D&D 5E Does anyone else find the arcane magic items in LMofP and in HoDQ over the top? (spoilers)

[zoroaster100]

Lost Mine of Phandelver and Hoard of the Dragon Queen Spoilers
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I like both adventures, despite a few issues here and there. But one thing I 'm concerned about is the spider staff and staff of defense in Lost Mine of Phandelver, and the staff of fire and wand of winter in Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Compared to a modest +1 weapon in the hands of a fighter or rogue, these items seem like they would wreck the spell slot economy for characters that can use them. With so many charges, and the daily recharge, it seems like even a bit of caution will let these items last for the duration of the whole campaign, and will double or more the amount of nova that a character of these lower levels can achieve per day.

I'm considering toning them down or coming up with my own replacement items for the adventure. If the items had only 4 or 6 charges and recharged 1d4 or 1d6 charges per day at least there might actually some day be a chance they might have to make a check (which is still only 5% chance, unless I change that too) to get permanently drained. Even if they only provided one single first level spell with a few charges per day, it would still be a great item to have and more fun than a plain +1 sword.

 

[Crothian]

If you are looking for fun items I would just find a way to make the sword more interesting. D&D has always had the problem of the most boring class (Fighter) getting the most boring magical items.

 

[the Jester]

Keep in mind, too, that there is no reason that +1 sword can't be +1d6 damage, as well- either every time you hit or once per day or anywhere in between.

I can really see myself importing the shock, frost, etc. qualities from 3e into 5e. I don't think extra damage is all that game-breaking for a melee character.

 

[Chocolategravy]

The real crime is that fighters aren't interested in taking a couple levels of wizard for the aura of antipathy anymore so they won't be using the wands themselves. Wizards on the other hand will take a fighter level or two very often.

 

[drjones]

I had a similar impression, at least from phandelver. It seems like the new rules for magic items should be that players have no way to tell how many charges the item has or how many it recharges every day. Just that it stops workign for the day, and eventually stops working forever. Otherwise one item gives free mage armor to most party members all day every day for the rest of their careers. No player is going to use the last charge unless they have to so the item will see a lot of use.

I am all for magic items being fewer and better but the math does seem a bit off on that one for 2nd or 3rd level characters.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

There is a pretty awesome sword in Hoard of the Dragon Queen.

 

[Psikerlord#]

ive only seen the phandelver stuff, but I agree with the OP, seems like a lot of free spells to me... If you wait for DMG to come out, you could swap those items for others. Or perhaps DMG will have some alternate rules for recharge style items. I think maybe something like an escalating chance of breaking, not just a flat 1 on d20 each time you run out of charges.... More like it becomes 1-2 on a d20 the second time you run out. Then 1-3 on a d20 the third time, and so on. I would also have the item recharge on a long rest, but only after its completely run out. This would probably encourage much more judicious use of wands/staffs or similar.

Even just something very simple in the DMG like, this is typically how wands/staffs work, but each magic item is unique, feel free to tweak the rules on charges etc would work for me.

 

[GameDoc]

There is a pretty awesome sword in Hoard of the Dragon Queen.

It is indeed! Although...

Spoiler

I imagine the vast majority of PC's are of non-evil alignment, so I wonder what the implications are supposed to be for attuning yourself to an intelligent item of evil alignment. It seems premature to put that out there with no DMG available for reference. In past editions at least, doing so would require a constant battle of wills with implications for accessing the items features or your own mind/spirit being corrupted.

 

[samursus]

In the LMoP though, as written, the players are not as likely to get the Staff of Defense. My players didn't.

 

[Blackwarder]

I love those Items, they are awesome.

Warder

 

[Mandragola]

In the LMoP though, as written, the players are not as likely to get the Staff of Defense. My players didn't.

Spoiler in white text below:

Mine did. The party was able to storm straight through the lab room in a single initiative round. The fighter got to GS while he was still sat at his desk, looking surprised that his familiar had been zapped by the wizard a second or two before. Two chops with the magic longsword he'd just found, thanks to action surge, and the wizard was bleeding on the floor. It never even got to his turn! They didn't succeed in taking him prisoner!

