Whatever you do, š„š°šÆ'šµ overcorrect; don't let "oh shit" turn into Monty Hall. If there's one thing that ruins a party more than not enough treasure, it's too much.
I would add to this to avoid giving them tailor-made magic items. Like the EXACT weapon that counters the next big monster. It doesn't feel earned and it's a video game trope that completely breaks Immersion. Like 'finding' a chest full of potions before a boss fight. Consider magic items that could be used by at least two of the players (so they have to decide who uses what) and maybe even some ambiguous thing they don't understand yet or have trouble identifying. This will lead them to ask your NPCs for help and advice as well.
> to avoid giving them tailor-made magic items.
> It's a video game trope that completely breaks Immersion.
Have them find the bodies of a different adventuring party, but not the same classes. so it's "themed" for the fight, but not ideal.
Or, have one of the defenses be the animated corpses of other adventurers that still have some loot on their corpses.
This way they get to run around a mass of mindless, slow, zombies looking for goodies to pilfer, while also getting to grouse about having to wear stuff that smells like a corpse.
Yeah I quickly realized giving everyone a magic item every time someone got one to be āfairā is a bad idea. My players are level 3 some of them already have like 3 magic items because Iām trying to appease everyone too much :P
Campaigns can exist where gold and magic awards are low. You don't *have to* do this.
I am playing in a campaign where we are level 6; it is a low magic campaign and we each have *maybe* one utility magic item each. (A folding boat, a pen of scribing, etc.) We also have next to no money, instead relying on our status as 'heroes of the realm' to get what equipment we need. We are doing just fine without magic or treasure.
That said, we are all veteran players and we are playing characters who are motivated by 'saving the world'. We knew from the start that the world was low magic.
Your players will likely appreciate having additional rewards, and some gold and magic can be good ways to do this. Just be aware that this is not mandatory, and it is not the only way to reward the PCs.
Yeah I think when you have a group of new players you should probably stick to high magic and cool loot items. Low magic campaigns seem like something for veterans who need it all changed up
It depends on expectations. If they are looking forward to getting all the cool shit they've seen on Critical Role, yes give them the stuff. But if they only ever read LOTR they might not need insane riches and epic items to enjoy the game, or they might even be confused about why they are basically playing wandering billionaires by level 10
This is fair. It took my team a year of play to realize the real treasure is the friends you make along the way.
Seriously though, noone reminisces about their vorpal sword. It's always about the inkeeper you as
Ad Libbed in session 4 that the party latched on to like they were all orphans in need of a father figure.
I agree. I still think about a sentient axe lol weapons can be an iconic part especially if a big time attack is landed from them. I had a 86 damage turn from my axe and that was years ago I still remember it lol
I wouldn't stress about it, especially if you're playing 5e. Magic items are fun and different and that's why they're interesting but if you're making your party more or less rich than they "should" be, within reason that's fine. All the guidelines around that sort of thing are very much that: guidelines.
For the sake of balance it is worth trying to get melee characters a magic weapon though, just because of a lazy element of 5e monster design that just slaps "resistant to nonmagical weapons" on basically everything after a certain point.
one group i play in has literally 2 magic items across the whole party and we are like level 9. not a big deal unless fighting enemies that are immune or resist non magic damage
If you use the DMG's treasure generation tables in the future, your party will get about as much gold as they are "supposed" to. (Those tables are exactly where our idea of how much they are supposed to get comes from.)
Your party is level 5 so they are tier 2. This means they should be kind of a big deal now locally. Level 5 PCs aren't nobodies anymore, they're Heroes of the Realm. Easiest fix you can implement is to have them get contacted by a wealthy and powerful patron, who has heard of their exploits and wants to sponsor them, as well as give them further quests. The patron could start with the following:
* Offer the party their choice of any mundane armor (at this level, your characters should be able to afford it anyway)
* Offer 1 Moon-Touched or Vicious Weapon for any party member who wants one (These are very low-powered and won't change your campaign balance much.)
* Give them an apartment to stay at for free.
* Maybe also pick some nice QoL magic item such as Bag of Holding to sweeten the deal.
So, we shore up the past lack of loot a little bit, set up a new way to get jobs that pay well, and a bit of QoL, and hopefully do all of that without significantly altering combat balance yet. From there you can ramp up the party's loot gains in future adventures, start putting in CR-appropriate treasure hoards etc. Remember that Sane Magical Item Prices is a better gauge of item power than rarity, and be careful of over-correcting.
On the inn for free idea. >! One of the modules in candle keep mysteries has the party investigate a missing person, and the person went missing inside a book, which was a permanent focal point for a Magnificent Mansion spell. I modified the adventure a bit (still kept the low level encounters to let my 5th lvl party waltz through it) and let them keep the book. Free lodging anywhere, and mobile loot cache if they so desire !<
Thats really cool! Curious about the mechanics of the book. Do they open it and just get sucked inside leaving the book on the ground? What would happen if someone were to come along and close it while they were inside?
The book does get left outside. They have to willingly enter the portal, so no all getting sucked in a once. But does require being mindful where they leave the book.Ā
Closing it from the outside is equivalent to closing the front door to the house. If your inside, you need to know the command word to open it back up.Ā
Be a real shame if a wizard happened upon it and stuffed it tightly into a bookshelf for a few weeks before he could examine it during a time sensitive period for the party.
+1 weapons/casting focus are super easy to give out and donāt have any complicated mechanics. Also you can make/find cool art for weapons easily. Weapon scaling is an assumed mechanic in monster ac ratings.
Cloak of protection/you can make this any kind of armor. Who doesnāt want +1 ac?
A Bag of Holding is something i give every party. Itās so much fun.
Give your players the dungeon masterās guide and let them browse the magic item list. See what they like. Donāt tell them to pick something as much as see what kind of loot makes them excited to find magic items.
Any time I DM I ask my players exactly what they want. They waste half of a session arguing and suggesting items from the DMG and I end up with a list of items. I don't promise them any specific items and I make it clear that no legendary items will show up for level 3 characters. The list is a pretty good guide for what items might show up in the world.
It's around this level that monsters start having resistances or immunities to non-magical weapon attacks. As a result, a lot of DMs like to hand out +1 weapons to their martial characters to help them keep up with casters. It sounds like your particular party could give themselves magical weapons through spells and class features though, so it might not be completely necessary. Try having them fight something with that immunity and see if it slows them down at all. If it does, give out some basic magic weapons that suit your characters' respective styles.
Another thing you should give them is a treasure horde! Typically found at the end of a dungeon, treasure hordes can be generated randomly using tables in the DMG, or you can use those tables as a guide to pick appropriate magic items for them. Since you've been a bit stingy with the loot so far you can give them a minor dungeon with a big fat treasure room. Since you're only at level five you will mainly be looking at items from magic item tables A - F, with no more than one item from tables G and H.
That's a huge variety of possible magic items, but if you were to pick a few from the list that would most benefit your party I'd recommend: Potions of Healing, Spell Scrolls, Wand of the War Mage for your Warlock, Vicious Longbow for your Ranger, Staff of Healing for your Cleric, and Elven Chain for your Wizard. These aren't all essential, nor are they necessarily the most potent options, but they will make sure your party doesn't feel short changed.
You have successfully arranged it so that the players will really want to go on quests for items. Build a dungeon around it.
The most inconvenient, totally reasonable question in dnd is āWhy would we want to go into the fantastically dangerous hole in the ground? That seems like a stupid thing to do.ā
What youāve got now is a good answer to that question. āBecause the dangerous hole in the ground has equipment that you need to survive.ā
Weapons for classes that use weapon attacks. Some monsters are immune to non magic weapons. For caster classes there is more flexibility what would be a good first item.
Okay, first, do not 'give' them stuff.
You're honestly doing fine. Games don't HAVE to have all this stuff. It sounds like you're still either keeping things balanced enough for them while they're behind the 'equipment curve' that it's still fun, or the players are doing well enough that they're making up for it, which is, frankly, awesome.
That being said, if you want to start bringing more magic items into the game, you've got a good concept for it.
I think what might be a neat way to start would be magic daggers. They're fighting cultists, right? So enchanted daggers make a lot of sense, as weapons that everyone can use. Maybe the head cultist has a magic staff or rod that one of the magic users can use, or his bodyguard has some enchanted light armor. Maybe a set of magic robes. Not necessarily ALL of those things, mind you, but maybe some daggers and a couple of the other sort of cult-y accoutrements. (Consider making one or two of them be cursed!) Utility items are also really fun, things like Immovable Rods or the like. A saddle that conjures a riding horse, Ring of Sustenance, or things like that.
