Magic Item Wishlist: Yea or Nay?

[Scribble]

Wish-lists are also a good way to get idea on new adventures and such, even if you prefer the characters should quest for them in game method.

The DM can look at the list, and plan a number of adventures around them, and then throw out hints and such in game.

 

[Abraxas]

As DM I don't see that as my problem. I create an environment with opportunities for the PCs to be cool, but it's primarily simulationist - NPCs have treasure they'd logically have, not what suits the PCs.

An Orb wizard in my 4e campaign did get lucky last session - the figure I was using for the Troglodyte shaman carried a big red crystal orb, so I noted it as a +2 Orb. I didn't drop it to suit the player though, I didn't even make the association until later, and if the Wizard PC had been more proactive I expect he could have had one made for him earlier (only issue there is that I'm not sure the party treasurer is actually handing out any treasure to the other PCs - again, not my problem!). And in fact the Wizard just hit 6th level, so he could even make one himself.

Different strokes for different folks - I'm not particularly fond of adventures based around questing for items (as a player or DM). Also, it doesn't bother me to purposely make villains and adversaries whose items also happen to be things the PCs want. In fact those items are treasure the NPCs would logically have.

As for making items, I don't know what other campaigns are like but we rarely have the cash to make items that are anywhere close to our level (4E) and we rarely have people take the feats needed to make items (3.XE)

 

[BryonD]

I don't think DnD is really a very good system for story-based games,

Noted. Obviously we disagree. I'm not clear how a difference in taste contributes here.

but regardless, I like the magic item wishlist. I think as a DM, if you're going to reward players, there's nothing worse than handing out items the player doesn't want. Part of the trust between player and DM is that the player is going to get a satisfying reward for braving danger.

IMO, you have pretty well described yourself away from "story-based" already.

 

[BryonD]

Wish-lists are also a good way to get idea on new adventures and such, even if you prefer the characters should quest for them in game method.

The DM can look at the list, and plan a number of adventures around them, and then throw out hints and such in game.

This I very much agree with. Anything that puts more brains working on the world dynamics is a good thing.

Though I'd hope gear is just the tip of the iceberg for this type process. And I would also hope that other elements come first.

 

[Scribble]

This I very much agree with. Anything that puts more brains working on the world dynamics is a good thing.

Though I'd hope gear is just the tip of the iceberg for this type process. And I would also hope that other elements come first.

I don't think it's really a binary thing.

Sometimes other stuff comes first, sometimes the gear comes first. All depends on what seems like fun IMO...Saying other stuff always comes first is I think a recipe for limiting your prospects.

 

[S'mon]

I don't think DnD is really a very good system for story-based games, but regardless, I like the magic item wishlist. I think as a DM, if you're going to reward players, there's nothing worse than handing out items the player doesn't want. Part of the trust between player and DM is that the player is going to get a satisfying reward for braving danger.

If you successfully brave danger, you do get a reward. It's called XP. You may also have the opportunity to acquire valuable magic items. IMC the nature of those items is not determined by the player though, unless maybe the PC is questing for a known item, or they have used loot to commission something specific.

 

[Oryan77]

I understand why people would use a wish list, but I don't like the idea of a wish list for the way I prefer a campaign world to run. I also would rather not have a wish list as a player. I actually like to be surprised with things.

As DM, part of the fun for me is to surprise the players. It wouldn't be that fun for me giving the players everything they want or expect. And if I give them something I thought they'd like but they didn't, then they can sell it. Then I'd just try again.

One thing that made D&D so cool when I first started playing was getting magic items that I knew nothing about. So I try to keep that part of the game alive by asking my players not to look in the Magic Item Compendium because I want to surprise them with all the cool items from it. It is so much more enjoyable when I give them something that they are not familiar with, and I think they like that also.

 

[AllisterH]

I prefer wishlists both as a player and a DM.

My opinion is shaped by my experience with 1e. We pretty much sold any magic item that wasn't directly useful to the character for xp gain.

This may have been a result of "slight" metagamins since we KNEW the treasures were randomly placed/dropped by our DM and thus, finding a "folding boat" didn' tmean "Hint: there's an upcoming water adventure".

 

[Hella_Tellah]

I find magic item wishlists boring and completely mechanical. My D&D characters look for magic items in ancient crypts and bustling bazaars, not Sears catalogs.

When a buddy of mine asked me to do up a magic item wishlist for a character I was playing in his campaign, I made a random table, asked someone else to roll on it, and gave it to him without looking at the list. Finding something useful by chance is exciting; finding something because you asked the GM for it is immersion-breaking and anti-climactic for me.

When I run D&D, I don't follow the Wealth-by-Level guidelines (YUCK), I give out a lot of gold and a few magic items, and most magic items are custom made items that fit the place they're found, rather than the heroes who find them. If a player in my game goes into a temple devoted to an evil deity, odds are poor that she'll find a Holy Avenger. More likely there'll be a chain coif that allows the wearer to dominate 10 HD worth of goblinoids per day, or a sword pommel that allows the wielder to cast fear 3 times per day with a successful intimidate check. Want a +2 sword? Go spend your fat sack of platinum pieces and commission someone to make it for you.

 

[Scribble]

My D&D characters look for magic items in ancient crypts and bustling bazaars, not Sears catalogs.

Whoa... But your players buy the game out of a Sears catalog... That's like blowin my miiiind maaaan... It's a circle. Circle of Gaming!