Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 DarthMacho Mar 15, 2015 7:13:45	Hello, I'm about to kick off my first 5e campaign, and I'm wondering something about the power of magic items and when it would be  an appropriate time to start giving them as rewards. The example I was thinking of was the following situation:   I'm considering planting a Wand of Magic Missles on a drow that is supposed to be the boss of the Level 1 dungeon that was the strongest hook to kick off our campaign. Seeing how there is a pretty good chance that the party will find and pick up the item going in to Level 2, I wanted to ask opinions if this was too soon to give out an item of this caliber? My concerns are that it would make things too easy for the party or even worse, imbalance the party so that the character that possesses the item will be stronger than the other members. My reasoning is that with the potential for up to 7 charges per day, being able to fire off this weapon at its full charge makes it a Level 7 spell. Is that a bad idea for a Level 2 character to weild such power? Sure it's only a one shot at that power level, but not only will it regain all or a lot of that power agian the next day will not only make the character too strong, but anxious to stop for extended rests at every opportunity in order to recharge it. Should I hold out until the party reaches a higher level? Should I give more items of a similar nature so the party is balanced?   I'd appreciate any opinions on this situation. Thank you!
#2 AaronOfBarbaria Mar 15, 2015 12:18:52	Some info from the DMG: Wand of magic missiles is on magic item table F. The random treasure hoard table for CR 0-4 has a 12% chance of a result that is 1d4 items from magic item table F. Since we know those details, we can say that a wand of magic missiles is okay to give out as treasure if the party has faced an enemy of CR 0-4 that has treasure.   My advice is to not be overly concerned with balance of magic items unless you are handing them out far more often than the DMG suggests - the ones that really alter balance of the characters require attunement, and that has a hard cap specifically to maintain the balance.   It's okay to feel it out: give the party some treasures, and if they seem like they are not enjoying having that power relative to the challenges they encounter (note that I am saying check whether they are having fun with encounters being easier or not, which is distinctly different from checking whether encounters have been made easier - ramping up the difficulty to perfectly match their increase in power is the same effect as having never given them any power boost to begin with) then you can slowly and deliberately increase the challenges before their characters until they are back to enjoying the level of challenge.
#3 Barky Mar 15, 2015 13:19:46	Personally, it feels a little heavy for 1st/2nd level PCs. When I last DM'ed (a very long time ago), I "Monty Hauled" a campaign to death, so I'm very skittish about handing out too many magic items.   Your own post suggests that you have reservations as well. Don't be afraid to trust your instincts.   It really depends entirely on whether or not your players have enough firepower for the encounters you're throwing at them. The real goal is to make challenging & fun encounters. Constant no-win scenarios against underpowered PCs are joyless, and endless curb-stomp battles where the players are easily trouncing the opposition are equally joyless.   If your players are getting trounced, go ahead and give them the wand. If they are doing the stomping, give harder encounters and hold off on that wand.
#4 CCS Mar 15, 2015 14:21:44	Eh, in one game (not 5e) we had the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords at lv1. The world seems to have kept spinning..... I wouldn't worry about giving out the wand. If you think this'll be cool, do it. If you later decide it was too much? Well, then you can add to encounters to "soak up" the effects. Or you can have the owner be the target of thieves, or it just fails to recharge one day & crumbles to ash, or.......
#5 Coredump00 Mar 15, 2015 14:31:05	I would hold off...  1st level magic seems really early for 5E.  And the MM wand can be very encounter breaking.  A 1st level wizard can cast 2 MMs, at second level cast 3, this wand can cast 7.  Plus, as  you mentioned, using 6 charges (to be safe) allows for 28hp that always hits.  That can do quite a number on a lot of low level encounters. (granted, only once per day or two)   Its always easier to increas the magic rate, then to decrease it.   OTOH, if you want to give out more magic, make up some fun stuff.  Give them an amulet that will magically clean their armor 1 per day. Or a tankard that refills with Ale 5 times a day. Or.... fun stuff.
#6 WanderingBard Mar 15, 2015 14:50:33	I just give uncommons to my players rn, level 5. I usually tweak them a bit if I think they are too strong. I.E The magic missle wand I planted on a drow slave master had 7 charges of a first level magic missile spell. Also wands that recharge have a chance of being destroyed if you use up all their charge. So far I've given them in 2 sessions A mariner cloth armor 6x water breathing potions (they bought 5 of them from a wandering merchant) 1 love potion (Wtf...bought it from the merchant)   1 Bag of Holding 2x minor health potions 1x Magic Missle Wand (non-rechargable) 1x Sentient longsword: Oathsworn +1 that scales with the owner. 1d6+1 (+1d6 against chaotic evil) The next session I plan to give them 1x admantium half plate 1x (homebrew) Spider Fang Greataxe +1 (attunement/ cursed) 1d12+1 (Sticks to users hands once attuned, you cannot remove your hands off the weapon trollololol) 1x Staff of the Web +1 (Rechargeable 3 charges of Web cast, spellcasting focus) 1x Repentance (homebrew) +1 Warhammer (1 charge, can destroy any non-artifact/legendary magic item, if used this item becomes mundane until 1d6+1 days pass) 1d6 extra damage to magical constructs) As you can see, I'm giving a ton of magic items, however, I usually so far leaned on giving utility based items, or limited use items, suc as potions, water breathing items. The next session will be a boss fight so I plan to reward them with a lot of the strong enemies gear. However, the balance of my game is slightly different then yours most likely because I tend to go overkill on the enemy difficulties because anything short of that my players manage to somehow kill really easily. I.e I like using magic items as a way for the players to have utility to situations rather than straight out damage.
#7 DarthMacho Mar 15, 2015 15:14:38	All of the advice so far has been really helpful. I think I will hold off on the wand and substitute a spell scroll and see how things go, and maybe plant the wand in a later hook, targeted for a higher level. I have a paricular player in mind that will love this item, so I'll definitely fit it in somewhere. I've also decided that I want all the members of the party to receive their first magic item at the same time, as a reward rather than finding them, at around level 3. I'm really looking forward to this, since, like the wand, I have an item in mind for each of them. I can't wait!   Thanks for the replies!
#8 Barky Mar 15, 2015 15:51:43	Coredump00 wrote:
#9 grendel111111 Mar 15, 2015 15:57:16	Make it a necklace of magic missiles. Like a necklace of fireballs, but each bead is a magic missile, it gives them a limited number of uses so that even if it is broken 3-6 uses later it's gone.
#10 Onelostroad Mar 15, 2015 21:16:39	grendel111111 wrote:
(Reply to #10) Coredump00	Onelostroad wrote:
(Reply to #11) grendel111111	Coredump00 wrote:
(Reply to #10) DarthMacho	Onelostroad wrote: