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Hello everyone. I have run into somewhat of a conundrum. I have been considering for awhile that I wish to reduce the number of the "Big 6" magical items that are appearing in my campaign. There have been a number of discussions on this matter on these forums:
Zen79's Thread
Another discussion thread
The Trailblazer book also discusses this concept.
However I also find myself really wanting to run Kingmaker for my players. Unfortunately, Kingmaker (especially the city building rules) seem to be balanced around the "magic item walmart" that I'm hoping to avoid. I was wondering if anyone else has thought about this and if they have any suggestions?
I'm writing this post kind of late at night, so pardon the brevity of it.
The game is supposed to get harder later on so I would not undo the magic mart unless I had skilled players. I DM for 2 groups, one of them can play without magic-mart, and the other would die quickly.
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Well there are modifications made to the way PCs level that make up for the loss of the Big Six. The linked threads and Trailblazer both talk about those mechanics. The game would not be any harder than with a party full decked out in the Big Six. I don't wan to argue that point here though since it's been covered in other threads sufficiently.
What I do want to discuss is how to modify Kingmaker with keeping magical items rare and magical while still sticking closely to the published material.
As I understand it, the main help magic items give are to combat bonuses. Therefore, you need a replacement for the higher-level power curve.
Monte Cook has his Iron Heroes supplement, which I haven't read but would recommend for inspiration.
Another inspiration is found in the True20 rules. Magic item there are pretty much limited to masterwork weapons with the Supernatural quality. No +4 swords, no bags of holding, no wands.
Characters in that ruleset have Conviction Points they can use to reroll any d20 roll. The reroll also allows only a roll result of 11-20, therefore avoiding the failure-prone 1-10. So, if I roll a 14 to hit the BBEG but miss, I spend a Conviction Point and reroll. Let's say I roll a 9. That's really a 19.
So, how do the PCs get these points? They're refreshed every game session. Characters start with 4; higher level character get more.
How does a character recharge these in-game? They act according to their conviction. Think of the Seven Sins/Seven Virtues. If I choose Sloth and Charity as my character's virtues, every time I act in a slothful manner, Magerius the Wizard regains a Conviction Point. If I act in a particularly charitable manner, boom, another point. If I act in a wrathful manner . . . nothing.
This kinda forces some role-playing, as a character must act within his chosen vice/virtue in order to obtain those ever-so-important Conviction points.
For a more Pathfinder version, I would probably allow a character to spend a conviction point to force the DM to reroll an attack, since in True20 hitpoints don't exist (instead it's more like an armor save - the worse you fail, the more damage you sustain).
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I already have a way of making up for the power-curve, it involves adjusting the way PCs progress to give them inherent bonuses that would normally be provided for them by the Big Six. What am actually asking about is how to adjust all the magic items that are appearing in the Kingmaker AP. Normally I could just remove the magic items being carried by NPCs, but Kingmaker adds a new wrinkle with the magic item shops and the random items appearing every month in the kingdom.
I'm trying to figure out how to adjust these.
I already have a way of making up for the power-curve, it involves adjusting the way PCs progress to give them inherent bonuses that would normally be provided for them by the Big Six. What am actually asking about is how to adjust all the magic items that are appearing in the Kingmaker AP. Normally I could just remove the magic items being carried by NPCs, but Kingmaker adds a new wrinkle with the magic item shops and the random items appearing every month in the kingdom.
I'm trying to figure out how to adjust these.
Drat, the forum ate the post . . .
1) Roll behind the scenes and just work up a story as to why the PCs get an additional x number of BPs this month.
*Treasurer made a math error!
*Criminals got their stuff confiscated!
*That festival that you had means more tax revenue came in!
*Logging was exceptionally good this month!
2) Do a side quest so the PCs have a benefactor that provides them either a constant stream of BPs, or use the "keep it secret" method above.
*The guildmaster of a thieves' guild works out a deal to cut you in on the take.
*A minor noble got into trouble doing a little big-game hunting in the Stolen Lands and the PCs came to his rescue. In return, he promises to help ensure their barony succeeds.
(I'm sure there are other side quests that could provide a contact for this sort of thing).
3) Don't worry about it. The kingdom grows a little more slowly. Big deal. Maybe funnel a few extra BPs their way when they do some cool stuff, but if it takes an additional year to be able to afford the cool buildings . . . so what?
I don't know how the future adventures will impact a loss of BPs in the short term, though. Still, if the swordlords can start you off with a wagonload of BPs, there's no reason the couldn't do it again if the storyline required it.
Change the name of the magic item shops into master craftsmen.
Keep the random generation of items as is, but when you roll a stave, what you actually rolled was a Master play by Shakespeare. Or Michelangelo's painting of the sixtine chapel.
Basically, the mechanics of the magic tems are there to generate resources for your economy. Just file the serial numbers off.
Keep the temple and shrines, and basically the wealth they produce is because of pilgrimages.
The magic item shops become Master artisans, producing great art.
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Excellent idea! Thank you very much. I was sitting here trying to figure out how make up the BPs in a believable manner.
I'm still going through this path but I'm planning this campaign similarly - not so much low magic as much as rare magic. Magical items have a history and heritage rather than just being special tools that give combat bonuses.
In terms of BPs, I think I have an elegant and organic solution. The party sell/add their BPs as appropriate which if reduced due to a lack of saleable magical equipment can be made up by the DM getting this difference as their own build points to "spend" on the new kingdom.
The PCs may micromanage their new kingdom and orchestrate for everything to be just so. But in reality the world reacts to these plans in uncertain ways. As such, I'm planning to augment their towns and cities with extra buildings and sites that fit in with what the PCs have organised. In this way the PCs feel like they get a bonus. It's like a DM reward for good planning or roleplaying. For example, they may encourage businesses/enterprises/religions in Restov to move or expand into the frontier at no cost. Occasionally though, I can use it to throw the PCs a curveball planting things in a city that they may not really want. I suppose the trick is reacting appropriately to what the PCs are organising and keeping it fun.
Anyway, I'm waiting for the complete path before I start things up so I'm going to have plenty of time to work things out. I'll keep track of this thread and offer any other ideas that I have when setting this campaign up.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise