Introducing magic items
Keeping it wondrous.
The giant corpse of a two-headed spiny dragonbear lies at the adventurers’ feet. Its minions, worshipers, and other unfortunate hangers-on are all dead too, strewn about in bloody bits. The ranger’s sixteenth shrub otter companion has been avenged. But vengeance is rarely a satisfying reward, when there are other, more fearsome motivations that your players have been bottling up. You know what happens now. It’s coming any moment. You brace yourself for that hungry cry of “Detect Magic!”
Maintaining the integrity of your campaign when besieged by players’ constant desires for more powerful items can be an exhausting challenge. The discovery of magic items by characters while adventuring loses a whole lot of magic if they become too common, or if they’re easily available to purchase. Always remember, it’s okay to say no. If it exists in a rule book, it has to exist in your world, right? No.
Once upon a time, in the enchanted realm of Nostalgia, magic item lists existed only in secret, spell-locked tomes that only the GM could gain access to. Now they’re everywhere. They’re in players’ guides. They’re online, glistening like dawn dew on a spider web of weirdly untraceable third party sources. But they do not exist in your campaign unless you say yes.
Veteran curmudgeonly grognards like myself may remember 1st edition D&D, when characters had to be level seven to scribe basic scrolls, level eleven to brew potions unassisted and level twelve to create magic items. (This may be quite hard to comprehend for some newer gamers. Get off my xorn.) Decades later, this shadow can still be a useful reminder to influence item scarcity. While it is now far easier for characters to create these things, magic goods can still be considered something reasonably special rather than being readily available at your local olde magick shoppe.
Minor magic can still be available for purchase when scaled appropriately for settlement size, region and character levels, but the effort and resources that go into them means that they’re often created for a specific person or purpose rather than just for commercial gain (especially with all the accompanying difficulties and dangers of publicly announcing that you supply such valuable goods). Consider the reasons why a potentially powerful spellcaster might be a shopkeeper rather than an adventurer. Consider the upkeep, protections and warding costs of such a business. Treat it as you would an encounter, with the possibility that player characters could try to slay the owner and guardians for the contents. Make sure the challenge would be at least equal to the reward.
The tailoring, themes and placement of magic items should always be appropriate to your world. It’s not just about balancing player character power and rewards. An NPC should rarely carry an item that they can’t use. If they do, have a reason for it, such as it being an heirloom, stolen, or they’re looking after it for someone else. If an item is found with a monster, it’s usually from the remains of a less fortunate adventurer. Sometimes those remains remain within the monster.
Items can be placed for plot-specific use, and they can be distributed according to a planned party composition, either to enhance the character classes, or mimic abilities of those not represented (especially support or healing abilities in the case of smaller groups). But mostly they should be themed for relevance to the region.
Designing items with unique flavor can be more troublesome at lower levels, when additional powers drive the value up to an inappropriate level. Consider creating non-standard items with weaker powers, or staggered item abilities that unlock as the wielder or wearer gains experience. At the lowest levels, give the characters a chance to improve their mundane equipment first. Let them find a few masterwork items before the real magic appears.
Never give in to unreasonable player demands. If they insist that their shopping list of forty-two rare items is vital to their character to make their build viable, then the fault lies with their approach to the game. Send them back to the Nine Video Game Hells, otherwise known as 4th edition D&D.