 

[drjones]

In the LMoP though, as written, the players are not as likely to get the Staff of Defense. My players didn't.

I suppose it depends on the group. Those who compulsively look for hidden things or scout ahead and happen on the right path have a pretty good chance to get it.

 

[Storminator]

Spoiler in white text below:

If you use the default color scheme the background is black. There's a spoiler tag.

PS

 

[WitchyD]

The real crime is that fighters aren't interested in taking a couple levels of wizard for the aura of antipathy anymore so they won't be using the wands themselves. Wizards on the other hand will take a fighter level or two very often.

Is there anything RAW that says only casters can use wands? I've not run into it. My understanding of the rules is that anyone can pick up a wand and use it.

 

[Remathilis]

Bear in mind, many of the +1 items in LMoP have extra effects.

For example: there is an axe that is +1, but deals max damage vs. plant creatures. There is also a mace that sheds light and does 1d6 radiant damage. They aren't in the back of the module, but in the text itself.

 

[Curmudjinn]

It seems like the new rules for magic items should be that players have no way to tell how many charges the item has or how many it recharges every day. Just that it stops workign for the day, and eventually stops working forever.

I kind of like that. Unless you do some detection magery, I could see charged magic items working like Out-Of-Ammo rolls for modern/sci-fi games. You roll everytime you use it, and if a certain number comes up, it is exhausted for the day. You could even make the DC to continue using it cumulatively-increasing, so it almost tires itself out.

 

[SilverBulletKY]

Spoiler in white text below:

Mine did. The party was able to storm straight through the lab room in a single initiative round. The fighter got to GS while he was still sat at his desk, looking surprised that his familiar had been zapped by the wizard a second or two before. Two chops with the magic longsword he'd just found, thanks to action surge, and the wizard was bleeding on the floor. It never even got to his turn! They didn't succeed in taking him prisoner!

Spoiler here as well:

They didn't stop to look around the lab at all?

 

[Mandragola]

Spoiler here as well:

They didn't stop to look around the lab at all?

More spoilers below. I can't seem to find the button to do this properly.
No, they saw a room with no monsters, a suspicious rat and another door leading out. They literally didn't spend a single full combat round in there. Instead the fighter burst through to where the wizard was sat at his desk and chopped him down. I was pretty impressed, and kind of glad actually. It would have been irritating if he'd got away.

One thing I really found with the adventure as a whole is that magic items are very rarely given out in a straightforward way just by killing monsters and searching them. You need to go digging - sometimes literally - for items that have been hidden away places. Having the option of casting detect magic at will would be hugely useful, but failing that it probably makes sense to go round dungeons scanning once everyone's dead, just to be sure.

 

[Plane Sailing]

More spoilers below. I can't seem to find the button to do this properly.

use an SBLOCK tag.

[SBLOCK]
No, they saw a room with no monsters, a suspicious rat and another door leading out. They literally didn't spend a single full combat round in there. Instead the fighter burst through to where the wizard was sat at his desk and chopped him down. I was pretty impressed, and kind of glad actually. It would have been irritating if he'd got away.

One thing I really found with the adventure as a whole is that magic items are very rarely given out in a straightforward way just by killing monsters and searching them. You need to go digging - sometimes literally - for items that have been hidden away places. Having the option of casting detect magic at will would be hugely useful, but failing that it probably makes sense to go round dungeons scanning once everyone's dead, just to be sure.
[/SBLOCK]

 

[drjones]

One of the interviews with Mearls about the starter he mentioned that most of the items were out of the way and rewarded exploration so groups would probably not get all of them.

In this case, I don't know if I would write it that way. Not that it's wrong but usually when planning items I am trying to keep things balanced so I assume if I put it in the adventure the players will get it. If the NPC just needs some boost or spell cast on them to be a threat I make it a potion of just a hand wave pre cast spell.

BUT since the rules don't count on a certain magical bonus to be competitive then it should not matter if they find them or not. On the other hand one would assume giving out too many items would unbalance the game some amount, up until the max 3 each player can carry.

Might not get guidance till the DMG I suppose.