Magic Item Dilemma

At one of our recent sessions we encountered an odd issue.
Dale gave us a list of items to pick from as part of our winning a fight.

There were some alright things on there, but nothing that really said to any of us “gottahavit” or even “that would be nice”.

Sometimes he’ll pick stuff he thinks we’ll want but we don’t.
That didn’t happen this time.

They were decent items, but they were “meh” to us.

Do we have too many magic items?
No, I think we’re actually a little low powered when it comes to magic items.
Well that’s what I think, but I don’t know for sure.

Time for some pseudo-math…

Here are our assumptions based off of what has been implied in the rules:
10 encounters per level about equal to the PCs’ levels
5 PC’s
4 magic item per 10 encounters
Magic items will be 1 to 4 levels above the party
Usually PC’s can make or buy magic items – given how much a PC is supposed to have by level, this comes out to about 2 levels behind their current level assuming money is not wasted.

Conclusion – A PC will receive 4 magic items per 5 levels they gain and that item will approximately be 2 levels above their new level.

Now we know that the assumptions will not be 100% true to what happens, but a d20 will never truly average out to 10.5 on its rolls either.

Next are the item slots: Armor, Weapons and Implements (combined to around 3 slots total), Arms, Feet, Hand, Head, Neck, Waist, and Wondrous (which we’ll say are 2 slots), and 2 rings (but are all level 14 and up).

That’s a total of 12 slots to start with and 2 more around paragon levels, but unless your DM hands out rings to everyone like they’re gifts I’m going to say 1 ring is available at level 11 and the other at level 21.

I know there are a lot of “But what if…?” possibilities, but I’ve got to draw a reasonable line somewhere.
“Some items are more useful than their higher level replacements.”
That’s an opinion. Another opinion is that some items are utterly worthless at any level.
“Some DM’s hand out more than what you’ve listed.”
I’m aware of that. Some also hand out less. Some players don’t need many items and some need more.

Remember, this is just a rough listing.

So let’s see what we get as we level up (with levels 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, & 26 as the level we don’t get an item from loot):

PC level – item levels
1 – no magic
2 – 4
3 – 5, 4, 1
4 – 6, 5, 4, 2, 1
5 – 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
6 – 8, 6, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1
7 – 9, 8, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1
8 – 10, 9, 8, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1
We’re out of slots so we start replacing the lowest level items
9 – 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3
10 – 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4
Ring slot opens up
11 – 12, 11, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4
12 – 14, 12, 11, 10, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6, 6, 5
13 – 15, 14, 12, 11, 11, 10, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8, 7, 6
14 – 16, 15, 14, 12, 12, 11, 11, 10, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8
15 – 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 12, 11, 11, 10, 10, 9, 9
16 – 17, 16, 15, 14, 14, 13, 12, 12, 11, 11, 10, 10, 9
17 – 19, 17, 16, 15, 15, 14, 14, 13, 12, 12, 11, 11, 10
18 – 20, 19, 17, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14, 14, 13, 12, 12, 11
19 – 21, 20, 19, 17, 17, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14, 14, 13, 12
20 – 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 17, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14, 14
Ring slot opens up
21 – 22, 21, 20, 19, 19, 18, 17, 17, 16, 16, 15, 15, 14, 14
22 – 24, 22, 21, 20, 20, 19, 19, 18, 17, 17, 16, 16, 15, 15
23 – 25, 24, 22, 21, 21, 20, 20, 19, 19, 18, 17, 17, 16, 16
24 – 26, 25, 24, 22, 22, 21, 21, 20, 20, 19, 19, 18, 17, 17
25 – 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 22, 21, 21, 20, 20, 19, 19, 18
26 – 27, 26, 25, 24, 24, 23, 22, 22, 21, 21, 20, 20, 19, 19
27 – 29, 27, 26, 25, 25, 24, 24, 23, 22, 22, 21, 21, 20, 20
28 – 30, 29, 27, 26, 26, 25, 25, 24, 24, 23, 22, 22, 21, 21
29 – 30, 30, 29, 27, 27, 26, 26, 25, 25, 24, 24, 23, 22, 22
30 – 30, 30, 30, 29, 28, 27, 27, 26, 26, 25, 25, 24, 24, 23

That’s a lot of magic items.

I’m curious about how the items average out to the PC’s in the game I run.

I know that my current PC’s in Dale’s game are a little underpowered, but Dale is making up for that (as he has found out when an equal level combat nearly killed us because our most powerful items were 2 or more levels below our PCs’ levels).

So the levels are a little low, but that should make us want newer items more, right?

You’d think so, but no.

The items we had to choose from were mostly weapons, armor, and items related to weapons and armor.

Much of the equipment we had were things were picked as optimal for our PC, or were pretty good.

That means that any improvement in gear would have to be something big, not a baby step.

Why would my sorcerer give up a Staff of Ruin +2 for a +3 staff with a daily I won’t get much use out of and 1 more average point of damage on a crit?
The tradeoff would be +1 to hit, -1 to damage or even if it’s a crit, and gaining a daily effect that doesn’t impress me.
The boost is minor, so let someone else in the group pick an item from the list that would do better for them.

But my sorcerer does have a few slots that are totally empty.

“Ah ha! It’s Dale’s fault. He’s not giving you a variety of items.”

No sir.

I’ve had ample opportunity to buy gear, create gear, or choose loot gear that could be used in an open slot but I’ve overlooked it.

Why? Because I want to do more damage. I want more effective characters.

So I’m just as guilty as Dale. Heck, probably more-so since it’s not as easy for him to know every piece of equipment I have on my PC’s.

As I’ve listed above, the items you replace should be replaced by something roughly 10 levels higher. Replacing your main weapon every month may be costing you in the long run as all your other gear gets more and more outdated.

But what do I know?
I could just be reading tea leaves.