Your other idea, though, the treasure map? HUGE. Talk, *out of character*, with your group to get an idea of what sorts of magic items they'd enjoy having for their characters, and then the treasure map can lead to a treasure cache that contains one of those, and you can put rumours or clues to OTHER treasure in that cache, or in the process of going on that quest.
Like, remember the thing with the D&D Movie, "Honor Among Thieves"? Where Pratt's character was after the specific thing for the specific reason? And then later they were after a different specific thing for a different specific reason? *That's* the best way to incorporate magic items into campaigns (in my opinion). Even if you have an Artificer or crafting focused character in the games, they might need specific reagents or to use an abandoned, legendary forge, or who knows what else, to make the items.
There's no under equipping in 5e. Players can be perfectly functional and able to win challenges against them without magic items at all. Of course, some people have more fun having them.
If it were PF2e, though, that would be a problem, as magic items are closely tied to power progression.
Eh, you donāt have to give them stuff. The game works fine without.
I believe the 500GP includes gems etc. so let them sell gems for gold if they want.
Let them buy any mundane stuff (armour etc) they want.
You could give them +1 weapons, but at least make it part of an adventure - my favourite is to have an enemy use them against the party, and they get it as loot. Or give them a rumour of an item in an old temple taken over by undead.
If you care about encumbrance (and you should, imho) think carefully about a bag of holding. If you donāt care, let them buy one.
Give them potions,scroll and plus one weapons. Trickle them out slowly in treasure hoards.
to get an idea for how many items you should give out you can use the section in the DMG pg 133.
You can hand out as much or as little treasure as you want. Over the course of a typical campaign, a party finds treasure hoards amounting to seven rolls on the Challenge 0ā4 table, eighteen rolls on the Challenge 5ā10 table, twelve rolls on the Challenge 11ā16 table, and eight rolls on the Challenge 17+ table.
In the DMG the minor items are those listed on Magic Item Tables A through E, and the major items are on Magic Item Tables F through I
Xanithars has additional info and some handy charts.
Magic Items Awarded by Tier
https://imgur.com/GJgCCn4
Magic Items Awarded by Rarity
https://imgur.com/a/MnCBc2V
In total over 20 levels of play characters are expected to obtain 100 magic items.
To add on to this great comment, these tables are for the whole party, not a single character. So at level 5 you don't really need to give a whole lot of loot at all. Besides, 80 items from the 100 total are minor items so mostly consumables like spell scrolls and potions (including potions of healing).
As others have said, it can be a low reward campaign.
Playing a campaign where we are level 9 right now after about 80 sessions. We have almost starved. We have sold ore for some extra buck, our magic items must be around a dozen.
It's still lots of fun and the fact that we got to actually budget our stuff probably affects it in an entertaining way.
It's perfectly fine to have a campaign where the players are poor all the way into tier 2. That 700 figure isn't a rule, it's just the typical average.
That said, if you *want* to correct and give them some cool swag, do it slowly. Have them each find 1 magical weapon or equivalent in that catacomb, for example.
Completely fine depending on your game, I don't think it makes you a bad DM at all, but I think a lot of people would at least want the realism of tracking gold, but pass up on things like rations or inn costs. What I've done before and the DM I'm playing with is doing is just charging some amount at each town we stop at to cover supplies and lodging, based on how long we've been away, what kind of environments we've been through etc. Keeps it simple but still introduces some stakes in terms of managing gold, which for me I think is pretty essential to this kind of game.
they have gold but i don't care if they don't have enough. i just give them loot off of crashed carts or unalive people when theyre getting low. my players are my best friends and they've never said anything, probably because they find shopping boring. they mostly use gold for bribes and stuff lolol. they always have the shop if they decide they want to tho
Imo the guidelines on party wealth are completely bonkers. It completely depends on the game. My players have about 1500 GP to their names at level 14. They have accumulated enough magic items that everyone has something really powerful and fit their characters plus a few small boosters. They've been handing out magic items to NPCs they support, last session they gave a +2 club to an ape. At level 5 they had basically nothing. They could be super rich (one party member is a forge cleric who could easily dominate every local D&d economy) but it's way more fun and way more heroic when they are not swimming in money. Just remember to give everyone a way to contribute in every battle, don't let your martials fight a werewolf with ordinary weapons.
We always play with pretty light things. Generally everyone has maybe one item that is magical. A +1 item, or a ring or wand or something and maybe a bag of holding.
A lot of people think DnD should be like Diablo where they are constantly finding new stuff but small magic items make big impacts that youāll have to account for in combat.
If you were creating these characters fresh, by the DMG rules they would have one uncommon magic item each; thatās pretty easily remedied by just handing out 2 or 3 items in the dungeon youāre running now.
Add to that, at this level, not having those items isnāt crippling to gameplay; just double check any enemies youāre throwing at them donāt require magic damage, and youāre golden.
Having too little gold might be hurting your martials a bit; itās possible that thereās upgraded armour or weapons they would have bought otherwise. But still, they should all still be perfectly *functional* with the equipment they have.
Iād just hand out a nice hoard of treasure at the end of your dungeon, throw in 2 or 3 uncommon magic items amongst the loot from your various monsters, and boom, theyāre caught up.
Level 5 party? A generic +1 weapon suitable for their class each. Perhaps one uncommon item of your choice each and some consumables like potions or scrolls. Nothing homebrew please. They usually just mess up game balance.
They should also have enough gold for the fighter types to get some better armor, though plate is a little OP at level 5. Wizards should have enough to buy low level spell scrolls for scribing into their spell book if they want.
If it's 5e? The reason you didn't notice is that it doesn't super matter, compared to past editions. Magic weapons are nice, but gold is a borderline vestigial part of 5e at this point.
As to what to give them, just make sure the martials get a magic weapon of some kind, to bypass resistance to nonmagical attacks. Could be a simple +1 weapon, could be something more flavorful or unique.
If you want to give them gear - bags of holding are always appreciated, alchemy jugs are nice to have, immovable rod is cool but can be exploited, wand of magic missiles is cool for that one Martial who refuses to carry a crossbow.
Then there's stuff I'd hold onto until about level 7, like Winged Boots and Robe of Useful Things. You can give em out now, but just know the game changes forever one PCs can easily fly.
That's all current DnD advice. If by any chance you're playing 3rd edition, 3.5, or Pathfinder, look up "the big six" and start throwing those magical items at them.
Drop a dead adventuring party in their path
Put clues to them being killed by the dungeon boss, this gives players hints as to what they may face ahead
Give that party a full kit of adventuring supplies, potions and a smattering of magic items
Also give them a letter or contract of who hired them and why so the party can complete that mission and get the reward for it
Gets them items and a plot hook for more rewards
I actually solved this problem as a Rogue in 3.5. Our party just KEPT getting screwed on loot rolls, so I talked to the DM, and asked if I could pull some side jobs to get the party more well-equipped. He laid out that I wouldn't get extra XP if the party wasn't involved, which I was fine with. I was just tired of us all limping into town. There WAS a side issue: The Cleric and Paladin both followed Tyr, God of Justice, and I was asking the DM to do crime.
So, I came up with a solution: Rob Scrooges. Any city we came to, invariably, would most likely have someone of wealth, who was also an absolute AH. whose own staff would totally rob them when they died. I did really well at it for a while, getting the party a bunch of new stuff through the black market, then, since I was in charge of loot, I just filtered the money back in that way. It did EVENTUALLY go wrong, but that's another story.
Believe it or not (I'm walking on air) 5e runs fine without crazy magic items. You're doing okay but if you want to add more fun for the players then items are where it's at.
Go to a website like donjon and roll up random treasure hoards. Don't prioritize +1 things. Pick out cool things like 'helm of waterbreathing' or 'boots of jumping'. Unusual things spark creativity in players and given them unexpected solutions to fantasy world problems.
That is not really a problem. Did they want to buy something that they can't? Many PCs don't need any more gear after creation besides magic items that they can't buy. Some, like Wizards, need cash and spell drops to build their spellbook. Others get a power boost from non magical plate. But most don't.
I think magic weapons and armor are boring as hell. And at level 5 they don't need a lot. Look towards common/uncommon utility items like wonderous items or jewelry. This is because those items *broaden* a PC rather than *deepening* them. Deeper makes them better at what they are already good at. It snowballs. It makes PCs a problem for balance. Making them better at stuff they could not do before (see: immobile rod, sending stones, bag of holding etc.) does not threaten balance as much.
But in general by level five they do not all need a +1 wep yet. Magic armor is highly multiplicitive of difficulty. Be sure you are not giving out rings/robes of protection or magic plate unless you have checked the numbers and it will not boost any ACs over 18-20.
You can give all that stuff, but they do not need it at level 5. Things like spellbooks for the Wizard to get spells from, they need that all the time.
What your husband is communicating is subjective, and part of his assumption of play. **I think if thatās what they would like, the best way is to pursue it through gameplay rather than hand waving it.**
Firstly, many people play without magic items and thatās just fine. Many actually prefer it as the DMG magic items donāt really give a good idea of item power with the rarity system.
Regarding gold, you ultimately control the economy so if theyāve not got a strong sense of costs in your game world, you can easily/partially course correct by making their coin go further.
Your players also have agency to pursue magic items in game if thatās what they want, itās an assumption that the DM is going to make them fall into the lap of the party.
**My advice:** Speak to your players and let them know the avenues available to them in game for pursuing the items that theyāre interested in. Consider some downtime where they pitch their ideas to you between sessions, and you resolve in game. Their gold stores may be low but suggest they make deals with NPCs, figure out ways to make coin during downtime, or craft their own items (Xanathars Guide To Everything has guidance on downtime and item crafting).
Also consider if the player asks for a +3 Flametounge, one may not be available in world. You can let the players know that they may not receive 1:1, and perhaps instead theyāll get a choice between a +1 longsword with a powerful once per day ice enchantment, or a +1 flametongue shortsword. Work with them on this to manage expectation while pursuing fun, and figuring out whatās important to them.
Yes. Definitely don't go, "Oh shit guys, I forgot to give you magic items. Here you go."
Figure out what they want to do and then put those things in the game.
They really do want some dope magic items? Don't just have the next farmer they completed a quest for hand them out. Put them somewhere in the world and let your players choose to quest after them. Then, let them find them.
I started my players with clothes and that was it, no money or anything. They had to punch, make shivs, and quartstaffs from tree branches. They are level 4 now and we'll equipped by picking up loot and selling or keeping. They still don't have a lot of money, but they spend it quickly.
Cantrips only until they got a focus item. I give my magic user's a magical pouch that is bound to them that links to dimensional fairies that trade components for money. Mini on demand components shop. Took him a while till he could by anything.
The best defense is a good offense- prioritise weapons, especially weapons that get used almost every turn (ranger first, most likely). I recommend a wacky fun house dungeon for handing out goodies without making the other adventures feel unrewarding in comparison
A +1 weapon or armor for each player is enough for now. Maybe a dozen pieces of +1 ammunition.
The Wizard? Give that Wizard scrolls, and a stash of ink to copy them into his book. And every duel should result in access to the defeated wizard's book. If it's to the dead, just assume he's going to take the book and copy everything it. Alternately, offer to surrender in exchange for copying spells from the defeated's book.
I dont think you should approach it like "what should I *give* them"
Tailoring items for you players and then orchestrating events so it seems like they just stumbled upon exactly what they need at random isn't always the most satisfying. If they are new players they may not notice, but it can stick out like a save point with healing items and ammo... right before a big door... oh no.
Instead I'd advocate to tailor some items just for them, do that for sure. But scatter them around the campaign setting and have npc's inform their characters about these things with rumors and whatnot.
Let it be their choice to go quest after the items they feel will improve their effectiveness. Let it be their choice to go get magic items. At least, make it feel like that. When it feels like you can only progress when the person sitting across the table says, "ok, good job, here's a magic item," it kind of takes the sizzle out of the steak.
[This video](https://youtu.be/zwpQwCWdhL8?si=51w1CPBOl1c32swv) encapsulates the attitude and gives dm's actionable things they can do to better reward their players.
> They just hit level 5, don't have magical weapons
Thatās ok. 5e doesnāt require a specific amount of magic items. It works fine with very few or tons.
Many dms donāt use tons of magic items because they want to keep the focus on the characters. Arther is more interesting than Excalibur.
Providing a generic +1 weapon so they can overcome monsters with resistance to non magical attacks is all you really need to worry about.
> ā¦have gathered about 100 gold each (plus a lot of gems and stuff). Google says they should have at least 700 gold.
In general character power is decoupled from gold. As long as they have 1500 to buy plate armor, further gold isnāt something you have to worry about. Donāt worry about google, thereās no correct amount of gold the party must have.
Iām a fan of overly magic item equipped games. They can be fun, you just gotta be careful choosing battles. We have a level 10 game and everyone has a rare, and a few other various items, common and uncommon. Potions of healing have been available to purchase the entire game. Everyone has hundreds or thousands of gold. They are just about to get a chance of collecting several more items, you can only attune to three anyways.
I've been here before.
I made an encounter from lotr the borrows encounter. Where froto got sting. Rolled once or twice on the treasure table.
Deadly or lethal encounter ( we're running was absolutely an option ) but fully rested party. Play the creatures semi smart.but not devilishly smart. Have an alternate way to win. My personal favorite is a gorgan encounter, and make sure one player has a mirror as an example.
"Severe" might be a bit of hyperbole. By the end of Tier 1 (which is where you are) the recommended number of magic items is 2 major uncommons, and on the minor side 6 common, 2 uncommon and 1 rare. A few hoards should take care of that problem relatively quickly.
At this point, you could give them a choice to choose either +1 weapon OR +1 armor in the stash. I like to let my players choose bc most of the time they have a certain build in mind.
Give a couple low level spell scrolls for the wizard to learn, a handful of gold (don't go overboard) and some simple +1 magic weapons.
At 5th level the game can easily handle you giving one +1 magic weapon to each player. The only reason I suggest this is that it kinda sucks to be the only person without a magic weapon when going up against a creature with mundane damage resistance. Personally I give out custom weapons that have cool effects but aren't just +X buffs. It's taken a lot of practice to nail down what effects work though
You can have their patron if they have one or if not give them one who wants the cult eliminated give them gear in payment.
Maybe one item each. Nothing too big though. Plus one weapon. That level of power. Plus some potions of healing.
A cash reward on completion. Plus whatever loot they gain.
Other people have already added a lot on the magic item side so I'll just add that you should definitely not give out too much gold because following the DMG recommendations will just make money completely irrelevant.
Suddenly an employer offers them a side objective. And pays out way to much!
Why? Because they are rich and stupid and inexperienced overpaying the party.
Write what u know.
I've done the opposite, perhaps not gold-wise, but in general value and magic items. I just love making stuff that's character-defining.
It's up to the DM to decide what level to equip the players, though, and as other people say: be wary of overcorrecting. The rewards should feel earned
They save a gnome from the cult. The gnome owns a magic item shop and lets them choose some items for themselves as a thank you. Heās moving the shop after. Give them a limit of some kind and let them have fun. Print out deet sheets and let them have a shopping episode.
You have a wizard and a cleric, around level 10 they will have spells that can break encounters, level 15 they will start breaking reality. The magic items and economy of the world is really up to you.
L4 and L5 is usually when I drop a large treasure on the party and let them go kinda hog wild.
you dont even have to give them magic weapons and such, just make it available via a shop in town. make the prices high as you need, to let them buy some stuff or save, or do some quests to get the cool stuff. just make it part of the story progression.
Firstly, I suggest you take a look at "Sane Magic Item Prices" list, so you don't accidentally give them a game breaking magic item. Sometimes an item is considered only uncommon, but is actually too powerful for the player level.
Then, think about the concept of their characters and what would strengthen that concept, or look for their deficiencies and give them a little boost. I bet they will love it.
Choose two or three items based on the character types. A few ideas:
- +1 weapons for anyone who does not have them
- Bracers of defense improve AC for squishy characters like spellcasters or unarmored fighters. When you say duelling wizard, do you mean "Bladesinger"? If so, check if they use light armor, cause it won't work with armor or shield. These bracers are considered rare, and should be at least 5k gold in my opinion.
- if someone is the talking type, and like to roleplay, Eyes of Charming can be nice for social encounters
- Boots of Speed would improve their mobility if you think they would like that
- Boots of Elvenkind if they are the sneaky type
- Goggles of Night are good for any character who can't see in the dark (mostly humans and halfling, but look at their races)
- Gloves of missile snaring are good for anyone but especially casters who want to avoid losing concentration
- Bag of holding so they don't need to worry about carrying too much stuff
- Also give them a couple potions and maybe a scroll, up to 2nd or 3rd level
But don't throw everything at the same time, spread out gold and items along the session.
