Tora no Senaka - The Back of the Tiger (Inactive)

Game Master Dreaming Warforged

HA! I knew it! I knew I should've been dead. Stack the poison damage on top of getting hit by the big bruiser and it was just in the cards, man.

Yes, but I felt responsible. There was a lot of nasty poison, and I grouped two boss fights right after you had lost bear-spririt and Sorin. I don't mind killing PCs so much, but when I stack the cards, I need to keep fair odds.

Plus I got to use a plot hook ;)

Hi folks! Thank you TCB for picking me to join the game. I've read through most of the game in the last week and it has me really excited to get going. Is there anything in particular you need from me at the moment?

Welcome Daeron!

You had very few posts under your belt, but they were nicely done!

Hold tight for now. You can work on equipment.

WBL for level 7 is 23,500 GP. I've decided to bring the game to this level. Make sure at least 500 GP is on mundane and survival stuff. No single item should be worth more than 25 % of the total, so let's say 6,000 GP.

Keep in mind you'll be traveling north of north for months and survival will be tricky.

I found a way to introduce you to the game. I might PM you about it. It will come shortly (hopefully, within a week!).

P.s.: One pet peeve of mine: Don't disappear! Let us know if you need some time. RL is real for all of us, and we understand. We just like to know what's going on and whether we should bot you or boot you :)

All of you should have around 23,500 GP to move on to the next volume. I won't give you an amount of treasure to split IC. The looting of Ravenscraeg and other activities will bring your total gear to WBL. That will be much simpler to handle.

I know it's a change from what I have been saying before, but I'm doubting myself and wish to try it.

If you have a unique campaign item, you should count it if you use it a lot, but not if it's more of a group item. Ask if you have doubts.

Maximum is 25 % on a single item (around 6,000 GP). Please ask me if you feel you're moving into cheese area. I trust you to keep the game fun for you, me and other players.

If possible, show me your shopping list (before or after, I don't mind).

Keep in mind you'll be traveling north of north for months and survival will be tricky.

Great! I'll go ahead and get started with that. If I want to buy spells with my newfound wealth, how should I go about that? Can I just use the cost listed under the Arcane Writings section of the core rulebook?

One other question for you: Can I apply my Craft Wondrous Item feat to the cost of gear I'm acquiring (assuming I meet prerequisites)? I'd still limit the maximum value of the item to below 6000 though.

I'll assume both of these are ruled favorably for me now (while I start getting my gear together). If you decide against either in the future, I can make adjustments as needed.

Hello, Rikash!

You had very few posts under your belt, but they were nicely done!

Totally agree with this. Good stuff, dude.

Again, DW with the good choice. Nice.

Here's a link to costs in writing spells into a spellbook.

Spells

Thanks Javell! Those were the ones I was talking about. So for each spell I write into my spellbook, I can expect costs to be 1.5 * the cost listed on the table (1/2 * cost to acquire the spell from another wizard and 1 * cost to actually write it)?

The only spellcaster you've befriended enough to copy spells from is Sorin (PC become NPC).

He will charge you 25 % of writing costs.

For other spells, you'll need to get a scroll and then copy it.

For crafting, you can do it for a maximum of 8,000 GP. This will reflect when you got the feat and how much time you could devote on this, while building your spellbook.

I hope this is satisfactory. Let me know if there is an issue.

Sounds great TCB, I'll go ahead and start building up my gear list and then submit it for your approval.

Sorin will be your contact. He's found you through the innkeeper, wishing to find certain ingredients and research new spells. You two have quickly become friends and shared spellbooks. He's told you of an upcoming voyage north and asked whether you'd be interested in joining the caravan as they are looking for people to staff the wagons and perform various duties. For now, you don't know about its real objective.

When we actually reach a point to have all of this take effect, is it cool to sell what we currently have for half costs?

Yes, but it doesn't matter as long as your belongings come up to 23,500 GP. That way, we dont torture ourselves too much with book keeping.

Welcome Daeron. A conjurer? That would make things interesting. I'm glad Celestial is very organized, otherwise a conjurer would be a pain in the behind.

Celestial,

Are there any items on the enemies we've currently defeated I may want? If there is, I'll probably take it as part of my treasure.

Welcome aboard!
So, should I do an audit of my current gear and then work from there to have a total of 23,500?

Plus I got to use a plot hook ;)

I noticed that. Very smooth. Cool way to integrate that into the story. Raith is quite perplexed because as far as he knows, his master was a real person. Now he talks in his head and through people.

