Nimble 5e: No Stat Items

I was wondering how compatible Nimble 5e really was with 5e, and then I discovered something. The game's itemization and inventory system is completely apart from 5e's systems. Specifically, magic items, like magic daggers and swords, and armor with AC bonuses.

With armor, I am guessing "more expensive" armors "come with magic" and that is all factored out. The highest-level cloth armor says "epic enchantment" and that feels like the case, where the best armors "come with the protective magic needed." This is factored into the armor's defenses already. The best cloth armor costs 10,000gp, so the gold game is there.

Weapons have no magic options, unless they are the game's "give and take" magic bonuses. There is a section on magic items, and some weapons have magic properties, but they are never a flat bonus. Mostly they are specific bonuses, and many of them have a drawback, like taking damage to do extra damage, and things like that.

There are no +1 swords in Nimble 5e. Thematically, I don't know if they fit in the game. You could "port them in" as a simple damage modifier I would guess, but nothing for to-hit. They are not in the core rules, so if you are playing a "pure" Nimble 5e game, plus-weapons would not be in there.

I am guessing if you ever found a magic weapon, it should be unique with a trade-off ability, special user-per-day boon, or some other balance to the weapon's power. Since they are not in the rules, if they are found in an adventure I would give them some other trade-off ability, like a rat-killing sword that gives advantage 1 against rodents.

In fact, I would lean heavily on the whole Advantage X system in the book for all magic weapons, and just convert "plus weapons" to Advantage X against a specific creature type, like a magic "+2 Orc Slayer" axe giving Advantage 2 against Orcs. You could balance that with Disadvantage X, if you wanted. Use the advantage system, do not give a plus. 

The GM's Guide does not have guidance on magic weapons and armor of this sort. There is a section in the GM's Guide on boons, and those could be linked to specific magic weapons, but that would be a major or legendary item to find. Alternatively, a hero's weapon could be given the boon instead of the hero, as a quest upgrade or magic the hero finds, allowing for side-grades that way, and still keeping a signature weapon without having to play the ARPG "gear swap" game every mission.

With "pure" Nimble 5e, for the most part, your weapon is your weapon. 90% of your character power comes from your class abilities, and this mirrors the sort of anime-influence on the nu-fantasy genre. An anime hero rarely replaces their primary weapon, like Inuyasha's sword, so it is what it is.

You could have two opinions about Nimble 5e:

• Great! Something that plays faster! I can ignore (but still keep) my core books now!
• Or, 5E's math is really screwed up and nothing can fix it. Why bother?

It makes me feel that Nimble 5e is not a complete game, or in some ways it leans on 5E a bit too much. For items, equipment, magic items, and special treasures, I feel it does borrow a bit much. Granted, you can play with just the base rules, and items from 5E will have several issues, but I feel like I want more clarity here, and a magic and gear book to work all this out.

A part of me wants to use this and play around with 5E adventures, another part of me says Old School Essentials has the math and the magic items worked out, and the system has been fine for 50 years.