All martials should have magic weapons by level 6 unless the DM is Gygaxian.

[MaxWilson]

My eight players have a +1 dagger, a staff of the adder, and eyes of charming at 3rd level (and probably an elemental gem soon).

And I thought I was being stingy and running a low-magic campaign.

If you want to be stingy and low-magic, give out consumables with an expiration date, like a Potion of Heroism that has a 1 in 6 chance to expire every week (or every game session of you want to simplify).

That way you can still dangle treasure as motivators, but it doesn't snowball.