too much magic gear?

[JeenLeen]

My group came to 5e after 3.5 (with a stop in World of Darkness and Exalted in-between). The no magi-mart thing is great to us, but still learning the new mentality.

Currently, we are a 3 PC party about to be level 5. Our magic gear includes a +1 axe that does max damage against wooden things, a +1 shortsword, a magic staff*, and a cloak of protection. We have a deal that, if we capture the boss of the dungeon alive, we can turn her in for two more cloaks of protection.
Besides the cloaks, this is gear that was found in modules we've played through to get to our current level.

Does this sound reasonable for our level, or are we getting a bit much for what 5e anticipates?

*can use charges to cast Shield or Mage Armor. Gives +1 AC.

[Aembrosia]

I think 2 uncommons at level 5 is the standard for high magic setting but i dont remember where to look to confirm that.

Edit: so yes each person having 2 uncommons is appropriate through the correct lense.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

We have a deal that, if we capture the boss of the dungeon alive, we can turn her in for two more cloaks of protection.


Sounds like you are already taking the wrong approach to 5e magic items. Magic items in 5e should be unique and not stuff that you can just stock up on. "Turning a boss in" to get two identical and really good magic items is equivalent to going into Ye Olde Magick Shoppe and buying them up for gold. That's a concept that 5e got away from.

[Temperjoke]

Sounds like you are already taking the wrong approach to 5e magic items. Magic items in 5e should be unique and not stuff that you can just stock up on. "Turning a boss in" to get two identical and really good magic items is equivalent to going into Ye Olde Magick Shoppe and buying them up for gold. That's a concept that 5e got away from.

I think it's more like they've made arrangements to be given them as a reward for capturing the enemy, from an NPC.

As to the topic, it depends on the campaign setting. 5e doesn't require magic items to the extent that other editions did. If you and your group like having magic items instead of piles of gold and jewels laying around, it just means that the standard enemy difficulty needs to be adjusted accordingly. But there isn't anything inherently wrong with it, despite what many may think.

[Fflewddur Fflam]

I think it's more like they've made arrangements to be given them as a reward for capturing the enemy, from an NPC.


..... and that's different from waltzing into a Magic Store and saying "two Cloaks of Protection, please!"?????

[MeeposFire]

..... and that's different from waltzing into a Magic Store and saying "two Cloaks of Protection, please!"?????

Conceptually it is different.

Really except for the feel there is no difference between finding the magic item in a horde (replacing some other form of treasure), finding that extra treasure and buying the magic item for that amount, and the DM reducing the treasure by that amount and having an npc reward the players with the magic item instead.

In all cases you do a quest and get treasure and a magic item. The manner of acquisition is really a flavor concern rather than a mechanical one (though you could say there are minor changes in timing with rewarding and buying taking longer to gain the bonus rather than finding it in a horde). The mechanical concern is how common it is to find and acquire these magical items regardless of how they are acquired. You could have magic shops but if it is so difficult to buy them they can be just as rare for your players as just having very rare finds in a dungeon out there.

[Temperjoke]

..... and that's different from waltzing into a Magic Store and saying "two Cloaks of Protection, please!"?????

Mechanically? Not really any different than taking the reward money and buying them. The difference comes in the fluff around the reward.

"These cloaks were handed down from my great-grandfather, who was a masterful wizard and extensive adventurer. May they keep you safe and serve you as well as they served him, and think of us, and our gratitude for the service you have rendered us and the country."

[Fflewddur Fflam]

Mechanically? Not really any different than taking the reward money and buying them. The difference comes in the fluff around the reward.

"These cloaks were handed down from my great-grandfather, who was a masterful wizard and extensive adventurer. May they keep you safe and serve you as well as they served him, and think of us, and our gratitude for the service you have rendered us and the country."

Regardless of the "fluff", the result is the same, he's got all 3 characters in a party walking around with cloaks of protection along with other stuff and is asking if its "too much magic gear for 5e?" I am saying "yes, yes it is" and it's getting away from the philosophy in 5e that magic items should be rare, unique from each other, and hard to get.

[Sir cryosin]

At are first 5e game we had magic iteams out the wazoo. And it made everything so easy to kill we steam rolled everything. But after that we had next to nothing. It find untell you star fighting every time that has resistance to non magical damage. But that make the spell magic weapon far more usefull. Low magic is fun as well I got excited when I ask for a perception check looking to see if I find anything that looks magical. My DM say you can't tell from here but you do see a beautifully ornately made rapier. It was just a silver rapier but it was exciting to get it.

[JeenLeen]

I figured the three cloaks might be a little overkill.
The scenario in-game was that we were talking to the king's spymaster, and he wound up hiring us to capture this drow priestess who is working with another nation. He offered us one defensive magic item for info we already gave him, and 2 more upon capturing her alive. It could've been a cloak of protection, +1 armor, and something else similar, but the cloaks seemed best and he said, with his connections, he could get them. (And I think there's probably at least a 1/3 chance some incident, plot or just flow of combat, will stop us from capturing the NPC alive. Still, hoping we can.)

I think it's rare we'll have incidents like this in the game. Another noble family we helped out, when asked about magic gear, said they couldn't as that would bankrupt their family. We asked about buying something from one NPC, and he said it'd be about 100,000 gold--which is, practically, saying not for sale.

But I appreciate the feedback. I reckon magic items will remain fairly rare, and so far we are focusing on the "we don't die so easily" end, so battles are still a challenge since we have to kill the foes.
And I think, for our group, as long as there is a risk to being hit, we have more fun dodging most attacks. Feels more cool, and less annoying dealing with resting, healing, and such.

[Teryon]

Im running a game right now where the party atm has no magic items whatsoever. They're managing to pretty much derail any attempted encounters through use of magic(pass without trace + rogue is their favorite trick atm) and cunning use of the environment. The setting is semi-high magic: the wizards cloister to themselves, sorcerers are wild magic, warlocks are a recent innovation due to a recent war using such high-end magic that it punched holes in the world, otherwise magic items of any sort tend to be either relics, heirlooms or military gear.

I have used houseruling to include mithril, adamantine, aurumwood(refluffed ironwood, very very very rarely handed out by the druidic order since it comes from a sacred grove), etc, granting things like versatility, lighter metal armor, advantage, so on and so forth depending on the item. Also decided that +1, +2 and +3 represent superlative manufacturing, rare materials, exotic conditions, etc. Magic weapons and armor will have actual magical effects. I'm thinking of introducing both enhancement items and magic items 'round lvl 7, if they've made it to the right locations.

Suppose it really boils down to how the DM's running things, 5e can slide anywhere along the scale from 'Faerun' to 'Eberon' to 'Middle Earth' in my admittedly limited experience.

[beargryllz]

At level 5, at least some of the party members should have a magic item or 2

[lunaticfringe]

Even though 5e is steering the Ship away from Equipment Mart it's still D&D. Gotta throw your PCs a bone sometimes. Item side quests are my bread & butter. Before you look to the Internet for answers ask yourself:

Are you having fun?
Do you feel decently challenged?
Are people's roles in Combat apparent? (Swarms controlled by Wizard, my Assassin & the Champion go after the Wizard)
Seriously it's a game, is it fun?

[ad_hoc]

The default in 5e is that magic items are rare and priceless.

Magic items are also not needed at all. You could just never have any and the game works just fine. That way when you do get an item it is special and feels like actual treasure.

It sounds like you are essentially running a 3.x style game with lots of items and the assumption that people have them lying around to give out as rewards.