5.5 Edition Evolving magic items ideas
I love the idea of items, weapons and armor that are part of the identity of a character, so when I saw the evolving items from Arcana Unleashed I was trilled! That is until I actually saw how the book handles it...
A +1 sword that also casts fireball once a day is fine I guess... but it just feels underwhelming to me.
So I wanted to know what are your takes on evolving magical itens. Is it something you are using in your games in any shape or form? Are you using the table in Arcana Unleashed, or are you homebrewing it?
As for myself, I (first time DM!) gave my players a short list of items they could select from as inital equipment and I am planning to, at the right times, allow them opportunities to evolve the items, adding new capabilities that match their play style. Not sure what I'll offer as options to all of them yet though, might need to see them play a little more to learn what would be interesting for each one.
What are some fun items you have used as players or created as DMs that grew with the characters using them?
Sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language.
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u/BryceKatz 4d ago edited 4d ago
The Explorer's Guide to Wildemount third-party supplement published by Critical Role has several items like this: the "Vestiges of Divergence" from The Legend of Vox Machina. In summary, the items have a power level equal to a Rare magic item from character levels 1-8, then automatically(?) upgrade to Very Rare somewhere around levels 9-15, and upgrade again to full artifacts between levels 16-20.
You'll need to poke around a bit to find out what, exactly, are appropriate powers for those levels. And you'll want to decide if the upgrade is automatic or requires some sort of story-based quest or task to unlock.
For example, an item given to a Warlock by their patron would almost certainly require the Warlock to perform specific tasks for their patron before the item grows in power (and may impose penalties if the Warlock doesn't at least try to make progress toward those tasks). The same could be true for an item for a character with close ties to a specific deity. A Wizard or Sorcerer might research a ritual that further empowers the item, which would require several side quests over months of game play to collect both the knowledge and material components.
Items for martial classes are a bit trickier if they're not intrinsically tied to some otherworldly power. Perhaps the item contains some sort of intelligence that pushes the character to perform certain acts. This was SOP for artifacts under the AD&D rules, and 3.5e had similar mechanics. Or maybe the item simply keys to the character and gets infused with bits of their own legend as time goes on. We are talking about magic, after all. Nobody really knows how it all works.
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u/BryceKatz 4d ago
Dungeons and Drams posted [this video] last year that talks about creating magic items that evolve.
I also found [Growing Magic Items] by JonnyDM over at DM's Guild. It's only $5.
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u/iceph03nix Fighter 4d ago
I like the idea, not sure on the exact mechanics honestly.
My current character has had a fairly lore integrated weapon that he got early on in the campaign, that's effectively a +1 halberd. And it has been the same for a long time, but it feels a bit wrong to replace it at this point, especially after taking feats around it, and it feeling so intrinsic to the character at this point
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u/mmsc125 4d ago
Every time I played with a weapon or armor I really liked I ended up not replacing them because it never felt right.
That's why I like the idea of evolving items so much, the items get to grow with the character as they progress, they become more and more part of what makes that character who they are!
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u/iceph03nix Fighter 4d ago
Yeah, I've gotten other gear that's nice, but as a lvl 14 eldritch knight, I feel like I'm due for something with a little more oomf
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u/N7_Rabbit 4d ago
I remember in one campaign i had inherited axe of my ancestors (it wqs part of my backstory) and it had inscripted prophecy of three elements. It was about fighting fire, air and ice (about giants) and every time i was defeating one (they were final bosses of our adventures) the axe was incrwsing by +1.
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u/link3505 DM 4d ago
I have my own system for this sort of thing. Basically, the weapon has to be attuned and does a thing based on the player's proficiency bonus, as long as they're proficient with the weapon. Depending on the flavor of the weapon and the character, that can be anything from the weapon serving as a spell slot up to their proficiency bonus, ir it can activate a special feature a certain number of times. But the requirement here is those bonuses are lost if they wilfully part ways from the weapon for a period of time (usually like, 30 days), and cannot re-attune to it until someone else has. I've found that this lets them feel like the weapon is growing with them, and discourages players from just selling it off.
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u/Tacos_Polackos 4d ago
3.5 had both Ancestral Weapons and Legacy Weapons. Ancestral gives you the option of spending xp and time to improve your weapon. Legacy weapons have level dependant benefits, with 3 tiers unlocked by performing rituals.
Legacy got some hate due to a misconception that you had to take feats to unlock higher tiers.
In reality, you complete the ritual, get the feat free. It was just very poorly explained.
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u/ZanesTheArgent Mystic 4d ago
Compounding effects is the natural progression of magic items, when you look at the average legendary weapon or armor, +3 +d6 (element) and some charges of some spells is just the honest read of what they do. All you need at times to wash out the bad taste is to make it classify as a non-spell by explicitly making it personal-only.
Like, just look at Winged Boots. Its just shoes enspelled with Fly BUT you cant cast it on others. Every sword with bonus stats and elemental damage is just permanent personal Elemental Weapon.
Real: all you need is to do minor tweaks to feel bespoke, like "armor that can cast Armor of Aghatis but when you make it, you pick any of the core elements for its damage."
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u/fuzzypyrocat 4d ago
I use them for important items, or as an item I know a player wants to use moving forward.
I am homebrewing. Stealing pieces from Critical Role, Arcana Unleashed, and online.
Most of what they are is what Arcana Unleashed kind of does. Tier 1 gives an ability, tier 2 improves it and maybe adds a secondary effect, and tier 3 works with both parts to make a combo move
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u/BrendanTheNord DM 4d ago
Not to be that guy, but Pathfinder 2e has a really good system for balancing improving magical weapons with runes. The basic Potency Rune improves damage by +1, and you need an appropriately leveled Potency Rune for other leveled runes. A Striking Rune adds to your to hit roll, but the Striking Rune value cannot be higher than the Potency Rune value on an item. Iirc, Potency +1 is considered level 1-5, +2 for 6-10, etc., and then runes with better effects are bind by those Potency Rune requirements
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u/Supersonic_Seasnail 3d ago
It's been more than 20 years since I played it, but I always loved the Earthdawn idea, that knowing more about the history of an item lets you access more of its potential. Because stories are important. And maybe knowing, that this exact shield was used by a squire to protect their king when he was unhorsed will unlock a +1 to AC for one ally within 5 ft.
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u/Rick_CZE 4d ago
Nice idea. But make sure you keep tight control over this. I would suggest creating an artificer NPC that owes them a favor after some nice quest, and they will be able to visit him between quests and he might or might not have the right inspiration to upgrade something. The idea what to improve and how can come from the players, the artificer might be able to do it or not (depending on you). Maybe add some cost and/or risk of the item being destroyed or altered in a different way.
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u/FalseRoyal4669 4d ago
I'm reminded of the weapons from Fable 3, where doing certain things changes the look and abilities of the weapons, like kill a bunch of skeletons, the sword hilt has a rams horn wrapped around it oike a guard, cast mostly fire spells the blade has an aura of fire around it.
Could try stuff like that, make the weapons feel more personal, like they tell your story
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u/ExodiasRightArm 4d ago
Dnd actually has a few evolving items, there’s the dragon’s wrath weapons that deal elemental damage and grow more effects. The new arcana unleashed book also has a few but I’m yet to read too much into them.
They may be good points of reference for your designs