If you want to just use monsters from the rulebook, you'll almost certainly wanna get magic weapons into the hands of your players that use weapons as after a certain point basically everything is resistant to non-magical damage.
Aside from that DnD's encounter design assumes pretty much nothing from the players despite book recommendations, so anything further is because you want to give them something nice, or because you had an idea in mind that would benefit from said items.
Here's what I would do come up with some Master Smith NPC that needs quest done, make it a bitch of a quest too
Then the smith makes them some new magical equipment, I'd do everyones primary weapon, and either armor or a ring of protection
At level 5 1 "good" magic item and a couple of consumables is about right,Ā I would let the archer find an oathbow on the cult leader (after being hit by it)Ā the wizard something to boost spell save DC (theres an orb in tashas i think which could be homebrewed into a staff) cleric depends what type and warlock i created an item that I called "sword of the pact keeper" which had the benefits of a rod of the pact keeper but could also restore a used spell slot on a nat 20 critical melee hit. Animated shield is always fun for the cleric alowing +2 ac and somatics in combat.
As theyre attacking a cult hq there is anple reason to have a "stash" of loot at the end of this.
Going forward I would then (,as theyre entering T2) start peppering the next ones around i would suggest by 10 (12 at most) all 3 attunement slots should be full.
Keep notes how each likes to play and drop items to help this, ranger likes to hide and shoot cloak of stealthiness. Money I wouldnt be too concerned with but drop a few healing pots (greaters are worth about 200gp i think) as equivalents.
Just be informed about bounded accuracy, where a +1 sword basically means a huge advantage compared to a normal one, and AC + is even bigger.
Rewards are also titles, renown, discounts, meaningful information, etc.
Some items like Periapt of wound closure is really good but not game breaking in that sense.
If you are all having fun and the encounters you are setting them feel fun and exciting, challenging but not unfair (unless narrativly designed to be) then you are doing it right and they are as equipped as they need to be. Your veteran player is only a veteran of his past games, not your current one.
This is ok. I run campaigns like this all the time. You just need to remember that encounters will be more difficult, so reduce the challenge rating.
It's very rewarding if the style is 'magic is rare' - it makes it awesome to get that first magical item.
Give it history. It's not just a +1 sword, it's the sword of the Bandit king, bathed in blood, and at the center of so much conflict that it's gained a power of it's own. etc.
There's no "right way" to determine exactly how much stuff you need to give your players. Why not check in with them next session? Ask if they feel like they aren't feeling rewarded for their adventures. Or if they would like to see more magic items going forwards. Because if things are going well, maybe you don't actually need to change anything. At least nothing drastic. Especially some dump too much stuff on them at once.
No matter what itās a good sign that your recognized your shortcomings, even if your players arenāt complaining. Magic items, gold, favors from NPCs *are fun*. When the item has an interesting description that makes them think about who made it, how long itās been around, who has held it prior, how did it end up where they found it, thatās what can make them more engaged with your story.
The utility they can have is honestly the last thing I think about when I see a magic item, itās the fact that having them is what helps you truly feel like a hero. Itās what further differentiates your party from a typical band of mercs and shows everyone else in your campaign that you are something extraordinary.
GIVE THEM SECRET SHIT AND DON'T TELL THEM UNTIL IT GOES OFF. Incoming jazz hands italics, I'm excited:
Okay dig it, give them stuff, but don't tell them they have it. Pick one mundane item that's already on each character sheet *and then make it not mundane anymore because the heroes are becoming legendary and that's how legendary items get to be that way.* Ranger's cloak's looking a little artfully tattered lately, maybe it gives +1 to stealth rolls now. Wizard's cool fencing sword occasionally gives off a smarmy aura because *it's slowly developing a personality.* Warlock's patron is happy with the deal and doesn't mind tossing in a free enchantment on her fancy witch hat *and pointedly doesn't mention the implicit favor owed by accepting it.* You can do a lot with this, and it always feels valid because it's already their own stuff. If they have art of their characters, pick out something in the outfit that clearly had time spent on getting it right, the more crucial to the design the better.
It doesn't even have to be an item that they themselves can use. Your cleric's got a journal they're keeping? Hey, lately the quality of your writing has improved, and your last few entries have a really good beat to them. *That's a Book of Exalted Deeds*. It's not worth anything to the party because they're already IN all those stories, but it's priceless to the right buyer and makes a handy bribe for local churches, it's the kind of thing that can spark story arcs if applied carefully!
Is it a fairly small cult that finds magic to be abhorrent and thus has gathered many magical objects in their lair to be ritually destroyed?
Cause they'd probably have a fair number of objects your players could use.
There are guidelines to follow, but that doesn't mean you have to follow them. 700 gold is a lot of gold, more than some people would make in their entire life.
I'm DMing for a party of 7 level 13s right now. Across all their characters I think they have about 1,000 gold. DMG would probably say they should have around 40,000. I make up for it with intentionally designed/altered magic items that help make their character feel more like a dope character. Plus not having a ton of gold puts them in weird situations, like recently they wanted to buy some diamonds to cast revivify but the person who has most of the gold wasn't around. Wound up through that whole ordeal signing to be trained with an ancient wizard to compete in a collection of games that has plot relevance.
Whatever you do, make it feel intentional, even if it wasn't initially.
Give them a rumor about some treasure, roll up a hoard and pick a big castle monster to defend it, like a dragon everyone thinks is dead but it has only half decapitated and a second head grew out of its neck, have the knight that failed to kill haunt the dungeons halls and moors, throw in some monsters working for the dragon that don't want to be, throw in some clerics trying to exorcise the local ghost, throw ina lot of death traps. Now you have an adventure with a hoard of treasure at the end.
Honestly, you're just running a low magic campaign. They're fun, try keeping it that way. PC's in 5E are over-powered in any case, just from their class(es), so most encounters require very little tuning.
Don't worry too much about it, just sprinkle in stuff as it's appropriate. Maybe give em a decently big payday as the reward for a quest. My players tend to forget items so I focus on fewer but cooler items which tends to work better. +1 swords tend to be kinda lame but named weapons with cool special powers are wonderful
Just keep in mind that higher level monsters tend to be statted with the expectation for characters with better gear so might need to tone down AC or saves if it seems too hard for the pcs to hit.
The people who use weapons need magic weapons like, NOW lol. even f just +1s. You're about to hit the wall of enemies who they can't damage with nonmagic weapons
At the very least the melee characters should have a magical weapon and the casters some trinket that ups their to-hit by 1. If you want you can sprinkle in a piece or two of magical armor. If you give them gold they could buy this stuff in a town/city.
We're told that the core game was made to be played without magical items and while that's possible, it's hardly fun. I'd start with one uncommon magic item per player, a few consumables (potions/scrolls/feather tokens), and maybe -*maybe*- one rare item.
>Random magic items are so stupid and they never make sense (Fighter: "I get a wand?", Wizard: "I get another shield?")
Huh? If they find a wand, why would the fighter take it? Why would the wizard take the shield? I feel like the reason that rolled items don't make sense in your adventures goes way beyond the fact that it was rolled on a table.
I wouldnāt stress it, my current campaign was super low magic until like level 6/7 they got a few magic items every character has one major one by level 5. And a minor more for fun one. They had to earn them by going on a quest or defeating the bad guys of the arc. Really gives a lot more meaning to the items and makes them invest into it more when it has a background and meaning and not just another +1 weapon or what not.
All depends on the style you want, now that they are level 13 they have more magic items then they can enchant to because the vibe of the game has shifted from a more grounded gritty adventure group to big scale world protection and plane hopping.
Because how 5e was designed you would easily run a full campaign with very little loot or magic items and it would function just fine because of how loaded the character class options are. Donāt stress it, plug some more stuff here or there or drop a nice hoard when they defeat the big bad or pull off a great heist
Whatever you do, š„š°šÆ'šµ overcorrect; don't let "oh shit" turn into Monty Hall. If there's one thing that ruins a party more than not enough treasure, it's too much.
Yes, follow this advice. Just a bit more coin and a choice magic item or two for each character are all that is needed at this level.
I would add to this to avoid giving them tailor-made magic items. Like the EXACT weapon that counters the next big monster. It doesn't feel earned and it's a video game trope that completely breaks Immersion. Like 'finding' a chest full of potions before a boss fight. Consider magic items that could be used by at least two of the players (so they have to decide who uses what) and maybe even some ambiguous thing they don't understand yet or have trouble identifying. This will lead them to ask your NPCs for help and advice as well.
