What they have currently (they are 5th level): +1 greatsword, mithral splint, +1 wand (See PCs magic items thread above), Netherese Ring (see the PCs magic items thread above), +1 shortbow.
6: Boots of Striding and Springing or some other Uncommon item.
7: Wand of Magic Missiles (major Uncommon magic item). It'll have 4-5 charges instead of rolling for them daily, since that's a pain in the ass. Also will prevent from having a wizard who can cast a 7th level magic missile.
8: The fighter's greatsword increases to +2 (major Rare magic item). They may find a Major Uncommon magic item too.
9: +1 shortsword (major Uncommon magic item).
10: ?????
11: Wand increases to +2 (major Rare magic item).
12: Bow increases to +2 (major Rare magic item).
13: Greatsword increases to +3 (major Very Rare magic item.)
14: Staff of Power (major Very Rare magic item).
They may also find some more Major Uncommon magic items over levels 11-14. Thoughts?
EDIT: Fixed the rarities of Staff of Power and +3 sword.
EDIT #2: Removed the Bracers of Fortitude and replaced them with the Boots of Striding and Springing.
I'm kind of opposed to pre-planning anything this far in advance. It's a kind of railroading that is understandable and forgivable, but disappointing. Personally, I would prefer to make items like these explicitly available at certain stages, (i.e. Have a pre-planned adventure hook), but leave it up to the players to pursue or ignore them at their own discretion.
As for the consequences of player gaining access to magic items, it doesn't really matter all that much. More powerful player can be pitted against more powerful foes. The things to really watch out for is intraparty imbalance, losing the ability to incentivize the players, and giving the party items that fundamentally change the game, such as airships, teleportation, immunity to X, etc...
Items that give flat bonuses are also kind of boring. They don't really add anything to the game experience. It's much more interesting to get to choose between a Flametongue or a Corpse Slayer. (Named magic items that have their own personality and purpose). Maybe toss in a sentient item that tempts the players with great power, but is mercurial and needs to be entertained before it will share its magic.
These are also nice because you can safely reward with party with a dozen different swords, and they will all be worth holding onto, rather than simply being a straight swap.
I'm kind of opposed to pre-planning anything this far in advance. It's a kind of railroading that is understandable and forgivable, but disappointing. Personally, I would prefer to make items like these explicitly available at certain stages, (i.e. Have a pre-planned adventure hook), but leave it up to the players to pursue or ignore them at their own discretion.
As for the consequences of player gaining access to magic items, it doesn't really matter all that much. More powerful player can be pitted against more powerful foes. The things to really watch out for is intraparty imbalance, losing the ability to incentivize the players, and giving the party items that fundamentally change the game, such as airships, teleportation, immunity to X, etc...
Items that give flat bonuses are also kind of boring. They don't really add anything to the game experience. It's much more interesting to get to choose between a Flametongue or a Corpse Slayer. (Named magic items that have their own personality and purpose). Maybe toss in a sentient item that tempts the players with great power, but is mercurial and needs to be entertained before it will share its magic.
These are also nice because you can safely reward with party with a dozen different swords, and they will all be worth holding onto, rather than simply being a straight swap.
You're right, I'll probably throw in some more interesting items, I was just listing items of a certain rarity here. I was just worried the rest of the party would be a bit jealous if the fighter is that powerful. Do you think it will cause that much of a power issue/difference?
First of all, 17 CON is not low. The Fighter gets tons of ASIs, and spending one point to get to 18 would be enough to finish out the campaign. Give the CON increase to someone else and let them take some of the heat. 5e is not designed to have one character take all the damage. Spreading the hits around is way more economic.
Other than that, these seem fine although I agree that it's generally not worth planning out so far in advance because I always end up changing my plans.
Combat is a Fighter's bread and butter, that's where they are supposed to shine. Don't worry about power level, so much as maintaining distinct roles. As long as each player gets to feel like they're are contributing in a meaningful way, then you'll be fine. The fighter breaks faces with a sword, the Wizard has a bag of tricks to overcome the unexpected, and the rogue has the skills to operate with finesse and grace.
