D&D 5E Noticing a magic item

[iserith]

Let's say the group finds a corpse and that corpse is wearing a magic item, e.g. his shoes are magical. But nobody in the group mentions they wanna check out the stuff he is wearing. They might just end up giving the corpse a proper burial. Nobody used Detect Magic either. Would you as DM give them hints? Like "Something seems extraordinary about his clothes" or would you just be "Well if they don't want to search a dead body they have to live with not getting the magic item he is wearing"?

I always telegraph something notable when describing the environment. I mean, just look at the illustrations of the magical boots and slippers in the DMG - those things are notable. (I think I used to have those slippers when I was a kid and now I regret throwing them away.)

If the players don't choose to engage with the environment in a way that reveals the magical nature of those notable shoes, then that's on them. And it happens that way from time to time.

 

[Plaguescarred]

If the PCs don't check gears, no, i won't say its a magic item unless the description reveal something magical in itself i.e , unusually clean or shedding light etc..

nobody in the group mentions they wanna check out the stuff he is wearing

Does that really ever happen though?

IMX, usually dead bodies are almost looted before they even have time to touch the ground

 

[the Jester]

You don't search the body, you miss what it's wearing. Of course, if the shoes are glowing like the Sun, you'll notice that, but if you still don't search it... yeah, that's on you.

 

[Azurewraith]

They don't touch it/inspect it they lose it forever. I want to reward my players for taking time to explore

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

This is why some groups set up a SOP, standard operating procedure, for a lot of the mundane things that need to be done out of combat. Marching order, watch order, searching rooms or corpses, etc. This saves a lot of time not having to go through the same thing every single time and it makes it less likely to miss something that the DM wants them to find, like these shoes.

Though, considering how much rarer, and less required for success, magic items are in 5th Edition, routine searches could become less detailed and careful as the party continues to find nothing. After all, if your group has found nothing magical on the past 19 enemies, why would number 20 be any different, unless it happens to be a boss or sub-boss or the DM says something a little different about this one that catches the attention of the players to make them search more carefully? So yeah, it may be a little leading, but if there is something special or different about the enemy with the magic item, a DM should point it out, even if only to say the boots or belt or whatever seems to be of better quality or workmanship than the characters have previously seen on their enemies.

 

[Li Shenron]

Let's say the group finds a corpse and that corpse is wearing a magic item, e.g. his shoes are magical. But nobody in the group mentions they wanna check out the stuff he is wearing. They might just end up giving the corpse a proper burial. Nobody used Detect Magic either. Would you as DM give them hints? Like "Something seems extraordinary about his clothes" or would you just be "Well if they don't want to search a dead body they have to live with not getting the magic item he is wearing"?

I usually give hints by the appearance of items, but if they miss something it's not really a big deal, because eventually they'll find something else in next adventure. I keep an eye on the total amount of magical equipment throughout a campaign, if they have too much I'll slow down the treasure rate and viceversa.

 

[CapnZapp]

The problem with just giving players items or giving obvious hints is that they won't get rewarded for their actions. Player actions should matter and my players certainly have more fun when they get a reward because they played well rather than they just get an item because I decided it to be there.

Oh, you can be sure the "playing well" bit is handled.

I'm glad you and your players like playing out the looting phase of an encounter, but saying "The problem with just giving players items or giving obvious hints is that they won't get rewarded for their actions" is patently false.

Rest assured my players still need to play well and that their actions matter. There are other challenges in the game than "find the loot", you know.

 

[iserith]

I also think it's a good practice to plan to have the NPC or monster actually make use of the magic item in some way. If you give the villain slippers of spider climbing, have him or her walk up walls during the scene.

 

[thalmin]

I reason that if the shoes are obviously magical, you are likely to get jumped for your shoes. If you are well armed, you could still become a possible burglary target. But then, I do believe the characters have lives when they aren't adventuring. Even when we don't spend much game time on it.
But that's my game. ymmv

 

[S'mon]

Oh, you can be sure the "playing well" bit is handled.

I'm glad you and your players like playing out the looting phase of an encounter, but saying "The problem with just giving players items or giving obvious hints is that they won't get rewarded for their actions" is patently false.

Rest assured my players still need to play well and that their actions matter. There are other challenges in the game than "find the loot", you know.

If you're playing Dungeons & Dragons without 'find the loot' as part of the game, well that is quite a long way from the default norms (except for 4e), but it can certainly work, like in many D&D based computer games where you kill monsters and they drop glowing loot. I would suggest that having friendly NPCs reward/supply the PCs with gear is a good approach though, I use it in my 4e game and it gives a different tone from default D&D's loot-the-dungeon vibe.