A Bit Ptoo Much Ptolus for your Ptaste? Well Ptough!

Forgive me or not, but I am focused quite heavily on my current campaign set in Monte Cook's Ptolus: City By The Spire. Obsessed you might say. I am taking the opportunity to include on the blog plenty of ideas for other Ptolus DMs as repayment and paying it forward for the many cool ideas they have made available for others like myself to use. 

Fear not, there will be other non-Ptolus posts appearing here as well. 

There will be some posts coming up about miniatures, reviews of books that can be useful for your game, old school spells, magic items both old school and for 5e, monsters both old school and new, journals from other campaigns, props and terrain pieces, and sometimes some non-d&d related subjects.

I considered putting a to-do list up showing planned posts, but things change far too frequently for that to remain on target. There are however a growing stack of gaming books on my desk that need reading and those will certainly get a mention when completed.

So there we have it. There will be plenty of variety to look forward to. 

This post is not a Ptroll.

Pruning the Magic Item Christmas Tree

A long lamented problem for some campaigns is the accumulation of magic items by the characters to the point where a detect magic spell would cause them to light up like a Christmas tree.

DM's being loath to take away treasured items from the player characters for fear of disappointing the players have often neglected to use the built-in mechanics of the game which serve to mitigate this issue and keep the discovery of more magic items fresh and exciting.

Items like potions and scrolls are already meant to be used once only, and charged items like wands and staves run out of power after a random number of uses. This was meant to limit power while still allowing characters special bonuses. Sadly without the risk of these items being take away through hazards, spells, creatures, or other mishaps, the players tend to hoard them for use against the toughest foes or "end bosses". With the mechanics for taking items away, there is incentive to use it or lose it and encouragement to be more liberal in use of charged and consumable items.

Among the possible mechanics in 1st edition AD&D for handling the abundance of magical treasure available in the game are spells, creatures, etc.

Spells can include Dispel Magic, and Mordenkainen's Disjunction. The former can ruin potions and temporarily disable other permanent items like magic armor and swords. The latter permanently removes all magic from items affected.

Monsters can include Rust Monsters, Caryatid Columns, some slimes and oozes, and the Disenchanter. In my opinion the Disenchanter wasn't needed and was a bandaid for a problem that shouldn't exist.

Of course hazards play their part in reducing excess magic items from play. Things like lava, acid, and the common occurrence of falls into pits or from other heights play their part; and lets not forget other spell hazards like fireball, all bring the Item Saving Throw Table into play. The last one should not be forgotten despite the possibility of slowing down play.

Playing closer to the guidelines as written would provide a way for the problem to take care of itself.