I knew Theoden was dead. I don't say much when a DM is fudging numbers to keep someone alive. I've done the same thing many times when it looks like I may have thrown the party into a little too treacherous a position they probably can't handle. And it's like you say, we were down the bear and our party wizard.

Hopefully Garand can find a new animal before we leave. Another bear or perhaps a cat.

By the way, if possible I think we should contribute some gold to a party item like a wand of lesser restoration. Perhaps some scrolls for Garand to use. If Garand takes Scribe Scroll at some point, he can make scrolls of key spells that aren't very useful in combat given casting time and use slots for spells that are useful in combat. We should probably donate to him for scroll creation.

wand of lesser restoration cost us 900 each. Or 1125 each absent the new member.

I'll wait to see if Celestial allows us to pick up some party healing items by pooling our gold. This place may not allow us to buy a 4500 gold wand.

I like the idea of the wand Raith. I was planning to buy a wand of enlarge person for my familiar to use on my meat shield friends. Maybe we should think about putting our collective funds together to get some useful wands? My familiar can then use them pretty reliably (I'm planning to max Use Magic Device with a headband, meaning he's around a +10 or so).

Some other wands that would be nice (and save me spell slots...):

• Haste
• Telekinetic Charge (this should wait a while as I don't have much else to do)
• Blur
• Mage armor (if other character's can use this anyway)

I'm all for pooling some resources for helpful wands/scrolls. I'm into the haste wand and the lesser restoration.

For now I'm starting the shopping for my gear:
23,500
- 900 for party wand
- +2 mithral shirt (5,100)
- Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2,000 gp)
- +1 longsword (2,315)
- +1 handaxe (2,306)
First total: 12,621 (10,879 remaining)

Instead of Sense Motive, going with a rank in Ride.

Garand has lesser restorations prepared, so that Théoden, when the poisoning begins anew, will have restored 2d4 pts of Con. Hopefully that, combined with other resources (heal checks, etc.) will get us through that nastiness.

Moving up to level 7, here's the plan for Garand;

+1 BAB, +1 feat (Selective Channeling), 5 skill ranks (+1 Perception, +1 Handle Animal, +1 Survival, 1 rank Ride, 1 rank Knowledge (nature))

The option to purchase items up to WBL (23,500) will hugely upgrade Garands stuff. Here's what he's looking at;

headband of inspired wisdom +2 (4000 gp)
handy haversack (2000 gp)
lesser rod of extend metamagic (3000 gp)
sleeves of many garments (200 gp)
Sleeves

cloak of resistance +2 (+3000 gp over his +1 cloak)
+shawl of lifekeeping (+1500 gp)
Shawl
I paid +50% for the shawl, to have it be an additional enhancement placed onto the pre-existing cloak of resistance.

Combined with his pre-existing stuff, this brings him up to 22,451 gp worth of stuff, so 1049 gp left for group healing items.

He has already spent cash for barding for his to-be-announced replacement animal companion, which will probably be a big-ass-elk or something suitable for cold-weather adventuring.

Edit:
The megalo-elk;

Stag Spirit – Large Animal; Speed 50 ft.; AC 26 (+4 Dex, +9 natural armor, +4 chain barding, -1 size); hp 34 (6d8+30); Saves Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4 (+4 vs. enchantment spells and effects); Attack gore +9 (2d6+6), 2 hooves +4 (1d4+3); Special Attacks powerful charge (4d6+9); BAB +4; CMB +11; CMD 25 (29 vs. trip); Ability Scores Str 22, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 15, Cha 5; SQ low-light vision, scent, link, share spells, Evasion, Devotion; Feats Armor Proficiency (light), Toughness, Endurance; Skills (6) Acrobatics 1 (+8), Perception 2 (+7), Stealth 0 (+0), Survival (CC) 2 (+3), Swim 1 (+10); Tricks Combat Training, Track, Work, Attack Unusual Beasties, +1 Dex at 4 HD

stag spirit full attack
gore 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
hoof 1 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
hoof 2 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

gore damage 2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 5) + 6 = 14
hoof 1 damage 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
hoof 2 damage 1d4 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7

stag spirit powerful charge
powerful charge 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25
gore damage 4d6 + 9 ⇒ (4, 4, 6, 5) + 9 = 28

Alright, so I think I've got all my spells, spellbooks and gear sorted out, with some cash leftover and the possibility of adding to it depending what else we decide to cooperate on. If we went with Pavel's suggestion, that would cost (4500 for haste wand + 750 for lesser restoration wand)/5 or 1050 each. That would leave enough for additional contingencies and maybe a few more pearls of power :).

