D&D 5E Noticing a magic item

[GX.Sigma]

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"?

Doylist answer:

If you're just using it as an excuse to give the players a magical item, make it obviously magical in a way that they can't miss it.

If you want to reward attentiveness and critical thinking, give them some missable hints.

If you want to reward obsessive thoroughness, give them no hints.

Watsonian answer:

If the creator of the item wanted it to be difficult to notice, it should be difficult to notice. If not, not.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

If you place a magic item in the game as a DM, the thought process is you want one of the players to have it.

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.

 

[Maxperson]

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.

I do both. I will put some items in for PCs. I want them to have some cool goodies found during the course of the campaign that fits the PC concept. Most items, though, are not put into the game with the PCs in mind, and I won't place a PC intended goodie into a spot where it doesn't fit.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I don't know the new rules at all, I'm an old AD&D2e player coming back after a 2 decade break, so it could be that things have changed. But in old games I played the DM may well say ''he's got on really nice boots'' when he is talking about a perfectly normal, but well made, expensive pair of boots. I seem to recall quite a few magic items specifically looking 'nothing out of the ordinary' and at least one particular item we found looking distinctly shabby.

To my mind - and again the new rules may contradict me - this is how it should be. Otherwise what is the point of detect magic?

In the new rules detect magic and identify are not that important. By RAW handling an item tells you it is magical, and spending an hour playing with it identifies it automatically.

...yeah, that's not how I run it.

 

[RevelationMD]

In the new rules detect magic and identify are not that important. By RAW handling an item tells you it is magical, and spending an hour playing with it identifies it automatically.

...yeah, that's not how I run it.

Thanks for the clarification - and yep, can't say I'm a fan of the change.

 

[CapnZapp]

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

Could it be we misunderstand each other?

My players are still very keen on loot.

It's just that I don't make them work for actually identifying it.

They still fight monsters for their loot. We just save time by not playing out the examination of the corpses afterwards. I just assume they diligently search their fallen foes and find all the loot there is.

This I find is necessary especially in 5th edition where there is much less notable loot to be had.

In a 3e magic-heavy campaign I could see a "loot it or lose it" approach working, since everyone and their grandma would have at least a +1 dagger; since you would likely find something at least half the time you could argue spending the time would be worth it.

In 5e on the other hand, where you can easily browse through the belongings of the dead guys without finding anything magical four times out of five, I can't stomach spending all that time with so little gain.

So I simply tell them what's there. We spend the saved time on other things we find more fun.

But YMMV. Nothing wrong with turning every shoe. It's just not something we want to spend our time on.

 

[CapnZapp]

In the new rules detect magic and identify are not that important. By RAW handling an item tells you it is magical, and spending an hour playing with it identifies it automatically.

...yeah, that's not how I run it.

And that's fine. Ruling you need those spells, that is.

In the same vein, I hope you think it's fine if I tell you I simply present the items and their powers. No spells needed. No short rest needed.

Cheers

 

[Herobizkit]

If they chose to bury him, I'd have them somehow run into the grave dug up and have the corpse missing his boots, only to have them encounter the grave-robber enjoying his new spoils somewhere down the road...

 

[Rya.Reisender]

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.

I also want to note that it's just a corpse they came accross, not a defeated enemy. For defeated enemies I have a standard procedure for my group. I tell them all common equip they wear but when someone is wearing a key item I say "Monster X requires separate investigation". I don't do full autoloot because it can matter who investigates the corpse and I want to give the players a choice (even the choice to not investigate at all).

 

[Fanaelialae]

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.

That will be the case if you say, "You see a corpse wearing really nice boots." On the other hand, if you throw a few red herrings into the mix, it won't.

For example, "You see the corpse of a nondescript man lying dead in the road. His clothing is ripped and blood-stained, but you note that he seems to be wearing a nice pair of boots. A worn looking staff lies next to him. There is a scarred tree that juts from a collection of grey stones nearby that you think might have been a wall, long ago." It's not much extra work, but now you're rewarding the players for being able to separate the chaff from the wheat. They'll likely be immediately suspicious of an ambush and want to investigate the pile of stones. If they still remember the corpse and his boots after satisfying themselves that they're in no immediate danger, I'd say that 's worthy of a reward.

Certainly, this approach may distinguish scenarios where there is something to find from those where there isn't (because of the level of detail), but IMO that's a good thing. There are few things more annoying to me as a DM than the players spending 10 minutes investigating a room that contains nothing pertinent, and which I only put there for the sake of completeness. As long as you include sufficient red herrings, there is a challenge involved; picking up on and remembering the clues they are given.