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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guilt Puppy" data-source="post: 1376901" data-attributes="member: 6521">I've seen the same, and I tend to do the same making high-level characters (usually because a DM sets a max item cost which kind of enforces that, but through my own powergaming greediness too, I'll admit)That's one of the reasons I try to keep a rein on magic items -- every once in a while, PCs will have a magic item shop or stockpile open to them where they can get down and customize, but even then it will usually be "one item within this price range."The last campaign I ran (to completion, I might add <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> very proud of that), I think I had a grand total of around 12 magic items in the whole campaign (ended at 16th level or so). Now, the players were still generally close to the "treasure totals" (a bit above or below at certain times, but I tried to stick to it), but the magic items were generally bigger and better, and always had unique histories (both pre-game and during the game... it's not the +2 crossbow, it's Serengael, the crossbow bequeathed to them upon the death of an elven assassin they found mortally wounded in an alley) and I found that game balance held up just fine. Now, I'm always the sort to cater to the players to some degree, so it was made clear to them that if they wanted a certain item or ability, they could find it somewhere, if they were willing to go to the trouble... The Dwarven Defender on the flying carpet was something to be feared <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> (made him take a feat to maintain his stance while the carpet was moving, but he was happy, the character wasn't broken, the game went well.)Anyway, the short of it is, if you want players to think of magic items as more than just stat boosters, you have to set the tone. Granted, there are some players out there who will bestow names upon found items and imbue them with personality, but those players will get bored if their DM doesn't follow suit. How much will your party's wizard have gone through before he's capable of crafting a given item? How long will the party use it before they decide to sell it off? That much history should be visible upon every magic item your players see, or else your world is that much more geared toward stats and bonuses, and the players are blameless for following suit.Another benefit to a variety of magic items is, IME, that versatility of thought which I feel is misattributed to having a whole slew of magic items. When you've only got a limited number of powerful items available, you quite often have to get creative with their usage -- and there's a lot more passing around of items as well, which has the side effect of giving them a bit more identity... It's not owned by anyone, which means it doesn't get subsumed by their character sheet -- it's an object, and all the things that come with being an object.Further, using this method, I've yet to see any one item become completely old news. This may happen for certain items that are geared too perfectly for a given character (I have no problem with having a few of these, mind you, if said player really wants one), but so long as there are enough items of abnormal but broadly-applicable use, they'll all have their moments to shine, and they'll all see new uses as well. Remember that flying carpet mentioned earlier? Ever guess that would become an integral part of the door-bashing process? A great piece of sneaking equipment as well -- who needs Boots of Elvenkind when you don't have to walk, anyway? I could go off for a long time on how limitation breeds creativity, but you get the idea.</blockquote>

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