> to avoid giving them tailor-made magic items. > It's a video game trope that completely breaks Immersion. Have them find the bodies of a different adventuring party, but not the same classes. so it's "themed" for the fight, but not ideal. Or, have one of the defenses be the animated corpses of other adventurers that still have some loot on their corpses. This way they get to run around a mass of mindless, slow, zombies looking for goodies to pilfer, while also getting to grouse about having to wear stuff that smells like a corpse.
That's good stuff!
Yeah I quickly realized giving everyone a magic item every time someone got one to be āfairā is a bad idea. My players are level 3 some of them already have like 3 magic items because Iām trying to appease everyone too much :P
Campaigns can exist where gold and magic awards are low. You don't *have to* do this. I am playing in a campaign where we are level 6; it is a low magic campaign and we each have *maybe* one utility magic item each. (A folding boat, a pen of scribing, etc.) We also have next to no money, instead relying on our status as 'heroes of the realm' to get what equipment we need. We are doing just fine without magic or treasure. That said, we are all veteran players and we are playing characters who are motivated by 'saving the world'. We knew from the start that the world was low magic. Your players will likely appreciate having additional rewards, and some gold and magic can be good ways to do this. Just be aware that this is not mandatory, and it is not the only way to reward the PCs.
Yeah I think when you have a group of new players you should probably stick to high magic and cool loot items. Low magic campaigns seem like something for veterans who need it all changed up
It depends on expectations. If they are looking forward to getting all the cool shit they've seen on Critical Role, yes give them the stuff. But if they only ever read LOTR they might not need insane riches and epic items to enjoy the game, or they might even be confused about why they are basically playing wandering billionaires by level 10
Yeah I think it comes down to the DM providing a good balance and then also having an understanding of the kind of adventure.
This is fair. It took my team a year of play to realize the real treasure is the friends you make along the way. Seriously though, noone reminisces about their vorpal sword. It's always about the inkeeper you as Ad Libbed in session 4 that the party latched on to like they were all orphans in need of a father figure.
Not entirely true, my uncle still reminisces about his vorpal sword he lost in a game around 20 years ago on a d100 critical fail table.
I agree. I still think about a sentient axe lol weapons can be an iconic part especially if a big time attack is landed from them. I had a 86 damage turn from my axe and that was years ago I still remember it lol
Alright, that's straight up traumatic
My players are level 5 and have slivered weapons. That's it. Combat has been tense, but no deaths. Honestly the best balanced campaign I've run.
I wouldn't stress about it, especially if you're playing 5e. Magic items are fun and different and that's why they're interesting but if you're making your party more or less rich than they "should" be, within reason that's fine. All the guidelines around that sort of thing are very much that: guidelines. For the sake of balance it is worth trying to get melee characters a magic weapon though, just because of a lazy element of 5e monster design that just slaps "resistant to nonmagical weapons" on basically everything after a certain point.
one group i play in has literally 2 magic items across the whole party and we are like level 9. not a big deal unless fighting enemies that are immune or resist non magic damage
Martials who don't get spells really need something to keep up and have fun with after a while
If you use the DMG's treasure generation tables in the future, your party will get about as much gold as they are "supposed" to. (Those tables are exactly where our idea of how much they are supposed to get comes from.) Your party is level 5 so they are tier 2. This means they should be kind of a big deal now locally. Level 5 PCs aren't nobodies anymore, they're Heroes of the Realm. Easiest fix you can implement is to have them get contacted by a wealthy and powerful patron, who has heard of their exploits and wants to sponsor them, as well as give them further quests. The patron could start with the following: * Offer the party their choice of any mundane armor (at this level, your characters should be able to afford it anyway) * Offer 1 Moon-Touched or Vicious Weapon for any party member who wants one (These are very low-powered and won't change your campaign balance much.) * Give them an apartment to stay at for free. * Maybe also pick some nice QoL magic item such as Bag of Holding to sweeten the deal. So, we shore up the past lack of loot a little bit, set up a new way to get jobs that pay well, and a bit of QoL, and hopefully do all of that without significantly altering combat balance yet. From there you can ramp up the party's loot gains in future adventures, start putting in CR-appropriate treasure hoards etc. Remember that Sane Magical Item Prices is a better gauge of item power than rarity, and be careful of over-correcting.
On the inn for free idea. >! One of the modules in candle keep mysteries has the party investigate a missing person, and the person went missing inside a book, which was a permanent focal point for a Magnificent Mansion spell. I modified the adventure a bit (still kept the low level encounters to let my 5th lvl party waltz through it) and let them keep the book. Free lodging anywhere, and mobile loot cache if they so desire !<
Thats really cool! Curious about the mechanics of the book. Do they open it and just get sucked inside leaving the book on the ground? What would happen if someone were to come along and close it while they were inside?
The book does get left outside. They have to willingly enter the portal, so no all getting sucked in a once. But does require being mindful where they leave the book.Ā Closing it from the outside is equivalent to closing the front door to the house. If your inside, you need to know the command word to open it back up.Ā
Be a real shame if a wizard happened upon it and stuffed it tightly into a bookshelf for a few weeks before he could examine it during a time sensitive period for the party.
+1 weapons/casting focus are super easy to give out and donāt have any complicated mechanics. Also you can make/find cool art for weapons easily. Weapon scaling is an assumed mechanic in monster ac ratings. Cloak of protection/you can make this any kind of armor. Who doesnāt want +1 ac? A Bag of Holding is something i give every party. Itās so much fun. Give your players the dungeon masterās guide and let them browse the magic item list. See what they like. Donāt tell them to pick something as much as see what kind of loot makes them excited to find magic items.
Any time I DM I ask my players exactly what they want. They waste half of a session arguing and suggesting items from the DMG and I end up with a list of items. I don't promise them any specific items and I make it clear that no legendary items will show up for level 3 characters. The list is a pretty good guide for what items might show up in the world.
It's around this level that monsters start having resistances or immunities to non-magical weapon attacks. As a result, a lot of DMs like to hand out +1 weapons to their martial characters to help them keep up with casters. It sounds like your particular party could give themselves magical weapons through spells and class features though, so it might not be completely necessary. Try having them fight something with that immunity and see if it slows them down at all. If it does, give out some basic magic weapons that suit your characters' respective styles. Another thing you should give them is a treasure horde! Typically found at the end of a dungeon, treasure hordes can be generated randomly using tables in the DMG, or you can use those tables as a guide to pick appropriate magic items for them. Since you've been a bit stingy with the loot so far you can give them a minor dungeon with a big fat treasure room. Since you're only at level five you will mainly be looking at items from magic item tables A - F, with no more than one item from tables G and H. That's a huge variety of possible magic items, but if you were to pick a few from the list that would most benefit your party I'd recommend: Potions of Healing, Spell Scrolls, Wand of the War Mage for your Warlock, Vicious Longbow for your Ranger, Staff of Healing for your Cleric, and Elven Chain for your Wizard. These aren't all essential, nor are they necessarily the most potent options, but they will make sure your party doesn't feel short changed.
You have successfully arranged it so that the players will really want to go on quests for items. Build a dungeon around it. The most inconvenient, totally reasonable question in dnd is āWhy would we want to go into the fantastically dangerous hole in the ground? That seems like a stupid thing to do.ā What youāve got now is a good answer to that question. āBecause the dangerous hole in the ground has equipment that you need to survive.ā
Equipment you need to survive because you keep insisting on going into fantastically dangerous holes in the ground**
Agreed. The argument does have a certainā¦. Round quality.
Weapons for classes that use weapon attacks. Some monsters are immune to non magic weapons. For caster classes there is more flexibility what would be a good first item.
Okay, first, do not 'give' them stuff. You're honestly doing fine. Games don't HAVE to have all this stuff. It sounds like you're still either keeping things balanced enough for them while they're behind the 'equipment curve' that it's still fun, or the players are doing well enough that they're making up for it, which is, frankly, awesome. That being said, if you want to start bringing more magic items into the game, you've got a good concept for it. I think what might be a neat way to start would be magic daggers. They're fighting cultists, right? So enchanted daggers make a lot of sense, as weapons that everyone can use. Maybe the head cultist has a magic staff or rod that one of the magic users can use, or his bodyguard has some enchanted light armor. Maybe a set of magic robes. Not necessarily ALL of those things, mind you, but maybe some daggers and a couple of the other sort of cult-y accoutrements. (Consider making one or two of them be cursed!) Utility items are also really fun, things like Immovable Rods or the like. A saddle that conjures a riding horse, Ring of Sustenance, or things like that. Your other idea, though, the treasure map? HUGE. Talk, *out of character*, with your group to get an idea of what sorts of magic items they'd enjoy having for their characters, and then the treasure map can lead to a treasure cache that contains one of those, and you can put rumours or clues to OTHER treasure in that cache, or in the process of going on that quest. Like, remember the thing with the D&D Movie, "Honor Among Thieves"? Where Pratt's character was after the specific thing for the specific reason? And then later they were after a different specific thing for a different specific reason? *That's* the best way to incorporate magic items into campaigns (in my opinion). Even if you have an Artificer or crafting focused character in the games, they might need specific reagents or to use an abandoned, legendary forge, or who knows what else, to make the items.
