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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Iron Sheep" data-source="post: 1385715" data-attributes="member: 4965">I think you might find that the scarcity of magic that can be purchased and the unwillingness to use charged items are related.  In a low-magic game, any consumable item that cannot be easily replaced or recharged becomes an extremely limited resource, and so people will naturally be reluctant to use it.For example, a wand of sleep with a small number of charges will only be used if all of the caster's spells are gone and the front line fighters still need help, even if using the wand right at the start of an encounter might have been a more efficient use of resources.  Since the charges on the wand can't be replaced, the natural response is to save them for "emergencies" or "when they are really needed."  This sort of reasoning tends to lead to a situation where you have a 20th level mage who still has the wand of sleep because they eventually get to the point where they either they never need to use it, or its useless against whatever they are fighting, but they still hang on to it "just in case."If charged items are easily replaced (like potions of cure light wounds are), then the players will use them much more freely: after all it's only money (plus a little for the inconvenience of replacing them).This sort of reasoning may not be done at a conscious level, but I think it's the sort of thing that people do naturally when considering their options.Both my current players have told me that they feel like this with charged items. My game is not low-magic by a long shot, but the players have found themselves in situations where the nearest place they can buy magic is a long way away or inconvenient to get to, or they simply have a time constraint which prevents a quick trip to get more magic.  As a result, they've often expressed how much they prefer items without charges, because with charged items they continually have to justify to themselves whether or not they should be using them.  They'd much rather have a bag of tricks than an equivalently valued wand of summon monster.On the other hand, some people like having to make these decisions: the question of how you best overcome a given situation while using the least resources can be challenging and interesting.So as I see it, your options are: (a) make low-level wands, scrolls, etc easier to buy or easier to recharge, so the players no longer value them as irreplaceable, (b) make them more common as rewards/treasure, for the same reason, (c) keep doing what you are doing but acknowledge that your players are going to be reluctant to use the items, making the items more special as rewards and playing up the question of whether they should be used, (d) stop giving them out, and give low-power non-consumable items as rewards instead, (e) encourage magic item creation by the player characters, or allow them to recharge items easily themselves, or (f) some other option which I haven't thought of.Which path you take depends on what you and your players find most fun, and what fits best with the themes of your game.  I've not run a low magic game since back in 1st and 2nd edition days, so I really don't know what will work best.  Other people may have some ideas.Regards,Corran</blockquote>

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