New DM to 5e, requesting help planning out long-term magic item drops for the campaig

[Vorenus]

Hello, all:

I'm a new DM to 5e. I've done a lot of gaming over the years, but not much D&D, and this is my first foray into 5e in particular. I'm running a group with five players, beginning at level 1. I am hoping to take the campaign all the way to level 20. I have been doing some thinking about when to give each of the player characters a legendary magic item. I obviously don't want to do it too soon, but I do want to give them the items early enough in their adventuring careers that they can actually enjoy them for a while. I know that the DMG seems to hint that Level 17 is appropriate, but I kind of think that is too late in the campaign. I don't want them to get their ultra-tier magic items right before the final quest, I want them to have some fun with them along the way. So I'm seeking the advice and wisdom of more experienced DMs.

Here are the class and race of the five PCs:

1. Aasimar Paladin
2. Dwarven Cleric (Life Domain)
3. High Elf Rogue
4. Wood Elf Ranger
5. Half-Orc Barbarian

(Side note: Not a single human in the group, although the Aasimar can pass for human most of the time. Everybody in the group can see in the dark!)

For the Aasimar Paladin, I am planning to eventually give her a Holy Avenger. I want to do that as a quest reward, not just a random treasure drop. I'll worry about figuring out the details of the quest later, right now I am seeking advice as to when is too soon to award the Holy Avenger.

For the Wood Elf Ranger, I am planning to give a Moonblade. The Moonblade will be his father's sword. At some point during the campaign he will receive a message calling him home. When he (and the rest of the PCs) go back to the Wood Elf homewoods, he will learn that his father was captured or quite possibly killed by the Wood Elf's preferred enemy (haven't got that detail ironed out yet). He will then go on the quest to find his father, if he is still alive. Depending on the choices he makes along the way, he may be able to rescue his father still alive, or his father might be dead by the time he gets to the enemy stronghold. Either way, he will end up with the family Moonblade after this quest. Either his father is too seriously wounded to continue wielding it, or he just believes that the time is right to pass it on to his son, or . . . or something else I haven't thought of yet. Alternatively, the father is dead, and the PC will recover the body and the Moonblade. So that's the basic idea for the quest, although I still need to work out all the details. But the question here is the same as the question for the Aasimar Paladin's Holy Avenger: What level is too soon for the Wood Elf Ranger to acquire the Moonblade?

For the High Elf Rogue, I am struggling to come up with a good Legendary item that would feel appropriate and thematic. Any suggestions? And, if so, what would be the minimum level? And if so, I would also appreciate suggestions for the appropriate quest to get said Legendary item.

For the Half-Orc Barbarian, I was thinking that some awesome Legendary Great Axe would be most appropriate . . . but I don't see any of those in the book. I could obviously build my own using the toolkits in Chapters 7 and 8 of the DMG, but I hesitate because I don't want to screw up the intra-party balance too much. So: basically the same questions as before: Any suggestions for an appropriate and thematic Legendary weapon? And when should it become available? And any suggestions for the quest to get said Legendary weapon?

The Dwarven Cleric will likely be the party Tank, so I was thinking long-term to either give him Dwarven Plate, but that is technically not a Legendary item, or Armor of Invulnerability. I'm still working on this idea, so if anyone has better suggestions that'll be great. Same questions as before: Recommendations for minimum level, appropriate/thematic item, and suggestions for developing the quest to get said Legendary item.

I've seen some suggestions in other forum threads that recommend giving the weapon to the PC at an earlier level but with it gaining power as the PC levels up. I'm not opposed to that idea, in fact I quite like it, but I'm not sure if I can pull it off as a brand-new DM.

Anyway, thanks for reading this message, and I hope y'all can help me plan out the long-term Legendary item quest rewards for this campaign.

Best,

--Vorenus

[strangebloke]

My advice is not to worry about the really late-game stuff. That will be happening months from now, if at all, and by the time you get to the point that it will be relevant, you'll have a much better understanding of the party you're working with. Also, your party members may switch characters several times before you all get to level 20 anyway.

If you do get that far.... honestly don't worry about balance too much. The easiest solution is to buy a couple of 3rd-party supplements from the DMsguild. There are a lot of magic item compendiums for 5 dollars or less, and some of them are pretty much strictly more fun than the DMG magic items.

Specifically, I would reccomend "ancestral weapons (https://www.dmsguild.com/product/267877/Ancestral-Weapons)" here. It gives you items that level with your party, and gives them options to level up their weapons.

[BeefGood]

I’m in similar situation, also with barbarian. I’m thinking ring of spell turning. Sure it’s not as cool as a greataxe but a high level barb is already a superb martial so I think improved defense against spells would have a greater impact.
Character level will probably be 16th. That will fit the campaign.

[darknite]

One option is to have the items level with PCs. At Tier 1 (1-4th level) it's a +1 sword. At Tier 2 (5-10) it's a +2 sword. At Tier 3 (11-16) it's a Sword of Wounding. At Tier 4 (17-20) it's a Vorpal Sword.

[Zhorn]

One option is to have the items level with PCs.
Another is to have combo-items who's effects on their own are minor but pair together into stronger combinations
Example: a right that lets you throw daggers around corners (think Diego from Umbrella Academy), paired with gloves that double/triple your throw distance.

[Vorenus]

Thanks for the suggestions. I like all of those ideas. However, I am a little bit surprised that there's not an answer to the question of what level is too early for a character to get a Legendary item. As I mentioned, the DMG hints at around level 17, but doesn't actually make that explicit, at least not that I have seen (as I said, I'm new to this DM thing so it's entirely possible I missed something). I think I'm going to aim to give each of them their Legendary item around levels 13-15. I'll stagger it so that the character that seems to be the weakest at that time will get his/her Legendary item the earliest, and so on, so the character that seems to be the most powerful will be the last to get a Legendary item--may even be Level 17 by then. We'll see.

Thanks again for the suggestions. If anyone else has anything to add about minimum levels for Legendary items, I'd love to hear it.