magic items and rewards for Adventurer's League

[Snapdragyn]

At this rate, a level 10 character would have about 5?

Would like to keep it at 3 or 4, so not a big dif, but a dif.

Hmm. My current 3.5 campaign is running at anywhere from 50-75% of the DMG's wealth by level guidelines. Furthermore, the DM rolls to see what is available when we go shopping for magic items (& I'm pretty sure we've been told we won't be able to buy anything beyond a +1, though we haven't gotten to that point yet anyway).

Even with that much of a wealth gap, & the seemingly constant 'nope, none of that item available in this city', at level 7 my character currently has:

+1 chain shirt
+1 buckler
+1 ring of protection
+1 cloak of resistance
gauntlets of ogre strength

and has a +1 spiked chain being made on commission (will probably have the funds to pay the remainder owed on it before we hit level 8... well, maybe).

So - having no more than 5 permanent magic items by level 10 sounds remarkably low to me, even compared to the lowest magic campaign I believe I've ever played.

 

[TerraDave]

Hmm. My current 3.5 campaign is running at anywhere from 50-75% of the DMG's wealth by level guidelines. Furthermore, the DM rolls to see what is available when we go shopping for magic items (& I'm pretty sure we've been told we won't be able to buy anything beyond a +1, though we haven't gotten to that point yet anyway).

Even with that much of a wealth gap, & the seemingly constant 'nope, none of that item available in this city', at level 7 my character currently has:

+1 chain shirt
+1 buckler
+1 ring of protection
+1 cloak of resistance
gauntlets of ogre strength

and has a +1 spiked chain being made on commission (will probably have the funds to pay the remainder owed on it before we hit level 8... well, maybe).

So - having no more than 5 permanent magic items by level 10 sounds remarkably low to me, even compared to the lowest magic campaign I believe I've ever played.

Depends on the items. The gauntlets are nice, the rest kind of meh. And 5e has flatter math, you don't need all those little boosts. But a few+2 or (by 10) a +3 item, that could be interesting.

 

[Majoru Oakheart]

I don't know about this. The whole "certificate" thing is setting off alarms. Actually distributing the items makes sense to me, but how can you then not trade it unless you have a certificate? And certificates are only given out for particular items, only allow you to trade the item twice (IRM - Imaginary Rights Management), and can be found randomly when you pick up a "faction pack"? But some non-tradable items are also presented on certificates?

I notice that I am confused. Something that I believe must be false. This sounds like a lot more work than it should be.

I assume you haven't played Living Greyhawk or Living Forgotten Realms before then.

The key is that this is a method to discourage cheating. It sounds like you'll be able to play a home game version of Tyranny of Dragons and take that same character and then go and play in a D&D Epics or D&D Expeditions game. Now, since it's a home game version, it's certainly possible(we don't know the exact rules for home play of Tyranny of Dragons yet) that your DM decides to just hand out a powerful magic item to you.

Now if you go to Gen Con and play in the D&D Expeditions game you could in theory trade that magic item to someone else for a +1 sword. If everyone does this, it suddenly means that everyone has really powerful magic items. Worse yet, since it was a home game where you acquired this powerful magic item, there is no proof the game happened at all. So, you could write up a 10th level character and claim you finished the Tyranny of Dragons adventure and just give yourself a bunch of powerful magic items. This rule prevents you from distributing the fake magic items.

On the other hand, if you play through D&D Encounters in a public location there is a record that the game happened. A store approved the game and likely the DM. Which means there were likely other players at the table who also had their names recorded and observed in public. The results from public games are reported directly to WOTC. So, if you play in public, you get a certificate saying "Yes, you got this item in a legal and certified non-cheating way". Part of the benefit of doing that allows you to trade it to other people.

The limit on trading is almost definitely there because otherwise 2 people who knew each other could just trade 2 items over and over again. Each time one went to a convention, they'd be the one with the really good item they found. Then, they'd trade again before the other one went to a convention.

 

[Thaumaturge]

This sounds like a lot more work than it should be.

This is funny because it's true. And I say that as a person who has played in a number of these campaigns.

The limit on trading is almost definitely there because otherwise 2 people who knew each other could just trade 2 items over and over again. Each time one went to a convention, they'd be the one with the really good item they found. Then, they'd trade again before the other one went to a convention.

Or you could, over time, develop a set of great gear you handed to every character you played. Or, once you get a +2 weapon, you could trade your +1 sword down to your 1st level character until he has a +2, and repeat. Or a group of 4 friends could play an adventure with 2 strangers, all claim they wanted a +1 sword, and once they get it, give it to the friend who they actually want to have it.

There are abuses that happen when items can be traded without some cost.

Thaumaturge.

 

[TwinPeaksGuy]

One might have to play 6 adventures or more before one gets an item. And once one has a permanent magic item, one will have to sit at a table where everyone else has at least one item before getting a real shot at a second.

Thaumaturge.

I have a 4th level character with 9 sessions under his belt. Only 2 magic items so far made any sense at all for my character, and I lost the roll-off for both. At this rate I'll be 6th level before I get a single magic item.

This is not a magic-rich environment.