Hello, Paizo forumites. Here's the skinny: I am going to use some magic items to hook the characters into adventuring. Specifically, these magic items are special because their histories are uncertain; the players receive these items as a result of agreeing to seek out their creators, backstories, or other similar information.
My party is at 3rd level, partway to 4th, and I have 7 players. I checked the Wealth by Level table, and they should have about 5k worth of stuff. Now, here's the thing: they barely have anything. I prefer to give out a few cool magic items (that grow in power a la Legacy Weapons) rather than bunches of potions and lots of boring +X weapons/armor.
We have: Paladin, Rogue, Rogue, Wizard, Ranger, Fighter, Cleric. I want to give each one a cool item that is (currently) somewhere between a +1 and a +2 worth of bonus; as I said, it will unlock new abilities over time when certain criteria are met (part of the motivation to learn about their items' histories).
Here are my ideas. Please let me know if things are too powerful for the range I specified, too weak to be much fun, or too boring to be cool! Game is in a few days. Please ignore the crappy placeholder item names. In addition, I will try to ham it up when describing these weapons; even if the bonuses seem a little plain now I think I can sell them on description.
For the Dwarf Paladin:
Hammer of Grace - This gold-inlaid rock warhammer feels solid in your grasp. A simple motif of slender winged figures runs around the head.
+1 Warhammer. Grants +10ft of Speed to the wearer.
(Big deal since he's a slow dwarf.)
Possible future bonuses (PFB): Flight or Wind Walk, Summon Air Elementals or Angels, Air- and Movement-related spells.
For the Elf and Half-Elf Rogues:
The Twins - These matching shortswords have hilts chased with silver. Identical halves of an amethyst are set into the pommels.
+1 Shortswords. When players wielding The Twins flank with each other, they gain +4 to attack instead of +2 (or maybe they get +2 damage and have normal flanking bonus?).
Alternative: If the wielders of The Twins are within 30 feet of each other, flanking someone gives them this bonus (makes it so they don't have to be together).
(The Rogues' players love working together and love flanking and teamwork. I like to encourage their dynamic and I figured what better way to do that than with matched weapons?)
PFB: Magic abilities on the swords, granting charges or abilities from one character to the other (a bit nebulous I know)
For the Human Fighter:
Linking Stone - This smooth gray pendant has a sword icon on one side and a magical burst on the other. It swings freely from a wire necklace.
The Linking Stone allows its wearer to channel spell energy into his strikes, giving him a +1 to attack and 1d4 of [damage type, in this case necromantic energy] to damage, depending on what type of spell he uses to power it. If the player is not a caster (see below) he may use it a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Cha or Int mod (whatever's higher). Otherwise he may use it with a 1st level spell or higher.
Note: this Fighter absorbed some necromantic energy. He opted to not Multiclass into Sorcerer yet, but I figured this would be a cool way to integrate his weird affliction. I'm also aware that this idea kind of sucks. My description is not very good mechanically, but I trust that the player will enjoy it anyway. Please help with this one?
PFB: More attack and damage, different effects, perhaps enabling some spells
For the Cleric:
Owl Tabard - This simple gray tabard is trimmed with blue. It bears a flying owl on the front, picked out in red thread. The eyes are blue gems of the same color as the trimming.
+1 Glamered Mithral Shirt. Allows casting of Owl's Wisdom once per 2 Cleric levels per day.
Not sure on this one, just like the idea of an armor as opposed to a weapon or tool.
PFB: Something to do with awesome fiery wings, or maybe some cool ray attacks from the eye-gems.
For the Gnome Wizard:
"Knowledge" - This willow staff is three feet tall and has a slight spring in it. At the top, between a fork in the branch, rests a pinkish pearl.
Magic Staff with maximum of 3 charges for now. "Knowledge" motif to the spells.
- Know Direction (free? or maybe 2 per charge)
- Alarm (1 charge)
- Identify (1 charge)
- Locate Object (2 charges)
- Fox's Cunning (2 charges)
The player enjoys being a bit of a know-it-all. This might help him out there. :)
PFB: More and better spells, increased charge limit, maybe a Permanent Light or Know Direction.
For the Half-Elf Ranger (TWF Focus, but loves his Bow too):
I will give this guy a choice between a bow or a sword. In return, his tasks to discern its history will be a little trickier for either one.
Sword Choice:
Runewarden - This longish blade has a definite curve to it. Mystifying letters and symbols run along its length. They look to be charcoal, yet they do not smudge off.
+1 Elven Curve Blade or maybe Longsword. For (Ranger level + [2*Wis mod]) rounds per day, the runes can be lit up a dull green. The rounds need not be consecutive. While active, the blade gives a +1 to AC and Reflex saves.
PFB: Better bonuses, maybe a defensive-magic effect (possibly for everybody in 30 feet or something)
Bow Choice:
Comet Burn - This ash longbow has an interesting motif. The top half of the bow's body depicts stars and pillars of fire, while the bottom half displays stalactites and hail clouds.
Longbow with one of four damage types (NO +1 TO ATTACK). Move action to change while in combat:
+1 Fire damage or
+1 Holy Damage or
+1 Unholy Damage or
+1 Ice Damage
(I took the attack bonus off to account for it being a very versatile weapon. Hopefully that helps the pricing?? Please let me know if I'm okay on that.)
PFB: Better damage bonuses, maybe some spells or augmented arrows (player is very keen on magic arrows and casting spells, and cannot wait for level 4).
