"Players" asking for in-game stuff

[Psion]

One of my players recently put up a wish list... a pretty tame one, really.

I already put one of the requested items in as a random treasure... and the party totally overlooked it (well, they knew it was there, after they detected magic, I told them they detected something in the roots of the dead flesh treant. But the totally walked away from it, assuming it was the evil magic that made the treant or something...)

Anyways, I really don't share the "you'll take what you get and like it" attitude some display here. The players will have to strive to find certain things, but it never hurts to ask, and sometimes I just don't have anything interesting to give a villain.

 

[Glyfair]

I haven't had this happen in any game I've run, but I've had it happen in games I play in. I agree with the sentiment that it depends on who asks and how they ask.

For example, a player who is having fun playing a wizard might comment he'd really like to have a staff of the archmagi someday. That's something that would be fun to work into the campaign at some point (at the appropriate level), so I might do it. Indeed, if mentioned early enough, I could foreshadow it a lot.

On the other hand, a min-max player who is just looking for the one magic item that let's his awesome go off, I'd probably go out of my way to make sure he doesn't get it. I'll encourage character development bits, but discourage metagame bits.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I like to ask the players what their goals are, and this includes the kind of stuf they'd like. I don't always give them that, but I give them a way to get it. Sometimes I give them something similar to what they want.

That's a 2E and 1E way of doing things, since the buy/swap/create of 3E didn't exist. It's carried over into my 3E games.

 

[D-rock]

It depends

If they are just trying to milk a magic item out of me, then I won't give it to them. If on the other had it is one of their goals as a character like building a castle, or saving the country form the orcs, I don't have any problem with them working to eventually find the item they are looking for.

 

[Romnipotent]

a player can ask me, I have no idea where to buy a +3 sword, maybe walmart! a Character can ask a Fence to find one, thats the easy way out so a finders fee later and some random time later theres something for them. If special risk was taken in getting the item the cost could be higher.

 

[Greylock]

Give them the items, just neglect to mention the curse attached

I've never had a cursed item dropped on me, and I don't think I'd like it if I did. Seems a bit low. Now, an item that comes with strings, or an item that's defective, OK. But most "cursed" items I've seen listed, such as some recent ones in Dragon, are just cold and cruel.

 

[Corinth]

I've had requests made of me before. Sometimes I grant them, and sometimes I don't; I reserve the right as the DM to deny such requests, and to fulfill them as I see fit should I decide to fulfill them at all. The group in my current game recently submitted some such requests, and I'm going to grant them- as the possible spoils to be won in the regional war that's about to break out.

 

[KB9JMQ]

Never had anyone outright ask for something.
They may mention that a particular item is cool and I might try to work one in if I can.
But I wouldn't just give it to them because they asked for it.

 

[Joshua Randall]

I don't understand the adversarial attitude (DM vs. players) being expressed here. The goal of the game is to have fun, right? If it will enhance the players' fun to possess a certain magic item, I think the DM should allow that to happen (in some sort of reasonable fashion, obviously).

If the players never get what they want, they end up frustrated and they stop having fun.

 

[JoeGKushner]

I have no problem with it.

In some cases, such as with some of the rarely used items like from the various Artifacts of the Ages series, it can help to throw some more unique items in the fray.

In other times, I tell 'em go buy 'em and that should take care of that.