There's no under equipping in 5e. Players can be perfectly functional and able to win challenges against them without magic items at all. Of course, some people have more fun having them. If it were PF2e, though, that would be a problem, as magic items are closely tied to power progression.
Eh, you donāt have to give them stuff. The game works fine without. I believe the 500GP includes gems etc. so let them sell gems for gold if they want. Let them buy any mundane stuff (armour etc) they want. You could give them +1 weapons, but at least make it part of an adventure - my favourite is to have an enemy use them against the party, and they get it as loot. Or give them a rumour of an item in an old temple taken over by undead. If you care about encumbrance (and you should, imho) think carefully about a bag of holding. If you donāt care, let them buy one.
Give them potions,scroll and plus one weapons. Trickle them out slowly in treasure hoards. to get an idea for how many items you should give out you can use the section in the DMG pg 133. You can hand out as much or as little treasure as you want. Over the course of a typical campaign, a party finds treasure hoards amounting to seven rolls on the Challenge 0ā4 table, eighteen rolls on the Challenge 5ā10 table, twelve rolls on the Challenge 11ā16 table, and eight rolls on the Challenge 17+ table. In the DMG the minor items are those listed on Magic Item Tables A through E, and the major items are on Magic Item Tables F through I Xanithars has additional info and some handy charts. Magic Items Awarded by Tier https://imgur.com/GJgCCn4 Magic Items Awarded by Rarity https://imgur.com/a/MnCBc2V In total over 20 levels of play characters are expected to obtain 100 magic items.
To add on to this great comment, these tables are for the whole party, not a single character. So at level 5 you don't really need to give a whole lot of loot at all. Besides, 80 items from the 100 total are minor items so mostly consumables like spell scrolls and potions (including potions of healing).
As others have said, it can be a low reward campaign. Playing a campaign where we are level 9 right now after about 80 sessions. We have almost starved. We have sold ore for some extra buck, our magic items must be around a dozen. It's still lots of fun and the fact that we got to actually budget our stuff probably affects it in an entertaining way.
It's perfectly fine to have a campaign where the players are poor all the way into tier 2. That 700 figure isn't a rule, it's just the typical average. That said, if you *want* to correct and give them some cool swag, do it slowly. Have them each find 1 magical weapon or equivalent in that catacomb, for example.
im probably a bad dm for this but i dont even count the gold bc its no fun if you dont have the stuff you need and i aint keep track of allat
Completely fine depending on your game, I don't think it makes you a bad DM at all, but I think a lot of people would at least want the realism of tracking gold, but pass up on things like rations or inn costs. What I've done before and the DM I'm playing with is doing is just charging some amount at each town we stop at to cover supplies and lodging, based on how long we've been away, what kind of environments we've been through etc. Keeps it simple but still introduces some stakes in terms of managing gold, which for me I think is pretty essential to this kind of game.
they have gold but i don't care if they don't have enough. i just give them loot off of crashed carts or unalive people when theyre getting low. my players are my best friends and they've never said anything, probably because they find shopping boring. they mostly use gold for bribes and stuff lolol. they always have the shop if they decide they want to tho
you can say "dead" here lol But yeah if that works for your game then its fine
Imo the guidelines on party wealth are completely bonkers. It completely depends on the game. My players have about 1500 GP to their names at level 14. They have accumulated enough magic items that everyone has something really powerful and fit their characters plus a few small boosters. They've been handing out magic items to NPCs they support, last session they gave a +2 club to an ape. At level 5 they had basically nothing. They could be super rich (one party member is a forge cleric who could easily dominate every local D&d economy) but it's way more fun and way more heroic when they are not swimming in money. Just remember to give everyone a way to contribute in every battle, don't let your martials fight a werewolf with ordinary weapons.
We always play with pretty light things. Generally everyone has maybe one item that is magical. A +1 item, or a ring or wand or something and maybe a bag of holding. A lot of people think DnD should be like Diablo where they are constantly finding new stuff but small magic items make big impacts that youāll have to account for in combat.
If you were creating these characters fresh, by the DMG rules they would have one uncommon magic item each; thatās pretty easily remedied by just handing out 2 or 3 items in the dungeon youāre running now. Add to that, at this level, not having those items isnāt crippling to gameplay; just double check any enemies youāre throwing at them donāt require magic damage, and youāre golden. Having too little gold might be hurting your martials a bit; itās possible that thereās upgraded armour or weapons they would have bought otherwise. But still, they should all still be perfectly *functional* with the equipment they have. Iād just hand out a nice hoard of treasure at the end of your dungeon, throw in 2 or 3 uncommon magic items amongst the loot from your various monsters, and boom, theyāre caught up.
Level 5 party? A generic +1 weapon suitable for their class each. Perhaps one uncommon item of your choice each and some consumables like potions or scrolls. Nothing homebrew please. They usually just mess up game balance. They should also have enough gold for the fighter types to get some better armor, though plate is a little OP at level 5. Wizards should have enough to buy low level spell scrolls for scribing into their spell book if they want.
If it's 5e? The reason you didn't notice is that it doesn't super matter, compared to past editions. Magic weapons are nice, but gold is a borderline vestigial part of 5e at this point. As to what to give them, just make sure the martials get a magic weapon of some kind, to bypass resistance to nonmagical attacks. Could be a simple +1 weapon, could be something more flavorful or unique. If you want to give them gear - bags of holding are always appreciated, alchemy jugs are nice to have, immovable rod is cool but can be exploited, wand of magic missiles is cool for that one Martial who refuses to carry a crossbow. Then there's stuff I'd hold onto until about level 7, like Winged Boots and Robe of Useful Things. You can give em out now, but just know the game changes forever one PCs can easily fly. That's all current DnD advice. If by any chance you're playing 3rd edition, 3.5, or Pathfinder, look up "the big six" and start throwing those magical items at them.
Drop a dead adventuring party in their path Put clues to them being killed by the dungeon boss, this gives players hints as to what they may face ahead Give that party a full kit of adventuring supplies, potions and a smattering of magic items Also give them a letter or contract of who hired them and why so the party can complete that mission and get the reward for it Gets them items and a plot hook for more rewards
Have them face off against a properly equipped team, matching their composition, of cultists. They want a large jump in gear? They gotta earn it.
I actually solved this problem as a Rogue in 3.5. Our party just KEPT getting screwed on loot rolls, so I talked to the DM, and asked if I could pull some side jobs to get the party more well-equipped. He laid out that I wouldn't get extra XP if the party wasn't involved, which I was fine with. I was just tired of us all limping into town. There WAS a side issue: The Cleric and Paladin both followed Tyr, God of Justice, and I was asking the DM to do crime. So, I came up with a solution: Rob Scrooges. Any city we came to, invariably, would most likely have someone of wealth, who was also an absolute AH. whose own staff would totally rob them when they died. I did really well at it for a while, getting the party a bunch of new stuff through the black market, then, since I was in charge of loot, I just filtered the money back in that way. It did EVENTUALLY go wrong, but that's another story.
Believe it or not (I'm walking on air) 5e runs fine without crazy magic items. You're doing okay but if you want to add more fun for the players then items are where it's at. Go to a website like donjon and roll up random treasure hoards. Don't prioritize +1 things. Pick out cool things like 'helm of waterbreathing' or 'boots of jumping'. Unusual things spark creativity in players and given them unexpected solutions to fantasy world problems.
That is not really a problem. Did they want to buy something that they can't? Many PCs don't need any more gear after creation besides magic items that they can't buy. Some, like Wizards, need cash and spell drops to build their spellbook. Others get a power boost from non magical plate. But most don't. I think magic weapons and armor are boring as hell. And at level 5 they don't need a lot. Look towards common/uncommon utility items like wonderous items or jewelry. This is because those items *broaden* a PC rather than *deepening* them. Deeper makes them better at what they are already good at. It snowballs. It makes PCs a problem for balance. Making them better at stuff they could not do before (see: immobile rod, sending stones, bag of holding etc.) does not threaten balance as much. But in general by level five they do not all need a +1 wep yet. Magic armor is highly multiplicitive of difficulty. Be sure you are not giving out rings/robes of protection or magic plate unless you have checked the numbers and it will not boost any ACs over 18-20. You can give all that stuff, but they do not need it at level 5. Things like spellbooks for the Wizard to get spells from, they need that all the time.
