Fifth Element said:
But given that magic items creation was allowed to PCs, there is no reason to put the magic items in the DMG.
So you can argue about the rules allowing PCs making magic items, but given the decision made by the designers, putting magic items in the PHB is 100% the right thing to do.
Magic item creation by PCs is discussed in Basic D&D, AD&D 1st Edition, and AD&D 2nd Edition....I'm not sure about OD&D. Magic item creation has always been allowed to PCs, but there has also always been good reasons to list magic items in the DMG (rather than the PHB).
1. Mystery. Part of the fun of the game, especially when one first begins playing, is not knowing what things are, and what they can do. Many folks remember the thrill of smashing their first skeleton, thinking of the ones Harryhausen stop-animated for
Jason and the Argonauts without any concern at all for thier stats in game. The whole schtick of magic is to be mysterious and unknown. It's cool to discover the game, smash a skeleton, and then discover your first healing potion. Putting the items in the PHB not only removes that intial coolness, but it leads the players
from the begining to dismiss lesser items because they aren't really the "cool stuff".....in much the same way that PCs will leave copper pieces lying in the dust.
2. Creating Expectations Limits Options. Putting magic items in the PHB indicates that they are simply equipment, and thus creates the expectation that they can be bought and sold like anything else. This isn't always true in every world, but it becomes more true the more player expectations are skewed this way. AD&D 1e and 2e could easily do low fantasy, high fantasy, or somewhere in between (IMHO). Many have claimed that 3e could not do low fantasy easily or well; I believe that claim to be wrong, but that the expectations leading to that claim arise from the way magic items are intertwined to player expectations in the PHB. It isn't the rules that make playing low-fantasy 3e hard; it's the expectations built into the PHB. You can alter those expectations, but the more they are set in the PHB, the harder this is.
3. Limiting Options, Part Two: During the 2e era, TSR came out with a series of volumes detailing every magic item from every TSR product up to that point. There were many combat-related magic items. There were many, many, many more that were just fun. Tons of kooky items that did things that might aid in exploration, or might just provide some creature comfort, or might have some function in long-term campaign play. One will note how many of these items didn't appear in the far more combat-focused 3e. Treating magic items like any other item of equipment causes designers (including individual players and DMs) to focus on utility, rather than on what might be interesting in the game world itself.
(BTW, anyone who thinks that earlier editions of D&D were as combat-focused as 3e or 4e would do well to examine the
Encyclopedia Magica and see how broadly earlier editions defined "interesting" and "fun".)
4. Cutting Classes: Placing the magic items in the PHB also limits space for things that should be part of an initial offering, such as the druid and bard. How does it make any sense to say that the players should not have to buy the DMG to find out how to make a
rope of climbing, but that it's okay to have to buy another PHB to find out how to make a druid? WTF?
5. Utility: Magic items take up a lot of space. Most players will use relatively few of these items during the life of the edition. Most players will
create even fewer. The DM, OTOH, will use many more over the life of the edition, placing some in the hands of enemies, placing some as treasures (that will or will not end up in PC hands), placing some in the hands of allies or potential allies, and so on, and so forth. The DM
needs this information. A player interested in this information, in general, can simply borrow (or buy) the DMG for that purpose.
IMHO, of course, and YMMV.
RC
"
