I have no clue on what items to give to my players, and they are approaching the mark where I give them items. What items should I give to 3 rogues, a ranger, a barbarian, and a cleric?
there are so many options. Perhaps if you cant decide, you find a way to allow them to chose what they want from a list you have considered. Maybe the person the save at the end of the next quest offers them the opportunity as a reward. Each player may have a direction they want to take the character and that would allow them some input.
Three rogues? Sounds like you're gonna need some bags of holding to hide any stolen treasure. Boots/cloak of elvenkind, goggles of night, things of that nature.
Barbarians love any big cool weapon. Flametongue? Bracers of unarmored defense could be good too, if they're not using a shield.
Clerics might also like a cool magic weapon, or any sort of wands, amulets, etc.
Just roll for them. If they get something that’s not useful, it makes the world seem more real. And it can set up a side quest finding someone to sell it or trade it to.
Invite them to do some research and pick maybe 3-5 items of the appropriate rarity that they think would be fun to have. (I would pick from this list, not give them all of the items, most likely.)
2. Consider what you might want them to have
Potions of healing are never wrong, but also seeding in items that will be helpful a few adventures ahead can be interesting. "Oh golly, here are some goggles of night" if you are planning to send them into an unlit dungeon and you have one party member without darkvision that you'd like to have it. (Conversely NOT doing so can also be a very intentional choice!). Or if you plan a climbing puzzle, slippers of spider climbing. A bag of holding if you want them to be able to carry things and not worry about size or weight. You get the idea.
You can also use this to teach them about things they might not have thought about, like a wand of Detect Magic. In a party that doesn't have a particular skill or spell you'd like them to have, especially when it's a module, items can be helpful.
3. +1 weapons, mithral armor, etc are always welcomed, whether found as treasure or as options to buy in a shop. (I personally love weapons that feel special in some way, not just a +1.)
4. Give something that fits the encounter they just finished. If they've just routed the lair of an impoverished wizard, what might be lying around, as experimental things or things that couldn't be sold or that they forgot to sell? Maybe a poignant trinket that goes with the defeated's backstory. If it was a monster, maybe there are items left over from the last party that the monster defeated and ate.
5. Give weird things that just sound funny that have no obvious purpose. A matched set of Cloaks of Billowing. A one-use only wand of Skywrite or other extremely situational spells. Leaf through the magic items and just give them some of the ones that made you smile. Ideally one day the party will say "oh!" and eventually use the item in a creative way at a creative time, if you have a party that thinks like that.
Cleric : Pearl of Power Barbarian : Either a level-appropriate magic weapon, or Bracers of Defence. Ranger : Bracers of Archery or Boots of Striding and Springing Rogues: Cloak of Elvenkind, Gloves of Thievery, Hat of Disguise
Just roll up the items on random tables, or suit them to the enviornement. You don't need to tailor the items to their characters. Instead, make them fit the places where they find them. Yuan-ti temple to Sseth? Dagger of Poison, Potions, Snakeskin +1 Shield. Pirate Ship? Vicious Rapier, HatTricorn) of Disguise. It will feel much more natural and lets you watch in amusement as they fight over the items because they didn't just walk in and be like "oooh, it's a greataxe so it must be for the barbarian".
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He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
Even though you may want to cater to their needs/wants you don't actually have to give them things that match them exactly.
Realistically (HA!) what are the chances that the monsters in XX dungeon just happen to have elven cloaks, magic daggers, a ranger weapon that doubles as a focus a giant axe, and a holy holy symbol?
Some randomness is fun especially when the party figures out what to do with that bag of endless sand.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
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I have no clue on what items to give to my players, and they are approaching the mark where I give them items. What items should I give to 3 rogues, a ranger, a barbarian, and a cleric?
Level?
Not the most useful but there’s a magic item tracker in the DMG
there are so many options. Perhaps if you cant decide, you find a way to allow them to chose what they want from a list you have considered. Maybe the person the save at the end of the next quest offers them the opportunity as a reward. Each player may have a direction they want to take the character and that would allow them some input.
