LMoP: Adjusting loot

[Zhorn]

I've started a new run of LMoP and I'm wanting to adjust some items to fit the group a bit better. Looking for suggestions.

Tortle wild magic sorcerer (high strength and AC, but has been in the backlines so far)
Firbolg four elements monk (wants to be staff-guy)
Human hunter ranger (longbow)
Human assassin rogue (rapier)
Dragonborn devotion paladin (protection fighting style)
Water genasi land (coast) druid

Talon I'm already re-flavoring as a rapier to suit the rogue. Thinking of adding in a fun bonus so it's not just a +1 weapon. Maybe "When you score a critical hit on an enemy, the sword allows you to cast True Strike as a bonus action against the same target (you do not need to know the spell or expend any spell slots to do this)". Give them the choice to press the attack or pass in favour of hit-and-run tactics. Yay / nay?

Dragonguard I'm thinking of changing from a breastplate to a shield for the paladin.

Lightbringer doesn't fit anyone in the group, as I'm pretty sure the paladin will be making better use of Hew.

Want to have some well suited items for the rest of the party. The Ranger and Sorcerer are the main head scratchers, as I want to avoid the "yet another +1 weapon" response, as those items all feel rather samey. Suggestions?

[Bjarkmundur]

I could probably share some insight, if only I knew what lmop was :0

[GlenSmash!]

When I played LMoP (That's the Lost Mines of Phandelver) We never found any of this loot.

Still I actually find the amount of loot in the adventure exceed the recommendations in the DMG (just like all the published adventures actually) so i'd be a little wary of raising the power levels.

[Wuzza]

Talon I'm already re-flavoring as a rapier to suit the rogue. Thinking of adding in a fun bonus so it's not just a +1 weapon. Maybe "When you score a critical hit on an enemy, the sword allows you to cast True Strike as a bonus action against the same target (you do not need to know the spell or expend any spell slots to do this)". Give them the choice to press the attack or pass in favour of hit-and-run tactics. Yay / nay? That would be quite powerful imo (auto sneak attack). Maybe give it a battlemaster manoeuvre. once per short rest?

Dragonguard I'm thinking of changing from a breastplate to a shield for the paladin. If the pally uses a shield, go for it.

Lightbringer doesn't fit anyone in the group, as I'm pretty sure the paladin will be making better use of Hew. Change it to a monk weapon?

From a purely selfish Druid pov in LMoP, I'd have loved to have picked up one of these homebrewed items (kinda my wish list).

Amulet that allows speech/telepathy in animal form. (I don't contribute while in beast form)
Staff of the Woodland Companion: (allows to cast Find Familiar, 1/week and Beast Sense 1/day)
Ring of Nature: Can cast Speak with Animals and Animal Messenger (both once per day)
Sylvan Necklace: Acts as per Saddle of the Cavalier
Earring of the Fey Mage: Gives advantage on CON saves to maintain concentration on spells when taking damage.

[Ventruenox]

That is an interesting take on Talon. The risk the Rogue still takes is that if he is hit, concentration may break. Has decent synergy with the Assassinate ability. I like it, and restricting that True Strike power to only occur after a crit is a good idea.

Making Dragonguard a shield may result in it not being used by the Paladin, and a +3 AC swing item may come back to bite you. Maybe taking away the +1 enchantment but keeping advantage on save vs. breath would be better. (Or let the Druid use it.)

Lightbringer - replace it with a Wand of Wonder for your Sorcerer.

Ranger: trick arrows could be quite fun. Pick a few things from the Alchemist's satchel of the previous Artificer UA (https://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/1_UA_Artificer_20170109.pdf) to use a few times a day.

Both the Staff of Defense and Spider Staff are good as is.

[Zhorn]

Still I actually find the amount of loot in the adventure exceed the recommendations in the DMG (just like all the published adventures actually) so i'd be a little wary of raising the power levels.If it were a standard group size of 4 I would agree, but with 6 players I'm already having to adjust the content to handle a party with a higher action economy. Stronger players just means I can lean into those deadly encounters a bit more and pull fewer punches with the stronger monsters.


Talon That would be quite powerful imo (auto sneak attack).As Ventruenox has caught onto, trying it to successful crits and restricting it to the same target does curb that power back a fair bit. If the rogue scores a crit on a minion, chances are they'll have either already killed it, or it would die next turn anyway and this just makes the moment FEEL more epic. On bosses, that's where the item presents a real choice, as to push for that powerful bonus they risk being a prime target of a smackdown, potentially breaking concentration on True Strike, or taking the rogue down. Big payoff but at a big risk.


Lightbringer Change it to a monk weapon?Possibly, but with Staff of Defense and Spider Staff both being solid items, it could possibly be thrown into storage / forgotten pretty quickly. As of this point, I'm not planning any major undead arcs. The party will see Old Owl Well long before Wave Echo Cave, and possibly the same for Thundertree as well. That just leaves Wave Echo Cave, half of which will be cleared by the time they get to the room were Lightbringer is. Considering it is pretty far out of the way, I may just leave it as is, and not worry if they find it or not. Just treat it as random loot.


Making Dragonguard a shield may result in it not being used by the Paladin, and a +3 AC swing item may come back to bite you.Not sure I follow what you're getting at here?


Sylvan Necklace: Acts as per Saddle of the CavalierLiking the one


Wand of Wonder for your SorcererThis too. Though yet another large table will be bothersome to keep track of. Might change it to just use the Wild Magic table. "The wand has been too close to the Spell Forge and is somewhat defective, but the sorcerer being attuned to the flow of chaotic magic can use to to force a wild magic surge."

[Wuzza]

As Ventruenox has caught onto, trying it to successful crits and restricting it to the same target does curb that power back a fair bit. If the rogue scores a crit on a minion, chances are they'll have either already killed it, or it would die next turn anyway and this just makes the moment FEEL more epic. On bosses, that's where the item presents a real choice, as to push for that powerful bonus they risk being a prime target of a smackdown, potentially breaking concentration on True Strike, or taking the rogue down. Big payoff but at a big risk.


Completely missed the crit part, that makes it pretty cool.

[Ventruenox]

Not sure I follow what you're getting at here?
I'm remembering my own DM's regrets in the campaign following running LMoP. 5E is balanced for no magic items expected. He ended up increasing HP for nearly all opponents to try and balance encounters for us. A +1 magic shield may result in one of your players with AC 21+ in future sessions.


This too. Though yet another large table will be bothersome to keep track of. Might change it to just use the Wild Magic table. "The wand has been too close to the Spell Forge and is somewhat defective, but the sorcerer being attuned to the flow of chaotic magic can use to to force a wild magic surge."
I like this too, and anyone who goes Wild Magic origin loves the unpredictability factor. My suggestion was to avoid double-dipping on that table with a homebrew that I didn't think out ramifications fully, while still capitalizing on the randomness theme.