The Gaming Den

While reading the Balance vs. Fun thread I thought it would be a good idea to come up with a bunch of awesome magic items that would make the player's feel more badass than getting a +2 sword or the like.

Does anyone have any examples that they handed out to player's or received during a game? Ultimately I want a list I can make a loot table out of that I can use for any level whenever I want to hand out something my player's could really appreciate.

A specific list will depend on your system, gameworld and possibly campaign. Generally speaking though, anything that lets you break the rules qualifies, unless it is already common. So for DnD:

Fire immunity
Being able to walk through walls
Ignoring damage reduction
Automatically threatening a crit
Ignoring defensive casting
Threatening with ranged weapons
Applying metamagic sponteaneously or without raising the spell level
Suppressing opponent's feats or abilities

Of course this is the same list that is used to break worlds, creates nightmares for rulewriters and gamedesigners and arguments around the table. Use at your own peril.

I once gave out an old school sword of sharpness. If it critted someone they had to make a fort save (DC 10 + 1/2 level + STR) or lose a limb.

Well I'll be running a 4E game next week so that would be the most useful game for me, but the point of the thread was just to get a list of awesome shit to give player's that doesn't necessarily have to involve giving them a bonus to something. It could be something like being able to walk through walls or turn fires into toxic gases or some shit.

For me, this thread is more for D&D, but by all means throw ideas around for Shadowrun, WoD, or whatever.

Shadowrun is a scientific world. Weird artifacts will just end up in a lab.

Handing out followers, hideouts, access to specialized services or wads of cash has similar effects to rulebreaking artifacts in DnD though.

I know that much. I haven't played Shadowrun yet so I'm not familiar with the setting all that much but I was assuming some piece of tech or something. Tech and magic fluff in games can be swapped out pretty easily.

Heh. Fire Immunity.

That's like... level 1, if you burn a feat.

Murtak wrote:Shadowrun is a scientific world. Weird artifacts will just end up in a lab.

Until they get stolen.

Judging__Eagle wrote:Heh. Fire Immunity.

That's like... level 1, if you burn a feat.

Well, outside of Tome rules, energy immunities are pretty difficult to come by, actually. Frank Trollman correctly noted that they are in fact not that powerful and made them easy to get, but that doesn't mean they aren't badass.

Face it, energy immunities are a lot of FUN. They open up interesting movement options, like standing inside the furnace to hide from the forge goblins, or chasing the fire giant priest across the lake of magma. And laughing off any attack completely both speeds the game and feels awesome. Plus, they allow for visually badass tricks, which is always fun.

Item:

A magic bracelet. When activated, it opens a portal leading into an approximately 10 foot long extradimensional staircase. One side of the portal goes to the top, the other side to the bottom of the staircase.

This can be used in a number of ways by a cunning player. The most obvious include getting high ground bonuses and being able to shove people down a flight of stairs whenever you want.

Lots of spell trigger items can be fun. Charm bracelet that casts shrink item, fans of gust of wind, bags of glitterdust...

Other items are stupid in game effect but still awesome, like capes of heroism.

Pokemans like figurines of wondrous power are always fun. "Destrier of Terror, I choose you!"

Item:

http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Cane_of_Somaria

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Item:

Boots which freeze any liquid you walk on and prevent you from slipping on ice. Can do interesting things if you kick a water elemental or

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Item:

Gloves which turn your hands incorporeal, but allow you to use limited telekinesis.

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Magical quicksilver which can be mentally commanded to reshape itself into a different object as a Swift action.

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A blindfold that gives you Tremorsense when worn.

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A comb which can be pulled out your hair forcefully enough to tear some of it out and then thrown, creating an Entangle or Black Tentacles effect. Also allows magical cosmetic alterations to hair while worn.

At-will abilities are -awesome-, especially if they have some tactical value.

So, for example, an at-will teleport within 100 feet is something people can really dig--it's an ability which changes how the character interacts with combat.

Hell, a nice bit to throw at people for PrCs or items is giving the character a cosmetic change--like their eyes becoming orange.

So are things like this:

http://www.planewalker.com/041120/hells ... on-bracers

http://www.planewalker.com/041123/choco ... ssed-candy

http://www.planewalker.com/041123/choco ... hity-candy

http://www.planewalker.com/041123/choco ... mint-candy

http://www.planewalker.com/041123/chocolate-holy-candy

http://www.planewalker.com/040909/storm-claw

Skeleton Key
This magical artifact appears to be a very simple brass key, but will fit into and open any lock, regardless of the lock's complexity and bypassing any magical locks (such as from an arcane lock or wish spell used to lock a door). Any door opened with the Skeleton Key does not have to open into the adjoining room, but at the key holder's option may open to any other room in the multiverse which both has door and has been a room the keyholder has entered before. The magic of the Skeleton Key ends when the key is taken out of the lock and the door is closed. Additionally, any lock locked with the skeleton key can never be unlocked unless a Skeleton Key unlocks it. Unlocking or locking a door with a Skeleton Key is a Standard Action.