Total leftover cash: 2095 gp

For this spells spoiler, I used 1.25 * cost of adding the spells to a spellbook for all spells I bought from Sorin. Those scribed from scrolls use the cost of the scroll + the cost of adding a spell to my spell book. Let me know if you see any issues.

I also messed around a bit with how my spell books work. My free Level 1 spellbook is now a backup book and I bought a new book to be my carrying book. I bought a utility spell book for spells I don't really care about from a combat perspective. All the spells I scribed above went into the backup book. Then I copied over the spells I wanted to travel into the new book. Costs are tallied in the spoiler.

Welcome Daeron. A conjurer? That would make things interesting. I'm glad Celestial is very organized, otherwise a conjurer would be a pain in the behind.

Celestial,

Are there any items on the enemies we've currently defeated I may want? If there is, I'll probably take it as part of my treasure.

The tanto and the katana might be interesting? I'll unveil their properties IC.

If one wants to use a feat for exotic weapon proficiency, the tetsubo could be interesting. It also has special powers.

Also, since I forgot until reading over TCB's post, thank you all for the warm welcome. I'm really looking forward to this game.

Welcome aboard!

So, should I do an audit of my current gear and then work from there to have a total of 23,500?

In fact, you can just redo your equipment the way you like. The total is 23,500 GP.

You've crippled a major guild and have many days to organize and spend.

Just don't forget it's cooooooold up north...

By the way, if possible I think we should contribute some gold to a party item like a wand of lesser restoration. Perhaps some scrolls for Garand to use. If Garand takes Scribe Scroll at some point, he can make scrolls of key spells that aren't very useful in combat given casting time and use slots for spells that are useful in combat. We should probably donate to him for scroll creation.

wand of lesser restoration cost us 900 each. Or 1125 each absent the new member.

I'll wait to see if Celestial allows us to pick up some party healing items by pooling our gold. This place may not allow us to buy a 4500 gold wand.

Kalsgard has no problem with 6,000 GP items.

I think the 6,000 GP limit is wrong. Let's go instead with +2 items as a limit. Sorry about that :p

The katana should be counted as a +2 magical sword for the purpose of keeping things fairish.

Garand has lesser restorations prepared, so that Théoden, when the poisoning begins anew, will have restored 2d4 pts of Con. Hopefully that, combined with other resources (heal checks, etc.) will get us through that nastiness.

Moving up to level 7, here's the plan for Garand;

+1 BAB, +1 feat (Selective Channeling), 5 skill ranks (+1 Perception, +1 Handle Animal, +1 Survival, 1 rank Ride, 1 rank Knowledge (nature))

The option to purchase items up to WBL (23,500) will hugely upgrade Garands stuff. Here's what he's looking at;

headband of inspired wisdom +2 (4000 gp)
handy haversack (2000 gp)
lesser rod of extend metamagic (3000 gp)
sleeves of many garments (200 gp)
Sleeves

cloak of resistance +2 (+3000 gp over his +1 cloak)
+shawl of lifekeeping (+1500 gp)
Shawl
I paid +50% for the shawl, to have it be an additional enhancement placed onto the pre-existing cloak of resistance.

Combined with his pre-existing stuff, this brings him up to 22,451 gp worth of stuff, so 1049 gp left for group healing items.

He has already spent cash for barding for his to-be-announced replacement animal companion, which will probably be a big-ass-elk or something suitable for cold-weather adventuring.

Edit:
The megalo-elk;

Stag Spirit – Large Animal; Speed 50 ft.; AC 26 (+4 Dex, +9 natural armor, +4 chain barding, -1 size); hp 34 (6d8+30); Saves Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4 (+4 vs. enchantment spells and effects); Attack gore +9 (2d6+6), 2 hooves +4 (1d4+3); Special Attacks powerful charge (4d6+9); BAB +4; CMB +11; CMD 25 (29 vs. trip); Ability Scores Str 22,...

Will your elk need multiattack?

I think I'm going to take the katana, so we have a few story items. So that will be one of my items.

Garand wrote:

The megalo-elk;

Stag Spirit – Large Animal; Speed 50 ft.; AC 26 (+4 Dex, +9 natural armor, +4 chain barding, -1 size); hp 34 (6d8+30); Saves Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4 (+4 vs. enchantment spells and effects); Attack gore +9 (2d6+6), 2 hooves +4 (1d4+3); Special Attacks powerful charge (4d6+9); BAB +4; CMB +11; CMD 25 (29 vs....

