A different approach towards Magic Items (3.5)

[wotmaniac]

Alright, I've been tinkering around with yet another approach to the Magic Item creation/economy issue.
I'm not really satisfied with what I've seen proposed, so I just keep tinkering .... and I think that I've come up with something.
Note: I've also posted this HERE, and thought I'd see what the critical eye here at the Den thought -- there is some discussion there that may clear up many questions that you might have on this.

New System:

Much like the "Wish Economy", the idea is to set a "break-point" between what you can just through gold at and what needs "something more"; and then have that "something more" implemented in a way that is workable and makes sense.

First things first : establish a break-point -- for this, that break point is 25k gp.

Second: what does that break-point mean?
Magic items that have a market price of over 25k gp must be created in such a way so as to be bonded to a specific user. If a new user wants to later be able to use it, he must go through the bonding ritual. Bonding rituals that are performed after the original creation erase the original bond and replace it with the new one.

Third: what is this "bond"?
Magic, and the manipulation of that magic, is a pretty taxing thing, just by itself. Getting that magic to stay put (such as on an item, etc.) is even harder -- to the point that part of a person's soul essence is required to bind it. Some powerful magics are so intractable that harnessing it within an item requires such binding that only the individual from whom the personal essence was withdrawn can access the power contained within.
When an item is created, the "soul essence" that is required to bind the magic to the item is measured in the form of "XP". For less powerful magics, this isn't much of a big deal because the necessary essence can come from pretty much anywhere, and not enough of it is needed to warrant such a tight binding. More powerful magics (or even just a large quantity of lesser magics) needs a tighter leash, and enough of that essence is required that the item becomes bound to the soul from which the essence came.

So, where is the line between "lesser" and "greater" magic?
Typically, the break-point is right around 1000 XP. It seems that it is that 1001st point that pushes things over the edge -- the proverbial "straw", if you will. Additionally, magic being the fickle thing that it is, cost reduction methods don't seem to have much effect on this dynamic (for example, if you have a feat that reduces the amount of XP required to make an item - either directly or indirectly - bonding still happens based on the normal, unadjusted scale).

How does someone get bonded to a "greater" magic item?
In short -- a bonding ritual.
The bonding ritual for a new item (i.e., one that is being created for you) is only an hour, and is the final step in finalizing the item. You spend all of the requisite XP in that ritual. If you are crafting the item yourself for your own use, you can add the requisite XP a little at a time as you slowly create the item. The cost for this is built in to the cost of the item.
If the item is already complete (and thus bonded to someone else), the ritual is 8 hours, and you must spend an amount of XP = the original XP cost. The ritual must be performed by a caster with a CL at least equal to the CL needed to make the item. The cost for this rebonding ritual = (XP spent)*(CL required to make the item).
Alternatively, I'm sure that there could be some sort of mechanic that allows non-casters to also perform the ritual ..... I don't know, whatever.

Okay, so are "greater" magic items just completely worthless to anyone not bonded to it?
Not necessarily.
If the item produces primarily produces a single effect, or if the effects are otherwise unable to be parsed, then no, it won't be of any use to you (not until you perform the ritual).
However, if you have an item that has several different things tacked on to it, you may indeed be able to use some of the abilities. Some examples might include:
- Staff of Healing -- the individual spells, if made in to a bunch of separate items (i.e., 1 spell per item), would cost less than 25k gp each. Any spell on that staff that would be less than 25k if made just by itself, would be able to be used
- Weapons and Armor -- you can still gain the enhancement bonus for these items, up to what would equal 25k gp (i.e., up to a +3 for weapons, and a +5 for armor). You can not use any other magical abilities that these items might have to offer.
- Rod of Lordly Might -- this item would have general functionality as a +2 light mace.

So, what is the resale price of "greater" items after I've killed the owner and looted his body?
Generally, these items trade at a price commiserate with there general usefulness. For example, a +4 Vorpal Longsword would trade at the same price as a +3 Longsword.
If the item has no general usefulness, then there is simply no secondary market.

