Magic Weapon (the spell) definitely won’t stack with a magic weapon (the item), and whether or not magic items are available changes the base assumptions that we work from when optimizing characters since the availability of magic items isn’t a guarantee.
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This comment was part of a larger
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discussion around 2024 D and D's rangers
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and how their damage scales with level,
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which has been a long-term issue,
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especially with them being locked into
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Hunter Mark in the 2024 rules. This user
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brought up the possibility of magic
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items. I frequently recommend that
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rangers start casting the magic weapon
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spell to increase their attack bonus and
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damage because it is a multiplicative
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bonus and that does a ton for them long
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term. But as this user points out, that
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doesn't stack with permanent magic
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items. Like if you have a plus one long
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sword and you you can't cast magic
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weapon on your long sword to give it an
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additional plus one. Those things don't
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stack and you can't cast magic weapon on
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magic weapons. You can't cast magic
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weapon on magic weapons. And that kind
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of points to an interesting discussion
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about how I generally talk about D&D
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content. Magic items in the 2014 rules
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were technically an optional rule. And
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even in the 2024 rules, the game isn't
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balanced around them. The game has a
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sidebar that specifically calls out
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magic items are intended to be a boon.
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They put you above where the game
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expects you to be. I, as a content
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creator, I can't predict how many magic
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items you're going to get. Like, it's
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super inconsistent between published
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modules and I don't know a thing about
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your homebrew game. So, I do my best to
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create content from those bare minimum
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assumptions, like the things that the
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game gives you 100% of the time, levels,
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feats, species, those things. I can't
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guarantee magic items will be available
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to you. I can't guarantee any homebrew
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fixes or anything like that are
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available to you. So, I have to create
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content based on the things that
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everybody has. Uh much like the rules
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need to be balanced for every table, my
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content has to be applicable to every
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table because I have to assume that
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people are going to find some small bit
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of my content without broader context
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unless I provide that. So I can't assume
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that you have magic items in your game.
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I do think magic items belong in the
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game. I do think they should be an
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expectation and at this point they kind
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of are, but that's a whole separate
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video. But being able to play the game
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without magic items makes it feel really
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good when you do get magic items. If
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you've built your ranger, assuming that
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you you're at your best when you can
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cast magic weapon, if someone hands you
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a magic weapon, then you no longer need
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to cast that spell and you have those
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spell slots free for other things. So,
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it is purely additive. It makes your
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character more effective. And if you
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gain levels and your permanent magic
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item doesn't keep up, then like, yeah,
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keep a keep a non-magic weapon around so
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you can cast magic weapon on that at a
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higher level and then switch back to
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your permanent magic item when the spell
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runs
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