D&D 5E Noticing a magic item

[iserith]

I think Detect Magic is still immensly helpful because it would give players the hint that a magic items is nearby. My group rarely uses it, but one time they used it and didn't leave the dungeon until it no longer detected anything magical.

According to magic item description you won't notice it by just looking at it, you need to handle it.

And I don't mind giving hints, hints can be great, but they can't be obvious. For example if I never describe what the corpses are wearing and then I suddenly say "He has a nice pair of boots" there is ZERO chance that they don't investigate them. So it's not really a challenge.

It's a challenge if they can succeed or fail based on their decisions - it's just not very difficult as you frame it. To be fair, I'm not sure how much difficulty you can wring out of such a situation or if it's worth worrying about it. It's still a challenge though since there is some chance the players do not choose to examine the corpse for loot, even if it approaches zero in your experience. That you believe there is zero chance they fail to investigate the corpse given hints could suggest that your description of the environment is lacking in some way since the corpse description "stands out" so much. This is something you could address and improve with little effort.

 

[epithet]

In my opinion, the possibility that the player characters might not notice a magic item/secret door/dishonest npc/etc. is what makes it significant when they do notice it. Even if a character has made that process somewhat automatic, for example by spending a feat on Observant and an attunement slot to equip the Sentinel Shield and throttling his movement to no more than half speed, that character has earned the perception and will remain aware of the fact that he might miss out on some of that if he had not gone all-in on maximum passive perception.

If your players get the idea that it doesn't matter whether they take the time to search for hidden secrets because you're just gonna clue them in anyway, I think it takes something significant away from the exploration pillar of the game.

 

[Sunseeker]

If nobody searched the room, I'd question what world I was living in and if I had perhaps temporarily stepped into a reality that lacked beta-waves.

That is to say, I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever EVER had a group fail to search a room. Provided that there was nothing preventing them from doing so of course.

The "hint" I would give people is: "So, nobody is searching the room/body?" If they still say "no" after that, then well, their loss.

 

[Azurewraith]

If nobody searched the room, I'd question what world I was living in and if I had perhaps temporarily stepped into a reality that lacked beta-waves.

That is to say, I've never, ever, ever, ever, ever EVER had a group fail to search a room. Provided that there was nothing preventing them from doing so of course.

The "hint" I would give people is: "So, nobody is searching the room/body?" If they still say "no" after that, then well, their loss.

My group very rarely search rooms over them saying "I glance around the room" thus missing anything in draws or other wise not in plain sight.

 

[Sunseeker]

My group very rarely search rooms over them saying "I glance around the room" thus missing anything in draws or other wise not in plain sight.

That's weird.

 

[Uchawi]

That isn't the only possible thought process in the matter.

My thought process in placing magic items into my campaigns, for example, has nothing at all to do with whether I want the players to have it or not. I do not think anything like "I'd like the party fighter to have a cool weapon, what do they use? A greatsword... alright, I'll put a nifty greatsword in this treasure for them to have."

I think something more along the lines of "Why is there a magical item here? What item best fits that reason for being present?" and then I put that item in the game - which means I'm more concerned with what an NPC/monster would intentionally keep on hand than what a player might like to have, and I have not predetermined whether the players will or won't end up with the item in their characters' possession.

Understood. Magic items have to exist for a reason along the same lines as mundane items. I just don't go out of my way to hide the intent or reason, unless it is by intention, e.g. multiple properties or powers that must be learned. I figured everyone is just commenting on how they deal with it, versus it being a universal approach.

 

[Azurewraith]

That's weird.

Spooked me at first to, now I just accept it in a similar way I accept ignorance from people

 

[Saeviomagy]

Do you just not use traps that aren't blatant or something?