If you're one of my players, please don't read this!
Very new dm here, though I've been a player for several years.
Later on in the game I want to give one of the members in my party a +2 or +3 weapon akin to a sun blade to help them out in their final confrontation, but I'm not sure what would be good equivalents for my other two players. We have a Wolf Totem Barbarian, a Storm Cleric, and a Theif (?) Rogue. Unfortunately it seems not all +1s are created equal...
I would love to give them all different kinds of items since its fun to play off their differences, (rather than giving them all weapons,) but I'm having a hard time coming up with magic items of equivalent power and utility for the other players. These will be introduced when they're around level 8-10.
Without going into specifics, an idea is for the party to find/search for/quest for magical items for each member of the group.
These items could then "level up" over time and you can create quests/situations where this may then happen. IE: a dagger from a god that hates undead may go from +1 to +2 (with other quirks) after a party member has used it to kill a certain type of undead.
You also don't have to just add a "+". Perhaps there are other abilities you could add to the item as its bond cements with the wielder.
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"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
idk, I wouldn't give one character a much better +2/3 weapon than the others. it would create animosity unnecessarily. just give them all +1 weapons, homebrew some aspects of them if you have to. each weapon/item should play to their strengths. I find that a bit better than trying to cover their weaknesses.
I like the suggestions above, jxxbx made. but I'd let the barbarian deal with psychic damage, it's one of the only ways to hurt him anyway.
for a rogue anything that helps single target damage is nice, things that make stealth more fun or cool, or something like advantage on DEX saving throws, just make them better at what they should be
for a barbarian, maybe something that makes him even more durable but in weird ways...vampire blade/life stealing, or something that makes battle more fun ie. something that mimics great weapon fighting
for a cleric...i got nothing haha I don't have much experience with them
If the elaboration helps, these items will probably be spiritual in nature and are definitely going to have homebrew elements.
I'm basically just trying to figure out what it useful for each class, and how to make each of the three items equal in power/usefulness. 😕
Either the barbarian or cleric could benefit from a straight magical weapon, but I'd like to play a little more off of their class abilities, like the thief's sneak attack or stealth or something.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The beating sound is not my sympathetic heart, but a time bomb."
In terms of story, items that buff the strength of a character are more interesting to play that items that take away a weakness. Flaws of characters or classes are better story/encounter hooks.
I like items that "grow" with their owners, because you as a DM can manipulate when the player will get the better buff/higher stat for a special fight. Just an idea: 1. The barbarian finds a rusty and warped sword in a tomb of an ancient tribe's chieftain (normal sword) 2. A wolf shaman tells him about the history of the chieftain and the sword, a spiritual wolf appears in the barbarians dreams at random times 3. The barbarian brings the sword to the Howling Wolf's peak, where for the first time the spirtual wolf appears and licks the blade. It straightens out, is shiny and now has a keen edge (sword +1) 4. In a library the cleric discovers a tome with a picture of the sword, showing that it originally had a different pommel, the ivory head of a wolf with glowing red eyes. 5. the party tracks down the place where the chieftain was slain by an ogre. The wolf head's pommel had broken off in the fight and now serves as the head of the ogre mage's scepter leading the ogre tribe in the valley. After defeating the ogres, the barbarian finds a master sword maker and lets him fit the original pommel to the sword. (sword +2) 6. The ivory wolf's eyes are not glowing. The barbarian learns to communicate with the spirit wolf and unlocks "ability buff 1" on the sword. When he uses the buff, the eyes glow. 7. The barbarian returns to the original tomb, now giving proper respect to the ancient chieftain. He obtains a vision from the ancient warrior, teaching him "ability buff 2" (summon a mist wolf, extra rage dice etc.) 8. Cromm the god of steel notices the deeds of the barbarian and decided to imbue the sword with even more power to help him slay the final boss of the campaign (sword +3)
Without going into specifics, an idea is for the party to find/search for/quest for magical items for each member of the group.
