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Message: <blockquote data-quote="theNater" data-source="post: 4226665" data-attributes="member: 62560">I look at this and I notice that at the start of level 2, one member of the party has no magic item.  This is early enough in the game that I don't think it's a major problem yet, sometimes nobody picks up a magic item that early.  Let's look at the start of level 3.  There are a large number of ways that this could go, but I'd like to look at the extreme examples, and figure that those give us some boundaries.If the items are valued in the same order as the first level's items(A gets the level 6 item, B gets the level 5 item, etc.), then our final arrangement looks like this:Member A has a 6th and 5th level magic item and 86.4 GP.Member B has a 5th and 4th level magic item and 278.4 GP.Member C has a 4th and 3rd level magic item and 342.4 GP.Member D has a 3rd and 2nd level magic item and 416.4 GP.Member E has 646.4 GP.In which case member E can purchase one 2nd level or two 1st level magic items of his choice.  Note that this choice is important, as it allows him to aquire items that are exactly what he wants, while his party members are going around with more powerful items that are only approximately what they want.  He exchanges raw item power for better item and ability synergy.The other extreme case is that item are valued in reverse order(E gets the level 6 item, D gets the level 5 item, etc.), and in that case we end up with something more like this:Member A has a 5th level magic item and 446.4 GP.Member B has a 3rd and 4th level magic item and 352.4 GP.Member C has a 4th and 3rd level magic item and 342.4 GP.Member D has a 5th and 2nd level magic item and 342.4 GP.Member E has a 6th level magic item and 286.4 GP.At this point, everyone except members A and E have two magic items, and member A can purchase a 1st level item if he wishes.  If he does so, the only party member with only one magic item is the member with the most powerful magic item, which seems like a pretty good arrangement to me.  Also note that the cash on hand of members B, C, and D are very close.  The only members with strange monetary values are the ones who have been on the extremes of the curves both times.Conclusions:  At the end of level 1, things will likely be a little unbalanced for a five-man party.  However, later levels are going to have a smoothing effect on the magical gear selections.  If the loot is useful to party members randomly, then things look like they'll work out more or less evenly over long periods of time.  Even if the loot is heavily weighted to one character, the characters getting the lower level magic items aquire more purchasing power faster, meaning that(if the GM permits them to purchase the items they want) they will still be competitive in terms of gear(by virtue of getting exactly the gear they want rather than something that's pretty close to the gear they want).</blockquote>

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