Andy Speaks
Andy, In That Thread wrote:
Based on player feedback regarding the expanded magic item format that debuted a little while back, as well as ongoing concerns about clarity of item functions and the like, the Magic Item Compendium team came up with a new and (we believe) significantly improved method of detailing magic items.
Our goal was to recreate the basic utility of the familiar-to-everyone spell description format, adapting it to the slightly different needs of magic items, while still allowing room for a designer to add a flavorful touch to items that merited it.
At a glance, a magic item in the new MIC format looks a bit like a spell description from the Spell Compendium: a slightly-enlarged-font name at the top, followed by line-item entries for the significant at-a-glance game information you need, followed by body text that describes the item's appearance and game effect.
Of course, the crucial details for magic items don't quite match those of spells, and the new format takes that into account. For example, an item's price is a very important value (some players might say the most important), and thus it occupies a significant place in the line-item entries (right under the name). Same for the item's body slot, which follows directly afterward. Other line-item entries include caster level, aura (for the purpose of detect magic), and activation (the item's "casting time"). Since so many items have multiple effects, entries such as range, area, target, effect, duration, and so on don't work well as line-items; instead, this information is contained within the body text.
Leading off the body text is a one-sentence visual description of the item, particularly useful for DMs who have run out of ways to describe the magic rings or boots the characters keep finding.
"Clear and concise" were our watchwords in crafting each item's body text. It aims to describe the item's game effect in a manner that maximizes game utility while minimizing reader confusion. Most items use no more than a few sentences to capture this information.
A few items include a "Lore" entry that allows DMs to add some flavor to the item's appearance, but these are in the minority--we felt that information was best as a rare spice, rather than an omnipresent sauce ladled over the entire book.
Following the body text are two more line-item entries: the prerequisites for creating the item, followed by the cost to create (in gp, XP, and days). We set these apart from the leading line-item entries since a) they aren't relevant to most readers (only to those looking to craft the items), and b) they tend to be longer than the other entries, typically taking up multiple lines. The cost to create entry also sets off any "component" costs (such as "315 gp for masterwork longsword) to clarify what exactly a creator is paying for.
A typical entry takes up roughly 1/5 of a page (similar to a spell), though this of course varies based on how much text it takes to explain an item's effect. Like the PH spells chapter, MIC's magic items use a more efficient three-column format, which keeps the opening line-item entries from creating too much white space.
To be certain, this format is longer than that used in the DMG (though much shorter than the format from DMG2). However, we believe this increased length makes the entry infinitely more friendly to a player or DM actually trying to use the item in play.
We think this is the right way to describe a magic item: It minimizes the amount of text that must be read to understand the item's function in the game, without ignoring certain utilitarian and/or flavorful details that make the item descriptions more interesting, more readable, and, ultimately, more useful both at and away from the table.
At last count, the book held somewhere between 1000 and 1100 items. I apologize for the catalog's inaccuracy--while we contracted for about 1250 items to be designed/revised, we always expected the actual number to drop by 10-20% during development (winnowing out the least interesting/exciting items, as well as the inevitable redundancies). As lead designer/developer, "We Must Hit 1000" was always my mantra, as anyone standing near my desk during either of my two 6-week stints on the book would be able to tell you. Apparently, though, somebody heard our original "design goal" and mistook it for a final value. It's always frustrating when inaccuracies creep into the catalog, and I wish it hadn't happened, but for now I'll just say we're working on ways to prevent similar problems from occurring in the future.
(The editors are still working on the book as I write this, so the final product may vary slightly from what I've described here, but I don't expect any serious changes at this point.)
I could go on and on about this book--as you can probably tell, I'm rather happy with the result--but I'll save that for when its release is a bit more imminent. I'm sure we'll have plenty to say about this book in the months immediately preceding its release.
Andy, Later in the same thread wrote:
Here's how the cloak of arachnida (from the DMG) might look in the new format. (Realistically, we'd have spent some time cleaning up the effects a bit more so--for instance--the reader would know what "poison from spiders" means in a game with a variety of eight-legged venomous freaks running around, but you should be able to get the idea.)
Cloak of Arachnida
Price: 14,000 gp
Body Slot: Shoulders
Caster Level: 6th
Aura: Faint; (DC 18) conjuration and transmutation
Activation: Standard (command)
Weight: 1 lb.
This black cloak bears pattern of webs embroidered in white silk.
When activated, the cloak of arachnida grants its wearer the effect of a spider climb spell.
Once per day, the wearer may activate the cloak to cast web.
In addition, the wearer of a cloak of arachnida is immune to entrapment by webs of any sort, can move across webs at half her normal speed, and gains a +2 luck bonus on Fortitude saves against the poison of spiders. These powers function continuously, with no need for activation.
Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, spider climb, web.
Cost to Create: 7,000 gp, 560 gp, 14 days.
I'd also like to note that there is a LOT of gratuitous ass kissing in that thread.
Game On,
fbmf
