The art of conversion, The Foes of the Wand

When I changed my campaign from 2e to 3x D&D like many DM's I tried to convert as much as I could.Whether this is a good idea or not (I am leaning not actually) it is a learning experience.

Probably the hardest thing to convert was the Anti Magic Item Cult called the "Foes of the Wand" . I lifted the idea whole cloth from the Complete Wizards Handbook and roughly fleshed it out as a "Group of Wizards who oppose the use of magic items believing that magic power trapped in items would destroy the world."

Since they were meant mainly as a PC adversary group I never saw much need to balance them. Back in 2e I just allowed them 1 extra spell per level to be memorized per day but they could not use magic items as do to a psychological block, they just wouldn't work.

When I converted to 3x I kind of left them behind since the ad-hoc conversion didn't work right with the more fiddly 3x rules.

However much later into the game, I came upon a solution.

I modified a feat I normally banned (Vow of Poverty from The Book of Exalted Deeds) and it worked fine.

Members of the Foes retrain "Scribe Scroll" in exchange for a variation of the benefits of the Vow of Poverty Feat. At this point magic items no longer function for them, even items that do not require a spell trigger or the like. This includes magic weapons and cursed items which promptly stop effecting the member though scrolls may still be added to spell books as per normal. Material Components and Alchemical items are not considered magical.

Each Foe gains the AC and stat bonuses of the Vow Of Poverty Feat although unlike that feat a member may have as much mundane wealth as desired so long as he gives at least 10% of the wealth and any found items to the organization . At any point where an exalted bonus feat would be gained as per VOP they gain Spell Mastery instead.

Any existing item creation feats are exchanged for Sudden Metamagic Feats. In addition members of the Foes gain access to the organizations library and may gain 1 additional spell free

Sometime if it ever seems appropriate I'll spring these bad boys on my players knowing that despite the more rigorous systems of 3x I have a fair and balanced set up.