D&D 5E (2024) Martial Magic Items Thoughts?

[jmartkdr2]

My own experience with 5e has been that most dms I've played with tailor loot to the party - so if I build a halberd-using fighter I'll get a magic halberd at some point.

Even then there's a little risk of getting only boring magic items like a simple +1, often because mechanically those are often better than more interesting grants-a-special-move weapons.

The second type like to randomize loot drops. This can lead to very mixed results especially if they don't give out a lot of treasure. It depends on the tables they use but longsword-heavy and scroll heavy tables seem like common occurrences.

I've heard of dms who try to run the game with no magic items but never actually experienced it.

 

[ECMO3]

You know I have always wonderd why so many monsters were only immune to non magical weapons. Well past the level that I thought that all martial classes would have them.

In 2024 that is not really a thing any more. Magic does not bypass any resistances. Something resistant to slashing is still going to be resistant to a +3 longsword.

To bypass resistance now you need different damage types. Pact of the Blade is the king of this with all the damage types you can choose from, but Monks doing at will Force damage and Truestrike to get Radiant as an option help too.

 

[ECMO3]

WotC product is full of them.

It depends on the product. Old 1E and 2E products are really full of them, on the other hand RORFM has very few.

Most of the WOTC adventures are in the middle somewhere.

 

[ECMO3]

My own experience with 5e has been that most dms I've played with tailor loot to the party - so if I build a halberd-using fighter I'll get a magic halberd at some point.

The second type like to randomize loot drops. This can lead to very mixed results especially if they don't give out a lot of treasure. It depends on the tables they use but longsword-heavy and scroll heavy tables seem like common occurrences.

I find these two styles reward different player styles. Players who optimize PCs around specific narrow builds (the GWM-PAM guy for example) tend to do well in the first example, while PCs who build diverse characters tend to do better with the second style.

 

[Zardnaar]

It depends on the product. Old 1E and 2E products are really full of them, on the other hand RORFM has very few.

Most of the WOTC adventures are in the middle somewhere.

5.5 ones have a few then

 

[EzekielRaiden]

This is what I call the one handed weapon advantage.

Interwebs do a lot of white room theory crafting.

In reality official adventures have a tendency for one handed weapons so dual wielding and great weapon are weaker than people think.

Otherwise DM dependent.

Okay, but...you see the issue here, right?

The game specifically supports folks specializing. It strongly encourages them to specialize, even, given only one subclass of one class gets more than one fighting style, not to mention the masteries thing.

So now your claim appears to be the much weaker claim that some weapons are included in most WotC adventures, but those weapons might be amazing, or they might be nearly useless, because the rules encourage you to specialize, but the treasure rewards punish specialization.

That's not nearly as much of a consolation as what you'd originally said, bolded for emphasis:

Online IRL it seems people hand out more than ENworld assumes.

WotC product is full of them.

Theres no assumptions for specific bonuses though.

I'm kinda old school in assigning them.

So, players can play the game exactly the way the rules are designed...and then treasure can just flat screw them over, with little or no ability to adjust until they gain a whole new level or the like.

 

[Zardnaar]

Okay, but...you see the issue here, right?

The game specifically supports folks specializing. It strongly encourages them to specialize, even, given only one subclass of one class gets more than one fighting style, not to mention the masteries thing.

So now your claim appears to be the much weaker claim that some weapons are included in most WotC adventures, but those weapons might be amazing, or they might be nearly useless, because the rules encourage you to specialize, but the treasure rewards punish specialization.

That's not nearly as much of a consolation as what you'd originally said, bolded for emphasis:

So, players can play the game exactly the way the rules are designed...and then treasure can just flat screw them over, with little or no ability to adjust until they gain a whole new level or the like.

Game makes no assumptions.

Players might like specialization.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Game makes no assumptions.

By being written rules, it necessarily does.

Players might like specialization.

The game literally directly rewards it. Someone who takes the Duelist fighting style cannot benefit from a magic two-handed weapon. Someone who takes Thrown Weapon Fighting gets nothing from a greatsword.

This isn't "players might like specialization". The game tells you to specialize. That's why we have Fighting Style feats in the first place.

 

[Silam]

It is kind of weird that magic armor and boots and whatnot magically resizes to fit every member of any height of any species…

But weapons are set in stone (well, in metal).

There is a dichotomy there… either armor should be fitted (and too bad if you ain’t a dwarf on the taller side, or a chubby human, or whatever, because that armor ain’t fitting you!) or else weapons should be more versatile too… e.g., maybe it should the scabbard or the quiver that gives the enhancement for the next minute after the weapon comes out of it, rather than the weapon itself. Or maybe you could get an enhancement bonus to attack/damage from anywhere (e.g., including from gloves) and the highest bonus from any source is the one that applies, whichever weapon you use.

Items should either be special and fit someone specific (as is often the case in real life) or else they should be generic sauce you can peanut butter onto any character. But doing it one way for armor and another way for weapons seems weird ‍

 

[CreamCloud0]

It is kind of weird that magic armor and boots and whatnot magically resizes to fit every member of any height of any species…

But weapons are set in stone (well, in metal).

There is a dichotomy there… either armor should be fitted (and too bad if you ain’t a dwarf on the taller side, or a chubby human, or whatever, because that armor ain’t fitting you!) or else weapons should be more versatile too… e.g., maybe it should the scabbard or the quiver that gives the enhancement for the next minute after the weapon comes out of it, rather than the weapon itself. Or maybe you could get an enhancement bonus to attack/damage from anywhere (e.g., including from gloves) and the highest bonus from any source is the one that applies, whichever weapon you use.

Items should either be special and fit someone specific (as is often the case in real life) or else they should be generic sauce you can peanut butter onto any character. But doing it one way for armor and another way for weapons seems weird ‍

or like, instead of a magic weapon itself you find a one-use magic patch that you can slap on any appropriate weapon to imbue it with that enhancement.