Xaelvaen
Stuck in the 90s
I like your terminology for this - "wandering treasure" - and yes, I use it sparingly. I much prefer magic items to help tell a story that relates to a character as opposed to its own story, unless I'm going to be doling out an artifact or sentient magical item, in which it having its own unique story is sometimes a better option.
How this pertains to the wandering aspect:
As I make up these specific items for the players, or even find that perfect item, it'd be sort of redundant to put them all in the obvious chest after a big boss is slaughtered after a dungeon or at the end of an adventure. I like to put them in as many unexpected places as possible.
So, Perception, Investigation, Survival checks - sometimes a check isn't even involved necessarily - if a PC chooses to specifically check out an area that wasn't even really all that suspicious but I had chosen it for a reason, and their instincts lined up to my planning, well good for them.
I'll also add, that just because a PC passes up one opportunity, doesn't mean that item is lost to them forever, it just means it might not be available to them for one or two encounters. Then there'll be another chance to acquire that item in another way, and eventually they might find it in a treasure horde somewhere.
As with all D&D stories, there's always exceptions and flavor-filled preferences, of course!
How this pertains to the wandering aspect:
As I make up these specific items for the players, or even find that perfect item, it'd be sort of redundant to put them all in the obvious chest after a big boss is slaughtered after a dungeon or at the end of an adventure. I like to put them in as many unexpected places as possible.
So, Perception, Investigation, Survival checks - sometimes a check isn't even involved necessarily - if a PC chooses to specifically check out an area that wasn't even really all that suspicious but I had chosen it for a reason, and their instincts lined up to my planning, well good for them.
I'll also add, that just because a PC passes up one opportunity, doesn't mean that item is lost to them forever, it just means it might not be available to them for one or two encounters. Then there'll be another chance to acquire that item in another way, and eventually they might find it in a treasure horde somewhere.
As with all D&D stories, there's always exceptions and flavor-filled preferences, of course!
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