Players choice of magic items

[Epametheus]

Most of the people I know (including myself) try to get permanent items when we can.

Every single spellcaster I've ever played has taken Craft Wands at some point or another, though.

 

[nameless]

Most players that I know want permanent magic items also, whether is be uses per day, always on, or at will.

The problem I've seen with limited or single-use items is that it's very tough to tell if they are needed. Not wanting to waste them, most people I've played with hold on to their limited use items past their useful life, because the "big threats" usually aren't clearly too threatening until it's almost too late. Drinking that potion of Cure Serious Wounds can only be done once, it had better save your life. Otherwise, wait for the cleric to come and heal you for free....

 

[ForceUser]

Most players that I know want permanent magic items also, whether is be uses per day, always on, or at will.

The problem I've seen with limited or single-use items is that it's very tough to tell if they are needed. Not wanting to waste them, most people I've played with hold on to their limited use items past their useful life, because the "big threats" usually aren't clearly too threatening until it's almost too late. Drinking that potion of Cure Serious Wounds can only be done once, it had better save your life. Otherwise, wait for the cleric to come and heal you for free....

For potions, absolutely. That's how the fighter who's overextended himself can get a quick heal while out of reach of the cleric. For wands, I find them to be the perfect downtime healing device. During a fight, you want a cleric or druid laying down the big heals. After the fight, have the ranger pull out his dinky wand of cure light wounds and start burning charges; let the healers reserve their heals for when it matters most. It takes a long time to burn through 50 charges on a wand. My cleric used the same wand of cure moderate wounds for three or four levels, and it only had about 25 charges when he found it.

 

[Saeviomagy]

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.

Did she then end up with significantly less treasure than she started with?

 

[Nifft]

I'm treating my player's permanent items as disposable -- using the Sunder rules, NPCs with Disintegrate, and making them roll saves for items when the PC rolls a 1 on a save.

Also, their patrons are more likely to lend them items than to give them items.

Eventually, they'll learn that their PCs are not just collections of items, and that friends are more valuable than loot. Or, they will suffer in power-gamer misery. Either way, I win! It's good to be the DM!

-- N

 

[Darklone]

Did she then end up with significantly less treasure than she started with?

Only partially. SPOILER, MY PCs DON'T READ:

Spoiler

At first yes. But the group distributes stuff rather well... considering how bad they work together in other respects, so she got more of the loot since most of the others couldn't use it as well. She and another PC in the party got some real bad mofo magic bows with build-in scrying device for the baddies... so the two of them got the most powerful magic weapon in the party but will be scryed on the whole time

SPOILER END.

 

[Li Shenron]

Definitely the prefer permanent items.

When they find single-use items they tend to keep the as long as possible because they are afraid to waste them, which in general means that they keep them until their effect is obsolete (like keeping a Sleep scroll until mid-high levels) and then just try to sell it for a few coins.

One notable exception is Wands. They generally give a feel that 50 charges is not so far from a permanent item, and as a matter of fact at least a third of a wand's charges goes easily wasted .

I have also seen (or played myself) some spellcasters scribing a lot of scrolls just to keep a backup of spells in case of emergency, but then use only a few of them.

 

[Jolly Giant]

I voted for "kill & loot NPCs", evil no-good scavengers that my PCs are!

Of course, they tend to just sell any charged or one-shot items they find, so I really would have liked to vote "prefer always-on items!" too...

 

[Rel]

I'm having a hard time selecting from the poll above because it varies a lot depending on the player and character. Without question, most of the players in our group have their eyes light up more for the permanent stuff than the expendable/charged items. But right now, only one is playing an arcane spellcaster and he is a total scroll whore. He is CONSTANTLY begging money from the other PC's so he can teleport to a major city where his guild is located and buying scrolls to use (albeit for the benefit of the entire party).

For myself, I have a notable penchant for Wonderous Items. I don't know exactly what it is but I'd rather find Gloves of Arrow Snaring, A Silver Raven or a Circlet of Persuasion than a +2 suit of armor any day of the week. Wonderous Items are just cool.

That said, my last character, a Halfling Rogue, was a total junkie for scrolls and potions. He had maxed out Use Magic Device and his Haversack became known in the party as "the Bag of Tricks". Before every adventure he would stock it full of low-cost items like Qualls Feather Tokens, Tanglefoot Bags, Alchemists Fire, Thunderstones, several potions of healing, at least a couple potions of Invisibility and a wide array of low level scrolls. The stuff he pulled out of this bag saved the party's bacon more times than I care to recall.

My next character will be different. I'm getting ready to start playing an AU game and my Verrik Mind Witch is going to be travelling very light. I don't see him as the pack-rat type and so he'll probably gravitate more toward the permanent items. But this will doubtlessly be dictated heavily by what sort of treasure we actually find.

 

[Rel]

Oops. Double post.