Custom Items?

[Thephoenixhydra]

I will say right now I looked to see if this topic existed, and didn't find one. If one does exist, point me to it please.

Hello. Reading up on this site lead me to believe it could be of help to me. I am DMing a 3.5 D&D campaign for a group of players that are about to be given one item each. However, I can instead of giving them standard items, I was hoping to give them custom items. But I am somewhat new to this kind of stuff and am not sure what to do. I have a price of 40,000 gp for each item. I would like to keep it below that if possible.
Can anyone help me?
Also, they are all gestalt and level 11.
I should post what the characters are first:

First: we have a wizard/monk character who has made note of wanting to be able to cast a spell while also being able to Flurry of Blows. A lesser rod of Quickening would work, but only for low level spells. Or maybe give her something else and let her get a rod of quickening at a later date.

Second: we have a scout/fighter going a bow master route. I don't know about what to give him. He is all about bows, so a better bow maybe?

Third: next we have a cleric/duskblade. Same as above.

Fourth: this character went the vow of poverty route, so can't use items.

I do have a small list I put together (I don't know how to do spoiler tags):Freedom of movement 40,000 gp; ring of, wizardry II 40,000 gp; Metamagic, Quicken, lesser 35,000 gp; Thunder and lightning 33,000 gp; Protection +4 32,000 gp; Gloves of Dexterity +6 36,000 gp; Memento magica, 5th-level spell 37,500 gp; +2 Energy resistance,
(choose energy), ENERGY DEFENSE, Heavy Mithral Shield 37,020 gp; +1 +4 str Hunting, Shocking burst, Shadowstrike, Composite Longbow 37,800 gp

If it would be better to just give them items that already exist, any ideas?

[Matrota]

First: we have a wizard/monk character who has made note of wanting to be able to cast a spell while also being able to Flurry of Blows. A lesser rod of Quickening would work, but only for low level spells. Or maybe give her something else and let her get a rod of quickening at a later date.

Second: we have a scout/fighter going a bow master route. I don't know about what to give him. He is all about bows, so a better bow maybe?

Give the monk an Amulet of Mighty fists with the spell storing enchantment. They flurry and expend a spell, boom, spell flurry.

Give the bow person a splitting bow. It will effectively double the amount of attacks they can do.

[Thephoenixhydra]

Give the monk an Amulet of Mighty fists with the spell storing enchantment. They flurry and expend a spell, boom, spell flurry.

Give the bow person a splitting bow. It will effectively double the amount of attacks they can do.

My god. Good idea for both. Forgot about the spell storing enchantment (I am assuming the one normally on weapons), and didn't know about the splitting bow one. I will have to work out cost, but still great ideas.
Now to work on the last one.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

For the Wizard, a Circlet of Rapid Casting (MIC) is 15k, and you can add a +4 Enhancement bonus to Int for 16k per MIC p234. Maybe give the circlet four charges per day to bring it closer to your 40k budget.

Hank's Energy Bow is pretty good, add on Seeking (+2 price > +3 price is 10k gp), make it Elvencraft (RotW, functions as a quarterstaff or a longbow), and make the staff portion +1 on both ends and it's at 37,500 gp.

For the Cleric/Duskblade, probably give him a weapon, but it really depends on what he's currently using, what he typically does in combat, and whether he would like something else a lot more. For example, he may really like a +4 Animated heavy shield. Or he may also really like a Minor Cloak of Displacement that also functions as a Banner of the Storm's Eye (15k, MIC).

[Falontani]

Fourth: this character went the vow of poverty route, so can't use items.

Just because someone can't use magic items due to the Vow of Poverty doesn't mean you can't give them anything. They are supposed to get WBL, and they are supposed to donate it. Usually to their church. Meaning you can easily give him paladin-esque items worth the same amount that you know his clergy would enjoy, have him role play it out every once and a while (if he wants to). Bringing a relic of your faith back to your temple would be a reward all in itself.

[Matrota]

The vow of poverty person could potentially have a spell permanently cast on them as a reward for their donations. Check the permanent spell for ideas.

Also, having someone cast wish as a spell service is worth 26,530 gp (at 17th CL, the earliest a wizard can access it), so you could give the vow of poverty person a +1 inherent bonus to one ability score of their choosing. It seems minimal, but iirc inherent bonuses cannot be drained or damaged, so a +1 in con will make them unable to die from con damage, which can be huge.

[Telonius]

For the Vow of Poverty person, what is their build? If they don't already have Incarnum, maybe give them an effect equivalent to a permanently-bound Chakra. Sprouting angel wings for x minutes/day would also be thematic (and helpful given the typical lack of flight).

[Thephoenixhydra]

All good ideas. Hank's Energy Bow, didn't even know that was a thing. However, Seeking would not be of much use. It is a useful ability and he has had a few times with such misses before, and maybe in the future. He also avoids close combat if at all possible. Only doing so when his arrows do more harm than good. But a Elvencraft bow would be neat for him, and he has said sometime ago that he would like one. I will keep it in mind.

For the Cleric/Duskblade. Having the banner last session would have been so useful for the party. :) He spends around one-third or less time healing, depending on how hard the fight is. The rest of the time, he stabs the enemy with spells. And uses holy storm for time to time.

For the vow of poverty guy. He is a Psion/Soulknife and I was thinking of role playing giving the gold to the poor or something, but having a spell permanently cast on them would be good. With some left over for the poor. And as for Incarnum, I am likely going to ignore that just for the sake of making my life easier. I know nothing of it.

Overall, this has been a big help to me. Now I just need to work out how I am going to put it all together and what item slots to use. This will be tricky.

