Non-grinding Weapon Finding

A couple days ago, I was thinking about lost things. One instance of those lost things include a bag that was 'misplaced' during a Delta Airlines flight from California to Alabama. While thinking on this, I realized how much losing those items still pained me.

In that lost bag were things that just cannot be replaced, specifically, a pair of my Army boots that had been issued to me during Basic Training, and had then been worn by me during Operations Desert Shield / Desert Storm. I had purposefully kept them highly serviceable during all those years and afterwards 'cause I had the plan to one day have them bronzed and passed on to my daughter, along with the Army duffle bag itself, which had also followed the same path as the boots.

So, naturally, that line of thinking lead into thinking about the danger DMs face when handing out magic items in their campaigns. Yeah, that's how my mind works.

We DMs must adhere to a strict balance of power and possession when it comes to doling out magic items, so as not to tilt the weights (too drastically) in favor of one or the other, thereby turning the campaign into a Hollywood movie farce. Unless that's the theme of the campaign you're running, of course.

There is another balance that DMs must always keep in mind, and that is keeping what you want your players to experience balanced with what the players want their characters to experience. Magic items are one of the ways DMs can keep this balance in check, and when used properly, can keep players excited for the next adventure, and will also keep your campaign from falling into the 'just another grindfest' trap.

A great time to think about how magic weapons are going to factor into the campaign setting, and possibly the characters' experiences, is during the campaign creation process, right from the start. Presuming a standard, run-of-the-mill D&D setting, players will probably begin their characters with basic, non-magical weapons. Now, how does a DM work in a fresh approach for the characters to obtain magic weapons without the sessions becoming a boring kill evil things - get magic weapon - wash - rinse - repeat cycle?

Here are two methods I recommend:

1. Weapon XP
2. Forged in Battle

Weapon XP
Characters plot their progress towards greatness via experience points and levels; create a like system for weapons.

In the video game Lord of the Rings Online, PCs may encounter their first Legendary Weapon at around level 50. One of the things that sets Legendary weapons apart from others is that they gain XP when used. Once the weapon has gained enough XP to reach the next level, it gets upgraded with new powers and abilities. 

How could this play out in D&D? Take that long sword the player chose for their 1st-level character. Give it one (1) XP for each enemy it kills. After twenty-five kills, or 10 encounters, or 5 game sessions, have the weapon level up, and give it a +1 bonus, or any other beginner-level magic property. 

And here's the reasoning behind that. Remember those boots I talked about earlier? After many years of wearing and caring, they had become the most comfortable Army boots I have ever strapped on my feet. If you've ever worn Army combat boots, you know exactly how important a comfortable pair of them are. The same could be applied for a character who continually uses the same long sword. After many fights with it, it becomes a natural extension of the wielder, and giving it a bonus would represent that fact. Also, it would go a long way towards breaking the players, and your campaign, away from being a mere grind to find the next better weapon.

Forged in Battle
In the video game The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, one of the weapons of legend the player may obtain is Wuuthrad, a large double-bladed axe "originally wielded by Ysgramor, leader of the Five Hundred Companions". It's magical power is that it is 'especially deadly to elves'. When the weapon was forged and named, it didn't have any magical powers within it. Wuuthrad didn't become deadly to elves until during and after Ysgramor wielded it in a war against "Snow Elves of Skyrim and Solstheim in the Merethic Era". 

Let's say that same long sword from the previous example was wielded through one or more game sessions that have its wielder clearing out a dungeon full of goblins. If the character successfully clears out the dungeon with said long sword, go ahead and give that sword a bonus against goblins from now on, to represent the repeated use in combat against them, and the skill gained by the character at knowing how to effectively use the blade to target their weak spots. 

Or, say the player rolls a nat 20 and shears the horns off a minotaur whose favored tactic was to charge characters head-first in an effort to impale them with its horns. On the spot, that long sword transforms in the hands of the character wielding it from a mundane sword to Horn Hewer, and in time, word of it spreads to all the horned beasts across the realm.

Of course, these are just two ways for DMs to keep their players from becoming over-powered, or bored with the grind, in campaigns. I could add a good deal more to those examples, such as the inclusion of crafting / enchanting systems, but will save them for later. 

Now I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on my examples, and also in hearing how you have already handled the balance of magic item power in your own campaigns.