No matter how powerful the fighter is, they can be defeated by a simple spell. No matter how magical a wizard is, they can't target something they are unaware of. No matter how clever the rogue, they can't assassinate someone who has enough hit points to survive their best shot.
Make it obvious that each character is a valuable member of the team, and they'll learn to appreciate the aphorism "a rising tide lifts all boats".
Don't forget, PCs can and will trade magic items with each other. I do approve of the crappy magic shortsword, though. I doubt anyone in the party wanta it.
6: Bracers of Fortitude (major Uncommon magic item. [CON increases to 19]). My problem with this is that the fighter plans to increase his STR to 20 at lvl 6. His CON is currently 17. I'm giving this to him because the party has no Tank, and he is trying to play both Offense and Tank roles at once, and not doing very well because of his lower (in relative terms) CON, so I'm giving the Bracers to help him out a bit. I'm just worried that a fighter with his two primary abilities at +5 and +4 may be a bit powerful. He also plan to sell his mithral splint and buy some plate instead. Will a level 6 fighter with AC 18, +9 to hit and +6 to damage and 70 hit points be to powerful?
I kind of doubt Con 17 being the culprit here. Maybe he's trying to do too much, maybe he's getting targeted too much, maybe he's just been unlucky, but +3 Con is not a problematic modifier (and going to +4 isn't going to make for a world of difference anyway).
As Memnosyne already indicated, the amount of magical items isn't truly consequential. If they have a lot, you'll throw more and stronger opponents at them. If they have fewer, you'll tone the opposition down a little bit. Moreover, extra shiny weapons don't help with intrigue or mystery and don't make exploration any easier - tools don't make anyone better in situations where they're irrelevant. Also, it's a party of three - if you're running published modules, those are written with 4-6 PCs in mind. Balance is complex, and nobody's better placed to judge if they achieve a fair challenge level than the actual DM running the campaign: you have your finger on the pulse. It's ok that you ask, if anything it shows you care, but us random internet strangers know next to nothing about what happens at your table.
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As long as each PC gets some sort of magic item it's all good.
I have to agree that sometimes just +1, +2, +3 can feel lack luster. But if you throw in something simple like a detect, or light, or personality, then it makes the item more special.
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6: Bracers of Fortitude (major Uncommon magic item. [CON increases to 19]). My problem with this is that the fighter plans to increase his STR to 20 at lvl 6. His CON is currently 17. I'm giving this to him because the party has no Tank, and he is trying to play both Offense and Tank roles at once, and not doing very well because of his lower (in relative terms) CON, so I'm giving the Bracers to help him out a bit. I'm just worried that a fighter with his two primary abilities at +5 and +4 may be a bit powerful. He also plan to sell his mithral splint and buy some plate instead. Will a level 6 fighter with AC 18, +9 to hit and +6 to damage and 70 hit points be to powerful?
I kind of doubt Con 17 being the culprit here. Maybe he's trying to do too much, maybe he's getting targeted too much, maybe he's just been unlucky, but +3 Con is not a problematic modifier (and going to +4 isn't going to make for a world of difference anyway).
As Memnosyne already indicated, the amount of magical items isn't truly consequential. If they have a lot, you'll throw more and stronger opponents at them. If they have fewer, you'll tone the opposition down a little bit. Moreover, extra shiny weapons don't help with intrigue or mystery and don't make exploration any easier - tools don't make anyone better in situations where they're irrelevant. Also, it's a party of three - if you're running published modules, those are written with 4-6 PCs in mind. Balance is complex, and nobody's better placed to judge if they achieve a fair challenge level than the actual DM running the campaign: you have your finger on the pulse. It's ok that you ask, if anything it shows you care, but us random internet strangers know next to nothing about what happens at your table.
You're right, I should probably stop trying to find the perfect party balance, there's so many different factors I'll just accept it'll never be perfect. I'm the DM, I can just give them stronger or weaker monsters, whatever. As you said, it's up to the DM (me) to determine the challenge level, because every group is different and will need different challenges.
