Are you a "loose" DM?

[BSF]

Yep, your group. I play in one, run the other.

OK, so an Ogre on a group of 1st levels isn't too much for your tastes. (Admittedly, you guys took it down, mostly through Li's efforts.) The correct spelling is Castanamir. Some folks here will recognize the Lost Island of Castanamir. It was even a tournament module. It has been slightly modified to run a group of 3.5 1st levels through it.

Hey, there are even magic items in the place. We will see if the group is able to leave with any of them though.

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

Well, frankly... Maybe.

The truth is, I never know what there is in a room until I envision it during play. I improv more than 90 percent of the adventure from three or four sentences of plot and maguffin. Come to think of it, most of the magic items I give out are "What would look cool" couple with "What nifty thing can it do?" Rules come later, if at all.

 

[Henry]

I think I've always been known as a "middle of the road." In my current group, I may well be the stingiest, but the good news is, the group absolutely cackles when they get the magic item they really want.

Treasure is actually on par or slightly below the amounts in the DMG, which puts them really struggling to afford anything but nonmagical supplies. Horses, food, clothing, all are affordable with their average income, but they know they have to really face horrible danger to get big reward.

Which is why we are stopped in midgame now with them outnumbered 2-to-1 by giants, and half the party in single digit hit points.

I'm hoping they either have some jam-up plans, or plan to run, because they aren't gonna be too happy with a TPK.

 

[MarauderX]

I guess if the PCs kill the bad guy and take the stuff that he would have used on them, then I guess it's generous... if they survive. I scale it back from the treasure and items that the DMG & MM have, but it still ends up being equal or more than other campaigns I have been a player in. Not that it's a bad thing, I just balance it all out with encounters that use up 1-shot items and give the less-than-useful weapons, etc. a time to shine.

 

[Ylis]

I'm sorta guilty. But my players fear treasure. And battles. Especially with goblins. Even at 20th level.

I like giving out copious amounts of evil items. Things that look pretty, but when utilized cut off limbs or cause the user to break into an incurable rash or whatever....Most of them won't touch them. There's always the amusing ones that are newer to my games though:

Me: "You enter a large room, filled with treasure. You see the skeleton of a great wyrm dragon laying on the pile of items. It's boney fingers are laden with rings..."

Newbie:"I take the biggest ring..he won't be needing it."

(Other players scurry hastily out of the room.)

Me: "You take the biggest ring off of the DEAD dragon? You realize the ring's too big for you, right?"

Silly Wabbit: "Well...he doesn't need it anymore! He's dead! I'll use it as a crown!"

Me: "Again....you take the biggest ring off of the DEAD dragon and then PUT IT ON YOUR HEAD? Ever stop to think WHY he's dead?"

Moron: "Well, I...."

Me: "Jeez..just roll...."

I am the evil GM

 

[Jeph]

Loose with the rules? Extremely. With the loot? I wouldn't know. I pretty much ignore the GP values of everything, since most of them are arbitrary anyway, and just compare raw stats after mods to find appropriate challenges.

 

[Arnwyn]

I tend to be on the "tougher" side of the spectrum.

 

[The Spectrum Rider]

I'm somewhat generous with magic items. I like to make up new, unusual magic items with strange twists to them; it's no fun if I don't get to see people using them.

However, they tend to be rather low in power from a 3rd Edition standpoint. IMC there's a lot of magic around, but it's not too powerful. A longsword (or other weapon) that's +1, +2 vs. spider creatures is considered very valuable indeed; no one's ever found a weapon that's +2 across the board.

(Of course, I've adjusted monsters and other aspects of the game to match.)

The Spectrum Rider

 

[shilsen]

In my current campaign, I'm keeping the PCs at about a wealth level higher than the DMG suggests. Which ensures that I can destroy their magic items, see the PCs driven before the NPCs, and hear the lamentation of their players, without feeling bad about it. Okay, that's exaggerating. But giving the PCs more magic than they should have is one of the few things that keeps them from being TPK-ed by vastly inferior enemies.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Being new to DMing, this is something I've been wondering about. According to the DMG, a 2nd level character is supposed to have 900 gp worth of equipment.

However, I am running a solo campaign and after a few encounters and using the treasure generation rules and tables in the DMG, I find that my player will end up having much more than 900 gp worth of equipment at 1st level since she will not be splitting it up between 4 players.

I don't want to give her too much stuff, but at the same time I want to give her the treasure she is entitled to for the encounter.

For instance, a fairly off-the-wall example, if she solo's a dragon for instance, I think she should be entitled to the entire dragon's hoard and not have it shrunk just because she is a solo player and not in a party of 4. (I know, I know, dragons probably shouldn't be able to be soloed, but this is an off-the-wall example )