D&D 5E [Out of the Abyss]Magic item distribution?

[CapnZapp]

The Cloak of Arachnida is in the amendment. Look under the heading "In Bruenor's Service."

This discussion was held before the AL added the Cloak of Arachnida to the amendment, but no worries. Thank you!

 

[CapnZapp]

Addendum:

Watch out for greedy PCs when they get to Blingdenstone.

One of the quests there involves having the PCs interact with a Ruby Spell Gem.

The potential problem? This is a far more valuable treasure than pretty much everything else in the entire module!! (And the PCs could reach Blingdenstone as early as level three)

A Spell Gem is essentially a portable spell slot.

A Ruby Spell Gem is described as being able to hold up to an eight level spell, which is far more than required by the adventure. Since not even a 20th level Wizard can cast more than a single level 8 spell a day, this item will essentially double your top-of-the-line output all the way up to level 17.

Like I said, keep an eye out. If you know your group would rather steal such a legendary (yes, quite literally legendary!) treasure, I suggest you change it to a Jade Spell Gem. This change means the story can proceed exactly as intended, but now the adventure haven't tossed you a legendary item offhand.

I wouldn't have posted this if the adventure author had given the slightest hint of being aware of the situation, but since I can't find any hint that the authors have even considered the possibility the PCs simply steal the gem, I think I need to. (I wonder what the AL experience is!)

You have been warned!

 

[Motorskills]

So monsters in listed encounters have the treasure they have (or not).

What treasure rolls (if any) should I make for wandering monsters(and similar stumble-upon encounters??

 

[zaratan]

My worry about dawnbringer is that it emit sunlight in a place of half enemies have sunlight sensibility. This isn't too OP?

The problem with that it can destroy the magic in any drow item you get too.

I'll probably houserule to change the sunlight in normal light.

 

[Inconnunom]

Addendum:

Watch out for greedy PCs when they get to Blingdenstone.

One of the quests there involves having the PCs interact with a Ruby Spell Gem.

The potential problem? This is a far more valuable treasure than pretty much everything else in the entire module!! (And the PCs could reach Blingdenstone as early as level three)

A Spell Gem is essentially a portable spell slot.

A Ruby Spell Gem is described as being able to hold up to an eight level spell, which is far more than required by the adventure. Since not even a 20th level Wizard can cast more than a single level 8 spell a day, this item will essentially double your top-of-the-line output all the way up to level 17.

Like I said, keep an eye out. If you know your group would rather steal such a legendary (yes, quite literally legendary!) treasure, I suggest you change it to a Jade Spell Gem. This change means the story can proceed exactly as intended, but now the adventure haven't tossed you a legendary item offhand.

I wouldn't have posted this if the adventure author had given the slightest hint of being aware of the situation, but since I can't find any hint that the authors have even considered the possibility the PCs simply steal the gem, I think I need to. (I wonder what the AL experience is!)

You have been warned!

The Ruby Spell gem is crazy powerful. Especially since (AFAIK) it isn't just a ring of spell storing but it uses the GEM'S stats for casting (18 spell DC and +10 to hit). The blessings you can get for NOT stealing the gem are also crazy powerful. (+1 to ac and saving throws or any nonmagical weapon you hold is a +1 magic weapon (limit 1 at a time))


Also Chapter 8 gives the most broken item of all (even more so than the sentient sword). There is a shield Guardian's brooch. A character practically gets handed a CR7 minion that ups their AC, absorbs damage, and can store spells in it. We have a bladesinger With 23AC that takes have damage on all damage.....

 

[CapnZapp]

The Ruby Spell gem is crazy powerful. Especially since (AFAIK) it isn't just a ring of spell storing but it uses the GEM'S stats for casting (18 spell DC and +10 to hit).

That's right.

Legendary stuff.

I wouldn't mind if the scenario text made even a little bit fuss about it. As it stands, there are no clues the author is even aware how powerful this is.

The blessings you can get for NOT stealing the gem are also crazy powerful. (+1 to ac and saving throws or any nonmagical weapon you hold is a +1 magic weapon (limit 1 at a time))

Well, not really.

The Blessing of Weapon Enhancement (One nonmagical weapon in your possession becomes a +1 weapon
whenever you wield it) isn't unbalanced at all. Sure, getting this at perhaps level three already is neat, but there's nothing broken, let alone "crazy" about this. Possibly with the exception of a very low-magic campaign.

The Blessing of Protection. You gain a +1 bonus to AC and saving throws. This is much better, but still not even close to the Ruby. You should be very careful handing out AC bonuses, since this easily disrupts the bounded accuracy assumption of the game (while this is completely unremarkable on a AC 15 character, it is quite too good on a AC 23 character). I will probably switch it out for another blessing, since my players have made sure to get high ACs as it is.

