Zardnaar
Legend
Personally I am a big fan of 5E magic items mostly because it reminds me of AD&D or B/X. No more having to tie wealth to magic items.
However there is a certain amount of finesse to judging the items IMHO. There are certain items you do not want to give out but the 5E DMG kind of implies that at certain levels rare or legendary items are fine to hand out.
At the early levls RAW the DMG kind of assumes this.
1. +1
5. +2
11. +3
In terms of an items bonus and its rarity. Things like holy avengers are legendary and are more geared towards level 17+ IIRC. These are guidelines only and if the story makes sense to hand out a holy avenger at level 1 so be it. An event like that would be a sword in the stone type moment IMHO and might work better with a smaller group or 1 DM 1 player type thing. Or they oculd be well idden and be a reward for creative players who find them. Yesteday I had a player find a +3 intelligent sword hidden up a fireplace.
Now in general IMHO as a DM you should hand out defensive items over offensive items especially when items hit a +2 or +3 bonus. Also be careful handing out +2 and +3 great weapons and missile weapons due to the way they interact with feats such as great weapon master and sharp shooter.
Monster bonuses to hit also scale faster than monster ACs, put simple PCs do not need much of a bonus to hit things but a lot of monsters his hard so an AC bump is nice. Do not be to afraid to put things in such as a +2 shield if feats are being used. Sword and board looks a lot ore attractive if 1 PC is using Great Weapon Master or sharpshooter if the trade off is AC 18 vs 22. I would be more inclined to put in a magic shield over +1 plate.
You can also lower the expected level if the armor is not top of the range. Mechanically 5E rewards studded leather armor and plate armor so +2 or even +3 leather and chainmail is less of a problem vs studded leather and plate. Also medium armor with the default array tends to be a bit meh with the exception of classes like Barbarian who lack better options and are not to MAD vs something like a cleric. With decent rolled stats medium armor is a bit better IMHO especially for clerics.
Weapons also do not need to the best examples either. Players might like Rapiers, Longswords, Great Swords/Axes etc but one can put in magic short swords, daggers, spears, and polearms. I don't try and screw players over here but its a fine line between that and enabling the min maxers. A magic greatsword could be +0 with a better crit range or 1d6 splash damage to adjacent foes hit with it over a mechanical bonus to hit.
In general do not enable the big damage dealers more over other PCs that might want to deal damage. And by that I mean do not put in a +2 greatsword for the great weapon master to use while the valor bard is wandering around with a +1 generic weapon or a non magical weapon. I'm not saying don't put in a +2 great sword for the GWM whatever but if you do give the monk a staff of striking or the rogue a pair of nice magic weapons or put in a flametongue for the valor bard. If you enable a Sharpshooter/Great weapon combo with the right magic weapon do not be surprised if they start dealing the same amount of damage as the rest of the party put together or close to it.
Tailor the weapons a bit towards what the PCs are using within reason. A flame tongue short sword is going to cause less problems than a great sword while a +2 or 3 dagger, spear, staff etc is golden for a Monk and Rogues a +3 dagger is a lot better for a Rogue over a +1 rapier for example or perhaps a +2 rapier. You do not have to give them exactly what they want and if one is using prepublished adventures or older adventures using a longsword is a great idea (shield master and sentinel are great for sword+board types).
Not all classes are created equal either at all levels.Fighters at level 1-10 tend to be worse at combat than Rangers, Paladins and Barbarians with the exception of nova rounds while at level 11+ fighters start to deal more damage. Duel wielding is generally one of the weaker combat styles so giving out decent magic weapons there is also a bit safer- a pair of magical short swords won't hurt as much as a +1 hand crossbow.
Its also not all about the pluses either. Perhaps they are short of healing due to no cleric, no one taking the healer feat or oddball party composition (I have seen 3 arcanists in a 6 man party with 0 clerics/healers with Rogue, Barbarian and Paladin rounding out the 6).
Gauntlets of Ogre Power are also not as abusive this tie around due to the way dex/strength and the default array are used. More often that not they grant a +1 or +0 bonus to hit and damage and do not be to surprised if the Rogue or Cleric ends up with them. They are a great item for things like Bladelocks and other MAD classes like Paladins if you get a set early enough (LMoP cough cough).
