How do you decide how often you allow the PC's to gain magical items?

[Solan]

This is an especially important question for Ravenloft, which is a magically-poor land in general, while conversely being home to a host of creatures who can only be harmed by magic weapons. The roleplaying systems I've DM'ed for in the past didn't have this dilemma, having no magic to speak of, but now it seems perhaps the biggest issue for me to come to terms with (well, other than the problem of trying to find a fair fight for 3rd level PC's; most of the monsters weak enough seem to have an appalling No's Appearing stat).

[Five]

Be a slave only to the tales told at the table.

I like low-magic Ravenloft. Magic is bad (and only fools and madmen flirt with it) Ravenloft. Robert E. Howard Ravenloft (as I like to think of it).

Here's a handful of alternatives that I have used. The last one is one of my personal favourites. Worked well.

- Allow masterwork weapons to act as enchanted weapons. And remind the players that weapons need to be maintained.

The PCs get these weapons whenever they can afford them (or not get caught lifting them!). If you're a DM that's tight with money then put your +monsters on a tight leash. If you're loose with money then let them go.

- Sub material for magic (that would otherwise be useless by bending, breaking, and/or shattering against mundane foes). Some, like silver, are obvious and trope. Work with the players and create your own.

It's a bit of extra work but you can really bang out a cool system. Can anybody remember "Star Metal"? That would be the top of the list if it were up to me. Just cos of the shout-out. Haha

- Allow mundane weapons to inflict half damage. It can make combat more brutal than you might first think!

Good for grittier campaigns, but you might want to up the PCs natural healing a few notches. Always busted-up is great, always dead is just not fun.

- Allow "blessings" to grant the needed "to hit" mods to the weapons. And put the doomsday clock on them. They need to periodically be blessed again, and holy places in Ravenloft are as few and as far between as you need them to be. Make it not tough or easy, but necessary. If the PCs need to "tactically retreat" because they wore-out their blessings, then so be it. They need to be on top of this kind of stuff if they want to fight the good fight.

Make the PCs quest for weapons with permanent blessings. Borrowing the sacred Relics of "saints" (no, not the thought to be saints' relics wink) from grateful pious folk, and weapons of fallen champions sub pretty good, as well as sketchy relics found in the darkest of places that the PCs fortuitously "liberate", that may or may not have its own agenda to execute, but doesn't mind playing a part in the meantime.

And yes, this is the same as D&D magic. It's just under a different skin. But if you play it non-magical then it is non-magical...

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I believe that small stories attached to a magical item give more flavour to the game and also make the weapon seem special too. So I believe it is important to describe any item identified as magic as being somehow special. For an item to be magic it usually needs to also be of top quality so this ads up to it. It can be a family heirloom, it could have been gathered after fighting a dangerous adversary or found in the strangest of places. Alternatives are good as mentioned before as silver or blessed weapons, sometimes its cool to try to find what a specific villain is vulnerable to. For instance some Richemuot aristocrats have a tension to avoid certain foods or materials.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

I believe that small stories attached to a magical item give more flavour to the game and also make the weapon seem special too. So I believe it is important to describe any item identified as magic as being somehow special. For an item to be magic it usually needs to also be of top quality so this ads up to it. It can be a family heirloom, it could have been gathered after fighting a dangerous adversary or found in the strangest of places. Alternatives are good as mentioned before as silver or blessed weapons, sometimes its cool to try to find what a specific villain is vulnerable to. For instance some Richemuot aristocrats have a tension to avoid certain foods or materials.

[IanFordam]

What's this mysterious "allow the PC's to gain magical items" of which you speak?

Seriously, though, I want to add to the good suggestions that Five and Meph mentioned.

First, I'm fond of magic items which allow a spellcaster to channel their spells into another, particular spell. For example, a wand of magic missile channeling allows a wizard to cast any spell through the wand as a magic missile. That allows a wizard to choose a more interesting selection of spells without abandoning vital offensive (or defensive or whatever) capability. Similarly for priests, consider a holy symbol of cure light wounds channeling.

Second, in the early adventures of a campaign I tend to give out more limited-use items. My players are much more likely to find a quiver of 20 arrows +1 than a +1 longbow. Or potions. Or scrolls. At higher levels I give more permanent magic but assign usage limits, such as boots of spider climbing which may only be invoked 1/day. I prefer limited-use items to charged items because players don't hoard them as much. (Charged items are still charged items, though.) As a result, PCs can do cool things, but not upon every whim.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

In general weaponwise it is important to give players enough so they can fight a monster that exists in the adventure. In 2e, where some monsters could be hit only by magical weapons, it was crucial to have them own some (or at least one, depending on the foe). If there was an option of a monster being able to be hit by silver or cold wrought iron weapons I would prefer to give them a weapon of that material over a magical weapon. Magical weapons should be treasured by adventurers, even creating special symbolic bonds with them. For instance a fighter who finds a +3 weapon after having fought epic battles with a +1 weapon could feel weird of changing weapons as that special +1 weapon has saved the party's lives many times in the past, but then again a +3 weapon will give that character even more battle tales to tell while sitting around the fireplace.

Other material weapons some times have the tendency to break and this gives more randomness to the game that can create fun playing moments.

In 3e monster damage reduction replaces the invulnerability to non magical weapons in a better way. Monsters can be damaged though the damage seems minor, which I find more realistic and I like it.

I particularly remember playing Feast of Goblyns ages ago and having the party fight against a Greater Wolfwere where in 2e they had the special power to regenerate all damage done in the end of the round unless they had lost all their hit points in a single round (and this is a 8+2 HD monster). It could be hit by magical or iron weapons but still unless fire or acid was used they were almost unbeatable. In 3e the same monster has a damage reduction of 15/cold iron and has a regeneration of 10. It is still hard to beat it (8d8+10 HD) but it is more realistic than before, also magical weapons that are not made of iron will probably bounce of with a damage reduction of 15, making magical weapons when fighting this monster no better than a nonmagical weapon.

In general 2e magic weapons in Ravenloft were more necessary than in 3e Ravenloft. As for the rest of magical items I would be careful not to overpower the party with magical armor and most other magical items should have a purpose to be in the adventure. For instance if the adventure needs the PCs to have some specific power that they don't I would give them a magical item that is able to replace that power, but still it would be better if it was tailored somehow that makes a nice story to tell. I will give you a what to avoid example.

Harry and Larry two competing rogues in the party want to open a door (that is necessary for the adventure) they both happen to fail to open it, either because their skill in doing so is not good enough or were distracted and rolled a 1 . The next encounter they battle and manage to overcome happens to have a magical ring of knock that has some charges of the knock spell, they go back and open the door.

Now this is really bad storytelling and railroading on the part of the DM.

It is also important when you have a foe owning a magical item to have a reason why they have it, and if they do it would be better if they use it. Imagine the party fighting a wererat who owns a portable hole item. When they see the wererat using it they now, not only do they want to find the wererat to destroy or cure him but also out of greed as they could own that portable hole if they catch him.

[Solan]

Thanks to all three of you! Mephisto, I definitely agree with you about the importance of trying to tie a story to the magic weapon and about having the owners of magic items USE them, not simply hide them away. As for 2nd edition, did I mention that's what I'm playing ?

P.S. Oh, yes, the Greater Wolfwere! I always figured the best answer to this ridiculously overpowered monster was simply to disintegrate him; I don't plan for my PC's to face such a juggernaut until they're at least high enough level to potentially have that spell.