D&D 5E Magic Ammunition

ThePaladinWay · Jan 19, 2015

I'm trying to figure out how many magic arrows/bolts to give out when I want to include magic ammunition in a treasure. For example, instead of a level 1-2 spell scroll, how many +1 arrows?

I'd like to give my low level players some consumables besides potions of healing and spell scrolls .
Magic Ammunition was the perfect solution in the past and would seem great now.
The way I see it, one +1 arrow only affects hit/miss 5% of the time, and only adds one point of damage.
A basic potion of healing can have far more impact on an encounter than a single +1 arrow. The DMG lists +1 ammo as uncommon; potion of healing is common. Table B does not say how many arrows/bolts - it seems to imply just one, which seems way too stingy to me, and given the comparison to healing potion doesn't quite make sense it me (impact and rarity). I know I can award however many I want but I don't want to unbalance things too much. My gut says something like 2d4. How many did the DMG intend? What do other DM's do?

Advice or suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!

was · Jan 19, 2015

I usually give out magic ammo in sets of three. You could, however, just roll 2d4 per scroll. It sounds very reasonable.

GMforPowergamers · Jan 20, 2015

If I were you I would do 1d6 or as above suggested 2d4

The Crimson Binome · Jan 20, 2015

If magical ammunition was uncommon, which is to say that creating a "batch" of magical arrows was substantially harder than creating a healing potion, then it doesn't make sense to craft magic arrows in any unit less than a full quiver of 20 arrows (although some might have been expended, of course). You could roll (21 - d20) to determine randomly, if you wanted.

Personally, I just wouldn't include magical arrows in any treasure parcel. Unless you need it to overcome an immunity, it feels disrespectful to players to give them single-use items that have a 95% chance of being entirely worthless.

ExploderWizard · Jan 20, 2015

In modules, magic ammunition was usually found in groupings of six, ten, or twelve.

CapnZapp · Jan 20, 2015

I believe the intention is for magic ammunition to be found in sets of one.

In other words, you're right about the implication. The 3e-ism of finding them in batches of 20 or 50 is long gone, and you need to recalibrate yourself and your players accordingly.

And no, I don't see +1 arrows as "worthless 95% of the time". That's an horribly pessimistic view of a plus bonus. Plus bonuses have always been some of the most coveted rewards of the game, especially so in 5E where they are so (comparatively) scarce.

If I would roll for magic ammo, I would probably roll 1d6 as the number of arrows the monster has left after the combat. (Yes, this means that if the adventurers are smart about taking out a monster before it can start using its bow, I'd give them the full six arrows)

ThePaladinWay · Jan 20, 2015

Thank you all for your thoughts - I very much appreciated them all. Very helpful to hear the different perspectives. Good food for thought for me!

skotothalamos · Jan 20, 2015

Saelorn said:
You could roll (21 - d20) to determine randomly, if you wanted..

That produces the exact same range as just rolling a d20...

The Crimson Binome · Jan 20, 2015

CapnZapp said:
And no, I don't see +1 arrows as "worthless 95% of the time". That's an horribly pessimistic view of a plus bonus. Plus bonuses have always been some of the most coveted rewards of the game, especially so in 5E where they are so (comparatively) scarce.

The plus bonus is so coveted because it applies to every attack, of which you will be making many throughout the game. In most games, the attack roll will be your single most common type of d20 roll, so adding a bonus to that will have a greater (cumulative) effect than adding the same bonus to any other type of check.

But arrows ignore the part about the plus that would actually make it useful or desirable in any way. No matter how many attacks you make, that +1 arrow will only ever modify a single d20 roll. If your attack misses, in spite of that +1 bonus, then the item was entirely worthless for you and you would have been better off had the thief replaced your magical arrow with a non-magical one. If your attack hits by a margin greater than 1, then the +1 bonus on the attack roll was entirely worthless but you still gain a ~10% boost to the damage roll (which, itself, only matters at all if the enemy is brought to exactly 0, and dealing one damage less would have left it alive and acting with 1hp).

So that's not my view of +1 arrows. It's a mathematical fact that a +1 arrows only meaningfully increase your efficacy ~5% of the time, and the rest of the time it either does nothing or increases your damage by a negligible amount.

skotothalamos · Jan 20, 2015

Saelorn said:
No matter how many attacks you make, that +1 arrow will only ever modify a single d20 roll. .

but...

"At the end of the battle, you can recover half your expended ammunition by taking a minute to search the battlefield."

Surely you'll get back half your magic arrows after every fight.