I'm running descent into avernus and encountering a familar quirk from playing in a frostmaiden campaign previously - namely abundance of spellbooks in early stages of campaign and not much in the way of fun stuff for any other classes.
There's three decent spellbooks listed as loot early on in the dead 3 dungeon and I'm thinking of switching at least one of them out for a magic item, any thoughts on good swaps while maintaining balance for low (2-3) level play?
Even things like the wand of wonder or magic missile that don’t require attunement, other things could clued various common magic items that are useful or nice to haves but don’t serious affect game play like clothes of mending, cloaks of many fashions, even boots of varied tracks.
Spell books just give the wizard something to spend all his money on for the next few levels - it isn't cheap to copy spells from a found spellbook into their own spellbook.
The rest of the party might just decide to sell them rather than keep them for that long.
Yeah, experientially I would say spellbooks aren't really great loot for a Wizard, but they're nice. I wouldn't swap them for anything major.
See if you can identify a problem you'll have later on and consider whether you can address it with loot. When we played Avernus, we had a problem where, because we had 2 characters with tool proficiencies and one had Mending, the vehicle damage stuff was basically flavor text a lot of the time and we started trying to add modifications way ahead of schedule. I don't think the players were upset, but it removed a lot of drama and kinda made us untouchable on the road. If you anticipate such a concern, maybe you can provide loot such as "3 Enchanted Nails - With a successful DC 12 INT check using mason's tools or tinkerer's tools, a character can use one nail to attach two objects together in a way that magically preserves the function of both." Or something. Maybe you expect they won't know who to trust and this will cause derailment -- oh wow, it's the "Augury Bones - With these, you can cast Augury once per day," or "Modron Brain - This mechanical device can detect faulty logic once per day." Lol.
You could also use it to give your players more chances to affect their PCs' personalities in the game. A Cloak of Many Fashions, like Wi1dBi11 suggested, doesn't do much but it allows player expression. A voucher for a custom-designed shield emblem at the local blacksmith, or a title of nobility or honorific of the player's choosing... Maybe a pet who needs a name?
When we played Avernus, we had a problem where, because we had 2 characters with tool proficiencies and one had Mending, the vehicle damage stuff was basically flavor text a lot of the time and we started trying to add modifications way ahead of schedule. I don't think the players were upset, but it removed a lot of drama and kinda made us untouchable on the road. If you anticipate such a concern, maybe you can provide loot such as "3 Enchanted Nails - With a successful DC 12 INT check using mason's tools or tinkerer's tools, a character can use one nail to attach two objects together in a way that magically preserves the function of both." Or something. Maybe you expect they won't know who to trust and this will cause derailment -- oh wow, it's the "Augury Bones - With these, you can cast Augury once per day," or "Modron Brain - This mechanical device can detect faulty logic once per day." Lol.
You could also use it to give your players more chances to affect their PCs' personalities in the game. A Cloak of Many Fashions, like Wi1dBi11 suggested, doesn't do much but it allows player expression. A voucher for a custom-designed shield emblem at the local blacksmith, or a title of nobility or honorific of the player's choosing... Maybe a pet who needs a name?
All great advice thanks! :D
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I'm running descent into avernus and encountering a familar quirk from playing in a frostmaiden campaign previously - namely abundance of spellbooks in early stages of campaign and not much in the way of fun stuff for any other classes.
There's three decent spellbooks listed as loot early on in the dead 3 dungeon and I'm thinking of switching at least one of them out for a magic item, any thoughts on good swaps while maintaining balance for low (2-3) level play?
Anything expendable is a good option for lower levels.
+1 ammo, or other interesting ammo
Potions
charged items that have no recharge
also consider uncommon utility items that have fairly basic effects like shedding light, that sort of thing.
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Good shout, thanks!
Bag of Holding, Ring of Protection, +1 Weapon or Armor etc
Even things like the wand of wonder or magic missile that don’t require attunement, other things could clued various common magic items that are useful or nice to haves but don’t serious affect game play like clothes of mending, cloaks of many fashions, even boots of varied tracks.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Spell books just give the wizard something to spend all his money on for the next few levels - it isn't cheap to copy spells from a found spellbook into their own spellbook.
The rest of the party might just decide to sell them rather than keep them for that long.
Yeah, experientially I would say spellbooks aren't really great loot for a Wizard, but they're nice. I wouldn't swap them for anything major.
See if you can identify a problem you'll have later on and consider whether you can address it with loot. When we played Avernus, we had a problem where, because we had 2 characters with tool proficiencies and one had Mending, the vehicle damage stuff was basically flavor text a lot of the time and we started trying to add modifications way ahead of schedule. I don't think the players were upset, but it removed a lot of drama and kinda made us untouchable on the road. If you anticipate such a concern, maybe you can provide loot such as "3 Enchanted Nails - With a successful DC 12 INT check using mason's tools or tinkerer's tools, a character can use one nail to attach two objects together in a way that magically preserves the function of both." Or something. Maybe you expect they won't know who to trust and this will cause derailment -- oh wow, it's the "Augury Bones - With these, you can cast Augury once per day," or "Modron Brain - This mechanical device can detect faulty logic once per day." Lol.
You could also use it to give your players more chances to affect their PCs' personalities in the game. A Cloak of Many Fashions, like Wi1dBi11 suggested, doesn't do much but it allows player expression. A voucher for a custom-designed shield emblem at the local blacksmith, or a title of nobility or honorific of the player's choosing... Maybe a pet who needs a name?
All great advice thanks! :D