look in unchained for the optional rules that take focus off of magic items.
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Not really. Part of the appeal of RPGs (though many don't realize) - is the whole Skinner Box aspect of it. Getting that next cool item or leveling to get that next sweet ability is part of why people play. It's also why so many other genres of video games have introduced simplistic leveling systems - to keep people hooked.
The only thing I'd suggest is talking with your players about it and tell them that you'd like to focus a bit more on RPing. Remember - they're people too - you don't need to trick them into such stuff.
You can adhere strictly to the magic item availability chart at the beginning of the chapter on Magic Items.
The randomized treasure makes most of the easily available stuff useless for the player characters. This makes them more dependent on what they find from you.
Just make sure you are aware of what they want.
Well there's the scaling bonuses from Unchained.
Also there's third party things to do like Covenant Magic. Now I know the product isn't supposed to be used like this but I use it as a basis for non-item rewards that occur by interacting with supernatural beings. For example; a guy kills a red dragon and bathes his fist in it's blood. He can now punch breath weapon damage because of the magic that seeped into his fist and eat gold(literally) to do it more often. In general curse-buffs are fun and can be amazing, steering a person's build into something that they didn't plan for.
But to be fair the last time I played Curse of the Crimson Throne I used exactly two magic items over the course of the campaign (boots of elven kind and a wand of cat's grace) and we still steamrolled most of the game so it may be nothing to worry about. Although honestly I sold my soul to the devil for a +2 to dex and int so you could say I used 4 magic items.
Umm... The only way to "make" players not care about items is to remove the need for items. And it wouldn't be to hard, pick one of the two styles in unchained, and then just keep the NPC's the same but make it so you can't sell the gear for much, and you're done.
And random drops matter most if you're dropping things they want anyways, if you don't then they are likely to sell it to fund the item they want regardless of how "cool" it was.
Honestly I feel you'll be unsuccessful in your endeavor
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I'm not real fond of the unchained versions. I came up with one, and I've seen other similar ones, where basically take 80% of the expected WBL for each level convert it into points where 1 point equals 1,000 gp. They can use these points to buy any of the big 6 items as 'virtual items' that are built in to them, but otherwise work work pretty much identical (there are some differences, for example I have 'primary weapon attack +x' as one of the virtual categories and it works with any masterwork weapon, not requiring it to be a specific weapon, but it doesn't make much difference.) Obviously then these items don't exist in the game (and aren't pre-reqs either, so you can have just a 'flaming sword' without it having to be a +1 flaming sword.)
Then all I need to do to run an adventure is removing the treasure they would get to about 20% and everything is balanced. The first thing I remove is all the bad guys big 6, since they are baked in for them too, but their attack numbers etc. don't change.
Although mathematically the same, I like this method because the characters only have a few actual magic items, and they seem a lot more rare and special, but the numbers don't change and everything is totally in control of the PC.
First, make just about everything unsellable. This is easy and logical. For one, once you start getting into the thousands of GP, especially into the tens of thousands of GP, your customer base is very, very, very small. And those guys who do have that kind of cash, they may not want magic items - what use does a rich merchant have for a +3 greataxe when he has a small army of bodyguards anyway. Finding someone with lots of cash AND a desire to buy a magic item AND he doesn't already have that item or one similar enough to it can and should be a very small needle in a very big haystack.
Maybe let the little common things be sold, +1 weapons and armor, really common miscellaneous items, etc., but after that, just plain old no selling.
Second, modify the encounters just a little bit. Sometimes. If you want to slow down the trickle of items to the PCs, and you know the fighter is looking for a +2 longsword to replace his +1 longsword, and you have a bad guy with a +2 longsword, edit him to have a +2 spear. His stats are still very much the same, but your guy who wanted a +2 longsword won't get exactly what he wants until the NEXT time when maybe you don't modify the encounter - but at least he can use that spear now, and maybe even come to appreciate it. Or for more fun, make it a +1 Bane longsword and pick a creature type that makes it work against the PCs but makes it ineffective against most of the monsters in the adventure. AT higher levels, let them face many enemies with unholy weapons, or axiomatic, or whatever alignment is opposite the majority of the weapon using PCs - bad guys get the benefit, good guys can't use it.
Don't be cruel about it. Modify some of these encounters to give them other things, items with limited charges, items with unique and creative abilities (figurines of wondrous power for example) so that the PC have items to use (and use up). They'll start to appreciate having these items and find interesting ways to use them.
Eventually you do give them things they want, at the pace that satisfies you.
Just make sure your players are on board with this - if they're used to Pathfinder levels of magic and you starve them of magic items, the players may be quickly frustrated by this.
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Second, modify the encounters just a little bit. Sometimes. If you want to slow down the trickle of items to the PCs, and you know the fighter is looking for a +2 longsword to replace his +1 longsword, and you have a bad guy with a +2 longsword, edit him to have a +2 spear. His stats are still very much the same, but your guy who wanted a +2 longsword won't get exactly what he wants until the NEXT time when maybe you don't modify the encounter - but at least he can use that spear now, and maybe even come to appreciate it. Or for more fun, make it a +1 Bane longsword and pick a creature type that makes it work against the PCs but makes it ineffective against most of the monsters in the adventure. AT higher levels, let them face many enemies with unholy weapons, or axiomatic, or whatever alignment is opposite the majority of the weapon using PCs - bad guys get the benefit, good guys can't use it.