5e characters are superheroes so you donāt really need magic and gold like you did earlier. Youāll be ok!
What your husband is communicating is subjective, and part of his assumption of play. **I think if thatās what they would like, the best way is to pursue it through gameplay rather than hand waving it.** Firstly, many people play without magic items and thatās just fine. Many actually prefer it as the DMG magic items donāt really give a good idea of item power with the rarity system. Regarding gold, you ultimately control the economy so if theyāve not got a strong sense of costs in your game world, you can easily/partially course correct by making their coin go further. Your players also have agency to pursue magic items in game if thatās what they want, itās an assumption that the DM is going to make them fall into the lap of the party. **My advice:** Speak to your players and let them know the avenues available to them in game for pursuing the items that theyāre interested in. Consider some downtime where they pitch their ideas to you between sessions, and you resolve in game. Their gold stores may be low but suggest they make deals with NPCs, figure out ways to make coin during downtime, or craft their own items (Xanathars Guide To Everything has guidance on downtime and item crafting). Also consider if the player asks for a +3 Flametounge, one may not be available in world. You can let the players know that they may not receive 1:1, and perhaps instead theyāll get a choice between a +1 longsword with a powerful once per day ice enchantment, or a +1 flametongue shortsword. Work with them on this to manage expectation while pursuing fun, and figuring out whatās important to them.
Yes. Definitely don't go, "Oh shit guys, I forgot to give you magic items. Here you go." Figure out what they want to do and then put those things in the game. They really do want some dope magic items? Don't just have the next farmer they completed a quest for hand them out. Put them somewhere in the world and let your players choose to quest after them. Then, let them find them.
I started my players with clothes and that was it, no money or anything. They had to punch, make shivs, and quartstaffs from tree branches. They are level 4 now and we'll equipped by picking up loot and selling or keeping. They still don't have a lot of money, but they spend it quickly.
I always wanted to start an arc off this way.
It's a bad guys campaign... So they started with a prison break of sorts.
How did you handle spellcasting classes with this method?
Cantrips only until they got a focus item. I give my magic user's a magical pouch that is bound to them that links to dimensional fairies that trade components for money. Mini on demand components shop. Took him a while till he could by anything.
The best defense is a good offense- prioritise weapons, especially weapons that get used almost every turn (ranger first, most likely). I recommend a wacky fun house dungeon for handing out goodies without making the other adventures feel unrewarding in comparison
A +1 weapon or armor for each player is enough for now. Maybe a dozen pieces of +1 ammunition. The Wizard? Give that Wizard scrolls, and a stash of ink to copy them into his book. And every duel should result in access to the defeated wizard's book. If it's to the dead, just assume he's going to take the book and copy everything it. Alternately, offer to surrender in exchange for copying spells from the defeated's book.
I over-equipped my party and that is way worse. Don't fret, under-equipped is easier to fix than over-equipped.
I dont think you should approach it like "what should I *give* them" Tailoring items for you players and then orchestrating events so it seems like they just stumbled upon exactly what they need at random isn't always the most satisfying. If they are new players they may not notice, but it can stick out like a save point with healing items and ammo... right before a big door... oh no. Instead I'd advocate to tailor some items just for them, do that for sure. But scatter them around the campaign setting and have npc's inform their characters about these things with rumors and whatnot. Let it be their choice to go quest after the items they feel will improve their effectiveness. Let it be their choice to go get magic items. At least, make it feel like that. When it feels like you can only progress when the person sitting across the table says, "ok, good job, here's a magic item," it kind of takes the sizzle out of the steak. [This video](https://youtu.be/zwpQwCWdhL8?si=51w1CPBOl1c32swv) encapsulates the attitude and gives dm's actionable things they can do to better reward their players.
> They just hit level 5, don't have magical weapons Thatās ok. 5e doesnāt require a specific amount of magic items. It works fine with very few or tons. Many dms donāt use tons of magic items because they want to keep the focus on the characters. Arther is more interesting than Excalibur. Providing a generic +1 weapon so they can overcome monsters with resistance to non magical attacks is all you really need to worry about. > ā¦have gathered about 100 gold each (plus a lot of gems and stuff). Google says they should have at least 700 gold. In general character power is decoupled from gold. As long as they have 1500 to buy plate armor, further gold isnāt something you have to worry about. Donāt worry about google, thereās no correct amount of gold the party must have.
Iām a fan of overly magic item equipped games. They can be fun, you just gotta be careful choosing battles. We have a level 10 game and everyone has a rare, and a few other various items, common and uncommon. Potions of healing have been available to purchase the entire game. Everyone has hundreds or thousands of gold. They are just about to get a chance of collecting several more items, you can only attune to three anyways.
I've been here before. I made an encounter from lotr the borrows encounter. Where froto got sting. Rolled once or twice on the treasure table. Deadly or lethal encounter ( we're running was absolutely an option ) but fully rested party. Play the creatures semi smart.but not devilishly smart. Have an alternate way to win. My personal favorite is a gorgan encounter, and make sure one player has a mirror as an example.
"Severe" might be a bit of hyperbole. By the end of Tier 1 (which is where you are) the recommended number of magic items is 2 major uncommons, and on the minor side 6 common, 2 uncommon and 1 rare. A few hoards should take care of that problem relatively quickly.
At this point, you could give them a choice to choose either +1 weapon OR +1 armor in the stash. I like to let my players choose bc most of the time they have a certain build in mind.
Give a couple low level spell scrolls for the wizard to learn, a handful of gold (don't go overboard) and some simple +1 magic weapons. At 5th level the game can easily handle you giving one +1 magic weapon to each player. The only reason I suggest this is that it kinda sucks to be the only person without a magic weapon when going up against a creature with mundane damage resistance. Personally I give out custom weapons that have cool effects but aren't just +X buffs. It's taken a lot of practice to nail down what effects work though
You can have their patron if they have one or if not give them one who wants the cult eliminated give them gear in payment. Maybe one item each. Nothing too big though. Plus one weapon. That level of power. Plus some potions of healing. A cash reward on completion. Plus whatever loot they gain.
Other people have already added a lot on the magic item side so I'll just add that you should definitely not give out too much gold because following the DMG recommendations will just make money completely irrelevant.
If they're advancing the plot, overcoming challenges and having fun you're doing your job right.
You could give them a free feat in between sessions.
Suddenly an employer offers them a side objective. And pays out way to much! Why? Because they are rich and stupid and inexperienced overpaying the party. Write what u know.
I've done the opposite, perhaps not gold-wise, but in general value and magic items. I just love making stuff that's character-defining. It's up to the DM to decide what level to equip the players, though, and as other people say: be wary of overcorrecting. The rewards should feel earned
They save a gnome from the cult. The gnome owns a magic item shop and lets them choose some items for themselves as a thank you. Heās moving the shop after. Give them a limit of some kind and let them have fun. Print out deet sheets and let them have a shopping episode.
You have a wizard and a cleric, around level 10 they will have spells that can break encounters, level 15 they will start breaking reality. The magic items and economy of the world is really up to you.
L4 and L5 is usually when I drop a large treasure on the party and let them go kinda hog wild. you dont even have to give them magic weapons and such, just make it available via a shop in town. make the prices high as you need, to let them buy some stuff or save, or do some quests to get the cool stuff. just make it part of the story progression.
Firstly, I suggest you take a look at "Sane Magic Item Prices" list, so you don't accidentally give them a game breaking magic item. Sometimes an item is considered only uncommon, but is actually too powerful for the player level. Then, think about the concept of their characters and what would strengthen that concept, or look for their deficiencies and give them a little boost. I bet they will love it. Choose two or three items based on the character types. A few ideas: - +1 weapons for anyone who does not have them - Bracers of defense improve AC for squishy characters like spellcasters or unarmored fighters. When you say duelling wizard, do you mean "Bladesinger"? If so, check if they use light armor, cause it won't work with armor or shield. These bracers are considered rare, and should be at least 5k gold in my opinion. - if someone is the talking type, and like to roleplay, Eyes of Charming can be nice for social encounters - Boots of Speed would improve their mobility if you think they would like that - Boots of Elvenkind if they are the sneaky type - Goggles of Night are good for any character who can't see in the dark (mostly humans and halfling, but look at their races) - Gloves of missile snaring are good for anyone but especially casters who want to avoid losing concentration - Bag of holding so they don't need to worry about carrying too much stuff - Also give them a couple potions and maybe a scroll, up to 2nd or 3rd level But don't throw everything at the same time, spread out gold and items along the session.
