D&D 5E Magic Items found during the game: How do you handle the "oh look, this random dungeon just happens to have that sword my character wanted."

Corpsetaker · Jun 8, 2015

Something I used to struggle with back during 3rd and 4th edition was basically the Christmas list of items they wanted. For somethings I would say the players needed to research the items and could possibly have them made, but I always hated then that random chest in some random dungeon just happen to have that item a player was asking me for. It all felt planted to me and really took the fun and mystery out of finding a new item. I never personally liked to find items that I needed for a build.

How do you handle these things in 5th edition?

Magistus71 · Jun 8, 2015

The gods work in mysterious ways.

Coredump · Jun 8, 2015

I don't do it. They get what they get. If they want a specific item they can search for clues and stories and try and hunt one down. Maybe it is part of a dragon hoard, maybe someone with one went missing near 'hobgoblin territory', maybe the Baron owns it and needs a favor or two....

I mean, its possible they will get lucky and 'just happen' to find what they want....

Shiroiken · Jun 9, 2015

I never give out what the players "want," because I don't know. I design an adventure and determine what should be there, or I roll to determine what's there. I also don't have magic item markets, so they don't have an easy way to dump them into cash. It forces them to be creative with what they find.

For example, they have a Mace of Fear, but no one uses a mace. They debated giving it to someone who might use the Fear ability more frequently, but eventually gave it to a Fighter who lacked a magic weapon. He's using it as a backup weapon, because he's the only person who lacks a way to deal damage with magic. It lacks a bonus, but still counts as magic for purposes of getting around Resistance to damage from non-magical weapons.

der_kluge · Jun 9, 2015

Yea, I don't do that. The loot tends to be common stuff, with occasional oddball things. That said, generally have some kind of dealer who trades in magic items. But those systems work on an economic scale where money doesn't work - you have to trade for items. So, generally speaking, by the time the party finds a dealer of "antiquities" they'll likely have any number of lesser items they can trade for one or two really nice things. That has served me well in the past.

Greenstone.Walker · Jun 9, 2015

Corpsetaker said:
How do you handle these things in 5th edition?

I tell the players "yes, it's unrealistic, but its a feature of the game, but just deal with it."

Since the assumption is that there is no magic item economy in D&D 5E, the "wrong" item can be worse than useless. If my Polearm Master Great Weapon Fighting Half-Orc Barbarian finds a scimitar +1, I can't use it, I can't sell it, but I can't quite justify just throwing it away.

More than that, the GM not giving out the "right" weapons can cause bad feeling.
For example, I play a sword & shield Druid. If no magical scimitars show up, I'm going to get quite grumpy with the GM.

However, the GM can use this as a hook to get players interested in missions. "The town leaders hired you to clear out a nest of kobolds" is a bit boring and clichéd. "You have found historical records of a magical scimitar in a dungeon" is a hook for getting my Druid interested in clearing out the kobolds.

iserith · Jun 9, 2015

Corpsetaker said:
Something I used to struggle with back during 3rd and 4th edition was basically the Christmas list of items they wanted. For somethings I would say the players needed to research the items and could possibly have them made, but I always hated then that random chest in some random dungeon just happen to have that item a player was asking me for. It all felt planted to me and really took the fun and mystery out of finding a new item. I never personally liked to find items that I needed for a build.

How do you handle these things in 5th edition?

It is very easy to come up with a fictionally-plausible reason why a particular magic item can be found in a given adventure location.

While I don't do wish lists in D&D 5e like I did in D&D 4e, all a player need do is say what he or she is interested in acquiring and I'll make an adventure out of it or figure out a reason why it's in an adventure I've already prepared. That said, nobody really seems to do this anymore in my experience.

I do endeavor to only include magic items I think the players will find useful in that same adventure or in future ones.

pukunui · Jun 9, 2015

Corpsetaker said:
... but I always hated then that random chest in some random dungeon just happen to have that item a player was asking me for. It all felt planted to me and really took the fun and mystery out of finding a new item.

If you let your players know that you're randomly determining the treasure in the chest, then they can't really complain that you planted an item they wanted if one comes up, can they? [Conversely, if you roll something you know they want but you don't want them to have it, just change it to something else and they'll be none the wiser.]

I never personally liked to find items that I needed for a build.

In 5e, magic items are extra. They're optional. No one should be making a build that depends on a specific one. Unless your world works differently, they can't just go out and buy the items they want, so they'll have to be content with whatever they find.

Inchoroi · Jun 9, 2015

My group loves randomness, so I always roll on the random tables for literally everything regarding treasure. If there's a specific item they want, they either have to make it themselves, find someone to make it for an exorbitant price, or do a favor for the guy that already owns it. It makes characters go in interesting directions.

billd91 · Jun 9, 2015

Desired items are often part of a character's end-concept and, if this is a campaign where I'm playing along with that, these items become destined to be owned by them. So putting them in adventure sites is not a big deal. It's Destiny.

D&D 5E Magic Items found during the game: How do you handle the "oh look, this random dungeon just happens to have that sword my character wanted."

Corpsetaker

First Post

Magistus71

Explorer

Coredump

Explorer

Shiroiken

Legend

der_kluge

Adventurer

Greenstone.Walker

Adventurer

iserith

Magic Wordsmith

pukunui

Legend

Inchoroi

Adventurer

billd91

Not your screen monkey (he/him)

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