Inherent Magical Item Bonuses (4e Variant Rule)

Inherent Magical Item Bonuses

Essentially bonuses from magical items, be it armor or weapons, scales with level rather than with the items being used.

At level 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, and 27 respectively, you would gain the equivalent enhancement bonus of a magical weapon, or +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6 to damage and the chance to hit.

At level 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, and 29 respectively, you would gain the equivalent enhancement bonus of a magical armor and neck slot, or +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6 to AC, Fortitude, Reflex, and Will.

In this way you don't have to constantly give out new items to players as they scale with level, so a player with a fire sword or a special magic weapon could keep it throughout their entire play through instead of just at their specific levels. To have an item magically "drop" when it's convenient for the player can be difficult to fit in the story and honestly just makes the playthrough more complex. I'm supposed to convince my characters that a magic fire sword dropped from a boss dragon's spleen, right as they wanted it? It just makes more sense this way and is easier to implement mechanically without worrying about giving items to my players all the time. It also allows for weirder combinations of items without worrying about the mechanics of them the whole time, and makes the game more easily balanced as players start out with all of their magic item bonuses and this never changes.

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