Publication:Complete Gear

Preface
Complete Control took character design out of the hands of game designers and put it back into the hands of the individual players where it belongs. However, with as much freedom as Complete Control does give with respect to the character design process there is still a certain amount of reality to the complaint that a character is largely defined by their items. From the player’s perspective, when so much thought is put into designing precisely the desired character why shouldn’t that character define the items rather than the items defining the character?

From the perspective of the Game Master, treasure and NPC equipment are often on the top of the list of elements that suck the fun out of games. Many Game Masters complain about the fact that magic-marts destroy the believability of the game. Yet, without places to buy magic items the players complain that they are reliant upon the mercy of the Game Master in handing out treasure. Wouldn’t it be nice to eliminate the time needed to prepare balanced treasure as well as remove the necessity of having a magic-mart in every city the characters might visit?

That is precisely the premise of this work. By using the rules presented here, players can take control of the items that their character uses. Game Masters can stop worrying about coming up with a meaningful yet balanced list of items and treasure. NPCs can use whatever items make sense to the character or monster without the Game Master worrying about unbalancing the game when the items fall into the hands of the characters. This work strives to take even more control out of the hands of the game designers and put it into the hands of the people who will enjoy wielding that very power the most!

As a note before the text of Complete Gear begins, I hope that this work is seen as an obvious supplement to the work done in Complete Control: Character Design for the Uninhibited. Yet, this work in no way assumes that Complete Control is being used in a game. Complete Gear is a stand-alone system of magic items and treasure that does not rely upon Complete Control in any way. It can be used in any game that uses gold pieces to defne both character wealth and item purchases regardless of how character design occurs.

Contents
Chapter 1: Complete Gear
 * Infusion Versus Influence
 * Influences and Attunements
 * The Same Economy, Different Rules
 * Influences and Masterwork Weapons/Armor
 * Influences and How They Relate to Others
 * Special Materials
 * Hardness and Hit Points of Attuned Items
 * Effect of Complete Gear on Item Creation Feats
 * Influences and Dispelling/Disjoining
 * Intelligent Items
 * Artifacts in the Game

Chapter 2: Variant Rules
 * Small Influences
 * Special Materials Variant
 * Cursed Items Variant
 * Combining Rules for IPs with Rules for GPs

Chapter 3: Tilgrath: An Example
 * A New Look at Role-Playing Equipment
 * The Account Explained