These items could then "level up" over time and you can create quests/situations where this may then happen. IE: a dagger from a god that hates undead may go from +1 to +2 (with other quirks) after a party member has used it to kill a certain type of undead.
You also don't have to just add a "+". Perhaps there are other abilities you could add to the item as its bond cements with the wielder.
In terms of story, items that buff the strength of a character are more interesting to play that items that take away a weakness. Flaws of characters or classes are better story/encounter hooks.
I like items that "grow" with their owners, because you as a DM can manipulate when the player will get the better buff/higher stat for a special fight. Just an idea: 1. The barbarian finds a rusty and warped sword in a tomb of an ancient tribe's chieftain (normal sword) 2. A wolf shaman tells him about the history of the chieftain and the sword, a spiritual wolf appears in the barbarians dreams at random times 3. The barbarian brings the sword to the Howling Wolf's peak, where for the first time the spirtual wolf appears and licks the blade. It straightens out, is shiny and now has a keen edge (sword +1) 4. In a library the cleric discovers a tome with a picture of the sword, showing that it originally had a different pommel, the ivory head of a wolf with glowing red eyes. 5. the party tracks down the place where the chieftain was slain by an ogre. The wolf head's pommel had broken off in the fight and now serves as the head of the ogre mage's scepter leading the ogre tribe in the valley. After defeating the ogres, the barbarian finds a master sword maker and lets him fit the original pommel to the sword. (sword +2) 6. The ivory wolf's eyes are not glowing. The barbarian learns to communicate with the spirit wolf and unlocks "ability buff 1" on the sword. When he uses the buff, the eyes glow. 7. The barbarian returns to the original tomb, now giving proper respect to the ancient chieftain. He obtains a vision from the ancient warrior, teaching him "ability buff 2" (summon a mist wolf, extra rage dice etc.) 8. Cromm the god of steel notices the deeds of the barbarian and decided to imbue the sword with even more power to help him slay the final boss of the campaign (sword +3)
I guess you got what I am trying to show here. :D
That's a very nice story! I already did have something in mind though in terms of where these items are coming from and how they'll sort of evolve alongside the players. Tl;dr version, basically these items are gifted to them by astral entities as a sort of "let my power be yours so we can defeat our mutual enemy" deal.
The roadblock I'm trying to overcome here is making sure each of the players have something equally useful while still being unique to their class's skillset, because giving every player a +2 weapon isn't quite as fun, especially if not all of the players excel in melee combat. Magic items for fighters and wizards are easier, but the rogue is trickier ground.
Basically what I want to know is...What's a +2 or +3 weapon worth? Is a new skill proficiency just as good? A feat? Are all "rare" magic items created equal? I'm having a hard time gauging the power/utility of all these abilities that I could be enhancing.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"The beating sound is not my sympathetic heart, but a time bomb."
The roadblock I'm trying to overcome here is making sure each of the players have something equally useful while still being unique to their class's skillset, because giving every player a +2 weapon isn't quite as fun, especially if not all of the players excel in melee combat. Magic items for fighters and wizards are easier, but the rogue is trickier ground.
Basically what I want to know is...What's a +2 or +3 weapon worth? Is a new skill proficiency just as good? A feat? Are all "rare" magic items created equal? I'm having a hard time gauging the power/utility of all these abilities that I could be enhancing.
1. Do you want the item to be useful only vs. the final boss (and his minions) or to increase their general power level? A sword +3 would be a general weapon, s sword +1/+4 vs undead a specialized weapon for fighting the lich king and his undead minions. Again, the better flavour variant would be the weapon with the specialized bonus vs. undead.
2. A sword +1 could be a might weapon in a world where there are foes that are only affected by magic and magic is very rare. Just look at Game of Thrones, where only Dragonglass will kill White Walkers. With only a handful of magic weapons (Valyrian steel, like Longclaw), those brittle obsidian daggers a very valuable. Or, keeping with the GoT examples, when your Cleric is one of only a small group of individual that can do divine magic (Melissandre, Thoros), even small spell are a miracle! In short: When every town guard has a +1 sword, your +2 sword is nothing fancy.