Will your elk need multiattack?

He'll get it auto-magically at 9th level, so I'll settle for having -5 with those secondary hoof attacks for now.

If it was a horse, it would get primary hoof attacks for free with combat training, but he's a moose, so, not so much. The arts of training mooses for combat are not as well developed, I guess... :)

Also, since I forgot until reading over TCB's post, thank you all for the warm welcome. I'm really looking forward to this game.

** spoiler omitted **

Sorin will be your contact. He's found you through the innkeeper, wishing to find certain ingredients and research new spells. You two have quickly become friends and shared spellbooks. He's told you of an upcoming voyage north and asked whether you'd be interested in joining the caravan as they are looking for people to staff the wagons and perform various duties. For now, you don't know about its real objective.

The Celestial Bureaucracy wrote:

The megalo-elk;

Stag Spirit – Large Animal; Speed 50 ft.; AC 26 (+4 Dex, +9 natural armor, +4 chain barding, -1 size); hp 34 (6d8+30); Saves Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +4 (+4 vs. enchantment spells and effects); Attack gore +9 (2d6+6), 2 hooves +4 (1d4+3); Special Attacks powerful charge (4d6+9); BAB +4; CMB +11; CMD 25 (29 vs....

Will your elk need multiattack?

He'll get it auto-magically at 9th level, so I'll settle for having -5 with those secondary hoof attacks for now.

If it was a horse, it would get primary hoof attacks for free with combat training, but he's a moose, so, not so much. The arts of training mooses for combat are not as well developed, I guess... :)

Ok. If you want to take it, you would get the feat slot back at level 9.

Ok. If you want to take it, you would get the feat slot back at level 9.

I think I'll stick to what he's already got. Endurance seems like it might be important for surviving cold weather effects, and both Toughness and Armor Prof (light) should make him a bit more survivable than poor bear-spirit was.

If I wanted to focus on offense over defense (since these guys are, mechanically speaking, awfully expendable), I'd go with Weapon Focus (gore) and Improved Natural Attack (gore), which, frankly, would be kind of gross... Also, kind of cheesy and unthematic, since Garand isn't supposed to view these things as fire-and-forget DPS mobs. :)

I went ahead and modified my profile to account for the new gear. If anything is a cause for concern, please let me know. I also forgot to list the arcane family notebook from Advanced Race Guide (check under Elven equipment). This is the book mentioned in my prized possessions list. I accounted for it's cost in my previous numbers, I just forgot to include it in my earlier post.

I also neglected to include my mundane weapons (heavy crossbow, dagger and quarterstaff). They are reflected in my profile now. Two more questions, my background mentions the perpetually spinning top (basically prestidigitation). Do I need to worry about this in my WBL calculation? Second, would it be ok if I use the Teleportation subschool of Conjuration? I didn't really look at the wizard archetypes there and vastly prefer that benefit then 1d6 + wizard level ranged bolt. I'm flexible either way (staying core conjuration or the switching).

The tanto and the katana might be interesting? I'll unveil their properties IC.

If one wants to use a feat for exotic weapon proficiency, the tetsubo could be interesting. It also has special powers.

I have a feat I haven't used and I'm not real fond of a stupid longsword. It's too dang boring of a weapon and I'm sick of boring.

And I freaking love the Elk companion! That beast is just bad.

The tanto and the katana might be interesting? I'll unveil their properties IC.

If one wants to use a feat for exotic weapon proficiency, the tetsubo could be interesting. It also has special powers.

What the heck's a tanto? I couldn't find it anywhere.

What the heck's a tanto? I couldn't find it anywhere.

Johnny Depp with a bird on his head?

Oh, that's a Tonto. My bad.

Seriously 'though, I'm not seeing the tanto in the Eastern Weapons either in Ultimate Combat or the PFSRD, so I probably is just a dagger, with dagger stats, and a fancy name.

Might want to make sure the tetsubo isn't size Large, before spending an exotic weapon proficiency on it. I don't think it is, because dead-ogre-chicky was size medium when we first met her, pretending to be Théoden's dad...

And I freaking love the Elk companion! That beast is just bad.

Yeah, I saw it in Bestiary 2, I think, and thought, 'This is perfect for a follower of Erastil, and has 'cold and temperate forests and plains' in it's preferred environment!'

