likewise, Heavy Warhorses and Nightsabres lose Run and gain a random feat. Additionally, they gain 4 ranks to put in a random skill, which becomes a class skill.
Yes, a horse can have a Knowledge skill at 4 ranks, -4 Int, +3 Class skill = +3 total. They can't communicate with their rider, but they can still react to important things they find out.

This training alone doubles their normal price. Guard dogs now cost 150g, Heavy warhorses are 300g, Nightsabres are 600g.

Then comes the magical augmentations. Basically, they have permanent magical effects. Each effect increases the price by 10-50%.

If it helps, here are some examples. Assume that other than the swapped feat, extra skill, and magic buffs, they use the Bestiary stats of Guard Dogs, Heavy Warhorses and Lions.

Brutus, 345g. Guard dog bred by Boggards in the Great Swamp. Muddy brown mastiff, messy eater, licks you a lot. Anytime he’s poisoned, effects kick in 3 hours later, as Delay Poison. Feat is Great Fortitude. Stealth +9

Calisto, 472g. Guard dog, Athenian Magehound. White husky, very good mannered. Water seems to evaporate off her instantly. Has Bear’s Endurance +4, Shield of Faith +2, pet or scratch her to give Guidance for a minute. Feat is Toughness. Swim +9

Penny, 567g. Guard dog, Bugatti Greyhound. Lean and shivery, whimpers when nervous, which happens often. Has constant Water Walking and Water Breathing, pet or scratch him to receive Guidance for a minute. Feat is Weapon Focus Bite. Intimidate +5

Whisper, 897g. Heavy Warhorse, specially bred by Lynx Catfolk in the north (897) Dusky white and skittish. Her mane seems to get everywhere, especially in your eyes and mouth. Has Owl’s Wisdom +4 and Darkvision 60ft. Feat is Weapon Focus Hooves. Spellcraft +3.

Hextooth, 4,719g. Nightsabre with rippled jade fur. Confident in combat, eats her kills, protests violently if you take then away. Fangs glow a sickly lime green. Has Bear’s Endurance +4, teeth have Keen Edge and Exhaust on hit, as Ray of Exhaustion. She can lick your face to Stabilize you. Feat is Natural Moves. Knowledge Nature +3.

I love the character you've given everything here and in the first post - that delicious flavour! What system is this for?

[Shark Uppercut]

Pathfinder, but I sometimes rip 3.5 material if PF hasn't been given a equivalent to something in 3.5.
Mind you, most of the power creep in Pathfinder is class-based, not item-based, so using these in a 3.5 game would probably be ok.

(Edited some typos and stuff.)

[noob]

A one time per day summon monster object is worth 16200 gold when casting summon monster 5 then worth 23760 gold when casting summon monster 6 then worth 32760 gold when casting summon monster 7.(after that the party stops progressing at level 13)(all that with the dmg pricing rules)
So if compared to the dmg this book have approximatively the right price in the hands of someone of level 9 then it gets better and better compared to its price.

[Shark Uppercut]

16,200g.
23,760g.
32,760g.
I did the math. I know.

In fact, those items are priced for a non-Epic13 game, while still having scaling calibrated for Epic13. If anything they should be cheaper.
But price doesn't matter too much.
Once the PCs reach 9-13, having an extra 10k 'worth' of magic item isn't that useful if it still only activates once a day.
NPCs that are level 9-13 have no concrete WBL, because most of them get fat monthly salaries from the government for being extremely powerful killers and can temporarily requisition items.

Also, currently the cheapest way to get a high level spell onto a magic item is CL x spell level x 1,800, then divide by 5 if it's a single use per day. Would restricting it to 1/three days or 1/week be worth an extra discount?