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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 7:02AM
#31
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Date Joined:
Dec 12, 2011
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DMG.
Magic items shouldn't be a commodity that PCs require to maintain balance or feel entitled to--they should be fun rewards and/or plot points.
Which has exactly squat to do with where they're found in the books.
Well, if magical items are not part of the expected baseline for chracter balance and it's possible to run a game without their inclusion, then it makes sense for them not to be in the PHB. Not only does that free up a good deal of space in the PHB for more player resources, it also allows DMs to have the option to keep magic items in the realm of "mystery and awe" instead commonplace and mundane should they choose.
They should be in the PHB for the same reason the spells and class and race abilities and every other piece of equipment the PCs have is there; there will generally be multiple PHBs floating around a table, but usually only one DMG. If a player needs to look up something his character can do, it'll be a lot easier for him to do so if he doesn't have to ask the DM for his book in the middle of whatever, or make the DM stop and read it to him. He can easily look it up between turns, or while another player is doing his thing.
However, if magic items aren't necessary for the balancing of the game, they're not required to be a player resource or for players to have a crap-tonne of them (potentially requiring frequent reference to be less necessary). Inclusion in the PHB, again, also causes the exclusion of other potentional options for players--be that more races, classes, powers/spells, themes, backgrounds, feats, combat options, playing advices, etc.
Also, asking the DM (or whoever else that may have it) to hand over the DMG is no more disruptive than asking to pass the Spell Compendium (or other resource) for asking to borrow more dice to roll your sneak attack, spell/power damage or whatever. While the goal of trying to minimize the amount of books necessary for a player to reference in-game is a noble goal, trying to keep it to one book, or even to books that there will always be multiples of, is something of an object lesson in futility as splatbooks will make a quick death of that.
There's also the 'if a player wants to make a magic item, he'll need to know what it is he can make' thing as well.
As the ability for PCs to craft magic items looks like it may be entirely optional, so that's not a strong argument for putting them in the PHB.
EDIT: WotC, please replace your forum software with something that doesn't suck.
Playtest or get off the playtest boards.
---
I want justice for the voice that can't be heard
Vindication for every suffering and hurt
Let retribution hold dominion over earth
--Nemesis, VNV Nation
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 7:10AM
#32
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Should WotC decide to put the magic items in the PHB, the first thing I'll do as DM is change all the numbers and names and abilities so the information is useless, or, in fact, lethally misleading. Because I hate players, and want them to fail and quit my game so I can't play anymore. Or because the feeling of discovery is quite possibly the most enjoyable part of the game for me and my friends. One or the other.
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 7:26AM
#33
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Date Joined:
Mar 22, 2008
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I did a search and couldn't find a mention of this so here goes. What book do you think magic items should be in. I prefer them in the DMG. I like to surprise the players. I felt 4th got away from that.
Definately the DMG.
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 9:00AM
#34
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Date Joined:
Jan 12, 2012
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I would like to play a low magic game where weapons are mysterious and unpurchasable.
Therefore I would like the items to go in the DMG.
DISCLAIMER: I never played 4ed, so I may misunderstand some of the rules.
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 9:15AM
#35
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Date Joined:
Aug 11, 2006
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> The first might be to have common items, the very basic magic
> items in the PHB.
>
> Meanwhile, anything uncommon or rare could be in the DMG
I agree with Salla's viewpoint: putting things that the players will end up using (regardless of how they're obtained) in the DMG is a bad idea for logistical reasons, and all of the nostalgia in the world doesn't change that.
But besides that point, the one thing I'd really want is for the collectibles-rarity approach (and terminology) to die in a fire.
That won't happen in Next, by the look of things. Maybe in The One After That...
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 9:25AM
#36
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Date Joined:
May 18, 2002
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However, as you further mentioned, in practice it's rather pointless. If a player wants to see a magic item list, he's either gonna buy the DMG or flip through it at the bookstore, whether or not the DM wants him to see them.
Let's not pretend, for any amount of time, that the DMG is a sacred tome of forbidden lore.
The DMG is the appropriate place for magical swag, simply because it's the appropriate place for describing the placement and purpose any other adventuring rewards.
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 9:26AM
#37
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DMG
Magic items should be lost, historic relics, found as a by product of adventuring in exotic locales. At least by default. If your group prefers the magic mart model then by all means, put them up for sale in every mercantile and bakery.
Magic items should never be part of anyone's character concept, and should not be required by the math to play the game. You should feel grateful for finding that tuning fork of ear-splitting thunder, no matter what character you have envisioned.
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 9:39AM
#38
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DMG.
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 9:47AM
#39
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2009
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I would like to play a low magic game where weapons are mysterious and unpurchasable.
Therefore I would like the items to go in the DMG.
So, I guess everyone gets to be a monk?
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13 months ago ::
May 23, 2012 - 10:01AM
#40
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Date Joined:
Mar 22, 2008
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I would like to play a low magic game where weapons are mysterious and unpurchasable.
Therefore I would like the items to go in the DMG.
So, I guess everyone gets to be a monk?
You can purchase monks 
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