3. What are equal buffs for all three players? it depends on your campaign. If 80% of your campaign plays out in a big city, the Thief will be the MVP. Should they be on a ship for a long time, a Storm Cleric will come in handy. If you never be in the wilderness, you barbarian will be handicapped.
I'm creating a new campaign, starting at level 6, and am trying to give a class-appropriate magic item to each Character - so I'm dealing with much the same issue.
I'm torn between a couple of design philosophies here: is it better to give a Character something which enhances their major ability ( e.g. giving the Black Dragonborne Eldritch Knight a Flame Tongue Greatsword ), something that addresses a Character weakness ( giving the Rogue Bracers of Defense ), something that's of use for the Party but not really combat effective Bag of Holding, or just something the Player would find fun ( Wand of Smiles )?
I'm not going to sweat balance too much though - and I don't think you should either - as you can always slip more magic items into play to "top up" Character you think got accidentally short-changed.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
i like playing to their strengths a bit but you can also address a weakness. i think at level 6 they could have 1-2 uncommon items and 1 rare-ish item. i think the small items can address a weakness of sorts ie. +1 shield or +1 bracers of defense->(make it uncommon by giving it a negative or attunement), but the main item you give them should enhance what they're good at. it's what makes it a team game.
...something that addresses a Character weakness ( giving the Rogue Bracers of Defense )
I think the rogue would rather have +1 studded leather. They would probably already have non-magic studded leather by the time they get a rare magic item anyway and they have the same AC bonus.
1. Do you want the item to be useful only vs. the final boss (and his minions) or to increase their general power level? A sword +3 would be a general weapon, s sword +1/+4 vs undead a specialized weapon for fighting the lich king and his undead minions. Again, the better flavour variant would be the weapon with the specialized bonus vs. undead.
2. A sword +1 could be a might weapon in a world where there are foes that are only affected by magic and magic is very rare. Just look at Game of Thrones, where only Dragonglass will kill White Walkers. With only a handful of magic weapons (Valyrian steel, like Longclaw), those brittle obsidian daggers a very valuable. Or, keeping with the GoT examples, when your Cleric is one of only a small group of individual that can do divine magic (Melissandre, Thoros), even small spell are a miracle! In short: When every town guard has a +1 sword, your +2 sword is nothing fancy.
3. What are equal buffs for all three players? it depends on your campaign. If 80% of your campaign plays out in a big city, the Thief will be the MVP. Should they be on a ship for a long time, a Storm Cleric will come in handy. If you never be in the wilderness, you barbarian will be handicapped.
1. I'd like it to be useful against the big bad and his minions, though the items don't strictly have to be combat-centric. ...In fact I might make these items ONLY available during that final "arc".
I'm not using a standard d&d damage type, but the sword I had in mind will be especially potent against these particular beasts...like the sunsword vs. Strahd. I'm stealing a lot from Ravenloft, actually! ^^'
2. Magic isn't incredibly rare, but expensive and difficult. I'd say...medium fantasy? I expect bbeg has some resistances.
3. I hope to explore all sorts of places, but these magic items will only come into play in the last arc, which will be a sort of crumbling ruin surrounded by forest...I think. That's the plan so far at least!
If you're one of my players, please don't read this!
Very new dm here, though I've been a player for several years.
Later on in the game I want to give one of the members in my party a +2 or +3 weapon akin to a sun blade to help them out in their final confrontation, but I'm not sure what would be good equivalents for my other two players. We have a Wolf Totem Barbarian, a Storm Cleric, and a Theif (?) Rogue. Unfortunately it seems not all +1s are created equal...
I would love to give them all different kinds of items since its fun to play off their differences, (rather than giving them all weapons,) but I'm having a hard time coming up with magic items of equivalent power and utility for the other players. These will be introduced when they're around level 8-10.
