D&D 5E Was I in the wrong?

[randrak]

Randak, can I ask how you justify the ranger not knowing he sold the ring and thinking they still had the ring?

Well, I feel that had he been paying attention he would have realized that the ring was still stuck to the gauntlet. I made sure to point it out (that the ring was stuck there) and they made no mention between putting the armor away and going to sell it of ever trying to remove the ring. They didn't even held an interest in getting a second look or trying to items out on their way to the city.
Seeing as they made no effort to remove the ring, I played it as the ring still being there, untouched and on the gauntlet's finger. The others all remembered and acknowledged the ring being stuck on the armor, yet the ranger somehow thought they had it stored somewhere else.
Simply put, I believe he just wasn't careful enough. This is also the same person that didn't even realize there was a set of magical gauntlets until we talked about it the next day.

 

[Shiroiken]

Assuming the party did nothing to determine what was magical and what was not, you did nothing wrong. The character sold them as a full set, and the character would not have known the additional value of them.

If the party discovered that the ring and gauntlets were magical, but the player who was not paying attention flubbed it, then you probably should be more forgiving. The character would know they have higher value, even if the player didn't.

That said, the player who spends more time on his phone than playing should probably be booted from the game. He's not adding to the game, and he obviously finds other things more worth his time. Handled carefully, you can explain this to him without anyone having their feelings hurt. I have had gaming friends that I could not game with due to a clash of styles, and it didn't overly damage our friendship.

 

[Lejaun]

OK, so the players do not want to check the items themselves, they dont want to get a second opinion when selling their stuff and they get surprised when the one guy they see rips them off.

As I said, sounds like basic player error to me.

I didn't realize that not meta-gaming was player error. Not every player is going to have detect magic, and no campaign should be built around having a certain spell be mandatory.

 

[Lejaun]

Do 75% of your players lack pencils and sheets of paper? Write out a character sheet. PHBs at the table for references.

There is no reason at all anyone need devices at the table to reference anything. What you do/how you keep records away from the table is totally up to you. But no electronic device needs to be at a table...and "it's how I keep track of my character" is certainly not a legitimate justification when people have been (amazingly, somehow) playing the game without computer assistance for 30+ years.

Obviously people with kids or family situations/emergencies will check [who is calling] when their phones ring to see if anything is wrong. That is no excuse for devices being OUT at the a table. But "I need it for my character" is a nonstarter, for the obvious and simple fact that..."No, you don't. Write it down."

I am well aware that other people's MMV.

Tablets and smart phones are everywhere. Just because you don't want to use them doesn't make other people who do wrong. Some people enjoy the nice crisp cleanness of an online program as opposed to a paper character sheet. To each their own. I use pencil and paper myself, but I'm not going to look down on someone who uses a tablet. How they choose to keep records is their own choice and doesn't distract from the game unless you let it distract you.

 

[Lejaun]

Then maybe it's not a good group? That's the thing with groups- they are groups. You have to get over it. Or you're not a group.

As a group, they decided they weren't happy with the DM's actions. Perhaps the DM should have gotten over it first before multiple people had to.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Shasarak]

I didn't realize that not meta-gaming was player error. Not every player is going to have detect magic, and no campaign should be built around having a certain spell be mandatory.

Since when is knowing there are magical items in DnD Meta gaming?

That is like saying that knowing Red Dragons breath Fire is Meta-gaming. Just sounds like an excuse to me.

 

[Lejaun]

My view on it is that if the group was leaving town and you mentioned that perhaps they should be more careful, as they sold magical gauntlets and a ring to the blacksmith, it should of been their fault and they should have no beef.

This wasn't the case. The players, per the DM's own description, clearly had the intention of getting the items identified and thus were surpised when they went to do so and the DM told them that the items were no longer owned by them.

Creating a system where they have very few ways to ID gear and can't even afford to find out the items are makes for problems, especially when it is unclear what is going on. At minimum, the black smith should have said something like "I'm interested in buying it. It looks very beat up, but even so I'll buy it including the ring on the gauntlet and the bashed in helm." The DM should have allowed some sort of insight or perception roll as well.

 

[Lejaun]

Since when is knowing there are magical items in DnD Meta gaming?

That is like saying that knowing Red Dragons breath Fire is Meta-gaming. Just sounds like an excuse to me.

Metagaming is when you take the optimal path to being the most powerful. Players should not be forced to have one specific spell or miss out on magic items. Players should not be forced to ask multiple NPC's to determine if an item is magic. 5e made a concentrated effort to help players have more variety to them, to include giving players the ability to discover magic items without making players have the exact same spell lineup.

The DM strayed from the path that and the players couldn't even ID the gear if they had the spells to do so anyways.

 

[Lejaun]

As for player error and excuses, it sounds just like trolling from you.