Giving Out Magic Items

[MadLordOfMilk]

If there's one thing that irks me about D&D 4e, it's that magic items are assumed. I know, I know, it's good for balance, but I hate having to pick out magic items. There are just too damn many of them! Not only that, there's all the bookkeeping of who needs what item slots filled, who hasn't gotten an item recently, etc...

I'm not a fan of wish lists, and I'd rather not use the low-magic "bonuses built in" route mentioned in DMG2. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this less of a pain?

 

[ourchair]

Some DMs might not find this ideal, but sometimes I just give a powerful magic item here and there, one that may be slightly beyond their level so that I don't HAVE to deal with giving it to them until they and the monsters start graduating past the magic item's power level.

That or throw them lots of money in place of the items and ensure that there is an artificer around. Though be warned that an artificer who fully pumps his INT will at level 8, INT 22 will be able to craft lvl 14 items, given enough money.

 

[Aulirophile]

Personally a fan of giving out "level 12 special ritual component" that allows the players to simply make any level 12 item they want. Generally accompanied by some kind of fluff.

But if I didn't feel like using wish lists, doing the above, or hand picking them? The only solution I would even consider is one from the houserules forum that actually maintains wealth parity and the power curve.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...mpler-treasure-system-mostly-random-loot.html

 

[ourchair]

Personally a fan of giving out "level 12 special ritual component" that allows the players to simply make any level 12 item they want. Generally accompanied by some kind of fluff.

But if I didn't feel like using wish lists, doing the above, or hand picking them? The only solution I would even consider is one from the houserules forum that actually maintains wealth parity and the power curve.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/4e-fan...mpler-treasure-system-mostly-random-loot.html

I actually use that system as well, it's great.

 

[blargney the second]

We have a *really* simple house rule that works quite well: whenever you level up, you simply set your gear up like you're creating a brand new character of that level. No muss, no fuss!

The DM's happy because he gets to avoid the exact problem MadLordOfMilk described, and we players are happy to have relevant gear. Informally, we tend to keep our items as much the same as possible from one level to the next.
-blarg

 

[Tuft]

I'm not a fan of wish lists, and I'd rather not use the low-magic "bonuses built in" route mentioned in DMG2. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make this less of a pain?

Just finished a lvl 1-28 4E campaign, and this is what our DM did:

He tried Wish Lists at first, but we found that they were a major hassle to administrate, keep current, and for the DM to stay up-to-date on. In fact, it started to consume a majority of the DM's prep time.

(Why the wishlists were a hassle: "Ok, I'm working on my diplomacy skill - then I'm going to wish for both this amulet and this head item, and hope to get either... " One treasure parcel later: "Ok, I got the amulet, then the head item is redundant, so I need to change both my amulet and head item wish". One level-up later: "Ok, now these items are not in appropriate level slots, so I need to change three of my wishes...")

To avoid total wish list meltdown, our DM simply added a 100% trade-in policy - economy rules be [appropriate verb]:ed. That allowed us to get items appropriate for each character with a minimum of hassle, book-keeping, and other worries. It also allowed those who wanted to do rituals to finance those without a lot of complications.
Basically, what is really the difference in writing down an item on a wish list fully expecting to get it and indeed getting it a little later, compared to simply using a store gift card...

This trade-in policy allowed our DM to put monster-appropriate items with the monsters, instead of character-appropriate ones, which pleased him very much.

And after this policy went into place, I don't think anyone ever found an item appropriate to our characters, which gave very little credit to the idea of using random loot like in previous editions. And indeed, later when we discovered a polearm that was really usable only by a thiefling warlock that had multiclassed to warlord, taken a specific paragon class, and preferably some specific feats (if I recall correctly - could have been the other way around), well, there were much discussion on what the chances were that such a character would have been in the party - or the reverse, if you played such a character, what were the chances of getting your grubby paws on that specific item, whithout wish-listing or 100% trade-in?

 

[blargney the second]

Yup, if you're going to such great contortions to make the wish-list function, it's time to change models.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

Last time I DMed 4E I replaced the items with slots of the same level (instead of you find a +2 magical plate, you find a lvl6 treasure). I just took care that everyone got an equal share during the adventure. I allowed that if there was a, let's say, lvl6 treasure and he needed a lvl5 item he could take the lvl5 item he wanted and the diffrence in value to a lvl6 item in what ever form he liked.

Sometimes I said, ok folks this is a lvl6 armor or something similar if such a restriction seemed reasonable depending on the treasure's location.

No wishlists to track. But I have to admit that my players are far from being powergamers or CharOpers.

 

[FireLance]

We have a *really* simple house rule that works quite well: whenever you level up, you simply set your gear up like you're creating a brand new character of that level. No muss, no fuss!

We tried this at the start of 4E (it was actually similar to a rule that we have been using since 3E days), but eventually, the frequent juggling of character equipment started to irk me.

When I started my Eberron campaign, I instituted the following house rule:
When a character levels up, he gets a magic item of the player's choice of up to (new level +1) and gold equal to one-fifth the value of a magic item of (new level -1). For example, a character who makes 2nd level gains a 3rd-level magic item and 72 gp (one-fifth the value of a 1st-level magic item).

This seems to have worked out fine, at least for us. It appears fairly well balanced in play, and cuts down on the amount of decision-making required during a level up.

 

[jbear]

You only have to choose Magic Items once per character level. 4 in total. That is not an extroadinary amount of magic items. I often choose at least 2 wonderous items which i know any of the players would like. If someone in the group doesn't have one of the main three, then I choose one of those. Say, Neck slot items, go to appropriate level, scan down a few til I read one that I think is ok/good. Picked. Then I choose the last one in one of the not so important slots. Let's say boots. Go to the appropriate level and scan through. Pick one that seems ok. Done. Now all you have to do is decide where the pcs will/might come across these things. I also throw in ritual components, rituals and potions, say 3 or 4, instead of straight gold. It's not really that much of a big deal.