[Fizban]

For something more exotic, maybe your scout/fighter would like an Exit Wound bow from Complete Warrior. It has a damage bonus and goes through living targets- skirmish won't apply to the extra targets, but the effect works on every shot.

The monk/wiz might like a Circlet of Rapid Casting and +4 Int (MiC). I would also note that the Amulet of Mighty Fists is triple price (because it affects all natural weapons) and can't normally have other effects- but a Necklace of Natural Weapons [Unarmed Strike] (Savage Species) is normal price and can have other abilities.

The cleric/dusk, yeah I don't have any great ideas without knowing more either. With a bow and a "melee" weapon, armor seems the most appropriate, but they could be wearing anything from light to heavy and wielding anything from a suglin to a dagger, nor do we know their deity.

I'm not sure what's tricky about the item slots- 40,000 is most of the WBL of an 11th level character so they can't have that many slots filled up, and all the suggested items already have known slots.

[Thephoenixhydra]

For something more exotic, maybe your scout/fighter would like an Exit Wound bow from Complete Warrior. It has a damage bonus and goes through living targets- skirmish won't apply to the extra targets, but the effect works on every shot.

The monk/wiz might like a Circlet of Rapid Casting and +4 Int (MiC). I would also note that the Amulet of Mighty Fists is triple price (because it affects all natural weapons) and can't normally have other effects- but a Necklace of Natural Weapons [Unarmed Strike] (Savage Species) is normal price and can have other abilities.

The cleric/dusk, yeah I don't have any great ideas without knowing more either. With a bow and a "melee" weapon, armor seems the most appropriate, but they could be wearing anything from light to heavy and wielding anything from a suglin to a dagger, nor do we know their deity.

I'm not sure what's tricky about the item slots- 40,000 is most of the WBL of an 11th level character so they can't have that many slots filled up, and all the suggested items already have known slots.

For the scout/fighter I have a splitting bow. monk/wiz is Necklace of Natural Weapons (didn't know about this, nice) with some other abilities. The cleric/dusk some armor or minor cloak of displacement or something. And the Psion/Soulknife gets a spell permanently cast on him. Ignore thing I said about item slots. I was thinking about something stupid.

This has been so much help. Thanks everyone.

[ayvango]

There is awesome quiver that produces arrows: Quiver of Araniel

uiver of Anariel: Quivers of Anariel appear to be typical arrow containers capable of holding a score of arrows. However, the quivers automatically replenish themselves with standard or magical arrows, such that they are always full. Some quivers also create arrows made of special materials, such as adamantine, cold iron, or alchemical silver.

Once an arrow it taken from the quiver, it must be used within 1 round or it vanishes.

Moderate conjuration; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, magic weapon, minor creation; Price 28,000 gp (standard arrows), 29,000 gp (masterwork arrows), 32,000 gp (+1 arrows), 44,000 gp (+2 arrows), 64,000 gp (+3 arrows), 92,000 gp (+4 arrows), 128,000 gp (+5 arrows); Add an additional +6,000 gp for adamantine arrows, +4,005 gp for cold iron arrows, or +200 gp for alchemical silver arrows; Weight 1 lb.

You could reproduce it as custom magic item with simple pricing. Some price for continuous and very specific lesser creation: it could create only arrows and only for 1 round, but it could be of rare materials too (additional costs for this). Also it could be enchanted like weapon but for 2x price for doing so out of weapon body. Just like amulet of natural attacks takes 2x pricing. +1 adamantine seeking arrows looks great on it for 40k (16k costs enhancement, 16k always on creation, 8k adamantine)

[Vaern]

For something more utility-oriented, you could toss in the old skeleton key. The concept is commonplace and it would undoubtedly be a great thing to have, for both thieves and parties without a thief alike. As far as I can tell, there's no official version of the item, though having a concept to work with takes 90% of the work out of homebrewing your own. Here's one for you:

Spoiler: Skeleton Key

Show

The shape this old bone key appear to shift slightly, betraying its magical nature. It seems to fit into any lock.
The skeleton key can be used to open any lock, acting as a masterwork thieves' tool when doing so. A character with no ranks in the open lock skill gains a competence bonus equal to half his hit dice and may use the skill untrained.
In addition, once per day, the user may speak a command word while turning the key in a lock to force it open. This functions as the knock spell, suppressing the effects of any arcane locks on the door or container being opened.
The key remembers each lock it has been successfully used on in the past 24 hours, and can lock or unlock a familiar lock without requiring a skill check.

I estimate the value of this version at 2750. The base cost of masterwork thieves' tools functionality is 100 gp, 1/day command word activated knock is 2160 gp, and I arbitrarily decided that an extra 20% on top of that sounded like a fair estimate for the misc bonuses.
This version is designed to be cheap, so it can be thrown at a low-level party as a large reward that will remain useful for a long time. At mid-high levels when you're looking for items worth up to 40k each, it is still a useful trinket with a value small enough that it can be added to the loot pile as just an extra filler item.

[Caelestion]

I like your skeleton key.

[Quertus]

Depending on the source, I'd say don't forget the power of cool. Make them out of cool materials. Describe these items.

Say that the amulet is crystallized lightning, held on a chord of leather made from the hide of a dragon, and always feels warm to the touch.

Have the bow be crafted from two different woods blended perfectly, and make the string from panther sinew.

Heck, if you have to, just give them 100 troll-blooded kittens, who will hang, terrified, onto their clothes, and provide them a covert bonus to AC. Good for VoP characters

But, since this seems a huge part of their gear, don't forget that it isn't just stats - you can make it something cool, too.