How many people can be involved with contributing XP? Would they all be bound to the item?
You can have multiple people donate XP to an item (either the original creation or a rebonding). XP is split equally between all contributors; and all contributors are properly attuned to the item. However, for each additional contributor beyond the first, add an additional cumulative 10% to the requisite XP -- e.g., 1 extra person would add 10% to the total XP needed, 2 extra people would add 30% (10% from the 1st, 20 from the second), 3 extra would add 60% (10+20+30), etc. (hint: more than 4 or 5 people starts to produce negative returns).
The reason for this is that the more sources of XP there are, the harder it becomes to combine them in to a useful form.

What happens if I don't have enough XP to give in order to bond an item? I just made 10th-level 5xp ago.
You can give more XP that you would normally have available -- however, if you give enough XP that it would put you below the amount needed to maintain your current level, you incur a negative level. That negative level persists until you have accumulated enough XP put you back above the level threshold (not even a wish or miracle can remove this). Additionally, the presence of this negative level is not considered when determining XP rewards for overcoming challenges.

Is there an alternative to XP?
Yes. In stead of XP, you may instead pay with years of your life. For every 1000 XP spent (round up), you physically age by 1 year per 100 years of expected lifespan (round up). This aging does not count towards your mental age (i.e., int, wis, & cha are unaffected by these "years"). You experience the effect of this aging even if you normally are not affected by aging.
Creatures that do not die of old age cannot use this option.
Oh, and fuck your dragon -- he can't do it either.


*
After some discussion, it was proposed that the XP expended on bonding an item not actually be "spent", but merely

=======

Okay, how bad did I fuck that up?

Thanks.

[koz]

You fucked it up by keeping numeric XP. That is a first-principle failure that makes me reject your system.

[wotmaniac]

You fucked it up by keeping numeric XP. That is a first-principle failure that makes me reject your system.

Okay, you'll have to indulge me a little .... what is the first-principle failure of keeping numeric XP?
(I'm sure that this has been explored already; so if you'd rather just link something instead of diving full-on in to the explanation, that would be fine)

[koz]

I'll quote directly from the Book of Gears, because it says this in a much better way than any restatement I could ever make. Read here, starting with the section titled 'Character Advancement and Wealth'.

[wotmaniac]

Ah -- got it.
Looks like I need to go reread some shit (it's been a while, so much it is a bit fuzzy .... however, I do have the Tomes pdf, so I'll refresh myself this week).
Thanks.


To those who don't who don't outright reject numeric XP, feel free to chime in.

[...You Lost Me]

I'm also against the terrible disaster that is numeric XP. The bonding idea seems OK, but it doesn't seem to fix anything. Now you can't use your shinies when you pick them up in the dungeon--you have to wait for downtime in order to attune the thing.

If you like that sort of thing, good for you. But I don't, I want to be able to wield the sword of kas right when I pull it out of the life-draining death pit surrounded by slaymates, so I can use it to swing my way to the BBEG.

[wotmaniac]

The bonding idea seems OK, but it doesn't seem to fix anything.

The idea was that no matter how much cash you have, the real expense/limiter would be something that was indeed very finite.
However ....

Now you can't use your shinies when you pick them up in the dungeon--you have to wait for downtime in order to attune the thing.

At first, I hadn't really thought of that as being very significant. The more I talk to others about this, the more I'm starting to agree with you.


Oh well .... it was an idea that I figured I'd throw out there; kind of a "see what sticks" type thing.

Back to the drawing board it is.

[Sunwitch]

I think the wish economy would be a lot more satisfactory if it had in place some real guidelines of what a wish economy item is worth and how it compares with different wish economy currencies, right now it's all pretty up in the air and MTP as hell. Some other ideas for wish economy currencies would be good as well, right now we've just got souls and a few metaphysical concepts put in bottles and that's really the extent of it.