Magic items per level.

[krossbow]

What would you guys say is appropriate equipment per level for characters?


Like, is it
+1 1-4
+2 5-8
+3 9-12
+4 13-16
+5 17-20

or is it fine for characters to have slightly higher end stuff or lower end stuff, just as long as the monsters are adjusted?



Just wondering, Because I'm wanting to give some of my PC's some really kick a** stuff near the end of my campaing (a level 12 rouge just got a couple +4 equivilent daggers from a fight that almost wiped the party), but I don't want to drastically power jump them.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

You can use the Character Wealth by Level table on page 135 of the DMG as a guideline for what is appropriate.

You should probably limit the value of a single item to no more than half the total wealth.

A +4 equivalent weaponr is not inappropriate for a level 12 character.

[Douglas]

Check page 135 of the DMG for a table of how much equipment by gp value a PC character is supposed to have at each level up to 20. Going above or below the listed value shouldn't be too much of a problem if you stay reasonably close, but you'll have to start adjusting monsters a lot if you stray too far in either direction.

Edit: A pair of +4 weapons would still leave a 12th level character with 24000 gp for other equipment by the table. In this particular case, however, I'd say he probably wouldn't get overpowered until a bit beyond that due to the general suckiness of TWF - I'd give the offhand dagger a substantial reduction in effective value for balance purposes.

[ken-do-nim]

What would you guys say is appropriate equipment per level for characters?

Like, is it
+1 1-4
+2 5-8
+3 9-12
+4 13-16
+5 17-20

or is it fine for characters to have slightly higher end stuff or lower end stuff, just as long as the monsters are adjusted?

I'd adjust your table as follows:

1-3 Masterwork
4-6 +1
7-9 +2
10-12 +3
13-14 +4
15 +5
16 +6
17 +7
18 +8
19 +9
20 +10

If it seems high, just remember that a +10 weapon costs 100K and at 20th level you are supposed to have 750K.

[Jack Mann]

By the PHB II, you should spend about half your gold on your weapon, if you're a martial character (the max you should be allowed to spend on any single item). You've got it pretty much right, Ken, up until 11th, which is when you should have a +4. +5 should come at 13th, +6 at 14th, +7 at 15th, +8 at 16th, +9 at 17th, and +10 at 18th. A +10 is actually 200,000, not 100,000.

If you've got a bit extra, or your DM is willing to let you stretch things a bit, you can actually afford +3 at 9th. The enhancement is exactly half of your gold at that level; it's the masterwork cost and the base cost of the weapon that push it past half your gold.

[Matthew]

or is it fine for characters to have slightly higher end stuff or lower end stuff, just as long as the monsters are adjusted?

It is absolutely fine to give out as little or as much magic gear as you feel appropriate, so long as you adjust the challenges accordingly. The only problem with this approach is that lowering the wealth by level figures may appear to increase the gap between Spell Casters and Non Spell Casters (though, it shouldn't really, it probably just further highlights the gap, since the treasure is lowered for all involved).

[MeklorIlavator]

Wow, our current DM is alot harsher(25% on one item, max of 20%on all others).

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

The DMG suggest that it would be reasonable to restrict any single item to 25 % of WBL for characters starting at higher levels.

However, in-game restrictions on what PCs can buy or create seems more "artificial", in my humble opinion.

[paigeoliver]

How much of their wealth by level the character is going to have wrapped up in magic weapons really depends on the character. Certain characters tend to have way higher percentages in this area than others.

Archers might very well have 75 percent of their wealth wrapped up in a single bow for a large portion of their career.

Two weapon fighting characters tend to have most of their wealth in a pair of +1 weapons early on.

While wizards and bards may not own a magic weapon at all. In campaigns where their are magic item shops and characters pick and choose their own items they tend not to have any. But in campaigns that stick more to the 1st/2nd edition idea of not being able to buy magic items usually end up with these characters having magic weapons.

[Draz74]

Archers might very well have 75 percent of their wealth wrapped up in a single bow for a large portion of their career.

Those archers are missing out on one of the primary advantages of archers: the ability to split weapon costs on bows and arrows, allowing more flexibility at less cost than a single weapon would offer.

If you have 72000 gp to spend on ranged weapons, you could get a +1 Seeking Flaming Longbow of Speed. Or you could get a +1 Longbow of Speed, and 100 magic arrows equipped with all kinds of +2-equivalent powers. Like 50 Bane arrows, for all different types of foes, each with a elemental +1d6 damage property added for extra punch; and another 50 arrows that are Seeking/Distance (when you just really need an amazing shot), Holy, Flaming Burst and other "bursts," etc. And you still have 4000 extra gold left over too.

Yay archer ammo flexibility.

[MaN]

1-3 Masterwork
4-6 +1
7-9 +2
10-12 +3
13-14 +4
15 +5
16 +6
17 +7
18 +8
19 +9
20 +10

I use the exact same formula.

I also houserule that double weapons don't suffer from the double-cost/separate-enchantments bit.

[paigeoliver]

I have always been of the "magic arrows are a bad buy" school of thought. I go through them too fast. 50 bane arrows for 8000 GP are gone in 12-13 rounds for a mid-level archer. Sure if you are creating higher level characters for one-shots then they are great, but characters you actually play level by level under the normal rules? I'd go through 8,000 to 10,000 GP worth of magic arrows in a single GOOD session, and would be really lucky that back.

Of course my archer character is a Living Greyhawk character and their XP/GP system only gives you ROUGHLY 1/3rd the XP and GP that the core rules would give you, so that would make magic arrows even a worse buy under that system. Mine has a 40 percent XP/GP penalty as well. So If I was using magic arrows I would burn 33 of them in a short adventure (3 round combats, hasted on 2nd and 3rd round, but not the first round because I usually always beat the casters on init). That would cost me 5280 GP and I would only get like 567 GP for the session.

Those archers are missing out on one of the primary advantages of archers: the ability to split weapon costs on bows and arrows, allowing more flexibility at less cost than a single weapon would offer.

If you have 72000 gp to spend on ranged weapons, you could get a +1 Seeking Flaming Longbow of Speed. Or you could get a +1 Longbow of Speed, and 100 magic arrows equipped with all kinds of +2-equivalent powers. Like 50 Bane arrows, for all different types of foes, each with a elemental +1d6 damage property added for extra punch; and another 50 arrows that are Seeking/Distance (when you just really need an amazing shot), Holy, Flaming Burst and other "bursts," etc. And you still have 4000 extra gold left over too.

Yay archer ammo flexibility.

[Tor the Fallen]

What exactly do the daggers do?
Straight up +4 is better all around than a +1 flaming, shocking, icy weapon, as there are resistances and high ACs to contend with. With a TWF rogue, you're much less likely to hit something with only a +1 enhancement bonus than a +4 to attack.

[Rigeld2]

Straight up +4 is better all around than a +1 flaming, shocking, icy weapon, as there are resistances and high ACs to contend with. With a TWF rogue, you're much less likely to hit something with only a +1 enhancement bonus than a +4 to attack.

Totally wrong.

Make friends with your Cleric. Get him to cast Greater Magic Weapon.

+1 Flaming Shocking Icy becomes +3 Flaming Shocking Icy (till level 16) for 1 hour/level (so 12 hours). Which is better than a +4 weapon.