Adventurer's Vault.pdf

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The value of an item’s enhancement bonus increase
equals the difference in cost between the item’s
lower-level form and its higher-level form. This value
should be primarily subtracted from the magic items
given out in an adventure, with only a small portion
coming from gold or other monetary treasure.
For example, a PC with +1 delver’s armor wants
to increase the effectiveness of that armor rather
than seek another set of more powerful armor.
According to the table, that PC should be of a level
suitable for using 6th-level items before such an
increase can occur. The difference in cost between
+1 delver’s armor and +2 delver’s armor in the Player’s
Handbook is 2,720 gp—roughly the cost of a 7thlevel
magic item (2,600 gp). The item level can thus
replace a 7th-level item normally placed as treasure
(see Treasure Parcels in Chapter 7 of the Dungeon
Master’s Guide), with the additional 120 gp taken out
of monetary treasure. Likewise, the increase in the
armor’s enhancement bonus could partially take the
place of an 8th-level treasure (worth 3,400 gp), with
the difference (680 gp) made up by a 3rd-level magic
item of use to the party.
This system can even be used to turn mundane
items into magic items. A PC’s nonmagical heirloom
longsword might be empowered by exposure to magic
or a heroic deed to become a signature magic weapon.
APPENDIX 1 | Item Level
Empowering Events
Whether a magic item increases its power through
level scaling or the granting of item levels as treasure,
the nature of that increase should be tied to
an empowering event. The transition points where
new item powers are revealed should be triumphant
moments for the wielder and the party as a whole—
the defeat of a significant foe, the completion of a
major quest, and so on.
Such events should let the players and the characters
know that something about the affected item
has changed. A being from another plane might show
up to reward the PCs for service, imbuing the item in
question with newfound power. Perhaps the death of
a mighty enemy suffuses the party with supernatural
energy that coalesces in the weapon that slew the foe.
An eldritch font uncovered at the climax of an adventure
could instill a single item with greater potency.
Whatever the case, the effect of increasing a magic
item’s level should be both impressive and apparent.
ENCHANTING EN ENCHANTING NCHANTING ANT ANTING N ITEMS
TE S
The use of the Enchant Magic Item ritual is straightforward
enough, allowing characters to make magic items
of their level or lower. However, the ritual can also be
used to place a property in a magic item that has no
property, or to upgrade a magic item to a more powerful
version 5 levels higher. This use of the ritual follows
the same rules for enchanting a magic item from a
mundane item but reduces the cost. The ritual caster
must still be high enough level to create the final item,
but the caster pays only the difference in cost between
the final version and the item in its current form.
For example, a 5th-level ritual caster wishing to
imbue a +1 longsword (1st level, 360 gp) with the
properties of a +1 flaming longsword (5th level, 1,000
gp) needs to pay a component cost of only 640 gp.
Likewise, a 6th-level ritual caster could spend 1,440
gp to make a +1 wand (360 gp) into a +2 wand (1,800
gp), while a 10th-level ritual caster could spend
4,640 gp to make a suit of +1 chainmail (360 gp) into
+2 exalted chainmail (5,000 gp), a huge leap in the
armor’s potency.
The Enchant Magic Item ritual cannot convert one
item property into another. For example, a character
could not use the ritual to turn a +1 flaming longsword
into a +2 lifedrinker longsword. However, at the DM’s
option, a character can upgrade a magic item to
another item with similar properties. For example, a
thundering bow might be upgraded to a thunderburst
bow in this way.
As normal, this use of the Enchant Magic Item
ritual does not allow a character to ignore restrictions
on the creation of magic items. A ranged weapon
cannot be given a property restricted to melee weap-
RYAN BARGER