In the game right now, there's two kinds of magic items: Consumables are destroyed on use, and everything else sticks around forever. You occasionally hear people complain about the permanent ones. Complain that they're too strong, which really just means they're making the game boring. But that's a problem with many solutions. You know what isn't?
Storylines where the magic items come and go! Maybe you try to get the item back, or not, and maybe you succeed, or maybe not. Maybe the attempt is the interesting part, not the success or failure itself. Maybe an item makes you roll on the following table more often the more powerful it is. Maybe you work with your DM to fill in any big questions raised by the result you get. Maybe this is the solution you've been looking for to the too-strong-items problem, or maybe you just think it would be neat.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MAGIC ITEM? (d12) 1 - It got stolen in the night, but I know who did it. They left a calling card. 2 - Someone else came along who better suited the item's purpose, and it chose them instead. I heard a rumor about where they're going next. 3 - It went somewhere all on its own. I have a feeling I know where, but I hope I'm wrong. 4 - I became unworthy of its power. I still have it, but I can't use it until I prove I've changed. 5 - Its original owner found out I had it and we're negotiating custody. I have to meet them about it soon. 6 - It stopped working, and I know I can fix it, but it's going to require the help of someone I hoped I wouldn't have to see again. 7 - A powerful entity took it as payment for a service I didn't realize they had rendered. I'm not sure if they're friend or foe. 8 - It revealed that it had a dark secret, and I refused to keep using it. 9 - Someone started a vicious rumor about the person who uses it, so I refuse to use it until I quell the rumor. 10 - A wealthy individual made me an offer I couldn't refuse for it, but they haven't delivered on their end yet, even though I have. 11 - I lost it. How could I have been so careless? No, seriously, how? 12 - It began to exhibit too much control over my emotions. I locked it away, because I can't afford to feel those emotions.
As with all homebrew, you're encouraged to add your own.
Seriously, you'll be doing yourself a favor if you look up the "cypher" mechanic from Monte Cook Games' Cypher System. Cyphers in their game are limited-use magic items that work so well because they're designed to be temporary, and so the GM has the incentive to give out a lot of them. It's a great system from great developers.
To add to your list,
It was cracked when I found it, and the magic has leaked out.
It was designed for a single purpose, which has been fulfilled.
I'm familiar with that system in passing because Sly Flourish talks about it a lot. They work great for what they're trying to achieve, but I'm not really concerned with using them as balancing tools. I want to use them as story generators.
Edit: I realize I should've fixed the title to be more in line with the goal here. Whoops.
Oh I see. Not your fault, I just lack reading comprehension skills. Here's some more I thought up, by the way.
The object's original purpose was to seal a gate between the real and the unreal. I had to sacrifice it to perform that function.
The object has a personality and it is lazy. It doesn't like being used, and much prefers to be left alone. It's become obstinate and difficult to use.
Each time I use the object, the cumulative likelihood of a calamity (natural disaster/hostile summoning/etc.) occurring increases.
Oh I see. Not your fault, I just lack reading comprehension skills. Here's some more I thought up, by the way.
The object's original purpose was to seal a gate between the real and the unreal. I had to sacrifice it to perform that function.
I've been trying to come up with ones that imply a serious event like this, but it's tough because usually those would be the outcome of a previous quest, and you'd have seen it coming, or been able to make a decision. Putting it on a random table changes the whole energy around it. (That's why #7 mentions that you didn't know someone was doing you a favor at the time. Much easier to explain that way.) This one's interesting because it suggests the world-threatening event already came and went rather uneventfully. Probably even between quests. A gate appeared, the character sealed it, they didn't even have time to gather the party, or didn't need to. I like what it does in terms of implying further world-building (does this kind of thing just happen?) and future events (what will we do if it happens again, now that we don't have the item?), but I don't think it's broad enough to be put on the main table, for that exact reason. A supplemental table, perhaps. I think it would be really good to have, say, half the table filled with campaign-specific options.
The object has a personality and it is lazy. It doesn't like being used, and much prefers to be left alone. It's become obstinate and difficult to use.
This one's fun.
Each time I use the object, the cumulative likelihood of a calamity (natural disaster/hostile summoning/etc.) occurring increases.