"The beating sound is not my sympathetic heart, but a time bomb."
♦Character art commissions♦
Bear totem barbarian could benefit from ring of psychic resistance.
Cleric could use a staff of healing to use slots on flashier spells.
Thief could use a cloak of displacement.
Other same level ideas: boots of speed, mantle of spell resistance, or ring of spell storing.
Without going into specifics, an idea is for the party to find/search for/quest for magical items for each member of the group.
These items could then "level up" over time and you can create quests/situations where this may then happen. IE: a dagger from a god that hates undead may go from +1 to +2 (with other quirks) after a party member has used it to kill a certain type of undead.
You also don't have to just add a "+". Perhaps there are other abilities you could add to the item as its bond cements with the wielder.
"An' things ha' come to a pretty pass, ye ken, if people are going to leave stuff like that aroound where innocent people could accidentally smash the door doon and lever the bars aside and take the big chain off'f the cupboard and pick the lock and drink it!"
idk, I wouldn't give one character a much better +2/3 weapon than the others. it would create animosity unnecessarily. just give them all +1 weapons, homebrew some aspects of them if you have to. each weapon/item should play to their strengths. I find that a bit better than trying to cover their weaknesses.
I like the suggestions above, jxxbx made. but I'd let the barbarian deal with psychic damage, it's one of the only ways to hurt him anyway.
for a rogue anything that helps single target damage is nice, things that make stealth more fun or cool, or something like advantage on DEX saving throws, just make them better at what they should be
for a barbarian, maybe something that makes him even more durable but in weird ways...vampire blade/life stealing, or something that makes battle more fun ie. something that mimics great weapon fighting
for a cleric...i got nothing haha I don't have much experience with them
If the elaboration helps, these items will probably be spiritual in nature and are definitely going to have homebrew elements.
I'm basically just trying to figure out what it useful for each class, and how to make each of the three items equal in power/usefulness. 😕
Either the barbarian or cleric could benefit from a straight magical weapon, but I'd like to play a little more off of their class abilities, like the thief's sneak attack or stealth or something.
"The beating sound is not my sympathetic heart, but a time bomb."
♦Character art commissions♦
In terms of story, items that buff the strength of a character are more interesting to play that items that take away a weakness. Flaws of characters or classes are better story/encounter hooks.
I like items that "grow" with their owners, because you as a DM can manipulate when the player will get the better buff/higher stat for a special fight. Just an idea:
1. The barbarian finds a rusty and warped sword in a tomb of an ancient tribe's chieftain (normal sword)
2. A wolf shaman tells him about the history of the chieftain and the sword, a spiritual wolf appears in the barbarians dreams at random times
3. The barbarian brings the sword to the Howling Wolf's peak, where for the first time the spirtual wolf appears and licks the blade. It straightens out, is shiny and now has a keen edge (sword +1)
4. In a library the cleric discovers a tome with a picture of the sword, showing that it originally had a different pommel, the ivory head of a wolf with glowing red eyes.
5. the party tracks down the place where the chieftain was slain by an ogre. The wolf head's pommel had broken off in the fight and now serves as the head of the ogre mage's scepter leading the ogre tribe in the valley. After defeating the ogres, the barbarian finds a master sword maker and lets him fit the original pommel to the sword. (sword +2)
6. The ivory wolf's eyes are not glowing. The barbarian learns to communicate with the spirit wolf and unlocks "ability buff 1" on the sword. When he uses the buff, the eyes glow.
7. The barbarian returns to the original tomb, now giving proper respect to the ancient chieftain. He obtains a vision from the ancient warrior, teaching him "ability buff 2" (summon a mist wolf, extra rage dice etc.)
