Magic Item Wishlist: Yea or Nay?

[TarionzCousin]

Fighter McFighterson."

On My DM Wishlist that I would give to the players would be this:

Fighter McFighterson will get no more magic items until he has a decent name.

 

[S'mon]

Nay, nay, and thrice nay.

Don't give me a wishlist. You want something, go look for how to get it in-game. If it's 3e or 4e there's probably someone who can make it for you. If it's 1e you better go kill that dragon.

 

[S'mon]

Because in my experience, even a character that's supposed to be a veteran who is being played by a newbie to the system isn't going to know about flaming tongue swords by default.

Because the newbie player hasn't been living in that world for 30 years the way his PC has. So the PC knows more than the player.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Nay, nay, and thrice nay.

Don't give me a wishlist. You want something, go look for how to get it in-game. If it's 3e or 4e there's probably someone who can make it for you. If it's 1e you better go kill that dragon.

I guess this gets back to my other post about meta gaming.

How do the characters, not the players, but the characters, know what they want?

Are they all well versed in the arcanum of the world?

Honest question for those who say if they want specific items that the characters know about they must question for them.

And... I'm not trying to be snarky here, why couldn't a player give a GM a wish list and during a bar stay find out, in game, where the item in question is?

That's almost a potato/tomato thing no? Where's the real difference between the player going, "Here's a wish list of items I'm interesting in and will be looking for in downtime including going to bars, etc..." and the character just going to bars etc... and doing it? It would seem that the former gives the GM more set up time.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Because the newbie player hasn't been living in that world for 30 years the way his PC has. So the PC knows more than the player.

Exactly. And the first level character who just started adventuring is going to have less knowledge than the player with 30 years of gaming. Hence my question of 'meta gaming'. What is the default assumption? Does it vary by character? By player? Is is something that if it hasn't been expliticty mentioned is meta?

 

[Dausuul]

How do the characters, not the players, but the characters, know what they want?

Are they all well versed in the arcanum of the world?

I suppose you could make a case that it's metagaming, but... eh. If it's important enough that the player is willing to devote effort to questing for it, then I figure one of the unspoken background details of the PC is "Has heard of Magic Item X and wants one." And yes, the 30-year veteran player is more likely to include such a background detail than a newbie, same as the veteran knows to pick Twin Strike and not Careful Attack*. Such is life.

Now, if the PC runs into a challenge in game that could be solved with Magic Item X, and immediately says "I go out and start questing for Magic Item X," I might call for an Arcana check to know about such a thing.

That's almost a potato/tomato thing no? Where's the real difference between the player going, "Here's a wish list of items I'm interesting in and will be looking for in downtime including going to bars, etc..." and the character just going to bars etc... and doing it? It would seem that the former gives the GM more set up time.

What's the difference between the player saying "Here's a wish list of bad guys I want to defeat" and the character going out and defeating them?

It's not like the PC is just going to make a Streetwise check and find a flame tongue sword in a trash can. There will be some work involved. I believe in making PCs earn their rewards; it makes it much more satisfying when they succeed.

[size=-2]*Careful Attack as originally printed, anyway. With the errata it's actually worth taking now.[/size]

 

[JoeGKushner]

What's the difference between the player saying "Here's a wish list of bad guys I want to defeat" and the character going out and defeating them?

That's also happened in some of my campaigns. Never a good thing when the player has stars in his eyes and the dragon eats 'em.

It's not like the PC is just going to make a Streetwise check and find a flame tongue sword in a trash can. There will be some work involved. I believe in making PCs earn their rewards; it makes it much more satisfying when they succeed.

I feel like that kid in South Park who goes "Really?" Providing the GM a wish list is not telling the GM he wants to find an item in the garbage can. I don't think anyone here including the biggest fans of wish lists are saying that's so. Can you provide some examples of that type of thinking in this thread?

 

[Tuft]

I much prefer when my characters can enchant their own gear, or have things made to order.

Not because of the optimality of the build - I'm not much for such builds, but rather because of the look.

I like to draw my characters and illustrate the various in-game occurrences they are involved in. Because of that, I'd really like to have control of their appearance. I do want a good reason why my characters gear is coordinated in style, instead of the "Salvation Army"/"Hand-me-down" hodge-podge look that dressing up in random loot would give - just look at the typical WoW character, as immortalized by Penny Arcade:

Penny Arcade! - The Ungift, Part One
Penny Arcade! - The Ungift, Part Two

And that is not contained to WoW. When the Magic Item Compendium came out for 3.5, it had color illustrations for some items, and rather - ahem - colorful descriptions of others. When we browsed through that one, we had great fun in describing how some characters would look with that gear - they inevitably ended up as clown-like as the Penny Arcade strip above.

 

[Stormonu]

I've got no problem with the characters (not the player) seeking out specific magic items in the game. A paladin who goes on a quest for a holy avenger is fine if it comes from an in-game choice to quest after that item.

But no wish lists. That about annoys me as much as the CharOp boards.

 

[Scribble]

For me there's a difference between good and bad metagaming.

Like metagaming at the table to avoid an obstacle or challenge of some type.

Metagame BAAAAD!!!!


Metagaming away from the table for things like character creation or a cool backstory...

Metagame GOOOOD!!! (Or at least neutral.)