D&D 5E (2014) Help with tier 1 magic items

[rgoodbb]

Hat of Disguise

Slippers of Spider Climb

Immovable Rod

Bag of Tricks

Cloak of the Bat

 

[ccs]

If the items going to be used by the foe? Don't bother worrying about wether or not it'll be usable/wanted by the players, pick it based on the needs of the NPC for the encounters(s). Then sit back & see what the players do with it if they get it. Maybe they use it. Maybe it's just a piece of loot that they'll want to trade off for something else. Or maybe they'll just keep it as a trophy....

If the things just something found in a lair/lying about somewhere? I'd just roll randomly. There might well be some explanation for why the NPC had _____ (and wasn't using it?). But unless they go to some effort the PCs aren't owed any explanation as to the why.

The only time you should be seeding an adventure with stuff specifically for a character? Is if they've initiated it. They want _____ & have taken steps in-game to locate it. Thus going on a specific adventure. Reward that! Because they're helping you by telling you what types of adventures/encounters they want you to write.
But if they simply "go adventuring" without such a plan? What are the odds that they're going to find just what they've always wanted? If they do? Then it might be coincidence when it happens once among the whole party, probably plot device beyond that 1st time.

 

[ccs]

I really hate random rolling this stuff. If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing with your eyes open. The link is awesome though for the analysis!

Oh I love handing out the random treasure. Be it $/valuables or magic. And I definitely do it with my eyes wide open - because I want to see what's going to result. How will the stories to come be shaped?
It's how a 1st lv character was allowed into the game possessing a Horn of Valhalla - that's not keyed to him!
It's how a low lv party walked out of an adventure with a combo item that incorporated both a Cubic Gate and an amulet of the Planes - rolled randomly (& well?) on the tables in the 1e DMG.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

It's how a 1st lv character was allowed into the game possessing a Horn of Valhalla - that's not keyed to him!

My low level group got a one time use Horn of Valhalla because I had given them a "horn that seems magical" but nobody could identify it and then they forgot about it for 4-8 months at which point I had no memory of what I had been planning for it to be. It may well have been some sort of animal horn, or maybe I said "corn" who knows. We were just going by what someone wrote on their character sheet. So I went scrambling for something out of the DMG. I made it a lower level item by having it crumble after the single use rather than recharge after 7 days and having the spirits fade after the single encounter rather than an hour.

Pulling it out months later they still did another mediocre job on the arcana check so all I told them is that "it has some influence over the undead". They were in a fight with a room full of an overwhelming number of zombies and ghouls and blew the horn hoping it would calm them or something only to instead have five spiritual berserkers appear to plow right through their enemies. It was really perfect in as much as that was a large and dangerous encounter but not a particularly important or interesting one or one the DM had slaved over balancing in any way, so if a bunch of comical pseudo-vikings want to come and make a mockery of it then all the better.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Where do people stand on protective items? The rings and cloaks of protection, Magic armour etc. these are good for everyone.

My rule is not to give out such items in a way where they could reasonably give them all to one character. Rings and cloaks are dangerously unbalancing in 5e because they stack on top of magic armor. A party member with an AC above 21 or so becomes something you have to start planning encounters around a bit in tier 1 play, because some enemies have very low to hit bonuses and no other way of doing damage.

Magic armor, or something like a staff that gives +1 protection for the Wizard is better, because it's usually only suitable for certain characters. If I was going to do a Ring of Protection it would be the only defensive buff item the entire group got in a very long time. Generally I think it's best to avoid such things until you are ready to actually retire Zombies (+3 to hit) or Goblins (+4) as enemies, and part of the joy of 5e is that low level enemies in sufficient numbers or as minions of bigger badder things continue to be at least mildly credible threats.

 

[NaturalZero]

My friend that I used to play with back home made a little booklet of tables that help you generate crazy magic items and put it on Amazon as The Book of Ten Trillion Things. You follow the rolling rules, roll randomly, and the adjectives build off each other until you've come up with some abominable concept. It's then your responsibility as a DM to explain exactly what the thing is that you rolled up. The book is completely system agnostic.

To give an example, i just rolled up "yielding mature woven slate mail." There are no mechanics involved, but now this gives me fuel to come up with an interesting item for my players. I decide that it's an ancient (mature) +1 set of half plate that gives no penalty to stealth checks (yielding, flexible) made with a woven structure (woven) that supports exceptionally durable pieces of slate, crafted by dwarves (slate).

"Sharp cloven luminous blood shortsword" - I rolled this one next. Let's see. This shortsword that bifurcated tip like the tongue of a snake (cloven). It's so sharp that attacks made with it crit on a 19-20 (sharp). When blood touches the blade, it sheds light like a torch until it's cleaned, sheathed, or until you take a rest (luminous blood).