8. Cromm the god of steel notices the deeds of the barbarian and decided to imbue the sword with even more power to help him slay the final boss of the campaign (sword +3)
I guess you got what I am trying to show here. :D
That's a very nice story! I already did have something in mind though in terms of where these items are coming from and how they'll sort of evolve alongside the players. Tl;dr version, basically these items are gifted to them by astral entities as a sort of "let my power be yours so we can defeat our mutual enemy" deal.
The roadblock I'm trying to overcome here is making sure each of the players have something equally useful while still being unique to their class's skillset, because giving every player a +2 weapon isn't quite as fun, especially if not all of the players excel in melee combat. Magic items for fighters and wizards are easier, but the rogue is trickier ground.
Basically what I want to know is...What's a +2 or +3 weapon worth? Is a new skill proficiency just as good? A feat? Are all "rare" magic items created equal? I'm having a hard time gauging the power/utility of all these abilities that I could be enhancing.
"The beating sound is not my sympathetic heart, but a time bomb."
♦Character art commissions♦
1. Do you want the item to be useful only vs. the final boss (and his minions) or to increase their general power level? A sword +3 would be a general weapon, s sword +1/+4 vs undead a specialized weapon for fighting the lich king and his undead minions. Again, the better flavour variant would be the weapon with the specialized bonus vs. undead.
2. A sword +1 could be a might weapon in a world where there are foes that are only affected by magic and magic is very rare. Just look at Game of Thrones, where only Dragonglass will kill White Walkers. With only a handful of magic weapons (Valyrian steel, like Longclaw), those brittle obsidian daggers a very valuable. Or, keeping with the GoT examples, when your Cleric is one of only a small group of individual that can do divine magic (Melissandre, Thoros), even small spell are a miracle! In short: When every town guard has a +1 sword, your +2 sword is nothing fancy.
3. What are equal buffs for all three players? it depends on your campaign. If 80% of your campaign plays out in a big city, the Thief will be the MVP. Should they be on a ship for a long time, a Storm Cleric will come in handy. If you never be in the wilderness, you barbarian will be handicapped.
I'm creating a new campaign, starting at level 6, and am trying to give a class-appropriate magic item to each Character - so I'm dealing with much the same issue.
I'm torn between a couple of design philosophies here: is it better to give a Character something which enhances their major ability ( e.g. giving the Black Dragonborne Eldritch Knight a Flame Tongue Greatsword ), something that addresses a Character weakness ( giving the Rogue Bracers of Defense ), something that's of use for the Party but not really combat effective Bag of Holding, or just something the Player would find fun ( Wand of Smiles )?
I'm not going to sweat balance too much though - and I don't think you should either - as you can always slip more magic items into play to "top up" Character you think got accidentally short-changed.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
i like playing to their strengths a bit but you can also address a weakness. i think at level 6 they could have 1-2 uncommon items and 1 rare-ish item. i think the small items can address a weakness of sorts ie. +1 shield or +1 bracers of defense->(make it uncommon by giving it a negative or attunement), but the main item you give them should enhance what they're good at. it's what makes it a team game.
I think the rogue would rather have +1 studded leather. They would probably already have non-magic studded leather by the time they get a rare magic item anyway and they have the same AC bonus.
1. I'd like it to be useful against the big bad and his minions, though the items don't strictly have to be combat-centric. ...In fact I might make these items ONLY available during that final "arc".
I'm not using a standard d&d damage type, but the sword I had in mind will be especially potent against these particular beasts...like the sunsword vs. Strahd. I'm stealing a lot from Ravenloft, actually! ^^'
2. Magic isn't incredibly rare, but expensive and difficult. I'd say...medium fantasy? I expect bbeg has some resistances.
3. I hope to explore all sorts of places, but these magic items will only come into play in the last arc, which will be a sort of crumbling ruin surrounded by forest...I think. That's the plan so far at least!
(These have been helpful!)
"The beating sound is not my sympathetic heart, but a time bomb."
♦Character art commissions♦
I prefer to give items that have special properties than generic plusses, e.g. Javelin of Lightning, Mace of Disruption, Oathbow or Vicious Battleaxe.