DM Tip: Incorporating Magic Items in Your Party

This topic is tricky on multiple levels, and needs to be considered on a case-by-case basis. The advice I list below relates to my personal experience running groups, and I hope it helps you when you decide to give players access to magical items. This article pertains mostly to fantasy-genre RPGs like Dungeons&Dragons/Pathfinder. To shake things up, I’m going to address this in more of an FAQ-style article.

At what level do I introduce my players to magic items?

Any! As far as Dungeons&Dragons goes, magic items do not have level requirements associated with them. A character can, by nature, wield a rusty sword as easily as he/she could wield a +3 flaming sword. Trying to associate each magic item with a character’s level is a logistical and pointless nightmare for any DM to undertake.

Okay, so what’s stopping me from giving my players the best items in the list?

The smartass answer? Nothing.

When you reward your players with a magic item of any type, you are giving those players an advantage against some situation (combat, exploration, communication, etc.) they would not obtain by their own merit. Hence, a magic item. Your real decision, then, is determining how great of an advantage you wish you provide.

Conflict, a true test of one’s mettle against any particular odds, drives most good stories. Whether it’s against nature, society, or a named foe, humans continuously want to test their worth. It’s only natural, then, that the characters we portray also seek perpetual trials to overcome. By giving your players the best magic items, and therefore the best unnatural advantages against these challenges too early, you rob them of this test. Winning without challenge becomes boring, and boredom is the cancer of any story.

How do I know when an item may be too good or overpowered for a player’s current level?

This is a difficult question to address fully, and even the most veteran DM makes this mistake from time to time. Players are unpredictable and will often use the gifts you provide in ways you can’t prepare for. However, here are some questions to ask yourself if you feel an item will give your players too great of an advantage for their current situation.

1. Will the item’s usage break your current narrative in any way?
2. Will the player’s enemies have a difficult time overcoming the advantage granted by the item?
3. Can the player abuse the item’s benefits in any foreseeable way?

If you can answer “Yes” to any of these questions, you probably don’t want to incorporate the item at this point in your story.

But what if I really like the item, is there any way I can still use it?

Absolutely! The beautiful thing about these games is you can alter anything and everything to fit your needs, so long as you’re consistent in your changes. If you really like a particular magical item, such as the Robe of the Archmagi, but the benefits are just too powerful for your player currently, tweak it! For example, you could change the AC to 11 + the Dex bonus, remove the advantage against magic effects/spells, and change the Spell DC/attack to +1.

On the opposite end, you can bolster an item’s effects if the original is too underwhelming for your player. Roleplaying games by their very nature tap into the creative, use your artistic license to good effect!

The only caveat here, be mindful of how far you adjust an item in either direction. An underwhelming item will rarely, if ever, see use; an overpowered item can fudge your narrative in any of the ways mentioned previously.

So I’ve made a custom/adjusted magic item, is there any way I can test it before giving it to my players?

Again, yes! There are online RPG communities abound, one of my favorite being the DnD subreddit, with whom you can gather feedback and constructive criticism about your new/adjusted item. You never know what amazing new creations you can concoct with an RPG think-tank behind you!

Oh, no! My item is too strong, what do I do now?

As I said before, this situations befalls even the best DM and is nothing to freak out over. Now that your player has experienced the awesome magic item, how do you make things right?

First, consider whether the item can be tweaked (as mentioned above), or if it needs to be destroyed outright. If the former, you can say the item’s magic rapidly drains away, requiring the user to embark on a long journey to find the one source of power capable of recharging the item. By the time the player reaches the goal, the item’s full effect may be more suitable. Or, a horrible curse befalls the player the longer he uses the item, causing him to weigh the pros and cons of using such a deadly device!

If you need to destroy the item, do so in a way that feels organic to your story, and provide a suitable alternative for the player so as to not cheapen the experience. Perhaps the item’s unstable magics cause havoc for those around the player, and a mysterious merchant is willing to part with a safer, albeit weaker, item in exchange for completing a certain task. Or, the item needs to be used to activate an object in the dungeon, and must stay there or awaken a powerful creature from its slumber.

No matter what your action, build it into your story and let the ramifications follow naturally.

What if I have more questions?

Comment on this article! I love bouncing ideas back and forth all the time, and I know I haven’t covered everything I wanted here. Or, reach out the communities I mentioned previously for further advice. There are plenty of resources out there to aid in your use, creation, and modification of magic items.

Blessed be,

Matthew Wulf

---

Want to stay up to date with the latest happenings on Critical Hit Guru? Click the Follow button and type the email address you want to receive notifications for new posts!

We’re now on Twitter and Facebook! Search for @CriticalHitGuru on Twitter and the Critical Hit Guru page on Facebook to chat, ask questions, or just stay in the loop.