It's not all 'optimized' like a Roc or Allosaurus (which, as I understand it, were the best choices from the first two Bestiaries), but it fits thematically and seems a lot more suitable for arctic use (and easier to care for and feed)...

If he survives and doesn't piss me off, I'll think about pimping him a bit more, maybe even with a magic item of his very own!

Celestial,

Is there any cool ninja specific stuff on any of these guys? Omoyani or any of the mook ninjas?

What about the black clothing I took off the ninja earlier? Is it magical or provide any benefit once we have the chance to examine it all?

I want to dress Raith like a ninja if I can.

I'm going to purchase some general equipment. I want the katana and any ninja stuff I can use. I'll make that part of my equipment. I was hoping Jade Regent would have some cool Eastern-style magic items. Usually the APs have equipment designed with the flavor of the adventure in mind. I'm hoping Jade Regent is no different.

Here are the description for the major items found. If you want any of them, you should pay half the price listed, except for the katana, who should count as a +2 katana for now.

The tetsubo is large, but changes its size to the size of its wielder.

The ninjas had Shinobi shozoku:
This is a close-fitting bodysuit of dark fabric, favored by ninja and assassins. It is of masterwork
quality and grants a +2 circumstance bonus on Stealth checks while worn. A shinobi shozoku costs 50 gp and weighs 2 lbs.

Cool. Can I take the Katana, Shozoku, and Earthfire Shuriken if no one objects. Of course, Raith will get Ameiko's permission.

Raith will take the following

Kazuko No Hogo: 8,350
Shozoku of the Night Wind: 1/2 price 6000 gold
Slippers of Featherstep: 2000
+1 Cloak of Resistance 1000
Party wand of lesser restoration: 900
Keeping my Haversack: 2000
3 potions: 900
Add +1 to my bow: 2000

Total: 23,150

Oathbreaker's blood geas ability could be far more useful than the weapon itself. Right this moment, we could get captured-ninja-lady blood geased to never take a life, save in self-defense, or something. as an RP-friendly way to deal with potential prisoners, it's pretty neat.

Pity it's crazy expensive, equal by itself to almost an entire level 7's WBL, and not, combat wise, any more useful than a 2320 gp +1 tetsubo.

I just don't get magic item design, sometimes. An effect usable 1/day, that takes 10 minutes to cast, only works on a willing victim, that has literally zero utility for the party (being basically good only to make a beaten foe not be a dick after the party moves on, which could be accomplished by whacking his head off and being done with it), and it costs 16,000-ish gold? Another example of potentially interesting effects with compelling story possibilities being priced out of anyone ever choosing it over another plus to something. I honestly think the system encourages boring mechanical magic item design and punishes any attempt to create items with effects that feel *magical*...

That katana's insanely awesome. A defending weapon, for a crane style monk? It's like it was made with him in mind! Endure elements, resist cold and flaming weapon, for a group about to tromp through the fantasy arctic, is pretty much exactly what the doctor ordered. :)

A bunch of sets of boots of the winter probably would have been too on the nose, like those old Gygax hoards that always seemed to include exactly what you needed (why does every medusa have four elixirs of stone to flesh, even if, technically, no such magic item exists in the DMG, in her treasure?).

Hmm, those ninja jammies make me happy I used invisibility purge (and kept 5 ft. stepping to back out of the ogress's threat range, to avoid being flanked). She definitely would have been sneak attacking the hell out of Garand if she'd been able to go invisible / use vanishing trick.

Defending is nice. I'm assuming that ability isn't known to Raith. I'm going to have to switch his alignment to Lawful Good. I imagine after all the evil he has seen, I can see him finally choosing to pick sides.

Sad thing is it is only +2. It will eventually not be as useful as now. I hope the module has some means to raise it's enhancement bonus. I hate it when a really cool sword shows up, but becoming obsolete due to the enhancement bonus being set so early.

Oathbreaker's blood geas ability could be far more useful than the weapon itself. Right this moment, we could get captured-ninja-lady blood geased to never take a life, save in self-defense, or something. as an RP-friendly way to deal with potential prisoners, it's pretty neat.

Pity it's crazy expensive, equal by itself to almost an entire level 7's WBL, and not, combat wise, any more useful than a 2320 gp +1 tetsubo.