This is the kind of thing I wanted to generalize in #8, because some characters wouldn't see that as a reason to stop. Others would push it a little longer. In some situations the world's already ending if you lose so why not take every advantage you can get? By letting the player decide the nature of the dark secret, you get to both ensure that it makes sense that they'd respect the evil or danger of it, and also get a glimpse into exactly what scares or morally offends the character. However, this gave me another idea:
- I'd been ignoring the dangerous side of the item until someone important to me spoke up. I can't risk what might happen to them if I use it any more.
This is an interesting concept, but a lot of these are telling the player that their character made a decision, which doesn't feel right to me. If my DM rolled a die and then told me that my character has stopped using their magic item because it was overwhelming their emotions, I'd be really confused. I thought I decided what my character felt and did?
My other issue with the "go and get it back" hooks is that it generates conflict between the player's goals and the goals of the party. If the party is on a quest to save the miller's daughter and the bard suddenly loses his harp but knows who took it, do they keep going to save the daughter or do they veer off into the side-quest? My players would almost unanimously defer to the party's goals, but might not be happy about it. And even afterwards the others might not be super interested in spending a couple sessions just getting back an item.
I don't know, I like the limited lifespan but I'd much rather weave magic item loss into the existing narrative rather than randomly generating new narratives and then trying to weave plot relevance into those. But that might just be more about my own preference - I have never really been into using random tables for things that have a lasting impact.
This is an interesting concept, but a lot of these are telling the player that their character made a decision, which doesn't feel right to me. If my DM rolled a die and then told me that my character has stopped using their magic item because it was overwhelming their emotions, I'd be really confused. I thought I decided what my character felt and did?
Well, the intent is that the player be allowed a lot of freedom to determine the details. It's up to them to decide what emotions were being affected and why that's a problem for them. I suppose one could conceive of a character who's fully immune to every kind of bad emotion or something but I think it's broad enough to work for 99% of players.
My other issue with the "go and get it back" hooks is that it generates conflict between the player's goals and the goals of the party. If the party is on a quest to save the miller's daughter and the bard suddenly loses his harp but knows who took it, do they keep going to save the daughter or do they veer off into the side-quest? My players would almost unanimously defer to the party's goals, but might not be happy about it.
I think it's a DM's responsibility to put the thief pretty close to the main quest. They're the only one who can, after all. A clever DM will judge how much of a dilemma it ought to be -- perhaps at a critical moment the PC must choose one or the other, or perhaps they have to choose whether to go solo for basically the duration of one scene, or maybe there's no conflict between the two goals at all.
Alternatively they have to let the thief go... For now. But he's still out there. And they can track him down later.
And even afterwards the others might not be super interested in spending a couple sessions just getting back an item.
True.
I don't know, I like the limited lifespan but I'd much rather weave magic item loss into the existing narrative rather than randomly generating new narratives and then trying to weave plot relevance into those. But that might just be more about my own preference - I have never really been into using random tables for things that have a lasting impact.
Yeah, I think it's a style choice. I'm obsessed with it. I think the most memorable stuff tends to happen when you choose to commit to something you didn't plan for.
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In the game right now, there's two kinds of magic items: Consumables are destroyed on use, and everything else sticks around forever. You occasionally hear people complain about the permanent ones. Complain that they're too strong, which really just means they're making the game boring. But that's a problem with many solutions. You know what isn't?
Storylines where the magic items come and go! Maybe you try to get the item back, or not, and maybe you succeed, or maybe not. Maybe the attempt is the interesting part, not the success or failure itself. Maybe an item makes you roll on the following table more often the more powerful it is. Maybe you work with your DM to fill in any big questions raised by the result you get. Maybe this is the solution you've been looking for to the too-strong-items problem, or maybe you just think it would be neat.
WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MAGIC ITEM? (d12)
1 - It got stolen in the night, but I know who did it. They left a calling card.
2 - Someone else came along who better suited the item's purpose, and it chose them instead. I heard a rumor about where they're going next.
3 - It went somewhere all on its own. I have a feeling I know where, but I hope I'm wrong.
4 - I became unworthy of its power. I still have it, but I can't use it until I prove I've changed.
5 - Its original owner found out I had it and we're negotiating custody. I have to meet them about it soon.
6 - It stopped working, and I know I can fix it, but it's going to require the help of someone I hoped I wouldn't have to see again.
