0:00
Magic items have a really weird effect
0:02
on character optimization in Dn D. If
0:04
you don't know me, I'm Tyler. I write
0:06
RPGbot.net. I've been talking about
0:08
character optimization for about 15
0:10
years now. Check out the website. I've
0:12
got class guides for every D&D class for
0:15
a bunch of stuff from Pathfinder.
0:17
Anyway, but one of the things I don't
0:19
talk a lot about in the character
0:20
optimization guides is magic items. And
0:23
there's a reason for that. I do use
0:26
magic items in my D and D games, but
0:28
they're unpredictable. And that is part
0:31
of how 5P works. Magic items, they're
0:34
assumed to be part of the game really,
0:36
but they are technically an optional
0:38
rule, and there's no really easy way to
0:41
craft them or buy them. So, there's no
0:43
way to guarantee that any given magic
0:45
item is available to you. Generally in
0:48
5e, it's more about making do with what
0:51
you can find or what the DM decides is
0:54
available to you. In some games, you can
0:56
just ask your DM like, "Hey, I need a
0:57
suit of mythal armor. Can you make that
0:59
happen for me?" And a lot of DMs will be
1:01
perfectly fine with that. But if you're
1:03
running a published adventure and your
1:04
DM doesn't want to stray from what's
1:06
written in the book, your options are
1:08
going to be limited. So, I very
1:10
intentionally avoid talking about magic
1:12
items in my character optimization
1:14
discussions because I can't assume that
1:17
any given magic item is available to
1:19
you. If I hand you a build and say like
1:21
this build works great, but it needs
1:24
this item, this item, and this item to
1:26
function, that's useless for almost
1:28
everybody. So, when I'm writing, I'll
1:30
instead just ignore magic items for the
1:32
most part. Sometimes I'll call out where
1:34
they're specifically useful for some
1:36
combo, but generally I want my builds to
1:39
be available and useful to everyone. So
1:42
I have to assume the like most bare
1:44
bones basic assumptions of the game. And
1:47
that means that I don't get to assume