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<blockquote data-quote="arscott" data-source="post: 2959032" data-attributes="member: 17969">The real question about the frostbrand is &quot;Did that 3rd level party defeat the frost giant king to get it?&nbsp; or did they just find it behind a secret door?&quot;With the 3e treasure model, players are rewarded with wealth and equipment based on the danger they faced.&nbsp; Keep in mind that danger faced is not the same thing as challenges overcome--No matter how hard a secret door is to find, it's not dangerous unless it's trapped or has a monster behind it.&nbsp; Beating a DC 30 search check is hard for a 3rd level party to do.&nbsp; But because they don't risk anything by failing the check, they don't really deserve much of a reward for it.&nbsp; If after finding the secret door, they fight a rakshasa on the other side, then they deserve a reward.If a party of 3rd level adventurers ends up with a frost brand, then the adventure is badly designed.&nbsp; A frost brand is a major magic item, and any creature that represents enough of a threat to award a major magic Item is going to wipe the floor with a 3rd level party.&nbsp; In fact, except for the one percent chance of an EL 10 treasure granting a major magic item, 3rd level characters don't even get normal XP from creatures of high enough CR to grant major magical treasure.And ultimately, even if the party was able to fairly defeat the CR 10 creature with a frost brand in it's hoarde, it's still a bad design choice--Only one person can end up with the powerful sword, but the entire party helped defeat the big baddie--It'd be far better to have a range of less powerful magic items so that the entire party can split the rewards.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="arscott, post: 2959032, member: 17969"] The real question about the frostbrand is "Did that 3rd level party defeat the frost giant king to get it? or did they just find it behind a secret door?" With the 3e treasure model, players are rewarded with wealth and equipment based on the danger they faced. Keep in mind that danger faced is not the same thing as challenges overcome--No matter how hard a secret door is to find, it's not dangerous unless it's trapped or has a monster behind it. Beating a DC 30 search check is hard for a 3rd level party to do. But because they don't risk anything by failing the check, they don't really deserve much of a reward for it. If after finding the secret door, they fight a rakshasa on the other side, then they deserve a reward. If a party of 3rd level adventurers ends up with a frost brand, then the adventure is badly designed. A frost brand is a major magic item, and any creature that represents enough of a threat to award a major magic Item is going to wipe the floor with a 3rd level party. In fact, except for the one percent chance of an EL 10 treasure granting a major magic item, 3rd level characters don't even get normal XP from creatures of high enough CR to grant major magical treasure. And ultimately, even if the party was able to fairly defeat the CR 10 creature with a frost brand in it's hoarde, it's still a bad design choice--Only one person can end up with the powerful sword, but the entire party helped defeat the big baddie--It'd be far better to have a range of less powerful magic items so that the entire party can split the rewards. [/QUOTE]

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