Magical Items (DMG)

One of the most important types of treasure a character can earn is a magical item. Not only does the item act as an immediate reward for good play, it increases the power and survivability of the character. Such items add to the wonder and romance of the game, allowing the character to perform feats far beyond those of ordinary mortals. Rare indeed is the player character who does not want the rewards of magical items.
(See also Table 88: Magical Items, and Magic Item Tables from TOM)
==Creatures and Magical Items==
Like other treasures, magical items may be found in the lairs of unintelligent and intelligent monsters. Random encounters with unintelligent monsters shouldn't yield magical items (except in rare cases where the beast has swallowed them). After all, why (let alone how) would a giant snake carry around a sword +1?
Unintelligent creatures may have a few items in or near their lairs, the former possessions of their victims. Even this will be rare, however. Such monsters don't recognize the worth of magical items and seldom make a special effort to collect them. The comments relating to treasure and unintelligent creatures can be applied here.
Intelligent creatures, on the other hand, tend to value magical items above other items of treasure. They recognize such items for what they are (unless the item is very well disguised or unique) and take them. Knowing such items can be used to their benefit, they will attempt to learn the function of the item. A creature that can use an item will use it. Useful magical items that are part of treasure will therefore be in the creature's hands, not hidden away.
For example, take the treasure of the hobgoblin chieftain. Over the years he has come into possession of a number of minor magical items. Currently the tribe's treasure includes three potions of healing, a scroll of wizard spells, a sword +1, and two suits of chain mail +1. This is not a horde the crafty, old chieftain is going to ignore.
He wears one suit of armor at all times, carries the sword at his side, and has the three potions hidden away but close at hand should he need them. The other suit of armor he gives to the most faithful of his bodyguards.
As for the scroll, since nobody in the tribe can use it, it is rather carelessly tossed in with the rest of the treasure in the chieftain's strongroom. He figures to trade it for something useful the next time a renegade merchant comes around. Player characters who hope to get the tribe's magical items will have to wrest them, literally, from the fingers of the hobgoblins. That's something to make the earning of magic more of a challenge.
==Buying Magical Items==
As player characters earn more money and begin facing greater dangers, some of them will begin wondering where they can buy magical items. Using 20th-century, real-world economics, they will figure there must be stores that buy and sell such goods. Naturally they will want to find and patronize such stores. However, no magical stores exist.
Before the DM goes rushing off to create magical item shops, consider the player characters and their behavior. Just how often do player characters sell those potions and scrolls they find? Cast in a sword +1? Unload a horn of blasting or a ring of free action?
More often than not, player characters save such items. Certainly they don't give away one-use items. One can never have too many potions of healing or scrolls with extra spells. Sooner or later the character might run out. Already have a sword +1? Maybe a henchman or hireling could use such a weapon (and develop a greater respect for his master). Give up the only horn of blasting the party has? Not very likely at all.
It is reasonable to assume that if the player characters aren't giving up their goods, neither are any non-player characters. And if adventurers aren't selling their finds, then there isn't enough trade in magical items to sustain such a business.
Even if the characters do occasionally sell a magical item, setting up a magic shop is not a good idea. Where is the sense of adventure in going into a store and buying a sword +1? Haggling over the price of a wand? Player characters should feel like adventurers, not merchants or greengrocers.
Consider this as well: If a wizard or priest can buy any item he needs, why should he waste time attempting to make the item himself? Magical item research is an important role-playing element in the game, and opening a magic emporium kills it. There is a far different sense of pride on the player's part when using a wand his character has made, or found after perilous adventure, as opposed to one he just bought.
Finally, buying and trading magic presumes a large number of magical items in the society. This lessens the DM's control over the whole business. Logically-minded players will point out the inconsistency of a well-stocked magic shop in a campaign otherwise sparse in such rewards.
==Magic-Rare or Common?==
One of the things the DM decides is just how common magic is in his campaign. Is the world rich in magical items such that every lowly fighter has access to at least a sword +1? Players enjoy having a wide variety of interesting magical items, but there's the risk of creating an out-of-control Monty Haul situation. And a magic-rich world has consequences unforeseen by most DMs.
If magic is common, then normal people will begin to build inventions around it. There may be djinni-powered steam engines, crystal ball telecommunications networks, and other very un-medieval results. This can be entertaining, but it does drastically change the shape of the campaign world.
The charm of discovering a magical item is lost if everyone has one, but too few magical items can also ruin a game. This is especially true at higher levels where magic is so important to character survival. You don't want to kill half the party just so the survivors can be excited at discovering a sword +1.
The DM wants each magical treasure, no matter how small, to feel special, but at the same time he must be able to balance the pain of its acquisition against the reward. This is not a thing the DM can learn through formulae or tables. It takes time and judgment.
==Researching Magical Items==
One of the abilities shared by the wizard and priest groups is their ability to construct magical items. This is a potent ability, but it is not one easily used. As DM you do not want your player characters constructing every magical item available. Each one should be an accomplishment and the springboard for a new adventure.
The wizard's ability to research items is divided into different phases. Although a wizard can cast a magic missile at 1st level, he cannot transcribe that spell onto a scroll until he reaches 9th level. The same is true of brewing potions. Only when he reaches 11th level can a wizard attempt to create other magical items. Even then he may not be able to create many items if he lacks the ability to cast the necessary spells.