It's not that the CON was problematic; as you said, 17 is quite good. its just that with a +4 CON, he'll have an extra 10 hp per level, and he really needs them since he nearly dies every session, and the wizard has been complaining because she has to save one of her valuable 3rd level slots that she should be using for Fireball for Revivify (which I let her take because we're clericless).
Regarding the +1 weapons et al. being too bland, I have used the special features tables in the treasure section of the DMG and Vestiges of Divergence in Explorer's Guide to WIldmount as inspiration to make them more interesting. Giving them names, backstories, sometimes sentience, and once in a great while curses gets the players to care about the items more than just being mechanical bonuses.
I think it's also incredibly boring to just take a +1 item and give them a replacement that is +2. That's a huge yawner.
The reality of 5e D&D is that, once you have a weapon that can deal magical damage, for the purposes of overcoming resistance, the bonus on that item matters very little. We have a ranger in our party who has had a set of +1 arrows since like level 2 or 3. They're almost level 8. She never uses them except if something shows resistance/immunity to normal weapons. She's killed lots of things with her bow and her normal arrows. She has a +1 dagger and a moon-touched shortsword, dual wielded in melee. She kills just as much with the moon-touch that has no bonus (but counts as a magic weapon) as with the dagger. Because the bonus doesn't really matter that much, making it go up is probably not going to be very exciting to the players.
Why not make up some magic items that are similar to existing ones (I always use existing ones as a template) but are unique to your world/game? Observe what your players seem to want or enjoy, and give it to them. For instance, our cleric took the ritual magic feat with wizard spells and since then I have been purposely putting scrolls with low-level spells that can be ritual-cast into treasures here and there so he can add to his spell book. I think he might have ALL the level 1-3 ritual spells by now (if not, he's darn close). I know he'll like it because it's something he decided he wanted to do with his character.
One of my players sent me a "wish list" of magic items that he'd like his character to have. Now, personally I am not a fan of this idea (I don't really like the idea of a player pawing through the DMG to look at magic item descriptions, but I recognize that there isn't any way to stop it, and some players are DMs in other campaigns and will know about these things anyway), but here is my point: he plays a sorcerer, and of the items on his wish list, not one of them as a +1, +2, or +3 magic item. In fact, I gave him a wand that allowed +1 to spell attacks in their 5th level adventure, and he gave it away at 6th level. He wants items that let him cast more spells or do other cool things, not just +1 to his spell attacks.
My point here is, be creative about magic items, rather than just picking out something obvious that raises bonuses to hit and damage. Custom build some items, so that they are unique to your world. And above all, the magic items should make sense wherever it is found. For instance, my players are in the Shrine of the Kuo-Toa right now, having brought the Roman army in to wipe it out, and they have found some secret treasure rooms (so far, out of sight of the Romans, and thus not, yet at least, confiscated). Many of the magic items are based on water and aquatic themes, because those are the things Kuo-Toa would value. Rather than just some plain old +1 spear.
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Regarding the +1 weapons et al. being too bland, I have used the special features tables in the treasure section of the DMG and Vestiges of Divergence in Explorer's Guide to WIldmount as inspiration to make them more interesting. Giving them names, backstories, sometimes sentience, and once in a great while curses gets the players to care about the items more than just being mechanical bonuses.
Whenever I give out a +1 weapon, I always use the special features tables in the DMG. Otherwise, it's just boring old slightly better weapon :)
Yes, I try to "name" things. My world is based on ancient Rome, so it's not a Moon-touched sword, it's a Sword of Diana's Judgement or some such. And so on. I don't always do that for everything, but I do it for a lot of the more basic items. (Some of the names the DMG gives to items are too cool for me to want to change.)
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It's not that the CON was problematic; as you said, 17 is quite good. its just that with a +4 CON, he'll have an extra 10 hp per level, and he really needs them since he nearly dies every session, and the wizard has been complaining because she has to save one of her valuable 3rd level slots that she should be using for Fireball for Revivify (which I let her take because we're clericless).
He'll have 6 more hp at lvl 6 than he would with Con 17.
