D&D 5E A single +1 armor for a level 10 party

[Coroc]

At 10th Level it will not hurt if everyone in the Party has a +1 armor except the following:

You got dex 20 characters

They got +1 *item* of protection already

Most or all of them use shields

A +1 chainmail for the cleric is fair game

A +1 studded leather for the rogue might be tough already.

Do not give out +3 AC items unless you are well prepared to counter that somehow. It feels totally odd if three Players with AC 15-20 are getting their share from mob physical damage most of the time, but the guy with AC22
is missed even when the enemy casts bless.

 

[WarpedAcorn]

Looking at the table at the bottom of page 135 in Xanathar's we get the suggestion that a party of level 10 characters should have a total of 1 rare major item.

Since a +1 armor is a rare major item, this gives a total of 1 armor for the whole party. Or none if they have a a weapon +2, (or most rings, staffs or wands).

Did I miss or miss-read something?

Are you playing with those guidelines?

I handed out magic items in my 5E game like it was 3.5E and it has resulted in making that particular campaign utterly ridiculous. Seriously, the lowest AC in the group is 18 and it has caused me (the DM) to have to make all sorts of course corrections.

The lesson I learned is to not give out magic items with flat bonuses. I still love giving out magic items and the group loves it (of course), so I have started the process of including different sorts of magic items. For example, instead of a Chain Mail +1 I would instead give a Chain Mail with Resistance to Slashing Damage. Instead of a Shield +1 I might have a Shield that grants Advantage on Reflex Saves.

I also have enjoyed a lot of the suggestions in Xanathar's Guide, where a lot of the magic seems to be centered around "quality of life". Armor that cleans itself, slippers that keep your feet warm, etc.

 

[delericho]

Would those of you who wouldn't give out magic armour also not give out a ring of protection? Same reason - bounded accuracy breaking? I am thinking of making the ring of protection not increase AC above 20 (saving throw bonus still applies) in a bit of a nod to the old AD&D limitation.

As with most of these things, the issue is stacking. Possibly in the case of the RoP, the thing to do is have it not combine with armour (or possibly magical armour). I do like keeping the save bonus in all cases, though, so it still retains some utility.

I am thinking that say attunable +1 chainmail of Fire resistance would be a decent item. It is a weaker overall AC but with some extra ability that makes it attractive. Do you give up your full plate and a point of AC for fire resistance?

Yeah, that's the sort of choice that is a good thing - two attractive options with no obvious right answer. I'm still tempted to drop the +1 entirely - you get the same effect with splint mail of fire resistance. But YMMV on that one.

If you want to give them magic full plate make it grant a bonus to saving throws not AC or give out a shield that allows the wielder to use their reaction to halve damage taken from an attack a couple of times a day. A Lion shield that doesn't add to AC. There's lots of stuff magic can do just keep an eye on bounded accuracy.

Yep, this is exactly the sort of thing I'd like to see.

...

One thing you do have to watch out for, though, is that the players are likely to hit on the idea that they can have the best of both worlds - if they can have full plate or they can have chainmail +1 of fire resistance, why can't they have full plate +1 of fire resistance? At which point they're quite likely to start badgering you to include that in the game or, perhaps more likely, seek to craft it on their own.

There are ways to deal with that, of course, so it's not a huge issue... just something to bear in mind. Better to have your answers all lined up before the question gets asked.

 

[BookBarbarian]

Armors that give you cool new abilities or ways to interact with the world are way cooler that +X Armors. Like:

Armor that makes you immune to being knocked prone.

Armor that gives you Temp HP but you gain a level of exhaustion once those Temp HP are gone. Or as a bonus action lets you use an HD for temp HP equal to the Roll plus Con.

Armor that increases carrying capacity.

Armor that can change it's appearance to look like normal clothing.

Armor that can make you grow or shrink in size.

Etc. Etc.

 

[Satyrn]

Would those of you who wouldn't give out magic armour also not give out a ring of protection? Same reason - bounded accuracy breaking? I am thinking of making the ring of protection not increase AC above 20 (saving throw bonus still applies) in a bit of a nod to the old AD&D limitation.

I am thinking that say attunable +1 chainmail of Fire resistance would be a decent item. It is a weaker overall AC but with some extra ability that makes it attractive. Do you give up your full plate and a point of AC for fire resistance? Or adamantine splint

Dragon hide armour has some nice abilities to be attractive to PC's and doesn't seem likely to break bounded accuracy.

If you want to give them magic full plate make it grant a bonus to saving throws not AC or give out a shield that allows the wielder to use their reaction to halve damage taken from an attack a couple of times a day. A Lion shield that doesn't add to AC. There's lots of stuff magic can do just keep an eye on bounded accuracy.

Aye, that's exactly the sort of thing I would do.

Including the AC cap on the ring of protection might be the only way I'd give an AC boosting item.

And placing the bonus only on Medium armor is an interesting idea, but I'd stilbe wary of it because of the Medium Armor Mastery feat - but at that point it's the feat doing the boosting which I'd probably be cool with it.

 

[Sunseeker]

Almost all of my magic items are custom and provide non-static effects. I don't like static mods, it's too easy to throw the game out of whack. It's much more fun to use special effects.

 

[jgsugden]

Magic items are intended to be rare and iconic in 5E, not something we assume everyone has. Sit down with the DMG, go through the recommendations on treasure and then randomly generate appropriate treasure for a 5 PC party over all 20 levels. You'll end up with an average that approaches what you see in XGtE.

Whether PCs can find a market to use money to buy items is up to the DM, but it is not necessary.

So - yeah - one rare magic item for a party at 10th level does seem ok.

 

[Lancelot]

Like several of the commenters above, I almost never give out "plussed" armor or shields... unless it's not the top tier for the armor type. I'm fine with handing out +1 leather, for example, because it's not much better than non-magical studded leather.

I've never handed out a +2 armor item, at any level... and our group has played one or two 5 hour sessions every week since 5e was in play-test. I'd personally prefer that "plussed" armor didn't exist at all.

As for magic items in general, I'm stingy. The PCs will often find consumables (potions, scrolls, wands that cannot be recharged), but permanent items are always hard to come by. It's common to see a 6th level PC in one of my games with no permanent magic items, and it's not uncommon to see a 10th level PC with no permanent items. Any PC with 3 permanent items, at any level, is generally considered "loaded" in one of my games... and is eyed in a covetous and possibly murderous light by other party members.

 

[cthulhu42]

I give out magic items less than I did during 3.5 days and more than is probably recommended in 5E.

One thing I've found works well is to have magic weapons scale with the character, slowly revealing new powers as the PC levels up, which tends to give the weapon real meaning to the PC. They form emotional attachments to the weapons, and I think that's always a good thing.

I agree that AC boosting items are the ones to really be wary of.
Overall, though, my group is about to hit 14th level, and while they're surely ahead of the suggested magic item curve, it hasn't thrown the game out of whack.

Honestly, the things that skew the game are character abilities that the PCs gain that I have no control over (outside of just banning them, which I don't want to do).

Reliable Talent, for example, suddenly shifted the game to a whole different level that was way more jarring than any magic item. Our barbarian is currently packing a great axe that is essentially an artifact, but it's damage output and other powers pale in comparison to the rogues RT in terms of how it affects the whole game. You could say the same thing about Teleport. Now that our wizard can cast that spell, the campaign will never be the same. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just that it, and a few other spells and class abilities make a far greater impact on the game than any magic item I've given out.

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[Mirtek]

Just look at what organized play did. AL essentially re-opened the magic item shop.

So even the official OP doesn't follow those official guidelines