User blog:Dragokar62/Magic Items and When to Give Them Out

Magic Items

Since the very first edition of Dungeons & Dragons, this has been the question Dungeon Masters have wrestled with the most. When do I start giving magic items to my players and just which ones should I avoid giving them? Over the years, I watched campaigns get broken with just one simple magic item the DM thought would be just fine to give a player. Of course, the player is a crafty son-of-a-gun and always seems to find a way to take a simple, relatively minor magic item and turn it into a weapon of mass destruction. This article is about magic items and when to give them out.

My general rule about when to hand out magic items has always been that a player won’t see a +1 weapon or armor until around 4th level. This is when the monsters get a bit tougher and they need that little boost to keep themselves alive. As for other magic items, I tend to hold off on most until they get a bit higher and truly need them. The exception to this rule is with potions and scrolls, but even with them, I make sure to choose the ones that won’t alter the balance of the game. Potions of Healing won’t hurt anything when it comes to game play, but a Potion of Giant Strength can have a huge impact. Potions of Invisibility are another that I only allow sparingly.

Scrolls should be of the player’s casting level or they won’t even be able to use them, which is frustrating to the player, but even then, choose wisely. A Scroll of Hold Monster can be just as devastating when the player can not only cast it, but use the scroll to hold another. It can become a bit difficult to deal with as a DM if they have too much magic at their disposal. To my way of viewing it, there is no such things as a “minor magic item”. All magic items have a consequence when handed out and the DM needs to take that into consideration when placing something in a treasure hoard for them to find. Think about how it can be used by a player. Think about how it could unhinge your campaign if used against your final boss, or even a lesser boss. I would try to find utility items that have no ability to cause damage to a monster or a player, but do things that help the party’s life be a little easier.

I usually try to introduce some magic items at around 5th or 6th level when I can. This is more of a test of the players than it is a reward from the DM. I don’t figure armor and weapons into this category, because those are tools of the trade to me, and the party really does need those things, plus they can be easily regulated. The one thing that should be handed out very rarely are Protection items. The reason for this is, it moves the characters into a status that creates difficulties on the DM. +1 to armor class and +1 to all saving throws doesn’t really seem to make much of a difference to some, but take a player with a higher armor class and add that +1 and it just got harder to hit them. Here is where it can be dicey...a Barbarian with Unarmored Defense. They have a 20 Dexterity, a 20 Constitution. At this stage, they have a 20 Armor class and that’s pretty good. That’s platemail and shield armor class. Now they find Bracers of Defense, which adds a +2 to armor class and a +1 Ring of Protection. Now they have an armor class of 23 and even some demon lords don’t have that good of an armor class. Two minor magic items can make a difference.

I prefer to give out things that will improve the character without overbalancing, such as Boots of Elvenkind, or Cloak of the Bat, or Gloves of Missile Snaring. All three are excellent items that enhance the character without making them impossible to deal with. Utility items like an Alchemy Jug or Leomund’s Tiny Hut are perfectly fine items to give to players to help them with mundane tasks like providing drink for the night or shelter in a hostile location. The 5th Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide has some very good utility items that can be tossed into a treasure hoard for players without creating a bigger issue for the DM.

As for when to hand these out, I suggest holding off until 5th or 6th level to give them one, then around 8th maybe add another. At 10th, you can possibly allow them to find one or two more, but then make them wait until 15th for another. If you hand them out consistently, the players grow to rely on them and it takes away the fun of struggling a little bit. Some of my fondest characters barely had any magic items, other than weapons and armor. I didn’t have them, so I didn’t miss them. As a DM, you’ll need to decide what you can live with and how much you want the players to struggle.

I’ve also learned some of the magic items that I should avoid giving to my players. This is the hardest lesson a DM is going to learn, trust me. There are several items that I would never give to my players, no matter how much they would want me to. Sphere of Annihilation is one. Deck of Many Things is another. Decanter of Endless Water is yet another. The only way I would give them items such as those is if I was planning to end the campaign soon and they wouldn’t have much time to use them. Those three items can break a campaign quickly. There are a few others, but mentioning them isn’t going to help you as a DM to figure out what would be best to give players to make the experience better.

My best advice to DM’s is to really consider the powers of the items you want to hand out to players and try to think of all the ways you could use them if you were a player. If you think they might abuse the item and make your campaign difficult, don’t give it to them. There are so many items that can create headaches for DM’s and those are the ones you should avoid. Read through the descriptions of each item carefully before you settle on it and make sure that it won’t derail your future plans. That is really the best advice I can give.