Really, the question is why he nearly dies every session. "Not enough hp" is a silly reason, he probably has 50% more than either of the other PCs. Is it that he's too reckless? Are you targeting him more than you maybe should because 'he's the tank'? Are the mobs a tad too strong for a party of 3? Those would be real reasons. Piling on some extra hp is going to help a bit regardless, hp are really just ablative armour after all, but 1 hp per level is really just a bandaid. It's not going the fix the real issue.
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I agree with pang. Why is the fighter dying all the time? And do you mean actual dying, and having to be revivified? Or going to 0 hp and having to make death saves? Or just low on hp?
Also, you mentioned that he wants to up his STR not his CON. It seems like the player has no problem with his character's performance regarding hp, but you do. Maybe e's perfectly happy with his character's performance?
Also, your comment that "the party has no tank." This is not an MMORPG. A D&D party does not need a tank.
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I agree with pang. Why is the fighter dying all the time? And do you mean actual dying, and having to be revivified? Or going to 0 hp and having to make death saves? Or just low on hp?
Also, you mentioned that he wants to up his STR not his CON. It seems like the player has no problem with his character's performance regarding hp, but you do. Maybe e's perfectly happy with his character's performance?
Also, your comment that "the party has no tank." This is not an MMORPG. A D&D party does not need a tank.
The player feels that he must up his STR not CON because his character is the Chosen of Clangeddin, dwarven god of war, and the reason Clangeddin's symbol is two axes is because he does not use a shield so that he can do more damage. Clangeddin is all about offense, he pretty much says to hell with defense, so the player feels he should be doing the same. He's sick of being reduced to 0 hp multiple times a session, and failing his death saves every other session, so I'm trying to help him out a bit.
I agree with pang. Why is the fighter dying all the time? And do you mean actual dying, and having to be revivified? Or going to 0 hp and having to make death saves? Or just low on hp?
Also, you mentioned that he wants to up his STR not his CON. It seems like the player has no problem with his character's performance regarding hp, but you do. Maybe e's perfectly happy with his character's performance?
Also, your comment that "the party has no tank." This is not an MMORPG. A D&D party does not need a tank.
The player feels that he must up his STR not CON because his character is the Chosen of Clangeddin, dwarven god of war, and the reason Clangeddin's symbol is two axes is because he does not use a shield so that he can do more damage. Clangeddin is all about offense, he pretty much says to hell with defense, so the player feels he should be doing the same. He's sick of being reduced to 0 hp multiple times a session, and failing his death saves every other session, so I'm trying to help him out a bit.
His defense is fine. CR 8 critters typically have a bonus of +8 or lower for their primary physical attacks, so they hit AC 17 55% of the time or less, and the party isn't even lvl 6 yet. Do they buy and use potions, or have other ways of healing up aside from resting (and the fighter's Second Wind)? How many fights do they have on average between long rests, and are they routinely Deadly or worse?
I agree with pang. Why is the fighter dying all the time? And do you mean actual dying, and having to be revivified? Or going to 0 hp and having to make death saves? Or just low on hp?
Also, you mentioned that he wants to up his STR not his CON. It seems like the player has no problem with his character's performance regarding hp, but you do. Maybe e's perfectly happy with his character's performance?
Also, your comment that "the party has no tank." This is not an MMORPG. A D&D party does not need a tank.
The player feels that he must up his STR not CON because his character is the Chosen of Clangeddin, dwarven god of war, and the reason Clangeddin's symbol is two axes is because he does not use a shield so that he can do more damage. Clangeddin is all about offense, he pretty much says to hell with defense, so the player feels he should be doing the same. He's sick of being reduced to 0 hp multiple times a session, and failing his death saves every other session, so I'm trying to help him out a bit.
His defense is fine. CR 8 critters typically have a bonus of +8 or lower for their primary physical attacks, so they hit AC 17 55% of the time or less, and the party isn't even lvl 6 yet. Do they buy and use potions, or have other ways of healing up aside from resting (and the fighter's Second Wind)? How many fights do they have on average between long rests, and are they routinely Deadly or worse?
