@Mike Shea
The sheer abundance of items available is exactly why I encourage DMs to try and include some random items into the fray. It’s practically impossible to be familiar with everything out there.

@Chris Lee
People forget that we generally play in a magic-rich world (especially if you’re playing in Eberron). When everyone has a bunch of items it often makes each item seem less special. I like your approach that items should fulfill some purpose to the story arc or at least advance the story in some way. It reminds players that even something as humble as a magical elven bow can have important long-term implications.

I like your adage “Give the players an illusion of choice, but the reality is never so.” I think more DMs need to keep this in mind (myself included).

@Norman Harman
I think your memory is excellent and correct. The likelihood of rolling up a really powerful item was remote, but still possible if you just relied on the dice. I’ve known a lot of DMs over the years that forget your last point about re-rolling if they got inappropriate results.

@Rook
I’m with you. I try to have an explanation of how and why “random” items are found in a treasure horde. If the PCs discover the skeletal remains of a soldier in heavy armor armed with a big magic sword, it seems unlikely that there would also be a magic orb or wand. The PCs may never know who this fallen hero was but as the DM I try to think of who it might have been. His items need to make sense. It also gives me room to use this as a story hook later as you suggest.

Personally, I use the 4e treasure system simply as a general gauge for what is appropriate for the party’s level. I am quite fond of crafting in my own treasure bundles based on the campaign, the nature of the encounter itself, the environment and, of course, the needs of the plot and the PCs (in that order). If I do put something in the salvaged loot that seems strangely out of place, there is always a reason for it, whether the PCs ever discover that reason or not. Some are potential plot hooks and others just have an interesting back-story.
.-= Rook´s last blog ..Playing Good and Evil PCs. =-.

Just sayin.
.-= Norman Harman´s last blog ..Magical Monday – Personalized Magic =-.

I’m a new DM, but I guess I never really faced this problem before. I have been DM-ing ever since 4E saw print, and have tried to follow the rules by the book. In regards to items rewards, while the DMG advises to obtain wishlists from the players – which I did, I never did. My players didn’t care about what items they really wanted, they just wanted to roleplay the game. Which I ask, is to my benefit. Therefore, whatever new magic items that appear in front of them is random, and on top of beefing the characters up, magic items must fulfill at least one of two purposes of mine:

1. a magic item that is tied to the place that they are adventuring. My previous campaign saw the players venturing into a lost dwarven capital, reliving the scenes of horror just before the climax of the civil war between the dwarves and the greys (duergars). I had magic items in there to reflect the dwarven origin and the spoils of war. The last adventure or two saw the players going through many skill challenges and few combats and therefore they missed about 2 levels of magic items. I reimbursed them in this way, explaining that it was a war between two powerful dwarven clans, and each had their own trove of magic items. It brought out the flavour of the place and got the players really questioning what the heck was an elven bow doing there in the midst of all the dwarven weapons.

2). a magic item should be applicable in future situations. As the DM, we run the game. We know the game best. Or at least, maintain the illusion that we do. Our campaigns, our stories drive the itemisation of the characters. If the players gets hint that they will be venturing into the Frostfell, they will most likely not be taking any frost weapon with them. Hence, I will refrain from giving them out. That said, my first function holds more weight to me than the second function, and if it’s just minor, I know my players are able to adapt and get new enchantments on their own. That said, there was once where I did get wishlists and I doled them out dutifully. But I also tailored the campaign to suit that itemisation such that their choice drove forward the story in more than one way. Of course, another DM might just do the complete opposite by driving the story such that the items players chose were obsolete and ineffectual, but I think that’s just mean.

So that’s my view on magic items. I believe in a little adage about D&D in that: “Give the players an illusion of choice, but the reality is never so.” It just means that a DM has to be at the helm of the ship and be in control all the time, and that’s what makes it so difficult when your players like to take a dip into a sea roiling in a squall.

Like powers and feats and classes and paragon paths and everything else – I’m just overwhelmed with too many options to do much with it. For this reason I tend to use Asmor’s Quartermaster script to randomly generate treasure parcels.
.-= Mike Shea´s last blog ..Ration Tracking System =-.

@Tom: I have no problem with the article. It was just the first few paragraphs that confused me, since he seemed to be implying that 4e was straightjacketing how people handed out treasure by providing options that were different from the options earlier editions provided.

Of course anyone can do whatever the heck they want, including not even buying a single book and making up all your own rules.

You make an excellent point by saying that you’re “utterly confused by the belief that not having something in the core rulebook means that it is no longer part of the game.” I think more DMs and players need to keep this in mind. The core books are meant as a guideline and players and DMs should feel free to do whatever they feel will improve the game and make things more fun. Great feedback. Thanks.

I have no quarrel with your argument that there are both positives and negatives to each way of handing out treasure. I just continue to be utterly confused by the belief that not having something in the core rulebook means that it is no longer part of the game – especially something that the DM does with no input from the players.

I hand out treasure the way I always have – at my whim. Do people really change their style of DMing just because of advice in a DMG? I am honestly trying to understand this.