Do you give your players the exotic treasure or force them to make it?

[Luthien Greyspear]

Most of the time I let the players find their weapons, but not when it comes to the weird stuff.

In my current campaign, I've got a bard who's been chasing the Lasher class since we started. Part of his backstory involved finding a legendary female lasher who could teach him the ropes (so to speak). He found her, only to discover she was involved with the Temple of Loviatar! (Hmm...lashers, whips, dominatrices...I just don't see the connection.) While trying to stay on her (and therefore, the temple's) good side, he happened to notice that they had this really cool whip-sword (a la Soul Caliber II). So, like any good plot-advancing low-wisdom bard...he stole it.

This is perhaps the only way I'll allow exotic magical weapons to be "found" in my game. The players will know up front that there's a story connected to these weapons, and that they better be prepared to become part of it. In fact, the players have been browsing through Weapons of Legacy and ASKING for weapons with dangerous back stories.

Fools.

 

[genshou]

Wands tend to be pretty bad for offensive spells, since the save DC is the lowest possible. The wand of hold person would have a save DC of only 13.

That's true... a problem that Elements of Magic fixes, but that's a rant for another thread.

But my point is that 50 castings of hold person with a lower DC is still more frightening that less than a dozen with a slightly higher DC...

It's a good use of money and a good use of a feat.