Do you ever give a PC the "exact" magic item they ask for?

[hong]

I sidestep the issue yet again!

In addition to having treasure hoards and item creation feats, I also let characters (PCs and NPCs) "imbue" items with the power of their spirit. Basically you pay an XP cost, and one of your items of gear takes on exceptional qualities. This has various nice side-effects, namely cutting down on the looting mentality, making treasure planning less important, and helping to address the whole "magic items aren't _really_ part of a character" thing.

Rules here: http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/imbued_magic.htm

 

[Azure Trance]

I sidestep the issue yet again!

In addition to having treasure hoards and item creation feats, I also let characters (PCs and NPCs) "imbue" items with the power of their spirit. Basically you pay an XP cost, and one of your items of gear takes on exceptional qualities. This has various nice side-effects, namely cutting down on the looting mentality, making treasure planning less important, and helping to address the whole "magic items aren't _really_ part of a character" thing.

Rules here: http://www.zipworld.com.au/~hong/dnd/imbued_magic.htm

Hey, cool, thanks. Just what I was looking for.

 

[LokiDR]

I sidestep the issue yet again!

In addition to having treasure hoards and item creation feats, I also let characters (PCs and NPCs) "imbue" items with the power of their spirit. Basically you pay an XP cost, and one of your items of gear takes on exceptional qualities. This has various nice side-effects, namely cutting down on the looting mentality, making treasure planning less important, and helping to address the whole "magic items aren't _really_ part of a character" thing.

Do you impose any limits on experience use? The system I use has 1/5th of the cost, but prevents people from using more than a certain amount of XP. This means that party members still want the item creation feats.

 

[dren]

Do you give PC'S what they ask for...

Sorta.

I ask the players want kind of things their character would or might want outside of the game. Then I make sure to have players hear rumours of where one might exist. If they want something bad enough, and do enough research, they can usually find what it is they are looking for.

There may be months pass between when they told me, when they hear it in the game, and when they eventually get the item. As long as the item is less than 50,000 gp value, and if they are willing to "quest" for it, they can usually get what they want.

It's part of the fun, and it helps players make definable goals that they can reach (albeit slowly) towards.

 

[Gaiden]

If a player ever asked me for a specific magic item that they wanted from a randomly generated treasure trove I would at first probably ask them to leave the game. However, that really would not accomplish much. I would suggest that they incorporate it into their roleplaying and if they persisted give them exactly what they asked for. I would design an NPC whose history involved finding the item early on in their career and whose entire person was based around this one item. So if someone wanted that greatsword I would probably have a weapon master or some other character built around the weapon have it (or if the player was really annoying a half red dragon troll weapon master). I would roleplay it out normally, not playing favorites at all, but defintely make the PC earn the weapon. Also, I would have the story make sure to include info about this NPC so that the PC could specifically search him out and kill him for his weapon. In fact, I might make that troll good aligned so that killing the creature just for his weapon was an evil act.

 

[demon_jr]

Very interesting responses so far.

I realize that many of these responses depend on the type of campaign you prefer to play.

So, in your opinion, how do PCs ever get to see that particular magic item that they think would be "really cool to have" considering that some DMs consider it to be bad form to ask for a specific item?

I'm curious as to why some DMs believe that PCs requesting a specific item would be considered "bad ettiquette".

 

[Dr. NRG]

I'll presume to answer the bad etiquette question, at least from my own point of view. A player asking a DM for a specific magic item is metagaming, blatant and obvious metagaming.

In and of itself, metagaming isn't evil, but in many (maybe even most) campaigns, doing it, and particularly doing it obviously, is considered bad etiquette.

In response to your other question, how do players get the item they want, the answer is the same as in the real world. Some of them buy it, some of them make it, some of them never get it. How do you get that (insert X item here, car, girlfriend, job) you've always dreamed of in real life? Probably not by asking the DM...



NRG

 

[hong]

Do you impose any limits on experience use? The system I use has 1/5th of the cost, but prevents people from using more than a certain amount of XP. This means that party members still want the item creation feats.

Yep, basically you can't imbue more than the GP limits for recommended gear by level, as given in the DMG. There are also some other limitations as detailed on the web page.

 

[Darkness]

Honestly, I have never had a player ask for a magical item like that be it specific or general. I don't know what I'd do.

Same here.

Still, I guess what I'd do is tell the PC to use skills or spells (e.g., Gather Information and/or some Divination spells) to find out where they can find such an item and then try to acquire it somehow.

BTW, I'd like my PCs doing this, come to think of it, as it can make good adventure hooks!
Examples:
A PC would like to have some kind of frost weapon and, after some research, finds out that a local hero carrying one vanished while adventuring in the Caverns of Very Bad Things a generation ago. Now all the PC has to do is convince the other PCs to help him (optional), find out where the Caverns are, enter them and find out if the weapon is really (still) there.
A noble in a town in the neighboring barony has an item of the sort the PCs want. Now they only need to convince her to give them to it. Of course, times being as tough as they are, there is indeed a "small thing" that a group of hardened adventurers like the PCs could do for this noble...

OTOH, I'm unlikely to just drop one into the game (whether as part of a treasure hoard or an NPC's gear) merely because a PC would like to have one, though.
But then, if it's more a flavor issue rather than one of powergaming (or even then, possibly, if the PC in question is underequipped for their level), I might change a vaguely similar item that I want to include anyway into one more fitting to what the character needs (e.g., I might change a flaming longsword into a shock longsword or maybe a greatsword into a bastard sword - or maybe even a flaming greataxe into a shock short sword).

 

[Darkness]

(Moved to GD, BTW.)