Players choice of magic items

[Darklone]

How do your players like it, do they prefer to gather a lot of permanent magic items or do they like to have a nice one shot array of wands, potions and scrolls with them?

I noticed that my players prefer permanent magical items (in the rare circumstance that they can buy them) to items with charges, even though they were more than once in a situation where burning their whole reserves of wands and scrolls and other charged items saved their *****. Nearly every new PC coming into the group would have prefered to pick wondrous items with permanent effect only instead of nice things like Boots of speed, necklaces of fireball or other goodies.

I "forced" one PC (bribed her) to pick a nice collection of use-limited things... next big battle, she saved the group by wasting nearly everything in a baaaad situation where the group would have probably been annihilated otherwise. Did the players learn something? No.

How do your players do that?

 

[diaglo]

my players prefer to use whatever items they can find, make, steal, or take.

magic or mundane.

they are resourceful that way.

 

[Djeta Thernadier]

As a player, I prefer a mix of both. We find some permanent items (rings of protection etc.) and the occasional wand or scroll or potion.

I think it's slightly more exciting finding the wands etc. but in the long run, both are good.

 

[Thanee]

I voted for the "always on" stuff, but, of course, everyone is happy to find potions or wands with curative magic imbued.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Altalazar]

Permanent items are always better than one-shot or charged - that is just a given. But players will take what they can get.

 

[Bendris Noulg]

Group survey says... My group prefers the "always on" items; magic weapons, circlets of mental defense, etc., unless playing spellcasters (and there's only one of them); although herbal healing salves are a common favorite (no divine casters in the group and the psychic's healing ability isn't quite the best).

 

[Wombat]

My players prefer the "always on" magic items, but they are omnivorous in their magical consumption

 

[Darklone]

1- 23 -7. Wow.

Guess I should have split up this thread into different power levels... low levels, mid levels, high levels... Since I can't really imagine high level dudes without a huge array of permanent items.

But I'm still a little bit surprised how clear the result seems to be.

 

[Nifft]

My players get a lot more excited about their permanent items, but the choices they made in their Feats is telling:

- Wiz/Loremaster: Craft Wand
- Wiz/Eldrich Knight: Craft Arms & Armor

So, in terms of potential to actually make stuff, they're evenly split.

-- N

 

[ForceUser]

Stat-buffing items are far and away the most sought-after magic gear among my circle of D&D pals. Fighters want more Str & Con, rogues more Dex & Con, priests more Wis & Con, and arcane casters more (you guessed it) Int/Cha & Con. In fact, I'd say that after a primary stat-buffing item, a Con item is THE most sought after piece of magical gear.

After that, we gravitate toward the usual array of ever-in-demand magic weapons, armor, resistance items, and movement-buffing items. We tend to be pragmatic in our magic item choices; and tend toward gear with less flavor and frills and more hard, number-enhancing enchantments. It often falls to the DMs to inject interesting - if less-than-optimized - magical equipment, because players with craft feats go for the above time and time again.

Although quite secondary, wands and scrolls of healing magic are also in demand.