I was just talking to the fighter’s player about this and he’d already decided that he’s gonna boost his CON to 18 and STR to 19 instead of just bumping up his STR, so I’m just gonna remove the Bracers and replace them with some Boots of Striding and Springing or something. The PCs buy plenty of potions (they won’t go into a dungeon without at least 3 each LOL). They typically have a couple of Medium fights, a few Hard, the odd Easy and 2 Deadly (one of which is always the boss). I change it up for every dungeon, but it’s always within their daily XP budget. Also, maybe my dice are broken or something, but my monsters usually hit him about 65% of the time (this is just a rough estimate).
Unless your players enjoy living on the edge of death all the time, it seems to me, as a DM, if you find that you are putting them on the ground too often for comfort, the obvious solution is to ease up on them a little bit.
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As a follow-up to my Are my PCs Overpowered? and 3 5th level PCs with the following magic items: Is it OP or good? threads, I've decided to give my PCs the following magic items over levels 6-14. I'm basing this off the Xanathar's Guide to Everything magic items tables.
What they have currently (they are 5th level): +1 greatsword, mithral splint, +1 wand (See PCs magic items thread above), Netherese Ring (see the PCs magic items thread above), +1 shortbow.
6: Boots of Striding and Springing or some other Uncommon item.
7: Wand of Magic Missiles (major Uncommon magic item). It'll have 4-5 charges instead of rolling for them daily, since that's a pain in the ass. Also will prevent from having a wizard who can cast a 7th level magic missile.
8: The fighter's greatsword increases to +2 (major Rare magic item). They may find a Major Uncommon magic item too.
9: +1 shortsword (major Uncommon magic item).
10: ?????
11: Wand increases to +2 (major Rare magic item).
12: Bow increases to +2 (major Rare magic item).
13: Greatsword increases to +3 (major Very Rare magic item.)
14: Staff of Power (major Very Rare magic item).
They may also find some more Major Uncommon magic items over levels 11-14. Thoughts?
EDIT: Fixed the rarities of Staff of Power and +3 sword.
EDIT #2: Removed the Bracers of Fortitude and replaced them with the Boots of Striding and Springing.
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I'm kind of opposed to pre-planning anything this far in advance. It's a kind of railroading that is understandable and forgivable, but disappointing. Personally, I would prefer to make items like these explicitly available at certain stages, (i.e. Have a pre-planned adventure hook), but leave it up to the players to pursue or ignore them at their own discretion.
As for the consequences of player gaining access to magic items, it doesn't really matter all that much. More powerful player can be pitted against more powerful foes. The things to really watch out for is intraparty imbalance, losing the ability to incentivize the players, and giving the party items that fundamentally change the game, such as airships, teleportation, immunity to X, etc...
Items that give flat bonuses are also kind of boring. They don't really add anything to the game experience. It's much more interesting to get to choose between a Flametongue or a Corpse Slayer. (Named magic items that have their own personality and purpose). Maybe toss in a sentient item that tempts the players with great power, but is mercurial and needs to be entertained before it will share its magic.
These are also nice because you can safely reward with party with a dozen different swords, and they will all be worth holding onto, rather than simply being a straight swap.
You're right, I'll probably throw in some more interesting items, I was just listing items of a certain rarity here. I was just worried the rest of the party would be a bit jealous if the fighter is that powerful. Do you think it will cause that much of a power issue/difference?
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First of all, 17 CON is not low. The Fighter gets tons of ASIs, and spending one point to get to 18 would be enough to finish out the campaign. Give the CON increase to someone else and let them take some of the heat. 5e is not designed to have one character take all the damage. Spreading the hits around is way more economic.
Other than that, these seem fine although I agree that it's generally not worth planning out so far in advance because I always end up changing my plans.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Combat is a Fighter's bread and butter, that's where they are supposed to shine. Don't worry about power level, so much as maintaining distinct roles. As long as each player gets to feel like they're are contributing in a meaningful way, then you'll be fine. The fighter breaks faces with a sword, the Wizard has a bag of tricks to overcome the unexpected, and the rogue has the skills to operate with finesse and grace.
No matter how powerful the fighter is, they can be defeated by a simple spell.
No matter how magical a wizard is, they can't target something they are unaware of.
No matter how clever the rogue, they can't assassinate someone who has enough hit points to survive their best shot.