I'd use the longsword still. Often if I'm a fighter and say lv4+ the time you're looking for a +2 sword I have weapon focus and weapon specialization for longsword. So that +2 spear is a downgrade for my fighter. Moreso at lv5 when I have weapon training swords.
Second, modify the encounters just a little bit. Sometimes. If you want to slow down the trickle of items to the PCs, and you know the fighter is looking for a +2 longsword to replace his +1 longsword, and you have a bad guy with a +2 longsword, edit him to have a +2 spear. His stats are still very much the same, but your guy who wanted a +2 longsword won't get exactly what he wants until the NEXT time when maybe you don't modify the encounter - but at least he can use that spear now, and maybe even come to appreciate it. Or for more fun, make it a +1 Bane longsword and pick a creature type that makes it work against the PCs but makes it ineffective against most of the monsters in the adventure. AT higher levels, let them face many enemies with unholy weapons, or axiomatic, or whatever alignment is opposite the majority of the weapon using PCs - bad guys get the benefit, good guys can't use it.I'd use the longsword still. Often if I'm a fighter and say lv4+ the time you're looking for a +2 sword I have weapon focus and weapon specialization for longsword. So that +2 spear is a downgrade for my fighter. Moreso at lv5 when I have weapon training swords.
Exactly.
For a fighter with specialization, that's exactly true. For a barbarian or paladin, maybe not so much. I did say "fighter" so your point is a good one, but in a wider general "martial guy in front" sense, maybe the spear is good enough for a while until a better longsword comes along.
And for the true fighters with longsword specialization, well, passing the +2 spear and a half-dozen other +2 weapons before finding that lovely +2 longsword will definitely make him appreciate it when he gets it.
Or for added fun, maybe the game has some critters with DR that your +1 longsword won't bypass but your +2 spear might, such as DR x/Piercing. More likely, this applies at a bit higher level with a +2 longsword vs. a +3 spear where the spear could overcome DR x/Cold Iron or x/Silver. Etc.
I think the problem is in expectations and will largely go away once the game starts.
Before the game, when you are building the character, you can only control your stats. So that is what you think about and that is what you talk about. You haven't played the game yet, so you don't know the NPCs yet. You don't know the local legends until you make a knowledge check in game. You don't have anything to talk about besides the rules elements, and the only part of that that requires cooperation is getting your gear specced out.
How upset would you be if they were all talking about the cool monsters and NPCs before they had played the game? It would indicate that they had read the adventure before playing it. I can deal with another GM wanting a chance to play, but I want to know about it and talk about it before they join the game.
After the campaign is over is when people talk about the cool plots and the awesome fights. It can be aggravating to have to wait until it is over to get to the awesome reminiscing, but it is a transition from one to the other.
I can tell you stories of games from 20 years ago, but I only remember the bits and pieces of peoples builds that impacted the story. Meanwhile I can tell you all the theorycraft behind a build I might not even decide to play, precisely because it has no stories attached to it yet and that theorycraft is still the most interesting thing about the character.
I can really recommend the Automatic Bonus Progression from Unchained, if you want to make your game less about collecting items and hanging yourself like a christmas tree.
You dont need to redo encounters, as the numeric bonusses are still there, just "innate" in the non-ruleswise expression of this word. And it sill leaves room for special magic items.
I'm not real fond of the unchained versions. I came up with one, and I've seen other similar ones, where basically take 80% of the expected WBL for each level convert it into points where 1 point equals 1,000 gp. They can use these points to buy any of the big 6 items as 'virtual items' that are built in to them, but otherwise work work pretty much identical (there are some differences, for example I have 'primary weapon attack +x' as one of the virtual categories and it works with any masterwork weapon, not requiring it to be a specific weapon, but it doesn't make much difference.) Obviously then these items don't exist in the game (and aren't pre-reqs either, so you can have just a 'flaming sword' without it having to be a +1 flaming sword.)
Then all I need to do to run an adventure is removing the treasure they would get to about 20% and everything is balanced. The first thing I remove is all the bad guys big 6, since they are baked in for them too, but their attack numbers etc. don't change.
Although mathematically the same, I like this method because the characters only have a few actual magic items, and they seem a lot more rare and special, but the numbers don't change and everything is totally in control of the PC.
I did exactly the same thing. I didn't bother with the thousand to one point scaling, since people are already used to the existing system, and I made it 75%, but other than that, exactly the same solution.
I fluffed it as that as they level up like that, they're slowly getting custom tattoos that match their specializations and such.
The game I'm using it in doesn't start for a couple of weeks, but I'm excited!
I only did the 1000 to one because I made a chart with what they could buy and when they got points.