Magic items are finally rare !

[Aus_Snow]

But 3e isn't any different from any other edition of D&D thus far. And it isn't likely to be different in this regard than 4e. The only real difference between 3e and 1e or 2e in this area is that 3e told you what the assumptions the designers made were.

QFT.

It might have seemed that my statements regarding 3e implied their opposite regarding other editions. But nay!

Um, but no, I mean. I simply meant '3e is this way' not 'only 3e is this way.'

So yeah, I agree: they're all like that. As you say, 3e is more explicitly so.

 

[green slime]

I surely cannot imagine anyone in Arthurian legends, particularly the Knights of the Round Table, getting so good with their weapons that they would voluntarily strip off their armor before battle.

Then I suggest you reread your Arthurian legends.

 

[Storm Raven]

Then I suggest you reread your Arthurian legends.

Which version?

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

Responding mostly to the subject line... magic items were already rare. It's the Dungeon Master that makes them not. The entitlement rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide weaken the economics in game world design.

Indeed. Screw those players for wanting to get treasure! Screw those treasure tables and adventures for suggesting that they get it. Real role players adventure for half a loaf of moldy bread, up hill, both ways!

 

[Storm Raven]

Responding mostly to the subject line... magic items were already rare. It's the Dungeon Master that makes them not. The entitlement rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide weaken the economics in game world design.

In the standard version of D&D as published, magic items have never been rare. The volume of magic items provided in even the earliest 1e published modules was huge. The treasure tables in the 1e MM provided piles of magic items as the standard. The published version of D&D has always assumed that PCs would have lots of magic goodies.

 

[Quasqueton]

Dragon #189, January 1993, "Forum" letter:

Is it just me or is there a serious imbalance in the amount of treasure laying about in most of TSR's (sorry, guys) published adventures? For example, check out HHQ1 Fighter's Challenge, a new AD&D module that's designed for one character (preferrably a fighter, level 2-4). The adventure yields no less than three different pairs of magical boots to the tenacious treasure seeker! Oddly, the resourceful adventurer could also find two identical long swords useful against lycanthropes and shape-changers (a fairly rare item according to the treasure tables in the Dungeon Master's Guide), and many other magical treasures are conveniently placed to aid the questing warrior overcome specific obstacles and opponents that are later encountered.

[snip - many paragraphs]

Then there's the sheer volume of magic and monetary booty waiting to be won. Any single character that completes this module [snip] will have a magical and monetary treasure hoard that would make Monty Haul blush! And this from the same folk who discourage such rampant wealth distribution in other sources such as the DMG.

[snip - many paragraphs]

Back to the Fighter's Challenge. Any 4th-level character that completes this module, or even its main goal, will gain much more magic than seems reasonable. If the scenario's small town and its environs are typical of the rest of the realm, there could easily exist specialty shops that sell magic curios and weapons openly in the larger towns and cities. Magical items would be so plentiful, in fact, there could be many such shops---a practice the DMG specifically discourages.

[snip - remainder of the above paragraph]

These criticisms refer to Fighter's Challenge as an example only; my intent is not to single out the author or any one module. Rather, this module is indicative of an inherent design trend in most of TSR's products that dates back to the AD&D1 1st Edition game and that, alas, the AD&D 2nd Edition game failed to correct although the intent is clearly there.

Quasqueton