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Hey homebrewers, I'd like to submit to peer review a few items of my creation.
A little bit of context: I've been running a ported to 2E and partly modified version of the Kingmaker AP, and my players and I agreed that we didn't particularly like the idea of magic items being ubiquitous and easy to find/create. We wanted to limit as much as possible the "gadget" feeling that unavoidably they get at some point in a standard "high fantasy" campaign, so we decided to go with the APB variant. However, since we found that items still got the aforementioned "gadget" feeling, we agreed on making those magic items still present in the game technically more powerful, but with an inherent risk/penalty to them.
This naturally seems like it might incur in all sorts of balance problems, hence my wishing for feedback. The idea is that as we progress with the game we are also going to try and rule out prospective "exploits", as the idea behind the dangerous/unstable aspect of magic is to add a thrill, not a chance for munchkining, which my players are thoroughly on board with.
In the case of an item being useful specifically in the early game (because of the type of numeric/"special" effect granted), should a player like the item (despite its risks/maluses), I've been toying with the idea of allowing for items to grow with the players, sort of like relics, so as to make them viable later on as well, possibly with the fluffy explanation that items either feed on or are amplified by the bearer's strength.
An inspiration to modify items this way was, for those familiar, is the game "Darkest Dungeon", where the majority of items essentially grant a bonus and a malus, both making for an interesting mechanical use, and tracing back to the fluff (be it just hinted to) of the item, as well as providing the feeling that magic barely crystallised in physical form is not to be trifled with.
I'll add that we play with complete trust, and are all striving for a combination of satisfactory crunchy and fluffy gameplay. There are also consmables available, though in smaller measure, but I'm referring and focussing mainly on items with daily charges, or otherwise "permanent".
Although the ABP variant makes it so the PCs don't need to find items with numeric bonuses, I thought I would put some items that perhaps give a bonus, but also a malus, in a fluffy/flavourful way.
Some here are examples of the items I've created: a more powerful version of a Demon Mask, making also the bearer's voice raspier, giving a +1 to intimidation and a -1 to diplomacy, with a two action - envision spell effect (giving it maybe the rage trait too, since I wanted it to be usable by the barbarian of the group as well) with an effect being a combination between fear and phantasmal killer; DC 20 or class DC of the bearer, whichever higher:
Critical success: target takes 1d6 mental damage
Success: target takes 2d6 mental damage and is frightened 1
Failure: target takes 4d6 mental damage and is frightened 2
Critical failure: target takes 6d6 and is frightened 3.
The catch is that instead of having charges, everytime the user activates the item, it has a 5% on the first daily use, 50% on the second, 75% on the third and 95% on the fourth chance to incur in the following: the mask sticks to the bearer's face and needs to be removed via magical effects (such as Dispel Magic), but removal without the usage of Remove Curse causes a permanent disfiguration - modification of the voice, rendering the mask's bonus and malus to intimidation and diplomacy permanent (should the player like the bonus/malus, they could decide to keep it even if they remove the mask with Remove Curse). The bearer is also permanently (not lessening with the end of a round) frightened 1, as the mask shows them horrible visions and whispers unspeakable things. Every further use can worsen the frightened condition of 1, should the percentage roll trigger the "negative effect", and a night of rest lessens the penalty of 1, with a minimum of 1 that can be cured with magical means or rest only if the mask is removed. The PCs found this item at lvl three, so it seems to me that the effect is VERY good for their level, as written, but with what I believe to be a decent drawback. In the future, even if restoration spells were to abound, it seemed to me that expending spell slots to lessen the penalty (even if I decide that the damage scales up some) would balance the item's power.
A magic helm granting a +1 to perception, with the following envision effect (free action): an extra attack that does not count for the multiple attack penalty, and the target is considered flat footed vs that attack. Here as well, with every consecutive use the same day, there is a 5%, 50%, 75%, 95% chance of incurring in the following: the character becomes addicted to alcohol (stage 1), lasting one day, and the condition cannot be reduced below 1 with any means, every additional use can worsen the addiction of one stage, and malus can be negated temporarily by consuming a hefty amount of alcohol (10 minutes to one hour depending on type of alcohol and quantity and other circumstantial factors), then normally rolling as per alcohol consumption with the possibility of worsening the addiction. This negative effect is because the former bearer of the helm poured (accidentally) some of itself in it, à la Sauron's ring. It seemed to me that in so designing the item a VERY good effect (that is also supposed to potentially stack with haste) would come with an annoying enough downside, rather likely to happen with more than one use per day.
A "natural armor" amulet, giving the equivalent of a +1 of the no longer existing (so I guess untyped in 2E) natural armor bonus to AC, with the downside being that the character gains weakness to bludgeoning/slashing/piercing equal to their level. As of now I didn't add anything versus spell attacks, but being weaker versus mundane attacks (should they hit) seemed good enough.
Another idea I had was recreating a "Cloak of Elvenkind", making it so it would grant a +1 to dex and -1 to con, thus making its bearer a little like the elves are (or were considered in former editions), nimble but fragile. I thought this could give an edge for several levels to a character interested in getting quicker to that juicy 20 in their dex, for a price, and that maybe at higher level could be brought up to a
2, as not to become trivial once the score would become 20 naturally. I'm aware that should be on par with an apex item, but it comes with a (relevant) downside. I wouldn't for example make a str +2 int -2 item and vice versa (without adding another "unpleasant" aspect) as they would seem to be no-brainers for beatsti... fighters and casters respectively.
