I have been busy creating a world for my DW group in my spare time, and I have hit an obstacle regarding custom item creation. What are the basic guidelines in creating custom items? What are all the factors that I need to take into consideration? Is it like creating a custom class’ abilities with its own ability or abilities? Do I place any specific restrictions on it as to who may use it or not?
I have, in the past, made one or two custom items, but those have only been used by the players once or not at all. I hope to make the items in my new world more permanent and useful, but still keep the players aware of the fact that unique items are available to them. (e.g.) I once created a “blink dagger”, but the players almost instantly forgot about it. I gave it to a Shadow Dancer (a dexterity based custom class my friend was play testing), a character that could truly take advantage of the extra mobility, but the player forgot about it almost instantly. I’m not saying he was a boring player at the table (he is actually very fun to play with), I just want to know what might have caused the lack of interest in an item that I thought could be very interesting.
I hope I made my question(s) and my problem clear. I would love to hear what you guys have to say. Thanks!
DW is a little less focused on treasure and magical items than a traditional old school RPG. Why not let you’re players design the item? have them go on a series of quests for a wizard who will make them magical items as fees. The players get to request what the item does and you design the mechanics to keep it from becoming too powerful. When in doubt give it charges or a make a single use potion.
Ask your players what sort of items their characters may be interested in. Spout lore about that stuff and go on an adventure to claim them.
Tell cool stories together!
My players also tend to forget about magical loot they’re given. At some point I gave the wizard a magical ring that could literally bring art to life. They used it during that session (it was what the villain of the week had been using to throw off pursuers, so they used it against him after acquiring it) but with the rare exception of one instance a few sessions later, they totally forgot about it. You’d think raising an army of statues/paintings in temples and mansions would be useful, but they just flat-out forgot. It might be useful to write a custom move for the item and remind them every so often that they still have it.
Thanks for the feed back people. You guys are right. I think what I’ll do is create an items based off of a mission that they did.
Yeah I gave my players a Truth Ruby the first session(I was very new to treasure) and surprisingly they didn’t use it a lot even though there was quite a few bad guys it would have been totally useful on…I think people like the adventure getting the loot then the loot itself.
james day I agree. Getting the items and knowing you go them may feel more exciting than just using them. Thanks a lot guy really appreciate the feedback!!!