This might be a bit rambly of a post, so please bear with!
Something I have noticed in 3.X, which has carried over to Pathfinder (and don't even get me started on how bad it is in 4e), is the idea that PCs of a given level must have weapons, armor, and stat items that add up to +X bonuses to be effective at a certain level.
Magic items seem to have lost their flavor in need of the PC having a +3 sword, and people don't hang onto favorite weapons (or gear) when something with a better plus comes along, because they need those pluses to remain effective.
I kinda miss the idea of a PC using few magic items, and the game not feeling like it has magic item overload (the christmas tree effect and magic item shops are the results of this malaise).
So, I am trying to come up with some way to make items feel magical again. When a PC finds that magical sword, it is likely to be something special, have a name, and not just be a +1 bane weapon.
First I think is the need to make sure PCs get their bonuses needed, which I am still trying to figure out. It seems that it is expected that Combat (attack and damage) and Armor Class will both have +5 bonuses from magic items by the time you get to 15 or higher, and that saves will be +3 or better (this does not include special effects, JUST the base bonuses).
If that number is right, how hard would it be to dole out the pluses as something like "Destiny bonuses" to a PC over his career? Something like gaining a bonus point at X level, then another at Y, assigned as they please to Combat, Defense, or Saves, but limited to a maximum bonus based on level (with a final cap of +5). The PC then has some control over what increases fastest, at the same time getting the bonuses.
Then you can deal with magical items themselves. I still want magic to be "common". Not a low magic item campaign at all. I just want things to feel more special. Perhaps weapons and armor only gain effects (like Bane, Holy, etc), no pluses? And potions, scrolls, wands, and miscellaneous magic are more common than those?
Dealing with a favored weapon is something I would like to see too. Maybe take a page from 4e and put in a spell or item creation feat that lets a mage "move" a desired enchantment to another similar item.
Or perhaps doing something like items that grow alongside a character?
Kinda stuck here, on what to do!
Anyone have any suggestions? There are so many places in the game that fiddling with magic items can impact overall play, that it seems a daunting task when I sit down to think about it!
This is a popular topic, and a lot of people share your feelings. In fact, check out this thread. It went on for a billion pages and had a lot of good ideas on this subject.
Perhaps weapons and armor only gain effects (like Bane, Holy, etc), no pluses? And potions, scrolls, wands, and miscellaneous magic are more common than those?
Dealing with a favored weapon is something I would like to see too. Maybe take a page from 4e and put in a spell or item creation feat that lets a mage "move" a desired enchantment to another similar item.
Or perhaps doing something like items that grow alongside a character?
One great idea I picked up from the boards here goes like this: (most of this wasn't my idea)
Halve the gold/treasure you hand out to players. (Costs of mundane items can likewise be halved).
All magic items can now only grant 'special' effects, so no STR +2 belts, Longswords +1, Amulets of Natural Armor +1, etc. Only Flaming/Bane/etc weapons, Fortification/Ghost Touch/etc Armor, etc, etc. No 'generic' bonuses, i.e. the ones minimally necessary to keep up with where the game expects you to be to meet CR-appropriate challenges.
To make up for the lesser treasure value, whenever players level up, they are give a 'virtual wealth' which is spendable ONLY on these 'generic type' bonuses (+x weapons, armor, saves, AC bonuses, etc). Basically you just use the generic enhancement costs, without 'base costs' for the physical item type. These bonuses are considered an 'inherent' part of their character, and don't go away when they are stripped naked and dropped in ditch, and likewise apply to ANY weapon they wield. (You could consider implementing a 'main-hand', 'off-hand' and 'ranged' virtual 'weapon slots' to maintain the difference 2WF is supposed to have in weapon enhancement costs)
The only problem is the exponential nature of costing for 'enhancement bonus equivalent' magic items, which normally doubles (roughly) for each 'plus', so 'splitting' the total budget into two independent categories would normally yield a net 'better' value, which screws with CR / power assumptions.
This approach is of course very different from the normal one and can't really simulate the complete flexibility where characters are free to get ALL "generic" plus items OR all +1 + special effects (or anything in between), but I figured a good way to account for letting characters bypass the first "+1" when buying special magic items (flaming, fortification, etc) which normally doubles the price scale (roughly), is increasing the price scale for BOTH the virtual (generic bonuses) and 'real' magic gear by 50% -> 2x +50% = +100% = the doubling we normally see (roughly).
I'm just saying '50%' because that's the closest thing, but you can actually 'split the difference' between each tier of "plus equivalency' for each item type, since every tier for each type doesn't really advance exactly by doubling at every tier. Since that makes the initial barrier of entry higher than in normal D&D, you could just leave the cost for "+1 enhancement" and/or their 'special' power equivalents (and +2 Stat "virtual items") the same as it is in standard D&D (though the +2 generic enhancements or +4 stat boosts would still be +50% above the normal price, making the disparity between +1 and +2 larger.
This yields characters who are 'inherently' more heroic as they advance in level, while leaving magic items as just an important part of the game, but much more tangible in their effect - +1 Longswords are no longer the 'most common' weapon, but instead Flaming, Bane, directly MEANINGFUL qualities (in an in-game sense) become THE definition of 'magical weapons' or items, rather than generic "I seem to hit things slightly more" appraisals.
The only sticky thing is for 'unique magic items' like Rhino Hide Armor (granting a Charge bonus), you have to 'backwards-calculate' the cost of the 'basic enhancement' portion out of the item cost (and the halve the result) in order to find the cost of the actual 'special ability' portion. Not too hard though, really, for the times it comes up.
This is a popular topic, and a lot of people share your feelings. In fact, check out this thread. It went on for a billion pages and had a lot of good ideas on this subject.
Ooo, good find on the thread! Only partway into it right now, and it has some ideas I had not considered. Nice stuff on the math that was done on Trailblazer. I had not realized that PCs without magic items at all were designed at base to be SO successful. I had assumed they were closer to 50/50 not 70/30. That is a good thing.
Getting rid of the christmas tree effect, while still keeping magic items in game as "common" is kinda what I am looking to do. Tall order it seems. I want things to feel focused on the PCs not the gear they carry, but to still have items be "cool".