Apologies if the formatting is iffy, this is my first time posting ever.
Be brutal in your evaluations, no holds barred, and thanks in advance!
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These are great! I like magic items with slight downsides while not unduly punishing the PC for using them. If balanced well, the downsides force the player to think more tactically. Plus, magic items have more mystique, too. I'm also a proponent of having items progress with the PC, so all my homebrew items behave like relics.
Have you worked out a way to calculate Item Level and Price?
If you are worried about your cloak overtaking apex items, you could consider making it have a caveat. If you wear the cloak for more than half a day together primarily, and have it attuned. (not just on here and there) If at least one other attribute has a higher bonus than your dexterity, the cloak boosts your Dex bonus by +1 and reduces your Con bonus by 1.
This simple requirement, that it not be one of your highest ability scores insures that it cannot 'replace' an apex item, which are probably almost always used to boost your most important stat, which is already probably your highest. The other half, is that when that kicks in, it also gives you a negative impact as well.
If you stop attuning the cloak, and down wear it at all for a day, the effects go away and you start over. Needing to attune it for a day first, before the attribute effect kicks in.
You could also have a magic item that boosts your effective level for the purposes of ABP calculations. So that your first level character finds a magic sword, it boosts your ABP by a level. That means at first level the sword behaves as if it were +1 potency. At third level it behaves like you naturally have devastating attacks, getting an extra weapon die. With a weapon like that it grows with you, making it feel valuable, but not making it critical to you doing all your damage, just a bit of a boost in different ways as you advance.
For other meaningful options for items, there might be items which grant users a bonus use of a daily or focus ability once a day, or once an encounter. (or even once, if intended to be a consumable, such as a talisman)
These are great! I like magic items with slight downsides while not unduly punishing the PC for using them. If balanced well, the downsides force the player to think more tactically. Plus, magic items have more mystique, too. I'm also a proponent of having items progress with the PC, so all my homebrew items behave like relics.
Have you worked out a way to calculate Item Level and Price?
Thank for answering, and apologies for the late replay, I thought I could see the answers from my profile. The mystique was my main focus, as our intent as a party is to try and detach as much as possible from the rules and immerse in the story, although we're still using most of the ruleset (with the possibility of parole/rule of cool)
The possibility of having items progress with the PCs seemed to both further bolster the "magical" feeling of items (also potentially opening up countless chances for roleplay, as the players themselves might come up with rituals / try and use components they might find, such as dragon blood or similar materials harvested from powerful foes), and would give the players the chance of still using an item they liked, without having to "recycle" a now subpar "gadget". Come think of it, they might even sacrifice/break down one of these magic items to try and bolster another one they might be more interested in!
So I was thinking that there would be no need to calculate level and price, should they want to sell (and even find a buyer) I'd use the existing items as guidelines. Since I'm coming up with their loot,
they would in any case be getting what's adequate for their level, or at the very least not overpowered (hopefully, once more I reserved myself the possibility of nerfs, should we see that an item I created is breaking the game)
So what do you think about the balance overall? Do you think I'm going overboard? Especially in your own gaming experience. And about my "rework" of the "uses per day system" (I.E. one use with a 5% chance of nasty things happening, and then highly increasing, for an item I was assuming would be balanced having one use per day) I'd love to hear your thoughts on that, especially.
If you are worried about your cloak overtaking apex items, you could consider making it have a caveat. If you wear the cloak for more than half a day together primarily, and have it attuned. (not just on here and there) If at least one other attribute has a higher bonus than your dexterity, the cloak boosts your Dex bonus by +1 and reduces your Con bonus by 1.
This simple requirement, that it not be one of your highest ability scores insures that it cannot 'replace' an apex item, which are probably almost always used to boost your most important stat, which is already probably your highest. The other half, is that when that kicks in, it also gives you a negative impact as well.
If you stop attuning the cloak, and down wear it at all for a day, the effects go away and you start over. Needing to attune it for a day first, before the attribute effect kicks in.
You could also have a magic item that boosts your effective level for the purposes of ABP calculations. So that your first level character finds a magic sword, it boosts your ABP by a level. That means at first level the sword behaves as if it were +1 potency. At third level it behaves like you naturally have devastating attacks, getting an extra weapon die. With a weapon like that it grows with you, making it feel valuable, but not making it critical to you doing all your damage, just a bit of a boost in different ways as you advance.
For other meaningful options for items, there might be items which grant users a bonus use of a daily or focus ability once a day, or once an encounter. (or even once, if intended to be a consumable, such as a talisman)
Thanks for answering; I'm not too afraid of outclassing apex items per se, it's just that from a game design perspective I was considering the fact that an ability booster is only reserved for a level 17 item. For an indefinite bonus it would be a good idea to add a minimum time required wearing item before it activates, you are right. Or in case of ability boosting item, it is also interesting to maybe make it so it doesn't boost what is the character's "main" stat, thought it is necessary and interesting to find a "fluffy" explanation as to why the item works this way. The ABP boosting item sounds powerful, but it is a good idea to consider in the future!
Consumables are also available, and I provided/created some for my players, but I wasn't worried about them, as their "one-off" nature is a heavy balancing factor, although admittedly one could exaggerate even with consumables.
From a balance perspective, do you guys think that the examples so far provided wouldn't be game breaking, then?