Three rogues? Sounds like you're gonna need some bags of holding to hide any stolen treasure. Boots/cloak of elvenkind, goggles of night, things of that nature.
Barbarians love any big cool weapon. Flametongue? Bracers of unarmored defense could be good too, if they're not using a shield.
Clerics might also like a cool magic weapon, or any sort of wands, amulets, etc.
Just roll for them. If they get something that’s not useful, it makes the world seem more real. And it can set up a side quest finding someone to sell it or trade it to.
You do not need to give the PCs any magic items, but as a player, they are very nice to have.
Yu could look at their sheets and give them a +1 of what they already have (weapon/armor).
You can look at rings and/or wonderous items and/or rods/wands. Spread those around as well.
Another issue is later having too many items that need attunement. That is a problem I would love to have but that is a factor as well.
Once you start giving out stuff, you need to increase the monster CR.
A few ways to approach it.
1. Ask them
Invite them to do some research and pick maybe 3-5 items of the appropriate rarity that they think would be fun to have. (I would pick from this list, not give them all of the items, most likely.)
2. Consider what you might want them to have
Potions of healing are never wrong, but also seeding in items that will be helpful a few adventures ahead can be interesting. "Oh golly, here are some goggles of night" if you are planning to send them into an unlit dungeon and you have one party member without darkvision that you'd like to have it. (Conversely NOT doing so can also be a very intentional choice!). Or if you plan a climbing puzzle, slippers of spider climbing. A bag of holding if you want them to be able to carry things and not worry about size or weight. You get the idea.
You can also use this to teach them about things they might not have thought about, like a wand of Detect Magic. In a party that doesn't have a particular skill or spell you'd like them to have, especially when it's a module, items can be helpful.
3. +1 weapons, mithral armor, etc are always welcomed, whether found as treasure or as options to buy in a shop. (I personally love weapons that feel special in some way, not just a +1.)
4. Give something that fits the encounter they just finished. If they've just routed the lair of an impoverished wizard, what might be lying around, as experimental things or things that couldn't be sold or that they forgot to sell? Maybe a poignant trinket that goes with the defeated's backstory. If it was a monster, maybe there are items left over from the last party that the monster defeated and ate.
5. Give weird things that just sound funny that have no obvious purpose. A matched set of Cloaks of Billowing. A one-use only wand of Skywrite or other extremely situational spells. Leaf through the magic items and just give them some of the ones that made you smile. Ideally one day the party will say "oh!" and eventually use the item in a creative way at a creative time, if you have a party that thinks like that.
-
I personally use a mix of all 5 strategies.
3 rogues, a ranger, a barbarian, and a cleric?
Cleric : Pearl of Power
Barbarian : Either a level-appropriate magic weapon, or Bracers of Defence.
Ranger : Bracers of Archery or Boots of Striding and Springing
Rogues: Cloak of Elvenkind, Gloves of Thievery, Hat of Disguise
Just roll up the items on random tables, or suit them to the enviornement. You don't need to tailor the items to their characters. Instead, make them fit the places where they find them. Yuan-ti temple to Sseth? Dagger of Poison, Potions, Snakeskin +1 Shield. Pirate Ship? Vicious Rapier, HatTricorn) of Disguise. It will feel much more natural and lets you watch in amusement as they fight over the items because they didn't just walk in and be like "oooh, it's a greataxe so it must be for the barbarian".
He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
"When are we gonna take a snack break?"
Even though you may want to cater to their needs/wants you don't actually have to give them things that match them exactly.
Realistically (HA!) what are the chances that the monsters in XX dungeon just happen to have elven cloaks, magic daggers, a ranger weapon that doubles as a focus a giant axe, and a holy holy symbol?
Some randomness is fun especially when the party figures out what to do with that bag of endless sand.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale