DM in need of weapon/lvl aid [Archive] - Wizards Community

DM in need of weapon/lvl aid [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
eagleye
10-12-05, 09:22 AM I am currently DMing a campaign that's going pretty well and in which I hope to go from level 1 to 20. I have one problem: I have no idea how to subtely upgrade the power level on the equipment. My four players are currently level 1, with normal, non-magical weapons and armor. What are the options for me to provide them magical weapons once they go up in level. For instance what equipment should a level 3 party have? All +1 weapons and some bracers +2 this or that atribute? And a level 5 party, or a level 7 party? Is there a general rule for this, without having to calculate the normal amount of gold such a party should have, and converting the gold to equipment?
Blaze_the_Dragon
10-12-05, 09:52 AM As a DM, I think you should give them the money from random encounters, the charts are all there and they can provide the Players with a wide varity of treasure that they can divide amoungs themselves.

The players also have access to Blacksmiths, and Wizards Guilds, both of which will provide you with magical items on an order basis. That way with the random treasure you get a perfect mix of random and player chosen weapons.

If your starting of at a higher lvl, use the DMG, It's got a great chart to tell you how much gold you should give them, limit the amount of gold they can spend on one item to 1/10th there total gold for there lvl, That's jsut what I do to avoid some guy buying a vorpral sword and then not being able to afford any clothing.
primemover003
10-12-05, 10:00 AM The DMG has a table of guidelines for expected PC wealth per level. Their total equipment & treasure should be near those guides. So a 3rd level PC usually has about 2,700gp worth of treasure and gear.
White_Wizard
10-12-05, 10:26 AM Firs'DMing? No problem! Yours is a concern for everyone who wants his/her campaign to go well from the start to it's very ending.
You should follow carefully the DMG guidelines if you are not sure about what kind of magic items your PCs should have. But, I think, a player should be rewarded when he/she plays a character from the beginning. So, given the standard party of four adventurers (a fighter, a rogue and two spellcasters, one divine and one arcane - which is an all-covering example), you could hide a +1 longsword in the dungeon, maybe with some riddle-triggered secret passage leading to the magic weapon or sealed under a trap door made of steel and weighting so much that only a Strength check CD 28 could lift it up (thus forcing an entire party of firsties to cooperate to reach the magic item). A wand of magic missile with 3 or 4 charges left could be well appreciated by the arcane spellcaster (wands are items with charges, meaning that every wand costs in proportion to it's left charges, thus giving wands a wide range of costs). Try to think to Quaal's feathers which are low-price and potentially useful, but often require clever and creative use from the players. A pair of battered elven boots, providing only a +2 bonus on Move Silently checks should be right for the rogue or the ranger (average cost of 1000 gp, so it should fit better for a 2nd level).
There is a huge variety of potions to find in a loot bag: with a cost of 50 gp a potion of jump is a nice magic item to give to your PCs and they will be happy to have their barbarian to jump across the 25foot wide chasm with an end of a rope ready to be tied somewhere for a safe, jumpless crossing.

I think that PCs that make it from 1st to higher levels, should gain a slightly higher magic items value. It is right especially when some other player steps in at 5th level and has the same equipment as the others: it isn't fair. The party fought hardly to gain the right to hold their magic items, while the new player had them simply picking them from a list: better choice, no challenge... Players get angry for that. Always.
q'afuu
10-12-05, 11:23 AM The DMG has a table of guidelines for expected PC wealth per level. Their total equipment & treasure should be near those guides. So a 3rd level PC usually has about 2,700gp worth of treasure and gear. Really, that's *not* what you should do. That table should only be used for character creation purposes, to determine starting wealth at higher levels. The PCs should get a certain amount of money over the course of a level, but what they do with that is up to them. Consequently, whether they end up near the numbers on that table depends on how they spent their money. The table presumes PCs spend about 10% of their wealth on stuff they use up, and the rest on stuff they own, so if you want a simple way of calculating how much they should get during a level you can base it on that table instead of figuring out the more intricate guidelines. Just subtract the wealth they should have at the level they are according to the table from the wealth they should have next level and add 10%.
StormCrow42
10-12-05, 12:32 PM There is actually a discussion on treasure values per encounter/level and character wealth on page 54 of the DMG (the "sidebar" on the bottom of the page). I recommend carefully reading that, along with a close look at the rest of the treasure section of the DMG to get a feel for D&D's assumptions regarding treasure. The wealth per level table on page 135 (table 5-1) is based on the guidelines discussed in that sidebar. It is somewhat possible to get a feel for what kind of treasure characters should have by remembering that it is more efficent for characters to gain several small bonuses rather than one large one. So a lot of +1 items rather than a few +2 or +3 items.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
eagleye 10-12-05, 09:22 AM	I am currently DMing a campaign that's going pretty well and in which I hope to go from level 1 to 20. I have one problem: I have no idea how to subtely upgrade the power level on the equipment. My four players are currently level 1, with normal, non-magical weapons and armor. What are the options for me to provide them magical weapons once they go up in level. For instance what equipment should a level 3 party have? All +1 weapons and some bracers +2 this or that atribute? And a level 5 party, or a level 7 party? Is there a general rule for this, without having to calculate the normal amount of gold such a party should have, and converting the gold to equipment?
Blaze_the_Dragon 10-12-05, 09:52 AM	As a DM, I think you should give them the money from random encounters, the charts are all there and they can provide the Players with a wide varity of treasure that they can divide amoungs themselves. The players also have access to Blacksmiths, and Wizards Guilds, both of which will provide you with magical items on an order basis. That way with the random treasure you get a perfect mix of random and player chosen weapons. If your starting of at a higher lvl, use the DMG, It's got a great chart to tell you how much gold you should give them, limit the amount of gold they can spend on one item to 1/10th there total gold for there lvl, That's jsut what I do to avoid some guy buying a vorpral sword and then not being able to afford any clothing.
primemover003 10-12-05, 10:00 AM	The DMG has a table of guidelines for expected PC wealth per level. Their total equipment & treasure should be near those guides. So a 3rd level PC usually has about 2,700gp worth of treasure and gear.
White_Wizard 10-12-05, 10:26 AM	Firs'DMing? No problem! Yours is a concern for everyone who wants his/her campaign to go well from the start to it's very ending. You should follow carefully the DMG guidelines if you are not sure about what kind of magic items your PCs should have. But, I think, a player should be rewarded when he/she plays a character from the beginning. So, given the standard party of four adventurers (a fighter, a rogue and two spellcasters, one divine and one arcane - which is an all-covering example), you could hide a +1 longsword in the dungeon, maybe with some riddle-triggered secret passage leading to the magic weapon or sealed under a trap door made of steel and weighting so much that only a Strength check CD 28 could lift it up (thus forcing an entire party of firsties to cooperate to reach the magic item). A wand of magic missile with 3 or 4 charges left could be well appreciated by the arcane spellcaster (wands are items with charges, meaning that every wand costs in proportion to it's left charges, thus giving wands a wide range of costs). Try to think to Quaal's feathers which are low-price and potentially useful, but often require clever and creative use from the players. A pair of battered elven boots, providing only a +2 bonus on Move Silently checks should be right for the rogue or the ranger (average cost of 1000 gp, so it should fit better for a 2nd level). There is a huge variety of potions to find in a loot bag: with a cost of 50 gp a potion of jump is a nice magic item to give to your PCs and they will be happy to have their barbarian to jump across the 25foot wide chasm with an end of a rope ready to be tied somewhere for a safe, jumpless crossing. I think that PCs that make it from 1st to higher levels, should gain a slightly higher magic items value. It is right especially when some other player steps in at 5th level and has the same equipment as the others: it isn't fair. The party fought hardly to gain the right to hold their magic items, while the new player had them simply picking them from a list: better choice, no challenge... Players get angry for that. Always.
q'afuu 10-12-05, 11:23 AM	The DMG has a table of guidelines for expected PC wealth per level. Their total equipment & treasure should be near those guides. So a 3rd level PC usually has about 2,700gp worth of treasure and gear. Really, that's not what you should do. That table should only be used for character creation purposes, to determine starting wealth at higher levels. The PCs should get a certain amount of money over the course of a level, but what they do with that is up to them. Consequently, whether they end up near the numbers on that table depends on how they spent their money. The table presumes PCs spend about 10% of their wealth on stuff they use up, and the rest on stuff they own, so if you want a simple way of calculating how much they should get during a level you can base it on that table instead of figuring out the more intricate guidelines. Just subtract the wealth they should have at the level they are according to the table from the wealth they should have next level and add 10%.
StormCrow42 10-12-05, 12:32 PM	There is actually a discussion on treasure values per encounter/level and character wealth on page 54 of the DMG (the "sidebar" on the bottom of the page). I recommend carefully reading that, along with a close look at the rest of the treasure section of the DMG to get a feel for D&D's assumptions regarding treasure. The wealth per level table on page 135 (table 5-1) is based on the guidelines discussed in that sidebar. It is somewhat possible to get a feel for what kind of treasure characters should have by remembering that it is more efficent for characters to gain several small bonuses rather than one large one. So a lot of +1 items rather than a few +2 or +3 items.