And that is about it.
However there is a certain amount of finesse to judging the items IMHO. There are certain items you do not want to give out but the 5E DMG kind of implies that at certain levels rare or legendary items are fine to hand out.
At the early levls RAW the DMG kind of assumes this.
1. +1
5. +2
11. +3
In terms of an items bonus and its rarity. Things like holy avengers are legendary and are more geared towards level 17+ IIRC. These are guidelines only and if the story makes sense to hand out a holy avenger at level 1 so be it. An event like that would be a sword in the stone type moment IMHO and might work better with a smaller group or 1 DM 1 player type thing. Or they oculd be well idden and be a reward for creative players who find them. Yesteday I had a player find a +3 intelligent sword hidden up a fireplace.
Now in general IMHO as a DM you should hand out defensive items over offensive items especially when items hit a +2 or +3 bonus. Also be careful handing out +2 and +3 great weapons and missile weapons due to the way they interact with feats such as great weapon master and sharp shooter.
Monster bonuses to hit also scale faster than monster ACs, put simple PCs do not need much of a bonus to hit things but a lot of monsters his hard so an AC bump is nice. Do not be to afraid to put things in such as a +2 shield if feats are being used. Sword and board looks a lot ore attractive if 1 PC is using Great Weapon Master or sharpshooter if the trade off is AC 18 vs 22. I would be more inclined to put in a magic shield over +1 plate.
You can also lower the expected level if the armor is not top of the range. Mechanically 5E rewards studded leather armor and plate armor so +2 or even +3 leather and chainmail is less of a problem vs studded leather and plate. Also medium armor with the default array tends to be a bit meh with the exception of classes like Barbarian who lack better options and are not to MAD vs something like a cleric. With decent rolled stats medium armor is a bit better IMHO especially for clerics.
Weapons also do not need to the best examples either. Players might like Rapiers, Longswords, Great Swords/Axes etc but one can put in magic short swords, daggers, spears, and polearms. I don't try and screw players over here but its a fine line between that and enabling the min maxers. A magic greatsword could be +0 with a better crit range or 1d6 splash damage to adjacent foes hit with it over a mechanical bonus to hit.
In general do not enable the big damage dealers more over other PCs that might want to deal damage. And by that I mean do not put in a +2 greatsword for the great weapon master to use while the valor bard is wandering around with a +1 generic weapon or a non magical weapon. I'm not saying don't put in a +2 great sword for the GWM whatever but if you do give the monk a staff of striking or the rogue a pair of nice magic weapons or put in a flametongue for the valor bard. If you enable a Sharpshooter/Great weapon combo with the right magic weapon do not be surprised if they start dealing the same amount of damage as the rest of the party put together or close to it.
Tailor the weapons a bit towards what the PCs are using within reason. A flame tongue short sword is going to cause less problems than a great sword while a +2 or 3 dagger, spear, staff etc is golden for a Monk and Rogues a +3 dagger is a lot better for a Rogue over a +1 rapier for example or perhaps a +2 rapier. You do not have to give them exactly what they want and if one is using prepublished adventures or older adventures using a longsword is a great idea (shield master and sentinel are great for sword+board types).
Not all classes are created equal either at all levels.Fighters at level 1-10 tend to be worse at combat than Rangers, Paladins and Barbarians with the exception of nova rounds while at level 11+ fighters start to deal more damage. Duel wielding is generally one of the weaker combat styles so giving out decent magic weapons there is also a bit safer- a pair of magical short swords won't hurt as much as a +1 hand crossbow.
Its also not all about the pluses either. Perhaps they are short of healing due to no cleric, no one taking the healer feat or oddball party composition (I have seen 3 arcanists in a 6 man party with 0 clerics/healers with Rogue, Barbarian and Paladin rounding out the 6).
Gauntlets of Ogre Power are also not as abusive this tie around due to the way dex/strength and the default array are used. More often that not they grant a +1 or +0 bonus to hit and damage and do not be to surprised if the Rogue or Cleric ends up with them. They are a great item for things like Bladelocks and other MAD classes like Paladins if you get a set early enough (LMoP cough cough).
And that is about it.
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