Making Magic Items Magical

[James Maliszewski]

One of the things you constantly hear complaints about in D&D (of any stripe) is that magic isn't magical anymore. After all, if the local innkeeper has a couple of +1 swords hidden in a mattress in one of the upstairs rooms and if a wandering band of orcs has a stash of rings of protection, it's little wonder that magic items start to feel mundane after awhile.

There are two ways to handle this. One is to restrict the number of magic items in the world, to limit them to really special things. Now, that's a fine solution for a novel in my opinion but it's not a D&D solution. D&D presumes that most characters will, over the course of their adventures, acquire and use many magic items. It's part of what makes D&D D&D, even if it does make the game feel less like its literary forebears, but so be it. D&D is not and never has been a simulation of anything other than itself.

So, how do you make D&D's ubiquitous magic items more magical?

Give them names. Give them histories

It's really that simple. The innkeeper with two +1 swords? Those swords are Colsweart and Ablicgan, once wielded by his father, a famous knight of the realm, but which he feels unworthy to wield himself -- and not a little frightened because his father's murderers might hunt him down to ensure the knight's bloodline never again threatens them. The rings of protection? They're the Three Rings of Unthion, forged by a dwarven craftsman and destined for the three Green Princes as a token of respect, but they were stolen without explanation and the dwarf who made them went to the gallows under suspicion that he had absconded with them.

If every permanent item that a DM rolls up on the random treasure tables must have a name and short history (no more than a sentence or two), then suddenly +1 swords and amulets vs. crystal balls and ESP start to appear special. It's also a lot harder for a character to part with Dwimmersmite than it is to part with a mere +1 sword, +2 vs. magic-users. The other great thing it does is that it demands the DM consider, if only briefly, how and why each magic item exists. The quantity of magic need not be changed at all and indeed probably shouldn't be. "Low magic" is simply not D&D. A character not festooned with magic items after many levels isn't really a D&D character at all in my opinion. On the other hand, a character festooned with magic items that have individual names and histories is pure magic -- the stuff of great gaming.

In OD&D, we're blessed because we don't have to contend with the Identify spell or Legend Lore. Under what I propose, you can only use a magic item -- activate its power, if you will -- by learning its name and its history. Many great adventures will thus involve, at minimum, seeking out sources of knowledge to find out the name of this new sword you got from the ogre's trove or when this golden headband was forged and by whom.

D&D is about magic; this is how you make it magical again.

[jrients]

I agree that this is a great method for spicing up magic items. Frankly, I'm too dang lazy to do it for every last item.

[korgoth]

As an aside, and I agree with jamesm, one can find some great examples of this sort of thing in Black Isle's computer games (Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale) for D&D 2E.

In these games almost every magic item, even lowly ones, had an expansive backstory that you could read. Many of the items had minor mechanical quirks, like "Sword +1, +2 vs. wolves" or "Dagger +1 to hit, damage 1d4+1 point of acid damage", etc. Tiny mechanical modficiations that made each item seem unique. There might be some cases where it was better to use the "acidic dagger" or whatnot; other times there might be a better item to use. Of course, the games are not OD&D and really shot themselves in the foot insofar as they gave out so much magic that it really got ridiculous. I mean, when you get to the point where you're deciding between several +4 relic weapons, each with a bunch of different powers, things have gotten a bit extreme!

[coffee]

I've always loved the idea of each magic item being it's own unique thing.

Actually, I've considered going through the magic item tables and allowing one such for each percent. Example: a Ring of Spell Turning only comes up on the table on 97-98, so there would be exactly two of these in the world.

This was intended for a very limited campaign that I thought of a long time ago, and isn't how I'd do it now, but I would still put each item on it's own 3x5 card (I love those things) and keep a permanent record of it.

And if the poor player never found the command word? Oh, well; I'd still know how to activate it!

[Zulgyan]

Great Post jamesm! Have an EXALT!

[busman]

Yes, I love this stuff. Back in my youth, I did this for every single magic item (not potions and scrolls) that my party found. Identifying items meant a lot of research and roleplaying as the players had to track down who might know of the item and what it was. I found that the more backstory I put into an item, the more my players were loathe to part with it, they got attached to their items. This tended to mean that players were less sad about having fewer items that they found.

Eventually, I eliminated +1 weapons, armor, etc. as being magical and instead moved them to high-quality craftsworks that were obviously valuable and desired (but didn't help against creatures with magical needs to hit, etc), but didn't carry the magical history and backstory with them. Though I did go off the deepend towards the end of my time as a DM and started cataloging the master craftspeople of the world and marking works as done by a particular smith and even had +2 non-magical items created by these ultra-master smiths.

Magical items now became special and unique and players were satisfied having a +2 sword for many levels.

