or shields, armor, cloaks of protection or any other magic item that gives a flat bonus "because magic". These add little more than passive stat inflation to the game. They're lazy, and on a d20 they make little difference (5%).
Instead give your magic items rich descriptions evocative of their history. Give them interesting, flavorful, and specific abilities - be that extra damage or defense against a particular class of monster, a strange magical property, or the ability to cast one of the oft-overlooked utility spells.
And on the monster side - drop the immunities to non-magical attacks. If the PCs need a special weapon to harm a monster it should be specific and foreshadowed. By specific I mean made of silver or iron, blessed by a priest, or submerged in running water. I don't mean "magic" or a specific weapon unless it's the adventure McGuffin needed to defeat the villain. By telegraphed I mean the PCs should encounter (even if they're not looking for it) lore in an old library or rumors in a tavern. On the adventure it could be a silver dagger on another adventurer's corpse, an old prayer book, or a fountain with runes etched in the stonework. The first time the PCs are clued in about this resistance should not be when they meet the monster in a violent encounter.
If you choose to include a magic sword or the like in your game, make it artifact-level rare and powerful enough (+3, +5, etc.) to make any wielder truly dangerous. Make the requirements to wield it exacting as well - perhaps the sword is intelligent and must be subdued. Perhaps the wielder must swear an oath or be cursed. Perhaps the would-be wielder must fulfill some quest to earn the right to its power.
This is spot on! Ive always found the idea of the +1 sword dull. I think it also gives a false impression that the +1 sword is better than x sword. I think players should have to choose between magical items and make their own call about which is better. Is the sword that deals fire damage better than the one that makes me able to cast faeire fire? The answer to that is going to depend on play style and situation. The plus 1 sword will always feel like the right choice, because its safe. But we don't play RPGs to play it safe.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for the magical resistance, I pretty much assume if a character is greater than level 2 they've gotten their weapon silvered. Its like 100gp and if a character fought monsters before you can sure bet they'd do that. Although as I write this out I wonder, what if silvering a weapon only lasted one battle with a magical creature, might up the stakes.