Make it obvious that each character is a valuable member of the team, and they'll learn to appreciate the aphorism "a rising tide lifts all boats".
Too much magic. Magic items, especially ones targeting a particular char build, are a force multiplier. You are giving them way way too much stuff.
Don't forget, PCs can and will trade magic items with each other. I do approve of the crappy magic shortsword, though. I doubt anyone in the party wanta it.
I kind of doubt Con 17 being the culprit here. Maybe he's trying to do too much, maybe he's getting targeted too much, maybe he's just been unlucky, but +3 Con is not a problematic modifier (and going to +4 isn't going to make for a world of difference anyway).
As Memnosyne already indicated, the amount of magical items isn't truly consequential. If they have a lot, you'll throw more and stronger opponents at them. If they have fewer, you'll tone the opposition down a little bit. Moreover, extra shiny weapons don't help with intrigue or mystery and don't make exploration any easier - tools don't make anyone better in situations where they're irrelevant. Also, it's a party of three - if you're running published modules, those are written with 4-6 PCs in mind. Balance is complex, and nobody's better placed to judge if they achieve a fair challenge level than the actual DM running the campaign: you have your finger on the pulse. It's ok that you ask, if anything it shows you care, but us random internet strangers know next to nothing about what happens at your table.
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As long as each PC gets some sort of magic item it's all good.
I have to agree that sometimes just +1, +2, +3 can feel lack luster. But if you throw in something simple like a detect, or light, or personality, then it makes the item more special.
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You're right, I should probably stop trying to find the perfect party balance, there's so many different factors I'll just accept it'll never be perfect. I'm the DM, I can just give them stronger or weaker monsters, whatever. As you said, it's up to the DM (me) to determine the challenge level, because every group is different and will need different challenges.
It's not that the CON was problematic; as you said, 17 is quite good. its just that with a +4 CON, he'll have an extra 10 hp per level, and he really needs them since he nearly dies every session, and the wizard has been complaining because she has to save one of her valuable 3rd level slots that she should be using for Fireball for Revivify (which I let her take because we're clericless).
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Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
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Regarding the +1 weapons et al. being too bland, I have used the special features tables in the treasure section of the DMG and Vestiges of Divergence in Explorer's Guide to WIldmount as inspiration to make them more interesting. Giving them names, backstories, sometimes sentience, and once in a great while curses gets the players to care about the items more than just being mechanical bonuses.
I think it's also incredibly boring to just take a +1 item and give them a replacement that is +2. That's a huge yawner.
The reality of 5e D&D is that, once you have a weapon that can deal magical damage, for the purposes of overcoming resistance, the bonus on that item matters very little. We have a ranger in our party who has had a set of +1 arrows since like level 2 or 3. They're almost level 8. She never uses them except if something shows resistance/immunity to normal weapons. She's killed lots of things with her bow and her normal arrows. She has a +1 dagger and a moon-touched shortsword, dual wielded in melee. She kills just as much with the moon-touch that has no bonus (but counts as a magic weapon) as with the dagger. Because the bonus doesn't really matter that much, making it go up is probably not going to be very exciting to the players.
Why not make up some magic items that are similar to existing ones (I always use existing ones as a template) but are unique to your world/game? Observe what your players seem to want or enjoy, and give it to them. For instance, our cleric took the ritual magic feat with wizard spells and since then I have been purposely putting scrolls with low-level spells that can be ritual-cast into treasures here and there so he can add to his spell book. I think he might have ALL the level 1-3 ritual spells by now (if not, he's darn close). I know he'll like it because it's something he decided he wanted to do with his character.
One of my players sent me a "wish list" of magic items that he'd like his character to have. Now, personally I am not a fan of this idea (I don't really like the idea of a player pawing through the DMG to look at magic item descriptions, but I recognize that there isn't any way to stop it, and some players are DMs in other campaigns and will know about these things anyway), but here is my point: he plays a sorcerer, and of the items on his wish list, not one of them as a +1, +2, or +3 magic item. In fact, I gave him a wand that allowed +1 to spell attacks in their 5th level adventure, and he gave it away at 6th level. He wants items that let him cast more spells or do other cool things, not just +1 to his spell attacks.