[Thigru Thorkissen]

I think the easiest way to make magic items more "magical" is to make them rarer and unique. That is, each item has a unique appearance and unique powers. For example, you don't have a ring of invisibility, you have the ring of invisibility which has a specific appearance. Thus, a sage might be able to identify it based on legend. However, don't stop there. Non-magic items don't all need to be the same either. A look at armor in historic Europe or Asia shows that there was a wide variety in workmanship from munitions-grade armor that fit fairly well, to specially made armor for a particular noble or wealthy mercenary. Think of the prices in the books as prices for munitions-grade stuff and go from there. Of course many of these items will be identifiable, so if you kill Duke Cedric and take his armor, you'd better not show up the next day wearing it...

tauman

[Finarvyn]

coffee said:

Actually, I've considered going through the magic item tables and allowing one such for each percent. Example: a Ring of Spell Turning only comes up on the table on 97-98, so there would be exactly two of these in the world.

That's a nifty idea! Especially for, as you said, a somewhat limited campaign.

Or, simply make up a magical item table from scratch rather than using their tables. That way you can decide which items are out there and assign your own percentages to each.

[howandwhy99]

I like the OP's suggestion and fully agree magic items should be embedded in the world. Just like everything else they become more interesting by being connected with other aspects of the world the PCs are exploring, uncovering.

My suggestion is to also make magic items explorations in themselves. Meaning, they are mysteries on how they operate which can be played with by the players. They are the focus of the game most ignore in place of combat. Combat can be cool to explore on how it best can be done, but delving into what a particular magical item can do, how it came to be, how one might create another, etc. are all interesting parts of the game. By keeping all non-disposable magic at a high level of intrigue the magic itself stays, well, magical. Mysterious.

For example, we found a goodly burial crypt with a body encased in gold full plate within. Above was a defending, gold 2-hander. As we learned about the properties of the weapon and armor both became an ongoing encounter in and of themselves. The sword would refuse any near the wielder and would not be sheathed. Missing a contest of wills meant the other PCs had to fight the sword or outsmart it away from the wielder to tend their body after a fight. More learning and a lot more reflection on how the pair worked together led to confirming the armor and sword are the weapon and skin of a solar angel. The intelligent sword is the solar's remaining sentience.

There may even be more we have yet to discover in the above instance, but it should serve as a good example of how just a single +1 (defender) & +1 full plate magic set can be made into it's own level of adventure all on their own. No plot needed. No territorial exploration. Just lots of questioning, testing, note keeping, and a mystery solving. We have tons of hanging loose ends like that making the world more interesting, more dual purposed, and potentially more dangerous every time we use our "equipment" to interact with it.

[kormydigar]

One thing I like to do to make magical items special is have " normal" items that mimic the effect of the most boring items. For example make +1 arms and armor crafted out of special materials by select craftsmen. So instead of a simple +1 sword we have a legendary Drubbuk blade, forged over 200 years ago from mithril blended steel. There are only 12 of his blades said still to be in existence. This sword would have all the properties of a magic sword (minus the glow and radiation of magic), be memorable, and as an added bonus more powerful enchantments can be found on these blades at higher levels-making them true magic weapons.

Names and history are always great but nothing truly makes an item stand out than semi-sentience and quirks. Perhaps powerful items retain a part of the soul or personality of thier creator?

The ancient sorcerer Wyrcanthor crafted several legendary items of power of varying type. These items, like thier creator, are fond of elves and will bestow knowledge about thier purpose and use to any elf possessing them. The item may convey impulses to elven owners signaling distrust whenever a dwarf is encountered. (it may take a few times before the elf realizes that this is just personal bias from the item and not a real warning of any sort)

That kind of stuff along with addition of a few nonstandard powers will keep magic from becoming mundane.

[greyharp]

Feb 26, 2008 16:49:53 GMT -6 Zulgyan said:

Great Post jamesm! Have an EXALT!

Definitely. Have another. ;D

[Deleted]

Exalt!

Also, I agree completely! I always try to give perspective on as many items as my creativity will allow. I've been known to name my weapons as a player, as well...

[trollman]

One of the things that surprised me when I read through my Monsters & Treasure pdf (I recently bought the pdf and read the OD&D books for the first time) was that all magic swords are intelligent.

As I've stated before, I have also been reading a lot of Conan lately (Howard, Savage Sword, etc.). I can't remember where I read it, but I remember Conan said he didn't want a magic sword since they tended to be more trouble than they were worth.

Now I understand why the UA Barbarian doesn't want to use magical weapons - they are potentially dangerous.

I like what M&T did with magical swords. In fact, I'd recommend making any significant magic item (excluding potions, scrolls, etc.) have a "catch" to using it. Perhaps it wouldn't be obvious at first, but over time, players become aware of something... strange. Rather than having swords that are either beneficial or cursed, they are all beneficial and yet cursed.

Every time the players come across a magic item, they'd have to wonder - was it worth the risk of using it? This could add a lot of suspense and twists to a campaign...