Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 the_rooster_17 Sep 21, 2008 23:23:48	I am new to 4th Edition but have been playing D&D since 1989; I have played every edition to date. My question is reference armor and magical items in 4th Edition and in relation to Eberron. I am leaning forward a little because the Eberron book is not out yet but I am already thinking of magic items to make with an Artificer. So here are my questions: Can you only make the magic items listed in the Player’s Handbook or can you create your own? If you can create your own where are the guidelines? I have the Adventurer’s Vault on order and I am hoping it is in there. Because Eberron is a not completely normal D&D, are we to assume the Astral Sea stuff exists in Eberron? This is primarily because the magical armor in the PHB (Feyweave, Starweave, Feyleather, Starleather, Darkhide, Elderhide, Foremail, Spiritmail etc.) and I am wondering if this stuff will have different names in Eberron or will somehow be incorporated. Thanks for any information. Ian
#2 inkblot Sep 22, 2008 2:03:23	Can you only make the magic items listed in the Player’s Handbook or can you create your own? If you can create your own where are the guidelines? I have the Adventurer’s Vault on order and I am hoping it is in there. The Enchant Item ritual does not restrict you to creating items from the PHB, or any book. As with any edition of D&D, you are free to invent your own magic items. No guarantee that any given DM will allow them in his/her game though. There are no guidelines for inventing new magic items. I have the Adventurer's Vault (borrowed from a friend), and a quick look through reveals that there are no guidelines in there either. In 3.5 D&D, WotC provided extensive magic item creation guidelines in the DMG. It was a disaster. Too many people took the guidelines to be rules. The guidelines themselves were almost useless. They easily produced cheap overpowered items, and expensive underpowered items. So this time around WotC admitted that no simple arithmetic can discern a balanced item from a broken one. The best way to judge a magic item's power is to compare it to other magic items. You could also compare it to class powers, but that's sketchier. Because Eberron is a not completely normal D&D, are we to assume the Astral Sea stuff exists in Eberron? This is primarily because the magical armor in the PHB (Feyweave, Starweave, Feyleather, Starleather, Darkhide, Elderhide, Foremail, Spiritmail etc.) and I am wondering if this stuff will have different names in Eberron or will somehow be incorporated. Eberron has planes which are similar enough to the Feywild, the Shadowfell, and the Astral Sea. The Feywild maps to Thelanis. The Shadowfell maps to the Plane Of Shadow and/or Mabar. The Astral Sea maps to the Astral Plane. It's not a exact fit, but it's close enough for most purposes. All of those armors can keep their names. The biggest differences is that any "divine dominions of the Astral Sea" in Eberron would be devoid of Gods, if they exist at all. They could be purely mythical. Also, you should substitute an Eberron deity for Moradin in the legends about Godplate and Warplate.
#3 the_rooster_17 Sep 22, 2008 11:31:00	Thanks for the advice. I just got the Adventurers Vault in today (I am in Iraq so it took a while) and am looking forward to reading it. It is unfortunate that it does not give specific guidelines one creating items but I understand why since you pinpointed a few examples. I will just have to get the creative juices flowing I guess. I just want to have some ideas lined up for when they start cranking out the Eberron stuff. Thanks again. Ian