Also Chapter 8 gives the most broken item of all (even more so than the sentient sword). There is a shield Guardian's brooch. A character practically gets handed a CR7 minion that ups their AC, absorbs damage, and can store spells in it. We have a bladesinger With 23AC that takes have damage on all damage.....

Sorry to break it to you but 5th edition is very casual about giving out crazy-powerful servants and minions.

Sure, the Shield Guardian is a top-of-the-line bodyguard, but any old Conjurer can surround himself in lots of allies that completely wreck the action economy. Then there's Elemental Gems and Rings. And don't get me started on the Horns of Valhalla...

Guess I'm saying that, yes, the Shield Guardian is powerful, but there are many ways to get similar power.

A Ruby Spell Gem, on the other hand, it gives you a bonus spell slot that is cast by effectively an archmage for you. That's what I'd reserve the label "crazily powerful" for...

 

[LarryD]

Addendum:

A Ruby Spell Gem is described as being able to hold up to an eight level spell, which is far more than required by the adventure. Since not even a 20th level Wizard can cast more than a single level 8 spell a day, this item will essentially double your top-of-the-line output all the way up to level 17.

You still need to beat a DC of 18 for the spell to work, though, right? Per the appendix:

"If the spell is of a higher level than you can normally cast, you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell's level. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the gem with no other effect."

I agree, it's still pretty powerful in relation to the possessor's level, but there's no guaranteed success of it working that day.

 

[CapnZapp]

You still need to beat a DC of 18 for the spell to work, though, right? Per the appendix:

"If the spell is of a higher level than you can normally cast, you must make an ability check using your spellcasting ability to determine whether you cast it successfully. The DC equals 10 + the spell's level. On a failed check, the spell disappears from the gem with no other effect."

I agree, it's still pretty powerful in relation to the possessor's level, but there's no guaranteed success of it working that day.

Now you assume I put in a 8th level spell into the gem.

But a much more reasonable (and frightening!) scenario is that I get my grubby mittens on the gem when I'm, say, level 6.

And I put in a regular Fireball into the Gem.

Suddenly I can cast two DC 18 Fireballs every other day. Normally I would be hard pressed to have more than DC 16 at this level. Or I could put in a third level Scorching Ray just for and giggles. That's three rays attacking at +10 each. Again, at this level I would normally be pleased if I had even +8.

This is because in 5th edition, the ranged attack and save DC values change with the caster, not the spell level. And the spell gem is effectively a high-level NPC caster.

(The spell stays 3rd level inside the gem. It doesn't change into an eight level spell. And thus I can cast it with automatic success)

Now, that feature alone might not be earth-shattering, and it wasn't this I was thinking of above, when we discussed what was "crazily powerful".

But at the level when Blingdenstone is likely to be run in the adventure, it does represent what effectively amounts to a "+2 bonus to ranged spell attacks and spell save DCs" minimum (likely a +3 bonus or even a +4 bonus).

Which is a level of treasure quite incongruent with the context.

And that's even before we consider the extra spell slot of your highest level (all the way up to level 15, at least). I know the Warlock in my group would probably risk derailing the entire campaign for such a treasure... (it effectively boosts the entire warlock class by +50% !!!) ...how about your spellcasters?

(Im only partially kidding. My point is that the scenario text does not give any kind of heads-up. Obviously a well-prepared DM will handle the case*. Unless you run the scenario in tournament mode, where all bets are off)

*) As a measure of last resort, you can always do what I suggested above and change the gem to Jade (maximum 5th level - enough to hold the Hallow "quest spell", but probably not something to risk eternal enmity with the deep gnome race for).

 

[Awesome Adam]

I grew up with Magical items being the things of Legend. Arthur had Excalibur and those Dungeons & Dragons kids each had items that would Legendary by 5E standards, at first level. Frodo and Bilbo have a Ring of Invisibility. Heck, ANYONE who has a magic item that is worth remembering probably has an item that is legendary by 5E standards.

Before 4E put the concept into people's head about item levels pairing up with character levels, you got whatever the Dungeon Master rolled up, and sometimes it was awesome.

In our OOTA campaign the first magical item we got was a +3 Shield, after investigating the Lair of a Demon we battled in a random encounter.

 

[CapnZapp]

That's true and for many groups it works admirably.

Others, however, view D&D more like a game. A game in which you can do better or worse.

A +3 shield wouldn't break anything if the bard or warlock in my campaigns got in, since their AC was low to begin with.

But a +3 shield in the hands of the AC 21 Paladin... well, that would borderline break the game, since his AC would be a whopping five steps higher than anyone else.

Suddenly I'm faced with having to choose between stepping up my game or not.

The problem is: if I add monsters that can handle AC 24, that would obliterate the AC 15 members of the party. But if I don't add such monsters, the Paladin has effectively become invulnerable.

---

Your point of view is a decent one to have, Adam.

But only if you are aware it's not the full story.