D&D 5E Magic Items found during the game: How do you handle the "oh look, this random dungeon just happens to have that sword my character wanted."

[delericho]

I haven't decided yet. I think what I'll do is that if there's a specific item they want then they can quest for it; otherwise, they'll get mostly-random items. I will skew the items at least a little towards the group, in that I'll avoid placing items they can't use, but I'll not go much beyond that.

(Slightly annoyingly, I only finally reached my preferred solution for 3e right at the end of my last-ever 3e campaign - where I would only ever give out 'interesting' items, and very deliberately would not place the Big Six items to be found, but I'd also give out considerably more treasure than WbL implied. So the PCs got a choice - keep what they found and so have numerically more but unoptimised stuff, or sell it and buy exactly what they wanted. But that only works if you can buy/sell reasonably easily, and for good or ill 5e has removed that bit of the setting.)

 

[ehenning]

If it's a home grown campaign, you can include the item in a major story arc. If it's an AP and you are rolling for random treasure, it's up to the Dice Gods, IMHO

 

[Warmaster Horus]

The gods work in mysterious ways.

D&D is myth brought to life, not reality. At least in my games.

 

[Coredump]

. So the PCs got a choice - keep what they found and so have numerically more but unoptimised stuff, or sell it and buy exactly what they wanted. But that only works if you can buy/sell reasonably easily, and for good or ill 5e has removed that bit of the setting.)

I think that is a misunderstanding...

Of course you can sell the magic items.... you just can't go to any town and walk into Ye Olde Magic Shoppe to trade in your 5 magic swords for magic plate mail. Its not a commodity.
But perhaps if they find a magic longsword and magic shield..... they can keep those, or if they gift the magic sword to a Baron they find out about a Dragon that is trying to collect all 5 shields made by a famous armourer. If he tracks down the Dragon, he may be able to trade the shield for the magic greatsword the Dragon also has. (Up to DM whether Dragon is evil or good, lawful or chaotic....)


Or the simpler version..... they need to track down someone with a magical longsword to buy from, and track down someone(s) willing to buy their magical sword and shield.....

Or some combination of the two..... Maybe they sell the shield to the dragon, and then buy the greatsword from someone.....

 

[delericho]

I think that is a misunderstanding...

Of course you can sell the magic items.... you just can't go to any town and walk into Ye Olde Magic Shoppe to trade in your 5 magic swords for magic plate mail. Its not a commodity.

Yep. Hence the key word: easily.

 

[Mercule]

I don't like seeing the dex-based fighter get screwed by published modules, so I'll do stuff like change Talon, +1 longsword into Talon, +1 rapier. I keep it pretty minimal, though; Hew is still an axe, even though no one in the group could (or would) use it.

If the players ever pulled their finds into meta-game conversation, I'd stop. As it is, changing something here or there isn't a big deal. I suspect that making my goal to avoid shorting any characters, rather than take a shopping list is probably why it works, for me. They rarely, if ever, get exactly what they wanted. They just never feel like they chose such a unique build that they're being punished.

 

[AverageCitizen]

I don't give out a ton of magic items, so I can tailor each one into the story. If a player wants a magic sword or bow it might be given to them as a gift from a powerful figure, they might find it as part of their destiny, or they might claim it from a powerful foe. They usually don't just find them in innocuous places.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I have a love hate relationship with this sort of thing.

on one hand, it makes me mad when every item is tailored, on the other hand when DMs are stingy and use it as an excuse it ruins the game even faster.

I had a DM once who really tried to push the 'no one buys or sells items' until we found a +2 shortsword. Nobody wanted it, the fighter had a frost longsword and our rogue was specialized in daggers. So our Rogue tried to sell it, and the DM said no one would buy it... so he pointed out the head of town guard fights with a short sword, and that a master work sword cost 300 gp... so a +2 sword should be worth at least that... that ended the game real quick when the DM decided that they not only would not buy it for what it was worth, but wouldn't buy it for 300... so the player offered it to him for 250, then 200...

 

[CM]

Just because the player knows an item exists and wants it doesn't mean the character does. If the DM works with the players to provide items that support their characters, it can simply be seen as fate or luck.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Almost never. I think in my 35 years as DM I've handed out a "tailored" magic item a number of times that would leave me with fingers left over...if I was counting on one hand.

I'm much more of a "simulationist" style DM, and I'm a...hmmmm...lets say "Merciful Killer-DM". I'll happily let the entire party die at the hands of bad dice rolls, but the players know that I didn't just up and "kill them on purpose". Magic items are the same way. If they find something they "can't use" (... ...), that's OK. If they find something that is perfect for PC #3, that's OK.

If a player starts to whine and complain about never finding a magic pole-arm for his Half-Orc Barbarian Great Weapon Master Polearm Master character... tough excrement! You know how many times I've rolled or seen a magic pole arm in 35 years of DM'ing? ...let me count... 5. A halberd, a glaive, two bardiche, and one "polearm" (basic D&D just had "Polearm"; not specific types). Moral of that story? Don't try and build expectations of magic/items into your character concept. It's the same as piling up tens of thousands of dollars in debt and "planning on winning the lotto" to pay it all off. Happens sometimes to some people... but you shouldn't plan on it happening to you.

^_^

Paul L. Ming