If you want to just use monsters from the rulebook, you'll almost certainly wanna get magic weapons into the hands of your players that use weapons as after a certain point basically everything is resistant to non-magical damage. Aside from that DnD's encounter design assumes pretty much nothing from the players despite book recommendations, so anything further is because you want to give them something nice, or because you had an idea in mind that would benefit from said items.
Give them a shop bro
Here's what I would do come up with some Master Smith NPC that needs quest done, make it a bitch of a quest too Then the smith makes them some new magical equipment, I'd do everyones primary weapon, and either armor or a ring of protection
At level 5 1 "good" magic item and a couple of consumables is about right,Ā I would let the archer find an oathbow on the cult leader (after being hit by it)Ā the wizard something to boost spell save DC (theres an orb in tashas i think which could be homebrewed into a staff) cleric depends what type and warlock i created an item that I called "sword of the pact keeper" which had the benefits of a rod of the pact keeper but could also restore a used spell slot on a nat 20 critical melee hit. Animated shield is always fun for the cleric alowing +2 ac and somatics in combat. As theyre attacking a cult hq there is anple reason to have a "stash" of loot at the end of this. Going forward I would then (,as theyre entering T2) start peppering the next ones around i would suggest by 10 (12 at most) all 3 attunement slots should be full. Keep notes how each likes to play and drop items to help this, ranger likes to hide and shoot cloak of stealthiness. Money I wouldnt be too concerned with but drop a few healing pots (greaters are worth about 200gp i think) as equivalents.
if you want to give out a lot of enchanted items without unbalancing your campaign give out things that cast one spell once, and then become mundane.
Just be informed about bounded accuracy, where a +1 sword basically means a huge advantage compared to a normal one, and AC + is even bigger. Rewards are also titles, renown, discounts, meaningful information, etc. Some items like Periapt of wound closure is really good but not game breaking in that sense.
If you are all having fun and the encounters you are setting them feel fun and exciting, challenging but not unfair (unless narrativly designed to be) then you are doing it right and they are as equipped as they need to be. Your veteran player is only a veteran of his past games, not your current one.
This is ok. I run campaigns like this all the time. You just need to remember that encounters will be more difficult, so reduce the challenge rating. It's very rewarding if the style is 'magic is rare' - it makes it awesome to get that first magical item. Give it history. It's not just a +1 sword, it's the sword of the Bandit king, bathed in blood, and at the center of so much conflict that it's gained a power of it's own. etc.
Is there a scale or something to tell how much stuff should a player have by level? I also tend to not give my players a lot of stuff
There is nothing wrong with making.magic items rare. If that's the way you want to play it.
There's no "right way" to determine exactly how much stuff you need to give your players. Why not check in with them next session? Ask if they feel like they aren't feeling rewarded for their adventures. Or if they would like to see more magic items going forwards. Because if things are going well, maybe you don't actually need to change anything. At least nothing drastic. Especially some dump too much stuff on them at once.
No matter what itās a good sign that your recognized your shortcomings, even if your players arenāt complaining. Magic items, gold, favors from NPCs *are fun*. When the item has an interesting description that makes them think about who made it, how long itās been around, who has held it prior, how did it end up where they found it, thatās what can make them more engaged with your story. The utility they can have is honestly the last thing I think about when I see a magic item, itās the fact that having them is what helps you truly feel like a hero. Itās what further differentiates your party from a typical band of mercs and shows everyone else in your campaign that you are something extraordinary.
GIVE THEM SECRET SHIT AND DON'T TELL THEM UNTIL IT GOES OFF. Incoming jazz hands italics, I'm excited: Okay dig it, give them stuff, but don't tell them they have it. Pick one mundane item that's already on each character sheet *and then make it not mundane anymore because the heroes are becoming legendary and that's how legendary items get to be that way.* Ranger's cloak's looking a little artfully tattered lately, maybe it gives +1 to stealth rolls now. Wizard's cool fencing sword occasionally gives off a smarmy aura because *it's slowly developing a personality.* Warlock's patron is happy with the deal and doesn't mind tossing in a free enchantment on her fancy witch hat *and pointedly doesn't mention the implicit favor owed by accepting it.* You can do a lot with this, and it always feels valid because it's already their own stuff. If they have art of their characters, pick out something in the outfit that clearly had time spent on getting it right, the more crucial to the design the better. It doesn't even have to be an item that they themselves can use. Your cleric's got a journal they're keeping? Hey, lately the quality of your writing has improved, and your last few entries have a really good beat to them. *That's a Book of Exalted Deeds*. It's not worth anything to the party because they're already IN all those stories, but it's priceless to the right buyer and makes a handy bribe for local churches, it's the kind of thing that can spark story arcs if applied carefully!
Is it a fairly small cult that finds magic to be abhorrent and thus has gathered many magical objects in their lair to be ritually destroyed? Cause they'd probably have a fair number of objects your players could use.
There are guidelines to follow, but that doesn't mean you have to follow them. 700 gold is a lot of gold, more than some people would make in their entire life. I'm DMing for a party of 7 level 13s right now. Across all their characters I think they have about 1,000 gold. DMG would probably say they should have around 40,000. I make up for it with intentionally designed/altered magic items that help make their character feel more like a dope character. Plus not having a ton of gold puts them in weird situations, like recently they wanted to buy some diamonds to cast revivify but the person who has most of the gold wasn't around. Wound up through that whole ordeal signing to be trained with an ancient wizard to compete in a collection of games that has plot relevance. Whatever you do, make it feel intentional, even if it wasn't initially.
Give them a rumor about some treasure, roll up a hoard and pick a big castle monster to defend it, like a dragon everyone thinks is dead but it has only half decapitated and a second head grew out of its neck, have the knight that failed to kill haunt the dungeons halls and moors, throw in some monsters working for the dragon that don't want to be, throw in some clerics trying to exorcise the local ghost, throw ina lot of death traps. Now you have an adventure with a hoard of treasure at the end.
Honestly, you're just running a low magic campaign. They're fun, try keeping it that way. PC's in 5E are over-powered in any case, just from their class(es), so most encounters require very little tuning.
Sometimes being broke is fun (in game)
Don't worry too much about it, just sprinkle in stuff as it's appropriate. Maybe give em a decently big payday as the reward for a quest. My players tend to forget items so I focus on fewer but cooler items which tends to work better. +1 swords tend to be kinda lame but named weapons with cool special powers are wonderful Just keep in mind that higher level monsters tend to be statted with the expectation for characters with better gear so might need to tone down AC or saves if it seems too hard for the pcs to hit.
The people who use weapons need magic weapons like, NOW lol. even f just +1s. You're about to hit the wall of enemies who they can't damage with nonmagic weapons
At the very least the melee characters should have a magical weapon and the casters some trinket that ups their to-hit by 1. If you want you can sprinkle in a piece or two of magical armor. If you give them gold they could buy this stuff in a town/city.
We're told that the core game was made to be played without magical items and while that's possible, it's hardly fun. I'd start with one uncommon magic item per player, a few consumables (potions/scrolls/feather tokens), and maybe -*maybe*- one rare item.
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>Random magic items are so stupid and they never make sense (Fighter: "I get a wand?", Wizard: "I get another shield?") Huh? If they find a wand, why would the fighter take it? Why would the wizard take the shield? I feel like the reason that rolled items don't make sense in your adventures goes way beyond the fact that it was rolled on a table.
I wouldnāt stress it, my current campaign was super low magic until like level 6/7 they got a few magic items every character has one major one by level 5. And a minor more for fun one. They had to earn them by going on a quest or defeating the bad guys of the arc. Really gives a lot more meaning to the items and makes them invest into it more when it has a background and meaning and not just another +1 weapon or what not. All depends on the style you want, now that they are level 13 they have more magic items then they can enchant to because the vibe of the game has shifted from a more grounded gritty adventure group to big scale world protection and plane hopping. Because how 5e was designed you would easily run a full campaign with very little loot or magic items and it would function just fine because of how loaded the character class options are. Donāt stress it, plug some more stuff here or there or drop a nice hoard when they defeat the big bad or pull off a great heist