7 - A powerful entity took it as payment for a service I didn't realize they had rendered. I'm not sure if they're friend or foe.
8 - It revealed that it had a dark secret, and I refused to keep using it.
9 - Someone started a vicious rumor about the person who uses it, so I refuse to use it until I quell the rumor.
10 - A wealthy individual made me an offer I couldn't refuse for it, but they haven't delivered on their end yet, even though I have.
11 - I lost it. How could I have been so careless? No, seriously, how?
12 - It began to exhibit too much control over my emotions. I locked it away, because I can't afford to feel those emotions.
As with all homebrew, you're encouraged to add your own.
Seriously, you'll be doing yourself a favor if you look up the "cypher" mechanic from Monte Cook Games' Cypher System. Cyphers in their game are limited-use magic items that work so well because they're designed to be temporary, and so the GM has the incentive to give out a lot of them. It's a great system from great developers.
To add to your list,
I'm familiar with that system in passing because Sly Flourish talks about it a lot. They work great for what they're trying to achieve, but I'm not really concerned with using them as balancing tools. I want to use them as story generators.
Edit: I realize I should've fixed the title to be more in line with the goal here. Whoops.
Oh I see. Not your fault, I just lack reading comprehension skills. Here's some more I thought up, by the way.
I've been trying to come up with ones that imply a serious event like this, but it's tough because usually those would be the outcome of a previous quest, and you'd have seen it coming, or been able to make a decision. Putting it on a random table changes the whole energy around it. (That's why #7 mentions that you didn't know someone was doing you a favor at the time. Much easier to explain that way.) This one's interesting because it suggests the world-threatening event already came and went rather uneventfully. Probably even between quests. A gate appeared, the character sealed it, they didn't even have time to gather the party, or didn't need to. I like what it does in terms of implying further world-building (does this kind of thing just happen?) and future events (what will we do if it happens again, now that we don't have the item?), but I don't think it's broad enough to be put on the main table, for that exact reason. A supplemental table, perhaps. I think it would be really good to have, say, half the table filled with campaign-specific options.
This one's fun.
This is the kind of thing I wanted to generalize in #8, because some characters wouldn't see that as a reason to stop. Others would push it a little longer. In some situations the world's already ending if you lose so why not take every advantage you can get? By letting the player decide the nature of the dark secret, you get to both ensure that it makes sense that they'd respect the evil or danger of it, and also get a glimpse into exactly what scares or morally offends the character. However, this gave me another idea:
- I'd been ignoring the dangerous side of the item until someone important to me spoke up. I can't risk what might happen to them if I use it any more.
This is an interesting concept, but a lot of these are telling the player that their character made a decision, which doesn't feel right to me. If my DM rolled a die and then told me that my character has stopped using their magic item because it was overwhelming their emotions, I'd be really confused. I thought I decided what my character felt and did?
My other issue with the "go and get it back" hooks is that it generates conflict between the player's goals and the goals of the party. If the party is on a quest to save the miller's daughter and the bard suddenly loses his harp but knows who took it, do they keep going to save the daughter or do they veer off into the side-quest? My players would almost unanimously defer to the party's goals, but might not be happy about it. And even afterwards the others might not be super interested in spending a couple sessions just getting back an item.
I don't know, I like the limited lifespan but I'd much rather weave magic item loss into the existing narrative rather than randomly generating new narratives and then trying to weave plot relevance into those. But that might just be more about my own preference - I have never really been into using random tables for things that have a lasting impact.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Well, the intent is that the player be allowed a lot of freedom to determine the details. It's up to them to decide what emotions were being affected and why that's a problem for them. I suppose one could conceive of a character who's fully immune to every kind of bad emotion or something but I think it's broad enough to work for 99% of players.
I think it's a DM's responsibility to put the thief pretty close to the main quest. They're the only one who can, after all. A clever DM will judge how much of a dilemma it ought to be -- perhaps at a critical moment the PC must choose one or the other, or perhaps they have to choose whether to go solo for basically the duration of one scene, or maybe there's no conflict between the two goals at all.
Alternatively they have to let the thief go... For now. But he's still out there. And they can track him down later.
True.
Yeah, I think it's a style choice. I'm obsessed with it. I think the most memorable stuff tends to happen when you choose to commit to something you didn't plan for.