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Bassikpoet
2008-04-22, 01:27 AM
I just started DMing an Eberron campaign. My plan is to introduce a single item for each character that scales with the level of the character that wields it. (something along the lines of weapons of legacy but without the debilitating penalties) The thing is I need advice on just what those items should be. I want to stick to things that are not too far out there power wise but will be just powerful enough to make the players want to to keep them.

Here are the characters and ideas I have for each so far

Valenar Favored Soul focusing on combat enhancing spells and healing. (I want to give her a Valenar double scimitar, being that that is her religion's favored weapon. furthermore, I want it to be the weapon of an ancestor.)

Warforged Barbarian (I have no real ideas but a docent might be cool)

Halfling rogue using two handcrossbows (maybe a pair of crossbows)

Changeling dread necromancer with a kukri (I dont want anything intellegent for him, because he already has an imp that talks back to him.)

Any advice would be helpful. If anyone feels like being industrious, level by level progression (starting at 5) would be fantastic.

Sstoopidtallkid
2008-04-22, 02:32 AM
BoED has an Ancestral Relic (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Ancestral_Relic,BE) feat that would allow them to basically add effects to their gear as they leveled up, using their normal WBL. I'd just give them the feat free and call it a day. You may also just hand-wave away the time spent, reducing it to a day or eliminating it altogether, but it seems similar to what you want.

Kazuel
2008-04-22, 04:45 AM
I would hardly call the penelties that from Weapons of Legacy "Debilitating". They're appropriate for all the bonuses you get. As for solving your problem, I agree with Sstoopidtallkid.

Eikre
2008-04-22, 05:05 AM
Weapons of Legacy: "You can have a +3 sword! All you have to do is take a permanent -2 to Attack and Damage."

Kioran
2008-04-22, 06:33 AM
In the essence you´re looking for personalized weapons, which also give out a reason to keep them. Easiest way to do this? Unique properties. And by that, I do not mean powerful features, just maybe interesting properties that add novelty value. I´d consider the weapon part of WBL though(my Value is just an estimate. It follows the guidelines loosely). With me, you´re looking at something like this (a quick idea, althoough it´s probably not suited to your characters:

Sorrow, the Vengeful Blade
Originally an adamantine Bastard sword. Gains the following properties at the following levels

{table]Level|Special property|Value
1|Protection from Chaos (1/day, wielder only, CL = ECL)|3200
3|+1 Enhancement bonus|5600
4|Cure moderate wounds(1/day, wielder only, CL = ECL)|6500
6|Vicious quality|15000
8|+1 Deflection bonus to AC|18000
10|Axiomatic quality|42500[/table]
and so on.....if that´s what you were actually looking for.......

Totally Guy
2008-04-22, 06:35 AM
I'd like to have a magic sword that has the magic to display the name of the wielder on the blade.

Then a scam artist can sell it to the party, they'll buy it because they think it's a plot item because it has the party member's name on it. Detect magic displays that, yes, it is magical. It'll take them ages to figure it out.

That's what you could do if you need a "red herring" item.

Bassikpoet
2008-04-22, 06:53 AM
BoED has an Ancestral Relic (http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Ancestral_Relic,BE) feat that would allow them to basically add effects to their gear as they leveled up, using their normal WBL. I'd just give them the feat free and call it a day. You may also just hand-wave away the time spent, reducing it to a day or eliminating it altogether, but it seems similar to what you want.

I like the idea of that feat. However, I was wanting to do the customization myself. Do you think it would be appropriate to have the abilities of the item unknown to the PCS and have the PCs invest money in order to unlock the next "hidden" ability? As a player would you enjoy something like that? Or would the fact that you can't customize it yourself be too frustrating?

Saihyol
2008-04-22, 07:19 AM
As a player I love lower magic campaigns and this type of item is great for that - there aren't many magic items in the world but you happen to have one of them.

That aside I think its a good idea to speak with the players about what their 'ultimate' item is. Tell them to let their minds run riot and come up with any combination of powers/abilities they think would be fun and work with their character concept. You get to stat it out and decide when they get the upgrades though.

From a meta game perspective this kind of weapon is awesome for getting the characters to take an adventure so I would consider more than a monetary cost to activating/attuning to new abilities - note though you don't want them to feel railroaded though so enough adventures must offer them a choice and not be about the v.1.5 of their item.

Finally the more you can weld any upgrade quests together or into other stories so that an adventure does not become "bob's sword upgrade adventure" the better.

kamikasei
2008-04-22, 07:20 AM
I like the idea of that feat. However, I was wanting to do the customization myself. Do you think it would be appropriate to have the abilities of the item unknown to the PCS and have the PCs invest money in order to unlock the next "hidden" ability? As a player would you enjoy something like that? Or would the fact that you can't customize it yourself be too frustrating?

It depends on the player, really.

What I would suggest is that, instead of mucking about with feats or Weapons of Legacy or the like, just give the character an item and give the item new abilities as he levels. At each level, look at the worth of the item and its abilities, and deduct that from the treasure you give them. It's probably best for flavour if the character has some sort of ritual or miniquest to unlock each ability increase. In-game either the PC can be completely in the dark about what the new ability will be, or he can choose it, or perhaps "the weapon attunes itself to the power of the wielder" so the abilities are not chosen by the PC but are always suitable for his style.

Out of game, though, just because the character is ignorant doesn't mean the player has to be. You could easily talk to the player about the abilities he'd like the item to gain, agree on something that he doesn't think he'll never use, and then give that to the character such that the character feels it's a gift from the gods or whatever. This is at heart no different from talking to the player about an item he might aspire to find in nominally random loot, or whether you're okay with the properties he wants to put on the weapon he's crafting.

My own preferences are a mixed bag. I would prefer to upgrade an existing item than chuck it for a new one from the treasure heap, according to how my weapon/armour/etc. choice is a part of my character concept (I'm a rapier-wielder, I don't want to take that short sword even if it is better-enchanted... that sort of thing). It depends on the character and setting whether I think having him knowingly get a property added to his weapon by the local mage, or unlock the sleeping power within his blade, fits better. But in no case would I particularly enjoy getting a weapon which gained abilities as I levelled according to the random rolling of the DM on the table. I would much rather have a say in it, at least out of game. Whether the middle ground of you planning (rather than rolling) the abilities will be okay with the players basically comes down to how much they trust you and how much control they're willing to surrender to you.

Sleet
2008-04-22, 03:00 PM
You don't have to get complicated about it. You could do this as simply as letting the player choose a signature item out of the DMG, and "upgrade" it (increase the enhancement bonus, add other apsects, etc.as they increase in level. Make sure that the signature item doesn't take up more than half their WBL.