"Light saffron maple map" - My buddy's book includes tables for everything from spoons to animals and carts, not just weapons and armor. I rolled this up and decided - This map is made of thin layer and almost weightless in your hand (light). It was crafted by wood elves from a thinly sliced cross section of maple, dyed a brilliant yellow color (saffron, maple).

"Rectified drab revolutionary yolk stinging cup" - Hmm. This is a wild combo of descriptors. This is mundane looking cup formed from dun-colored ceramic (cup, drab). It is used in an ancient rite of rebirth (rectified) involving drinking the poisonous yolk from a cockatrice egg (yolk, stinging) and it empowered the people of a forgotten civilization to overthrow their despotic medusa rulers (revolutionary). If you consume the contents of a cockatrice egg from this cup, you must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw. If you fail, you are poisoned until the end of your next short rest. If you succeed on the saving throw, you are immune to petrification until the end of your next long rest. Once the cup has granted a creature immunity to petrification, it ceased to function until the following dawn.

All of this stuff I just roled randomly and came up with explanations off the cuff. His book is pretty expensive for it's size but I'm sure there's something similar you can find online to inspire you.

 

[ccs]

My low level group got a one time use Horn of Valhalla because I had given them a "horn that seems magical" but nobody could identify it and then they forgot about it for 4-8 months at which point I had no memory of what I had been planning for it to be. It may well have been some sort of animal horn, or maybe I said "corn" who knows. We were just going by what someone wrote on their character sheet. So I went scrambling for something out of the DMG. I made it a lower level item by having it crumble after the single use rather than recharge after 7 days and having the spirits fade after the single encounter rather than an hour.

Pulling it out months later they still did another mediocre job on the arcana check so all I told them is that "it has some influence over the undead". They were in a fight with a room full of an overwhelming number of zombies and ghouls and blew the horn hoping it would calm them or something only to instead have five spiritual berserkers appear to plow right through their enemies. It was really perfect in as much as that was a large and dangerous encounter but not a particularly important or interesting one or one the DM had slaved over balancing in any way, so if a bunch of comical pseudo-vikings want to come and make a mockery of it then all the better.

Awesome. Especially the part where it existed because you'd long forgotten what the original intent was.

 

[TheSword]

Love that item... “The grave is no bar to my call”.

Though it needs renaming the Horn of Valere

‘Mat’s hand shook as he raised the Horn of Valere to his lips. It was a clear note, golden as the horn was golden. The trees around them to seemed to resonate with it. And the ground under their feet, the sky overhead. That one long sound encompassed everything. Out of nowhere a fog began to rise. First thin wisps hanging in the air, then thicker billows and thicker until it blanketed the land like clouds...

...Down the billowing fog, as if it was the side of a mountain, rode shapes on horses. At first the dense mists hid more than that but slowly they came closer and it was Rands’ turn to gasp. He knew them. Men, not all in armour, and women. Their clothes and their weapons came from every age but he knew them all. Rhogash Eagle eye ... Gaidal Cain ... Golden Haired Birgitte ... Artur Hawkwing ... “It takes more than bravery to bind a man to the horn... Only a few are bound to The Wheel spun out again and again to work the will of The Wheel and the Pattern of the Ages.”’

LET WHOSOEVER SOUNDS ME THINK NOT OF GLORY, BUT ONLY OF SALVATION.

“In the last, lorn fight
'gainst the fall of long night,
the mountains stand guard,
and the dead shall be ward,
for the grave is no bar to my call”

 

[Coroc]

Bag of Holding at low levels is great for most parties IMO.
..
Immovable Rods can also be handy.
...

These two might be far to powerful, especially the second one. The bag can be used to collect every piece of gear (and sell it of) that mobs leave behind, but the rod allows for evil shenanigans if you know how to do it.

That said, @TheSword , every +1 Weapon (not +1 armor or shield or Ring / Cloak of protection) is o.k. at that level. Also Weapons which do e.g. 1 point of light damage and can emit a light spell.

Boots of jumping, a minor wand, or some scroll with some spell out of their league is also good choice for your specific group.

 

[DND_Reborn]

These two might be far to powerful, especially the second one. The bag can be used to collect every piece of gear (and sell it of) that mobs leave behind, but the rod allows for evil shenanigans if you know how to do it.

Most gear dropped by mooks won't be worth selling due to the quality not being great IME. Also, the 500 lbs limit can be reached very quickly as well.

As I said, "Immovable Rods can also be handy."