The Custom Made Hero
or, The Horadric Rube
by Occhidiangela

Class: Any
Tag: CMH

Introduction

Every treasure dropped by evil is assumed to be tainted by evil.

I may have overdone this, but the essence of this variant is that you make your own stuff. It's the only that way can you be sure it is pure enough to use, and unsullied by Evil.

Rules

Gems may be purchased for cash value from other players. Runes may be purchased for cash value. (i.e. 4X price when you sell to the merchants)

Items: Pre-Hell Difficulty

In Act I Normal, you may not use any drop. You can however, sell drops to Charsi. et al. You can only use items gambled for or purchased from town persons, to include the Imbue from Charsi. This limitation continues until you find the Horadric Cube.

Any dropped item can be used if it is somehow blessed or morphed in the Horadric Cube. Otherwise, you cannot use it.

Imbues
Imbues are allowed to be used during Normal and NM Diff.

Rares
If you find the world's greatest Rare (Item), and it does not have +LR or an undead/ demon damage affix, your only saving grace will be to get some LR or such socketed into it via Larzuk, or the SoJ recipe should one of those little rings drop, or six perfect skulls and morph it.

Sets, Rune Words, and Uniques
Set and Unique Items, and items with +LR are assumed to have sufficient Light Induced Influence to be uncorrupted by evil. Socketed Items can only be used if you are able to add Light Radius to them, or to make a rune word whose power overwhelms the evil.

Rune Words without Holy descriptors, extra damage to undead and-or demons, or + to LR are forbidden in NM Difficulty.

Late Game Rules

As you press on into the game, you realize that only you and the power of the light can build the tools of Destructions' end. You begin to believe that the cube, runes, and gems are the ultimate magical ingredients for making an end to evil. What a Rube.

Thus, you must Craft a final set of equipment by the end of NM diff. Hell diff may be started no later than lvl 60. Then, it is off to Hell for a "once through Hell Diff." You Start with your crafted items, which include Jewelry.

You are now left to your own devices as a "Horadric Rube."

Items: Hell Difficulty

Once you choose and craft your equipment and begin Act I Hell, you may not change your equipment, except as modified below.

Jewelry
Jewelry may be replaced by rings earned in quests (Cain and Ormus) if so desired.

After certain quests, amulets may be morphed from rings to form a replacement amulet, or a Prismatic Ammy can be made. Rings can be morphed from amulets. You may morph/craft a new ring or ammy only after defeating Griswold (Ammy only, you get a ring from Akara), meeting Hratli for the first time in Act III, Hell Forge Quest, meeting Larzuk for the first time in Hell Act V.

If you have saved a whole bunch of them to morph in the continuous morphing routine so loved by some, fine, but no carry overs.

Imbues
Once you finish the Act I Quest V (Malus Quest) in Hell Diff, you Must Imbue once Andariel has been slain and you move into Act II. Charsi and the rogues are busy rebuilding the Monastery, and have done what they can to further the war against evil.

Other Ways to Change Equipment
Other than above, your equipment may only change at the end of each non-skill earning, non-jewelry earning quest. One item may change after each of the following quests.

- Act I: Blood Raven, Countess, Malus (Here you use imbue, so equipment may change), Andariel
- Act II: Staff, Tainted Sun (Amulet belongs on the staff, thus it is not a jewelry-earning quest), Journal, Duriel
- Act III: Khalim's Parts & Pieces, Black Council, Mephisto
- Act IV: Hellforge, Diablo

You may socket an item with Larzuk. You may make a rune word/morph after rescuing Anya. You may use Anya's gift. You may personalize and morph and item after Nihlathak.

You may attempt to Craft/Morph another item to replace an item that "experienced wear and tear" or "was sullied by the evil ichor of Hell's Legions." If you choose not to craft or morph an item at the end of a particular quest, then you pass up the chance, and press on. Time Tide and Baal's minions wait for no man.

If you save up enough Perfect Skulls, then you can re-roll a rare dropped during a quest in Hell Diff as a choice to replace an item, versus crafting one.

You are also free to burn up perfect gems re-rolling one blue item per replacement eligible quest.