D&D 5E Christmas Tree Enemies

[MonsterEnvy]

If I feel like the NPC would have a magic item I will give it to him. Like a Giant King or a very skilled Assassin.

 

[Sunseeker]

But it works even better with them, which is why every edition has lots of them as do video game adventures and RPG. Having another way to reward players, to motivate players, to provide plot hooks and to customize characters is great.

True, but part of the "gear grind" in video games is that you suck at the game without good gear. This isn't true for D&D. Another aspect is looking cool, as lowbie starter gear in video games usually looks lame in addition to being terrible. This is also untrue for D&D (unless you have a jerk DM who doesn't let you get creative with your gear).

Since I can look as cool as I choose to and I don't need better gear to progress that pretty much eliminates any need for gear at all in this edition.

I'd also like to add: My current game has a moderate amount of magical items and a high PC attrition rate (mostly it's a low DM tolerance for stupid), I've looted more magical items from dead PCs than dead NPCs.

 

[Psikerlord#]

But it works even better with them, which is why every edition has lots of them as do video game adventures and RPG. Having another way to reward players, to motivate players, to provide plot hooks and to customize characters is great.

True enough, I like magic items as a DM and a player. I just like them to be quite rare. Certainly no "+1 swords for everybody!" deal.

 

[Herobizkit]

Was I the only one disappointed that this wasn't a Treant-variant thread?

Because Christmas Tree enemies and evil Santa's Artificer Elves (Gnomes?) make for a FUN holiday adventure.

 

[Dragonsbane]

And its not only you...it was realized pretty early in D&D history that you could not give NPCs the same amount of magic as PCs for just this reason.

A good example would be the G/D modules. There are certainly items and lots of treasure...but the giants are dangerous, cause, well, they are giants, and the drow have those infamous drow weapons, for just this reason.

It was 2 decades ago I had my first encounter with the Christmas Tree . . in the G / D series! ZOMG sooooo many drow weapons . . .

 

[TerraDave]

It was 2 decades ago I had my first encounter with the Christmas Tree . . in the G / D series! ZOMG sooooo many drow weapons . . .

Exactly. You can just imagine EGG rubbing this hands as he finally had this race as well equipped as the PCs (not just the ubiquitous +1 stuff, but many higher + ones as well) and then waiting for the moment to tell them...ohh, all that, it doesn't work anymore.

 

[jgsugden]

If you use the guidelines for character wealth provided in the DMG, you'll end up with about 6 permanent magic items per PC over 20 levels, including about 3 attuned and about 3 not attuned. You also get funds enough that some permanent (not potions, scrolls, etc...) items might be purchased. They built the game to be flexible enough to allow for more items to be found and work well (with rules like attunement), but this is kind of the sweet spot for balance purposes.

Of course, a DM might use a good magic item to adjust for other imbalances. For example, if the PCs only have 1 PC that can effectively use a particular type of item and that PC has low stats, the DM might give that PC a stronger magic item earlier to adjust for the lower stats. For example, if there is a PC monk with a 15 dexterity in a party where most other PCs are sporting an 18 to 20 in their prime attribute, the DM might drop a +2 quarterstaff into the game at low levels.