5eNeedsDarksun
2020-12-22, 09:17 PM
I'd say my best experience as a player around magic items was in Curse of Strahd. We didn't get many items, but several of those that we did get were well beyond the power of what could normally be expected in Tier 1 and early Tier 2. They tended to be unique and interesting; we never were in a position to want to 'trade up'. Acquiring the items was memorable, and for the most part I didn't think they unbalanced the game particularly. This was I think due to items that tended to scale with character level, some of the items not being optimal for the characters that got them (though 2 were) and the lack of volume of lower powered items.
I'm prepping to DM Descent into Avernus at the moment, and I'd like to adopt much the same approach. My general thoughts are that some items remain relevant for levels 1 through 20, particularly those that provide a flat bonus, whether that be to attacks, saves, turning, or what have you; or ones that scale with character level. Ones that seem to go from overpowered to about right to not really worth it (particularly if they require attunement) are things like wands that duplicate spell effects.
So what kinds of magic items do you think meet the criteria? Things that are unique and powerful, but tend to remain about as effective through many levels?
I'm prepping to DM Descent into Avernus at the moment, and I'd like to adopt much the same approach. My general thoughts are that some items remain relevant for levels 1 through 20, particularly those that provide a flat bonus, whether that be to attacks, saves, turning, or what have you; or ones that scale with character level. Ones that seem to go from overpowered to about right to not really worth it (particularly if they require attunement) are things like wands that duplicate spell effects.
So what kinds of magic items do you think meet the criteria? Things that are unique and powerful, but tend to remain about as effective through many levels?