Drow Wars magic Items

[BigSteveUK]

Hi Gents,

I am currently running the Drow Wars campaign and am on book 1.

I have noticed that it seems a little dry on the magic item front, I know that they each have their special item and I wouldn't want to take the focus from that, but has anyone added stuff in or is it best left alone.

Cheers,

BigSteve

 

[TopCat]

I was starting to get a few muttered complaints about the lack of magic items about half-way through book 1. I resisted the temptation to throw in a few, instead pointing out all the items that the party had missed up to that point (they didn't find any of the magic items in the Colombe mansion, for example). I did, however, give them a chance to purchase some minor items in Crescent City and Beacon City as they had quite a bit of spare gold by that time.

By now (just over half-way through book 2) the party is swamped with magic items and has, in turn, swamped the second-hand market in Xoth Sarandi.

One of the Starborn (a druid) took Craft Wondrous and spends every spare day crafting. In addition, the entire party took up the Sun King's offer of using his wizards for crafting once they'd dealt with the Tyrant of Brass and there's now a steady stream of items being transported from The Topaz Dominions to Xoth Sarandi, with plenty more on back order.

You'll find that each signature item adds considerably to the party's power so, toward the end of book 1, when most of the party get theirs in a bit of a rush, you'll find that their power jumps dramatically.

In short, leave things as they are in the book. Yes, it's a bit light early on but they'll soon catch up.

TC

 

[BigSteveUK]

Hi TC,

Cheers for the great reply, the players on the whole have not been moaning. Just they are hitting 4th now and I think the whole party has 2 items. But I will take you advice and let them wait.

With regards to the signature items, they are very easy for the fighters but what did you give or would you recommend for a :-

Thief
Monk
Wizard

Just wondering what your players are using?

Cheers,

Steve

 

[TopCat]

I asked my characters to pick one item they would most like (without explaining why) before the first session. I gave them a choice of a weapon, armour or shield. My party of 6 went for

Fighter - Axe
Barbarian - Greatsword
Cleric - Hammer
Rogue - Shortsword
Druid - Shield
Sorcerer - Cloak

I allowed the cloak for the sorcerer as it seemed that nothing else was particularly relevant.

Seeing as the first item was Starkweather John's sword, it came down to a choice of shortsword or greatsword. At the moment of reveal, I made the barbarian and rogue dice it out to see whose item it was (turned out that Starkweather John must have been a rogue).

As for your 3 characters, I'd give the thief a shortsword or shortbow, the monk a weapon (if he uses one) or a cloak (if he fights unarmed) and the wizard either a cloak or some bracers.

TC

 

[BigSteveUK]

Cheers for the feedback.

What powers did you give the druids shield and sorcerers cloak.

Also how do you work out what the + value is, with weapons and probably armour it fairly easy as it lists the equivalent bonus. But how do you work out what the equivalent bonus is for special abilities. Say the monk wanted a ninja suit, a bit better armour, invisible once a day, bull strength etc how would I go about working that out. Is there a proper formula or just DM discretion.

Also how is the second book, I am really enjoying it so far very impressed. I do find it's still a lot of work sometimes as it is so open ended. They are currently in Saragost and heading nicely towards the big fight. Did the city fall in your campaign, and do they return in book 2?

Cheers again,
Steve

 

[Graphil]

Same with our group, they were asked at character creation what armour or weapon they most wanted. The monk chose a kama and the wizard a long bow. For full details see here
http://www.shokaster.com/roundrobin/viewforum.php?f=23&sid=60aa15c841fcdf758a5b87bb62c0b76f

 

[TopCat]

The druid's shield gets bonuses from the Shield special abilities table. For abilities with GP value I just picked an appropriate points cost. Being a druid, he's currently got "Wild" and all the remaining points are spent on plusses.

The sorcerers cloak gets bonuses from the Armour special abilities table. The only difference to armour is that any plusses he puts on it aren't AC plusses, they're resistance plusses (i.e. they go on his saving throws).

I have created one extra power for the cleric's hammer. He's fond of summoning stuff and in his character background he described how his clan's priests would summon creatures by banging their hammers on the ground. I therefore created a power he could buy which required him to bang his hammer on the ground but reduced the casting time for summon spells from 1 round to 1 standard action. I decided to cost it at 2 points.

If you want to come up with other powers all you can really do is to look at the powers already on the table and decide which level seems most appropriate. If you're adding a power that is similar to an existing magic item then look at the value of that item and use that as a guid to how expensive the power should be.

TC

 

[BigSteveUK]

Hi Gents,

Just wanted to say thanks for the replies, very helpful.

About 1/2 gaming sessions from the first big battle, very excited.

Did the city stand or fall in your campaigns and what were the ramifications?

Cheers,

Steve

 

[TopCat]

Saragost fell. And quickly too.

It was the party's fault, to an extent. They'd done well enough alerting the villages to have a decent chance of holding the city. I'd sent them to the bomb warehouse, but on the day before the battle, so I decided that the cart had already been moved. Although they realised that there was a bomb out there somewhere they made no attempt to track it down.

Then, on the day of the battle, all but one member of the party (the sorcerer) decided to be in the front lines so only the sorcerer had a chance of spotting the bomb cart or the sorcerer that ignites it. He rolled 1 on his spot check. BOOM!

If the gate goes then the -10 that it puts on the heroes battle check means that the battle will almost certainly be over in 2-3 battle rounds.

On balance, I think it was good that Saragost fell as it really motivated the players and gave them a real sense of urgency while in Caldraza. It also made their victory in the 2nd big battle all the more satisfying for them.

TC

 

[Graphil]

Saragost fell here too. They did get the bomb but an all out attack from the enemy coupled with a high roll from them and a low from the players and the walls went on the first round. After that it the city was overrun pretty quickly.

 

[Jinta]

Hey everyone,

I did something different for the magic users items - I based 'em on the metamagic rod - and I've allowed them to increase the item's power according to the gp price... so, when the other items weapons are at +5, the sorceror figures out what a +5 weapon costs, and has that much to spend on putting metamagic abilities into the rod. Reconfigure at every level, like the weapons.

I'm regretting it now - It's over powered, but a variation on the theme would be interesting.

jill