Whew! That's done with. Finally, I have a Halfling Monk who sometimes shows up, but he's pretty busy. When I have time I'll cook something up for him and put it here. Some sort of punching-dagger-like thing, perhaps.
To reiterate: I am shooting for a value between 4k-6k gold pieces. I am also going to use a Weapons of Legacy-style advancement in bonuses to these weapons.
If I am reinventing the wheel anywhere, that would be helpful to know. I'm sure Comet Burn is just some Day/Night bow in a splatbook.
Thanks everyone! :)
(PS I realize this is kind of a wall of text but I couldn't really think of ways to condense it.)
They all seem pretty cool, you put a lot of thought into them and they'd be really nice for your party. The only item that didn't seem to have much to it was
+1 Glamered Mithral Shirt. Allows casting of Eagle's Splendor once per 2 Cleric levels per day.
That doesn't seem very useful. Clerics don't get extra turnings for temporary boosts to charisma, and it doesn't work for anyone but a cleric.
Perhaps if it cast owls wisdom instead?
They all seem pretty cool, you put a lot of thought into them and they'd be really nice for your party. The only item that didn't seem to have much to it was
+1 Glamered Mithral Shirt. Allows casting of Eagle's Splendor once per 2 Cleric levels per day.
That doesn't seem very useful. Clerics don't get extra turnings for temporary boosts to charisma, and it doesn't work for anyone but a cleric.
Perhaps if it cast owls wisdom instead?
Thanks for the kind words! :) My job as GM, in my opinion, is to really give players what they want. Making items and maps and worlds is the fun part!
As far as the item: Oh snap, I'm dumb. I keep thinking that Clerics use Charisma because I mix them up with Paladins. Mmmm... Owl's Wisdom sounds like a fine substitute! I think I'll change the Owl's Wisdom on "Knowledge" into Fox's Cunning.
Do you think the effects are appropriate for the level? I was a bit worried about messing with total charges for the staff and the unorthodox effects for The Linking Stone and The Twins, in particular.
Thanks again. :D Yay, items!
One of the problems if you use wealth by levels is that there's no room for anything fun. All of the wondrous items are so expensive that they eat a large chunk of your income and leave you weaker. Fudging around that (like you seem to be doing) can sometimes work better than a mathematical solution.
One thing to watch out for is that without the less fun and varied items that the game assumes your party has they can be weaker than you'd expect. Because price increases exponentially as benefit increases, a character with a full spread out across multiple items will be far more effective for the same cost than a character with one really cool item. For example
Dwarf fighter 1 has an amulet of natural armor +3 is 18,000 gp
Dwarf fighter 2 has an amulet of natural armor +1 (2,000 gp) a ring of protection + 1 (2,000 gp), and a +1 enhancement bonus on his armor (1,000 gp) all for 1/3 the cost.
http://www.pathfinderreference.com/gming/experience.htm (too lazy to find my book) Shows about how much wealth a character in the party should have.
Left to their own devices, characters will usually concentrate on
1) A stat booster , to whatever their class uses and to constitution.
2) A magic weapon (for fighting types) or A small cache of wands scrolls and potions for magicky types
3) A cloak of protection.
4) a few armor boosters.
By the rules that punish anything with multiple functions or unstated uses the items would be too expensive for the characters. By their usefulness The items look to be in the 3-4,000 gp range. So most of your party members should have their cool weapon or armor and perhaps another trinket. As they level up the inclusion of the more boring trinkets gets more and more necessary. Without the cloaks of protection they'll start failing the save or die spells far more often than you'd like , and without a few armor boosters they'll take more damage than they can handle.
For things like foxes cunning and cat's grace, they quickly get left behind in terms of usefulness. Characters should have permanent bonuses to their main stats at some point, and 4th or 5th is getting pretty close to that point. The next time you send the armor in for the upgrade you may want to make it a flat +2 to wisdom.
Your entire post is solid gold. Thank you.
Specifically, regarding your suggestion on, say, the Tabard: flat +2 to Wisdom sounds cool, as opposed to spellcasting - likewise, maybe a +2 Dex. on the Hammer and the Twins, an Int. +2 on the staff.
I'd rather have the characters be a bit overpowered than a bit underpowered. I've had to deal with grossly-overpowered three-man parties before (this was back when I played with idiot friends and I hated that job) but they were malicious by nature.
My 7 semi-greenhorns will, I'm sure, take all the "overpowered" out of their items by their lack of skill.
I think I'll go over the list again and rejigger the bonuses. I should probably give Weapons of Legacy a once-over for some upgrade inspiration.
Hurm ... Maybe, in order to keep the "upgrades" flowing, they could be weapons blessed by one god each? That's why they have no history - they're designed to attract heroes and HAVE HISTORY MADE WITH THEM!
Oh man, I'm feeling this. This is workable. Just need to engage their main enemy - maybe he stole one of these "unknown" weapons and wants to ... harness god-power or something. F#*%, I dunno.
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, you've gotten my creative juices flowing after a tiring day at school.
Huuuurmmm... maybe, boost all the items a bit more and have this patron they're gonna meet give 'em all some standard AC/saves item too? I've always had trouble getting wealth by level to work properly since I prefer each character having a few big exciting treasures (+ consumables) than a bunch of boring stuff. I don't mind beefing or de-beefing the encounters to suit - that's my job after all.
Again, thanks.
EDIT: Thanks for that link, it's like a prettied-up PFRPG Official SRD thingy. Muy bueno.