I just don't get magic item design, sometimes. An effect usable 1/day, that takes 10 minutes to cast, only works on a willing victim, that has literally zero utility for the party (being basically good only to make a beaten foe not be a dick after the party moves on, which could be accomplished by whacking his head off and being done with it), and it costs 16,000-ish gold? Another example of potentially interesting effects with compelling story possibilities being priced out of anyone ever choosing it over another plus to something. I honestly think the system encourages boring mechanical magic item design and punishes any attempt to create items with effects that feel *magical*...

Personally, that's kind of why I avoid the party buy-in treasure distribution. While it's good to be "by the book", you can't always go by the guidelines. Not to be the "at *MY* table guy" or anything- gp value is really the only quick metric to determine relative power, but every once in a while you get something that has more flavor utility than mechanical utility and the gp guidelines become a liability.*

*Not critiquing this game, but Pathfinder as a whole.

I'm all for pooling some resources for helpful wands/scrolls. I'm into the haste wand and the lesser restoration.

For now I'm starting the shopping for my gear:
23,500
- 900 for party wand
- +2 mithral shirt (5,100)
- Amulet of Natural Armor +1 (2,000 gp)
- +1 longsword (2,315)
- +1 handaxe (2,306)
First total: 12,621 (10,879 remaining)

Stuff I want to keep:

*Not critiquing this game, but Pathfinder as a whole.

It's not even a Pathfinder specific thing, having been around since 1st edition, where you'd find stuff that was totally cool, but, since your party was dividing shares of loot, you'd have to pass on it because it would eat up too much of the share you needed for stuff that helped you fulfill your role to the group (be it 'tanking' or 'healing' or 'blasting').

Items with abilities that are mostly flavorful, IMO, should be way cheaper.

Or everyone should have two budgets, and magic items come in two categories, one mechanical, one flavorful, since attempting to combine them just ends up creating 'cool' mechanical items that end up holding the party back, because they aren't as effective as a 'boring' version of the same item with an extra plus.

I'm kinda / sorta attempting to work around that with my cloak. It's a cloak of resistance +2 *and* a shawl of life-keeping. Later I'll try to add the effects of muleback cords to it for another 1500 gp. Slowly but surely, it will become sort of a legendary item, far more interesting than the bog-standard '+2 cloak,' but, even then, the mechanics fight against that, with the +50% surcharge for enhancements after the first.

Unlike the majority of things I think could be done better with 3.X derived d20, I have no idea how I'd 'fix' this. Getting rid of buffing spells and items that just add pluses to hit, AC, saves, attributes, etc. would be my number one choice. If I was doing this from the ground up, I wouldn't bother adding those pluses back in, a la Vow of Poverty, I'd just change CR assumptions so that encounters wouldn't *expect* PCs to have artificially inflated saves, ACs and attack / damage numbers, but instead *expect* PCs numbers to derive entirely from their un-adjusted attributes, feats and class abilities.

If there was no such things as a +X sword, feats like Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization, being some of the *only* ways to up your attack rolls and damage rolls, would be more meaningful. If there was no +X armor or shields, the base numbers on those items, and the hapless Dodge feat, and one's Dexterity bonus to AC, would be all the more vital. Encounters wouldn't be 'balanced' against the assumption that people have buffed up ACs and saves and spell DCs, because they wouldn't.

A magic sword would be 'magical' for the purposes of penetrating DR, and other effects would include bane, flaming, keen, etc. No flat pluses to hit or damage.

Magic armor would include effects like arrow deflection or fortification or energy resistance, but no pluses to AC.

Instead of a cloak that raises all your saving throws, you'd get your standard cloaks of elvenkind or displacement, and perhaps a cloak that allows you to reroll one saving throw per day.

Other effects could include a weapon enhancement that allows you to empower the damage of three attacks per day, or maximize the damage of one attack per day, or get a bonus attack of opportunity against a target that confirms a critical hit on you once per day, that resolves at the same time (so that you still take the critical hit, no matter the results of your counterswing, but also get to roll the AoO, even if that critical ends up killing you...). Armor enhancements could likewise allow you to negate a single attack that hits you once per day, or once per day attempt to sunder a weapon striking your body, causing it to take damage equal to the damage it inflicted upon you, or launch a shield spike or volley of armor spikes as ranged weapons, with the launched spikes fading away at the end of the round, and regrowing 1 minute later.

But that would require a ground-up rewrite, and change a ton of CR assumptions, and seems to be less popular than the notion of just scrapping items (or cutting them way back) and handing out pluses to AC / saves / etc. to the characters themselves at certain levels, a la 3.X's Vow of Poverty. (Which is certainly an easier fix, since it doesn't require any CR recalculations.)