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As a DM I was wondering how many DM change the items to in encounters in the RotRL (or in general) to fit there player party. I have the fight with Nualia coming up and rather than giving her the +1 bastard sword i was thinking of giving her a +1 maul (or grateaxe) as my paladin character uses this weapon.
Are there any balance issues with this as long as it retains the overall WBL value.
Thoughts?
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I don't see anything wrong with that, Dynas. Lamashtu favors the falchion, so it's not like Nualia got the EWP for free. Just trade that out for something else, and you're good to go. I would make it a one-handed weapon, though - part of her schtick is that she attacks you with her weapon, and slashes at you with her demonic arm.
Askren thats a good point. Im not talking about doing it all the time, maybe just here and there. I mention it because at these low levels if no one wants the item and they go to sell it there is the gold limit cap problem for a small town potentially.
i switch it out a lot actually
Periodically doing this makes sense. And for that matter, I've already ruled that giant-sized magic items are not worth anything as the only people interested in them are giant-sized entities... and the ones that are good-aligned usually don't want fairly crude items that ogres make (ie, large-sized Ogre Hooks and Hide Armor). Especially as magic weapons and armor do not resize.
On the plus side, this also allows me to introduce other magic items that post-date the RotRL modules or shift things in RoW that I find interesting.
What I do for the giant-sized stuff is let crafters 'disenchant' them Getting enough magical reagents equal to the sale price.
If/when there are no casters with crafting feats, they can still be sold to 'ye olde magic shoppe' for the crafters the may reside there.
They aren't paying for the crude +1 ogre hook they're paying for the raw dweomers that are contained within.
Your mileage may vary.
Very Respectfully,
--Bacon
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With my group, I've also always used some form of the common "magical weapons/armors/items resize to fit the PC" houserule. With that rule, the heroes don't have to sell items because they're the wrong size.
Also, I sometimes include some version of the Arcane Anvil once my PCs reach higher levels. This allows them to cannibalize magical weapons/armor from loot to improve their own gear without relying on high-level magic stores and such.
For example, in my RotRL game,
-Skeld
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Dropping in the occasional item players can be really happy with and use directly really does improves the game. But, as you said, don't do it every time... just once in a while, maybe when you see someone lagging in their gear.
For example, in my RotRL game, ** spoiler omitted **
-Skeld
I did something similar, although a volume earlier in the AP.
In retrospect, I actually could have blamed it on the hags, possibly even saying the storm is how they're gathering all the energy to produce weapons/armor for Karzoug's army.
Cheers!
Landon
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I actually switched out a small-size kukri for a small-sized sickle (which was the weapon-of-choice for the halfling cleric's goddess). The player just about did a jig. It can be very nice (and gratifying for the player) to customize loot from time to time. :)
I have no problem whatsoever with switching out AP treasure for treasure the PCs can actually use. I made the weapon/armor/equipment resizing clause expensive but doable for them (10% of the market price, 3-day turnaround), so Giant-sized and halfling-sized treasure isn't worthless.
Since I'm the second GM in this game (we switched off), my GMPC stayed "home" at Thistletop and became a party crafter, who can do all that resizing for free once he got the Shrink Spell (Enlarge Person/Reduce Person can also roleplay into resizing stuff, 3-day turnaround). The party didn't take the bait I left at Jorgenfist for them and take all those broken, unfinished weapons back home to be finished and sold off - they just destroyed them where they were. Oh well.
At higher levels (12+) most PCs at our table are more interested in augmenting an existing weapon or armor, not selling everything and going for new stuff. Most want to keep the sword they started out with, or the leather armor. They just want to make it better. :)
If nobody in your party wants to become a crafter I would use Magimar in the beginning of the AP and a side trek to Riddlepoint in Book 5 to re-WBL the party. At Level 14+ most party members are rich enough to just order their own crafting done or purchase items from the marketplace in Magimar.
I like to modify the treasure drops quite a lot generally because the Ultimate Equipment Guide is my favourite book of all the books.
A few reasons why I modify drops.
1: Reduce or increase difficulty for party
2: Scale the next few fights to a level I think appropriate
3: Direct wealth towards the weaker party members and away from overpowered ones
4: Introduce useful items that are overlooked (players generally use guides that help them become more powerful but not buy things that would be more useful).
5: Make the game more interesting
Re: using odd-sized gear...
I've included a spell in my game that can resize an item up or down one size category. The material component is 25gp of sapphire dust per pound of the item's weight. The duration of the spell is "permanent," meaning that it lasts forever, but can be dispelled.
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There’s also a magic item in Inner Sea Gods which does the same thing, Haladir: Iron Lord’s Transforming Slivers. ;-)
We almost always have smaller parties so if i didnt have weapons re-size i'd have a bloodbath on my hands, of me, by them:)
As a DM I was wondering how many DM change the items to in encounters in the RotRL (or in general) to fit there player party. I have the fight with Nualia coming up and rather than giving her the +1 bastard sword i was thinking of giving her a +1 maul (or grateaxe) as my paladin character uses this weapon.
Are there any balance issues with this as long as it retains the overall WBL value.
Thoughts?
I do it constantly, though the treasure customization isn't always with the intent of making it more usable to the PC's. Usually, but not always. Sometimes unusual treasure encourages them to think outside the box. Also, there are many ways PC's can come by treasure.
In our RotRL game the PC's befriended Father Zantus and Sherrif Hemlock early on. When they were planning on infiltrating Thistletop to protect the town and were light on healing, Zantus loaned them - for the duration if that exploration only - his wand of healing which worked exactly like the Witch's healing hex (usable 1/day/person, scaled upwards based on target rather than caster). They thanked him by gifting his church with the candles they found.
Other times treasure may take the form of aid they can call on in times of need - aid they might be surprised to receive. It's saved a party wipe more than once and fit seamlessly into the story.