D&D 5E When should our warriors see their first +1 longswords?

[Jeff Carlsen]

My gut tells me that by 7th level, the party will have a fair number of +1 items, and maybe something better. I probably wouldn't give out a +1 weapon until about 3rd level.

 

[Mistwell]

None of our magic items are just a "+1" so far. They all have an origin, name, minor power, and often a minor drawback. I think we saw our first one at level 3, and now by level 4 I think there are 4 items in the 6-person party: Glaive, Longsword, Battleaxe, and Leather armor. There are also several minor items, and the Wizard found a spellbook which allowed him to copy some new spells into his own spellbook.

 

[Dausuul]

I'd say around the 4-6 range. Low enough that you don't have to wait forever for it, high enough that it feels like a milestone rather than an entitlement.

 

[Blackbrrd]

None of our magic items are just a "+1" so far. They all have an origin, name, minor power, and often a minor drawback. I think we saw our first one at level 3, and now by level 4 I think there are 4 items in the 6-person party: Glaive, Longsword, Battleaxe, and Leather armor. There are also several minor items, and the Wizard found a spellbook which allowed him to copy some new spells into his own spellbook.

This sounds like a good way to run it.

Personally, I like good magic items to be in the hands of a skilled opponent. You want those gauntlets of ogre power? Just go grab them from the badass using them. This makes the players have a love/hate relationship with those encounters. They are really hard, but the reward is great. They usually keep on telling the story of how they got those magic items as well. Much more interesting than finding the item in a treasure chest.

 

[jodyjohnson]

4-7th for some sort of magical weapon. They don't even need a +1 to be magical.

+2 or +3 are reserved for 10th or higher.

For armor, the best non-magical isn't even affordable until 5th with purchase more likely at 7th or higher.

The treasure has been much lower so far with 500gp a big sum to raise before 3rd or 4th. +1 Plate (or the equivalent) will probably be 10th or higher for us.

 

[Sunseeker]

3rd is the bare minimum for getting +1 magical items to appear in loot in my games. When I start my games at 5th+ I let each player start with a basic magic item of their choice. Otherwise the following:

Weapons don't drop from things that don't wield weapons. Wolves don't have daggers in their stomachs.
-excepted for cases of massive mythical beasts.
Cooler stuff comes from quest rewards than from grinding kobolds.
Rewards are equal to danger, taking on more dangerous foes gets you better rewards. Clearing out a cave of bandits may get you more combat, but tracking down the assassin will make the king far more grateful to you.
Players are able to locate and create "enhancement stones", which allow you to add a +1 to your current weapon (up to +5), to avoid the "gear grind" cycle and allow players to use their weapon of choice over the higher +X weapon that just dropped.

 

[Giltonio_Santos]

Have you taken a look at the Magic Item Details in the packet? I find it can make +1 weapons extremely interesting without needing to fill them with all sorts of special powers.

This. I'm using the suggested details to create custom magic items to my campaign with ease. It makes it very simple to add story to treasures that would be unremarkable otherwise. Also, it creates unique items without the need of placing balance in check with various weapon properties. I've played a lot with those tables already.

 

[howandwhy99]

Treasure Horde of 3rd, maybe 4th level or higher. The players have to navigate to these though and then determine what they have is magical. And even further learn through play what +1 means in the game system. So no at-will Detect Magic ability until very high level to allow this learning to occur.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

As early as 1st, no later than 3rd. They're rather boring, and don't do much, so I don't see it as a big deal power-wise. On the other hand, it is somebody's first magic item! So that has to count for something.

 

[Falling Icicle]

I'd typically give players their first magic weapon by level 5, perhaps sooner.