My point here is, be creative about magic items, rather than just picking out something obvious that raises bonuses to hit and damage. Custom build some items, so that they are unique to your world. And above all, the magic items should make sense wherever it is found. For instance, my players are in the Shrine of the Kuo-Toa right now, having brought the Roman army in to wipe it out, and they have found some secret treasure rooms (so far, out of sight of the Romans, and thus not, yet at least, confiscated). Many of the magic items are based on water and aquatic themes, because those are the things Kuo-Toa would value. Rather than just some plain old +1 spear.
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Whenever I give out a +1 weapon, I always use the special features tables in the DMG. Otherwise, it's just boring old slightly better weapon :)
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Yes, I try to "name" things. My world is based on ancient Rome, so it's not a Moon-touched sword, it's a Sword of Diana's Judgement or some such. And so on. I don't always do that for everything, but I do it for a lot of the more basic items. (Some of the names the DMG gives to items are too cool for me to want to change.)
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
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He'll have 6 more hp at lvl 6 than he would with Con 17.
Really, the question is why he nearly dies every session. "Not enough hp" is a silly reason, he probably has 50% more than either of the other PCs. Is it that he's too reckless? Are you targeting him more than you maybe should because 'he's the tank'? Are the mobs a tad too strong for a party of 3? Those would be real reasons. Piling on some extra hp is going to help a bit regardless, hp are really just ablative armour after all, but 1 hp per level is really just a bandaid. It's not going the fix the real issue.
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I agree with pang. Why is the fighter dying all the time? And do you mean actual dying, and having to be revivified? Or going to 0 hp and having to make death saves? Or just low on hp?
Also, you mentioned that he wants to up his STR not his CON. It seems like the player has no problem with his character's performance regarding hp, but you do. Maybe e's perfectly happy with his character's performance?
Also, your comment that "the party has no tank." This is not an MMORPG. A D&D party does not need a tank.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.
The player feels that he must up his STR not CON because his character is the Chosen of Clangeddin, dwarven god of war, and the reason Clangeddin's symbol is two axes is because he does not use a shield so that he can do more damage. Clangeddin is all about offense, he pretty much says to hell with defense, so the player feels he should be doing the same. He's sick of being reduced to 0 hp multiple times a session, and failing his death saves every other session, so I'm trying to help him out a bit.
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His defense is fine. CR 8 critters typically have a bonus of +8 or lower for their primary physical attacks, so they hit AC 17 55% of the time or less, and the party isn't even lvl 6 yet. Do they buy and use potions, or have other ways of healing up aside from resting (and the fighter's Second Wind)? How many fights do they have on average between long rests, and are they routinely Deadly or worse?
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I was just talking to the fighter’s player about this and he’d already decided that he’s gonna boost his CON to 18 and STR to 19 instead of just bumping up his STR, so I’m just gonna remove the Bracers and replace them with some Boots of Striding and Springing or something. The PCs buy plenty of potions (they won’t go into a dungeon without at least 3 each LOL). They typically have a couple of Medium fights, a few Hard, the odd Easy and 2 Deadly (one of which is always the boss). I change it up for every dungeon, but it’s always within their daily XP budget. Also, maybe my dice are broken or something, but my monsters usually hit him about 65% of the time (this is just a rough estimate).
I'm the Valar (leader and creator) of The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit/Anything Tolkien Cult!
Member of the Cult of Cats, High Elf of the Elven Guild, and Sauce Priest & Sauce Smith of the Supreme Court of Sauce.
If you want some casual roleplay/adventures in Middle Earth, check out The Wild's Edge Tavern, a LotR/Middle Earth tavern!
JOIN TIAMAT'S CONGA LINE!
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Unless your players enjoy living on the edge of death all the time, it seems to me, as a DM, if you find that you are putting them on the ground too often for comfort, the obvious solution is to ease up on them a little bit.
WOTC lies. We know that WOTC lies. WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. We know that WOTC knows that we know that WOTC lies. And still they lie.
Because of the above (a paraphrase from Orwell) I no longer post to the forums -- PM me if you need help or anything.