[3.5] Magic Items that Scale With the Wielder

[Thurbane]

So, I was thinking of whipping up a quick list of magic items that scale with the character that wields them (looking particularly for items that scale inherently, without requiring feats etc. from the character):


Domain staves (uses wielder stats for CL, DC and other effects)
Dragonlance, Greater (on a crit against an evil dragon, causes Con drain equal to wielders level)
Legacy items (obviously) [these provide their own feats]
Raiment of the Four (uses wielder's CL if better)
Runestaves (uses wielder stats for CL, DC and other effects)
Staves (uses wielder's CL if better than the staff, and also ability scores and feats for DCs)
Stunning Surge weapon quality (DC is based on character level and Cha modifier, and daily usages is based on Cha)
Sudden Stunning weapon quality (DC is based on character level and Cha modifier, and daily usages is based on Cha)


Notable mentions:


Ancestral Relic feat
Item familiar feat
Landlord feat

There must be more out there?

Cheers - T

[Doctor Despair]

Would you count Ancestral Relic or Item Familiar?

[Thurbane]

Would you count Ancestral Relic or Item Familiar?

Was thinking more about items that scale by themselves, rather than through feats, but I can mention them.

Legacy Items are kind of a special case in that regard, since they can provide the feats themselves.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Any item that is considered a "stronghold" and can be upgraded using the Landlord feat, like a Daern's instant fortress or a psychoactive skin of proteus (that can turn into a rather large building with a thought from the wearer).

[Zaq]

There's rules for "legendary weapons" in Unearthed Arcana starting on pg. 162. They scale as you take levels in a specific PrC. Unfortunately, the PrCs are effectively just blank tofu with no meaningful class features other than the (extremely underpowered) bonuses that the legendary weapons get, so there's a reason no one talks about them much.

[Anthrowhale]

I'm not sure if this is what you want, but the Channel Charge feat allows a wand/staff to use spell slots, hence the number of uses scales with the user.

[Thurbane]

Any item that is considered a "stronghold" and can be upgraded using the Landlord feat, like a Daern's instant fortress or a psychoactive skin of proteus (that can turn into a rather large building with a thought from the wearer).

OK, probably didn't make it clear in the OP: I mean items that scale "out of the box", without requiring feats or similar from the wielder.

[Anthrowhale]

OK, probably didn't make it clear in the OP: I mean items that scale "out of the box", without requiring feats or similar from the wielder.

Perhaps a Runestaff or a Domain Staff in that case? No feats are required to unlock the ability to cast progressively more powerful spells.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

OK, probably didn't make it clear in the OP: I mean items that scale "out of the box", without requiring feats or similar from the wielder.So Ancestral Relic and Item Familiar don't count, either?

[Thurbane]

So Ancestral Relic and Item Familiar don't count, either?

Correct, as I said earlier. I might put in a footnote about those kind of items though. If I do I'll include the Landlord feat.

[Doctor Despair]

Sizing weapons technically get stronger as the wielder grows larger...

[Zaile]

I like the idea. That chipped old sword passed down in a poor knight family is actually a holy avenger. The simple wooden staff found discarded in the heart of a forest is an intelligent item inhabited by an ancient druid's soul. There is a lot you can do with this idea and it offers built-in story hooks that get even the most distractible players focused on the story because you are rewarding them with evolving items.

This is especially helpful to martial types that tend to focus on one type of weapon.

Instead of coming up with dozens of new items, why not take some of the existing intelligent items, artifacts, and relics and tier their powers so players have access to more of them as they level?

Always relevant (https://np.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/2mjhz9/what_would_happen_if_an_intelligent_greatsword/cm4xnl6/)

[Saintheart]

I like the idea. That chipped old sword passed down in a poor knight family is actually a holy avenger. The simple wooden staff found discarded in the heart of a forest is an intelligent item inhabited by an ancient druid's soul. There is a lot you can do with this idea and it offers built-in story hooks that get even the most distractible players focused on the story because you are rewarding them with evolving items.

This is especially helpful to martial types that tend to focus on one type of weapon.

Instead of coming up with dozens of new items, why not take some of the existing intelligent items, artifacts, and relics and tier their powers so players have access to more of them as they level?

This indeed is the central idea in one of the last 3.5 books, Weapons of Legacy, which took the concept of an item that gets more powerful with its owner ... and completely whiffed the mechanics, saddling Legacy Weapon wielders with not-bad-but-not-good abilities and forcing the wielder to take pretty awful penalties to his saves, attack bonus, and/or hitpoints in order to unlock those abilities.

The Legacy Champion PrC in it is handy for advancing prestige classes past their notional end points, though.




EDIT: Also, there's the Dragonlance.

It's not third party because the Campaign Setting was a WOTC product. Pages 114-115 set out how the dragonlances are statted, but the Greater Dragonlance improves with its wielder in that if the wielder scores a critical hit on an evil dragon, the lance deals Constitution drain equal to the wielder's character level.

[Doctor Despair]

The Legacy Champion PrC in it is handy for advancing prestige classes past their notional end points, though.

Works pretty well for a Fiend of Possession character. Legacy Weapons can become intelligent, and intelligent items get useful special abilities. Let the Fiend possess the weapon, enhance it, and use the abilities while another party member wields it.

[Gorthawar]

At our table we rule that initiator level is part of the prerequisites for martial maneuvers to avoid all sorts of shenanigans. As a result the choice of maneuver through a crown of the white raven and similar items scales up for a little bit as long as you fulfill the other prerequisites.

[Thurbane]

I've updated the OP, and I'll continue to comb through sources for more...