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4 months ago ::
Feb 08, 2013 - 10:11PM
#21
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Date Joined:
Aug 31, 2009
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It's rediculous how hard it is get proper responses around here to incredibly simple questions with out people telling you you're doing something wrong, or answering with something incredibly unrelated. /rant
I've gotta agree with Malak that you kind of instigated it by being cryptic and having some kind of unclear agenda involving a bet. That's just what happens here on the Internets.
Anyway, I try to give out roughly one magic item per character per level. I don't like the 4/5 rule cause it leaves someone out. So by the end of 10 my players would have 10 items each, probably much like Matyrs.
Now it's my nature to try to figure out what this bet is... I'm assuming someone is asserting that "real world" treasure allocation is typically lower than what the DMG recommends. In my limited experience, this is the case. The other DMs I know see looking up and choosing items as a chore, and so do most of their players, so wish lists are nonexistant. This is often excused by calling it a "low magic" campaign, without really understanding how that's supposed to work (inherent bonuses and abundant alternative rewards).
Characters fall behind item-wise pretty quickly, and it would be a big problem if they didn't reboot campaigns so often (generally after 3-4 levels of play). The three DMs I know best IRL, assuming they kept up a campaign for all of heroic tier (never gonna happen), would probably end up with about 3, 5, and 7 items per character, respectively.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 09, 2013 - 10:14AM
#22
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Date Joined:
Jan 16, 2013
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For my group we have around 8 to 9 players at each session. Since there are so many players I tend to give out a little bit less in number of magic items, but like others have said they do, I also like to allow the magic items to scale/grow with the players.
For example: Our groups Ranger received a +1 longbow at 3rd level but as he's been leveling up it grows in power as he does. We play 3.5e and I like to use the Weapons of Legacy book to make weapons/armor/etc that are tailored towards the PCs character concepts and grow with them.
So by about level 10 each PC will have around 5 or 6 items for themselves, and they will probably have around another 5 or 6 group use items, and these aren't counting consumables like potions of cure lt/mod/ser wounds etc.
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4 months ago ::
Feb 10, 2013 - 9:53AM
#23
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Date Joined:
Oct 23, 2008
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Lvl 10 Sentinel Druid|Cleric
9 11 magic items and using the inherent enhancement bonuses from DM2. Most where purchased.
edit:
actually 11, but one is just magic chalk
IL8 Nightmare ward +2 (Hide armour)
IL7 boots of the fencing master
IL4 Battle staff +1 (quarterstaff)
IL4 Healer's Brooch +1
IL5 Bracers of Brachiation
IL4 viper belt - basilisk skin
IL1 eternal chalk (white)
IL5 Companion's Defender (on Taman - dire badger companion)
IL8 Sanctuary's Poise
IL5 Bag oh Holding (leather satchel)
IL7 Decanter of Endless Water
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4 months ago ::
Feb 10, 2013 - 11:36AM
#24
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Date Joined:
Aug 12, 2006
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Yeah, after reading the initial post my first thought, like others in this thread, was to point the OP to the treasure parcels in the DMG. Ask a simple question, get a simple answer.
Most of the games I've run in the past the PC's started higher than level 1, so I have generally followed the +1/0/-1 & gold rule, bumping up the number of gold if it was a smaller group (run a few games with only three players so I had to bump up their power level a bit to compensate). I would let my players pick what items they wanted at the beginning, so usually they picked items they liked that fit the build of their character...Because of this, as they gained levels I would usually just let them bump their items up an extra +1 when appropriate.
So, to answer the OP's question, my PC's would typically have at least 3-5 items each by level 10, depending on what level they started at, with each item being a higher level than they typically would be since my group's size was smaller than most groups.
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3 months ago ::
Feb 14, 2013 - 6:04AM
#25
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Date Joined:
Jan 15, 2012
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My campaign is only mid heroic (just shy of level 6), and in total I've handed out less than 2 magic items per character.
By the end of of heroic, I'd expect each character to have obtained 4~5 each.
In fairness, I'm running a Dark Sun campaign so there is inherent bonuses, so most of the magic items are arm/feet/head and the like, rather than the standard sword & armour.
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3 months ago ::
Feb 14, 2013 - 6:28AM
#26
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It seems like this shouldn't be very hard to address: if the PC's don't haven't gotten as much equipment in their adventures as others of a similar level are expected to have, then they'll just be more cautious about stronger monsters. If they've gotten better equipment than most other adventurers of a similar level, then they'll be more adventurous about stronger monsters.
You don't need to tailor what they are able to deal with to what you think they will try to deal with anyway, you just need to know whether they will evaluate what they try to deal with on whether they think they actually can.
A character sheet is a player's love letter to the DM. If someone wants to do something and they want to do it well, let them. Encourage them. Have fun with it. -Unknown
An adventure is a DM's love letter to the players. If the DM wants something to happen in the game, let it. Encourage the DM. Have fun with it. -Centauri I'd love for input as to what it should be rather than arguments against why I shouldn't have it at all. -lialwyn Best defense that I've read in favor of having alignment systems as an option
Spoiler:
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However, if some people are heavily benefiting from the inclusion of alignment, then it would behoove those that AREN'T to listen up and pay attention to how those benefits are being created and enjoyed, no? -YagamiFire
But equally important would be for those who do enjoy those benefits to entertain the possibility that other people do not value those benefits equally or, possibly, do not see them as benefits in the first place. -wrecan
That makes sense. However, it is not fair to continually attack those that benefit for being, somehow, deviant for deriving enjoyment from something that you cannot. Instead, alignment is continually attacked...it is demonized...and those that use it are lumped in with it.
I think there is more merit in a situation where someone says "This doesn't work! It's broken!" and the reply is "Actually it works fine for me. Have you considered your approach might be causing it?" than a situation where someone says "I use this system and the way I use it works really well!" and the back and forth is "No! It is a broken bad system!" because the former posits that improvement could be made...the latter only undermines the enjoyment of the person who is using alignment. -YagamiFire
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3 months ago ::
Feb 14, 2013 - 8:08AM
#27
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Date Joined:
Jun 19, 2004
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It seems like this shouldn't be very hard to address: if the PC's don't haven't gotten as much equipment in their adventures as others of a similar level are expected to have, then they'll just be more cautious about stronger monsters. If they've gotten better equipment than most other adventurers of a similar level, then they'll be more adventurous about stronger monsters.
You don't need to tailor what they are able to deal with to what you think they will try to deal with anyway, you just need to know whether they will evaluate what they try to deal with on whether they think they actually can.
One of the issues here is that if your players feel like / know they are getting less than expected they can be unhappy. Especially if the players need X + Y + Z to make their character "cool" or "powerful" for them. You can also run into the problem of the players feeling like they have to play in the kiddie pool because their toys aren't cool enough.
Anther thing about this issue is "up to date" gear at level. It isn't going to be something the player notices immediately that they have a -2 to hit because they are still using a longsword instead of a +2 longsword. They know they are taking the penalty, but the overall implications of just how big a difference that is in the long run may not be immediately apparent. The lack of noticing is even bigger when you look at the difference between a +1 weapon and a +3 weapon unless you want something that is only available at +3 (Reaper's Axe comes to mind).
The last big issue is if one player has a better toy than everyone else, or everyone has a cool toy but that one guy. Making sure you give them a good amount of loot (so they can take things the game is assuming they can take. Inherent bonuses can go a long way to fix this in low-magic settings), making sure what they are wearing is up to date (A Weapon/Armor/Neck shouldn't be more than 5 levels behind pretty much ever, other things are more flexible) and making sure they all have roughly the same level/amount of stuff are indeed important things to keep in mind.
Currently working on making a Dex based defender. Check it out hereSpoiler:
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Need a few pre-generated characters for a one-shot you are running? Want to get a baseline for what an effective build for a class you aren't familiar with? Check out the Pregen thread here
If ever you are interested what it sounds like to be at my table check out my blog and podcast here
Also, I've recently done an episode on "Refluffing". You can check that out here
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