So far I've been doling out items that seemed to fit the Darksun theme and were appropriately matched to individual players for the most part. If the players wanted a specific item they would have commission a powerful arcane person to construct it. They cant just stroll down marketplace and pick up magic item +2.
I also like martial type items like Battle Standards, horns and whatnot. They confer bonus to grou p without being overtly 'magical'.
However another system I've been thinking about looking into is having the item items I give them level with the players in a sort of heirloom system. My group doesnt use survival days or encumbrance or anything but in a system like this I could keep giving them items but they would only be able to carry a few of them at a time.
Btw, healing potions in Athas are typically in the form of 'healing fruit'. My group has already have a pretty funny moments when a character had to keep downing fruit to stay alive. Reminds me of Mr. Peepers from SNL.
also, adopting an item improvement strategy such as the legacy item idea is pretty cool.
I tend to hand out "rare" crafting materials that have an insane gp value, to keep that Athasian flavor alive, so that they can craft and such.
Also, don't underestimate the usefullness of Dragon shards, reimagined of course. Expensive little items that add small extra bonuses, but aren't items in and of themselves.
my 2 cents.
Like say someone gets a Viscious weapon property, but as a Boon, so the player automatically has that property on whatever weapon he is holding at the time. Its not attached to the item, allowing you to use the melee breakage rules and inherent bonuses.
You could also change around what item it is. In my current game the players found an old ring, it gives the Vengeful weapon property to whoever wears it.
As far as money goes, I keep to about the right amount for the parcels.
the Alternative reward still occupies a slot, so the dodge and throw couldn't be used with say an arm slot item... and the alternative reward can provide static bonuses and/or powers usable enc/daily/at-will.
One of the easiest things to do is simply take an existing item, call it an ability and boom. simple boon.
there are also a number located in teh DSCG as well as other sources, primarily dragon articles.
I do scale back the amount of Items I grant, but I do grant out boons to replace, and while I hand out the same GP worth of treasure, it tends to be in more singularly powerful items, less common item/boon clutter.
I have also been wondering this. In my game we're using inherent bonuses, so giving the players magic weapons will actually break the game. What are these 'boons' you guys are talking about?
My understanding was that it will not break the game, because you use either the inherent bonus, or the magic weapon bonus, but they do not stack. Inherent bonuses do not stack with magic bonuses. The only benefit of a magic weapon of appropriate level is a benefit to critical hits, and any power the weapon may contain. If its higher than appropirate level, it may be better than the inherent bonus, though and there is a definite benefit to those weapons.
A good example is warlocks. They wont get a Pact Blade if you arent giving out blades at all. But you could give your warlock a Boon, call it whatever, and allow them to use any weapon as a Pact Blade. Then they go and put a Pact Blade Longsword or whatever on their character sheet. When it breaks or gets stolen and they pick up a new bone longsword, it then also functions as a Pact Blade.
I also keep the cash in flow low. However I'm also giving a boon per level. The first was a big benefit when dealing with slaves, the second is a favor from the Governor of Altaruk.
I mix in some healing potions here and there along with random trade items they can sell off as well. At these low levels I'm keeping them fairly poor as they establish themselves and develop a reputation, as that reputation grows I'll start upping both the danger and the rewards appropriately.
The lack of resources adds to the brutal feel of the world I think, and it forces them to think about what items they'll buy and how they will approach quests. Its not massive resource management, but it gives a little, which makes one player very happy, and keeps the rest a bit on their toes.
I actually created several rules (though I dont have them on me now; Ill post them latter) for Material.
But the baisc jist is Stone is harder to break (uses the clumsy breaking rules), does like a point more damage and is slower/heavier (a minus to hit when targeting reflex; extra pound per die level)
Things like obsidian glas and crystal are sharper and do more damage but break on 1 or 2s
I have a bunch for wood and metal and bone as well but that was off the top of my head. Also I made certian material easily replacable/repairable in the field instead of having to go back to town or take a weapon from a corpse.
It has been met with mostly favorable reviews from my players it really changes how my players play and makes them more involved in the world.
No one in my party uses it, feel its better to keep the weapons in tact.
If they used the reckless breakage(on crit fail) I would have the weapon be repaired by next battle with makeshift remedy but it will break on a crit fail always after that. Until they get to repair/smith it will continue to do this.
Fresh weapons will act a little bit like steel but with a higher chance of failing. This ends after a few encounters where it turns into a normal worn blade and goes by standard rules.
Steel
Iron
Other metals
Stone
Bone
Wood / Leather
If my weapon is better than your armor, I get +1 to-hit or +1 damage vs you.
If my armor is better than your weapon, I get a +1 AC vs you.
This gives the PCs a reason to treat that bronze heirloom sword really good. It also gives NPCs a reason to steal their iron chainmail armor. Both want to get their hands on the "magic" (actually steel) Executioner's Axe of Dwarven Antiquity.
Feel free to add/subtract categories. If doing this adds to fun, use it; if it's just bookkeeping, let it drop.
P.S. The elves and their weapons are not part of a plan; the designers just put the parts together that way ... and the big picture doesn't make sense. Let it drop.
P.P.S. Maybe the PCs take the cool swords off the elves, and get the extra +2 damage until they crit-fumble, then the sword is back to normal. Darn modern junk workmanship.
On top of that I replaced the fruits representing potions. Instead players now get that "Will to Fight" back, they just take that deep breath and remembers exactly why it is important they must win and such. Or they can tell their allies to pull themselves together and get back in the fight. Game technically it has the same effect, there's just no such thing as magic item over it.
As for the higher levels materials I make sure that players get the bonuses: when the players get their inherent bonus necessary for the equipment, they get the bonus as part of their inherent, rather than getting upgraded actual items. So at level 30 they will still be wielding bone clubs and wearing hide armor made of lizard skales, just as they did at level 1.
In the beginning the players were not fond of it, but they have grown to enjoy it. Money are in shortage, even at higher levels. Their pay has increased just a bit based on their reputation, but it is still not that easy for them to buy the stuff they want, when they know that they must also buy water and food. This is aiding in establishing my own Dark Sun as a harsh and unforgiving world, where each day is a struggle for survival.
Use inherent bonuses, which means you can include all 10 parcels but omit 1 and 4 (high and low lvl magic item).
+1 magic items are "masterwork" (like a wooden spear made from ancient wood, or an axe crafted from imix bone) Metal weapons are automatic +2 items. The augments (abilities outside of weapon/damage/defense bonuses) are learned techniques. Vicious axe +2 is a metal axe where the PC knows a technique to make critical strikes more powerful.
Another idea is that the player's items are artifacts that are awakened. As players become more powerful the items react.
Also, boons work.