I've seen far too many threads and posts on why people don't like resonance, so I don't want to repeat that here. However, I would like to do more of a "what it could have been" or "what it could be" concept.
When I first saw the resonance blog back in June, I was immediately in favor of resonance. I loved the idea of investment in items,although I was disappointed in the simple 1 resonance invested per item. Thematically, the first thing I thought back to, was an old system called Earthdawn, by FASA. One of my favorite concepts in it was weaving threads of magic into items to attune them. For those not familiar, here is an excert from the Earthdawn wikia:
Weaving Threads wrote:
Adepts often weave threads to magical items in order to empower them. A magical item with no threads attached appears to be a mundane item of its type. Similarly, an item to which an adept has threads woven becomes mundane in the hands of those that have not empowered it by attaching a thread.
Weaving threads to an item involves examining its true pattern and researching its history to learn Key Knowlegdes, such as the item’s Name, creator, from what or where it was crafted and so on. Once this knowledge is known, an adept can infuse some of his own essence in order to awaken the legend of the item.
The extent to which an item can be invested with an adept’s power can vary widely. It is contingent upon how much an adept knows about the history of the item, and the deeds with which it is associated. Thread Items with an unremarkable history will lack the same capacities as items wielded by legendary Name-givers to perform heroic deeds.
Although magic in the earthdawn world was themed much more around the idea of actually weaving the magic into patterns, the key element that really connected through resonance is the idea of someone being able to "infuse some of his own essence in order to awaken the legend of the item." Resonance becomes a mechanic within the new pathfinder system that allows that same kind of connection between a magic item and the one using it. Magic items become less of a commodity, and more special.
One of the places I had hoped a lot of inspiration for PF2 would come from was Pathfinder Unchained. I understand the it was written for a different system, but there were a lot of things in that book that just worked well, and were improvements over the core Pathfinder 1.0 system. One of the stand out items is scaling items. Items that grow with the character and become more legendary as they advance is a great concept. In unchained, the items scaled with level, but now with resonance, we have new way to allow a character to unlock the power of their items. As a character invests more resonance into their bond with an item, the item becomes more and more powerful. A character with multiple scaling items, would now have to decide which bonds to priortize investment in.
The power of an item should dictate how much resonance is needed to unlock it, even if it doesn't scale. Wands and potions at 1 resonance is fine. However, to unlock even the lowest power of that holy mcguffin of smiting all evil should require a much bigger investment. 1 resonance to activate some items won't seem like as big of a deal if magic weapons, armor, and invisibility cloaks are taking 3-5 resonance each. Item levels no longer need to be included, since resonance becomes the unlock.
Lets take an example:
RING OF ENERGY RESISTANCE ITEM 6+[ wrote:
Method of Use worn; Bulk —
This ring grants you protection against one type
of energy damage: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or
sonic. Each ring is crafted to protect against a particular type
of energy damage that can’t be changed later, and its design
usually embodies the type of energy it protects the wearer
from in some way. For instance, a ring of fire resistance might
be capped with a ruby, whereas a ring of cold resistance features
a sapphire instead.
Type lesser; Level 6; Price 245 gp; Resistance 5
Type standard; Level 10; Price 975 gp; Resistance 10
Type greater; Level 14; Price 4,400 gp; Resistance 15
First...the level 6, 10 and 14 can go.
Instead replace the level 6 with a cost like 4 resonance, the 10 with 7 resonance, and the 14 with 10 resonance. (Or 3/6/9 or 3/5/7...not here to argue the exact numbers.) With scaling items, this can even be the exact same item, with the resonance unlocks being the differentiation.
TLDR:
1) The 1 resonance to invest 1 item is limiting.
2) Use resonance levels on items instead of item levels.
3) Scaling items fit great with a variable resonance system.
4) Earthdawn is a great source of inspiration on how resonance COULD fit in thematically.