The priest can begin creating scrolls at 7th level and can brew a few potions (mainly those involving healing) at 9th level. Clerics can fabricate only a few other magical items and cannot attempt these until they reach at least 11th level. As with the wizard, their ability even then may be limited by the spells they have access to at the time.
Creating a magical item is much like researching a new spell. The DM and the player must cooperate and work together to bring about the desired goal. However, there are differences.
In magical item research, the desired goal is usually well-known to both the player and the DM. The player says, "Rupert wants to create a potion of clairaudience." The effect is known; what must be done to create it isn't. Therefore, once the player has stated his desire, the DM decides what materials, formulae, spells, and rites must be acquired and/or performed to create the item.
Once the DM knows this, the player can proceed. He does not tell the player what he needs to do! It is up to the player to discover the processes and steps required to create a magical item, however small. He may consult a sage, seek the guidance of a higher level spellcaster, or even use spells to call upon greater powers.
Even after learning what he must do, the spellcaster may have to do further research to learn the techniques required for each step. All of this will cost the character time and money, so his dedication and resources must be substantial if he hopes to succeed. The process of gathering the needed information and materials is a grand excuse for one adventure after another. This is part of the fun of the AD&D game. Making a magical item is more than just a mechanical process. It should also be an opportunity for excitement and role-playing.
==The Nature of Magical Fabrication==
The construction of magical items is a realm of the AD&D® rules open to broad DM interpretation. Just how the DM decides to approach it will affect the way magic is viewed in his game. There are two basic attitudes toward the making of magical items: The practical method and the fantastic method.
The practical method says that magical item manufacture is somehow tied to common sense; the materials needed to make the item reflect the properties of the item being constructed, and the steps required are fairly well-defined.
For example, a potion of climbing might require the hair of a climbing creature such as a giant spider or the legs of a giant insect. A wand of lightning bolts might have to be carved from the heart wood of an oak struck by lightning. Petrification might require the scales of a basilisk, a snake from a medusa, or a feather from a live cockatrice. Fear might require a drop of dragon sweat or the grave earth of a ghost. In each case, the relationship between the items needed and the object desired is relatively clear.
Furthermore, the component items themselves are physical and understandable. They may be rare, but they can't be gathered without special preparations (other than those required for normal adventuring). In essence, the DM creates a "grocery list'' that the player character must fill. The character goes out adventuring, seeking out the creatures or things that will provide him with the materials he needs.
This method has advantages, not the least being that it simplifies the DM's task. When confronted by a player who wants to create some bizarre magical item, the DM need only list materials that seem appropriate to the magical effect.
At the same time, however, the practical method can be abused by clever players. They may figure out that every monster encountered has a potential usefulness to wizards and so begin collecting tissue samples, blood, hair, organs, and more. They become walking butcher shops—not at all what is desired!
Furthermore, players expect to find shops specializing in magical materials, both to sell and buy their needed goods. This defeats the need to adventure for one's materials and ruins part of the role-playing involved in magical item creation.
The fantastical approach takes a drastically different view of magical item construction. Here, when the player says, "I want to create a rope of climbing," the DM provides a list of impossible ingredients. It then becomes the player's obligation to discover the means to collect each ingredient.
Thus, to make the rope of climbing, the DM could require a skein of unspun yarn, the voice of a spider, and the courage of a daring thief. The player would then have to discover the meaning of each ingredient or the means to produce it. This, in turn, could require more research and spells to accomplish the goal.
For the rope of climbing, the player might solve it by finding a magical sheep whose wool is so thick it needs no spinning. This he could form into a rope, casting spells to give a spider voice so it can say a few words over the cord. Finally, he could trick a renowned thief into using the unfinished rope on a dangerous mission. After all this, the wizard would cast the spells necessary to bind the various elements and, viola—a rope of climbing would be the result.
Folktales, myths, and legends are filled with instances of impossible tasks and impossible ingredients. To bind the Fenris Wolf of Norse mythology, the dwarves forged an unbreakable chain from such things as the roots of a mountain, the noise of a cat, and the breath of a fish. Folktales tell of heroes and heroines faced with impossible tasks—to plow the ocean or make a shirt without seams. Hercules was faced with Twelve Labors, deemed impossible by others. Cullhwch (of Celtic legend) had to produce sweet honey without bees. If the player characters aspire to such ranks of heroism and wonder, surely they can accomplish deeds such as these.
The fantastical method gives the campaign a high fantasy element, for such impossible tasks are part of the wonder and enchantment of such a world. Furthermore, it ensures that each ingredient or step will be an adventure. Wizards won't casually assemble their ingredients at the local magic supply warehouse. It also provides the DM with a means to control the time required (since assembling components can be quite a task) and a method for draining excess cash from the character's accounts.
At the same time, players can perceive this method as too difficult and too restrictive. They may become discouraged by the DM's demands. To alleviate this, at least partially, the DM should balance the requirements against the potency of the item being created.
Combining the practical with the fantastical is a workable alternative to either method. Not every magical item can be created by gathering the organs of creatures or the essences of rare plants, nor does each require the spellcaster to overcome the impossible.
Simple and common magical items (potions of healing, scrolls with various spells, wands of detection) could require only that the proper things be brought together and ensorcelled. Powerful, exotic, and highly useful items (such as a sword +1) might test the spellcaster's abilities and resourcefulness, requiring that he solve puzzles and riddles far beyond the normal ken.
The combination of the two philosophies can even be used to explain the fact that some magical items are so common and others so rare—potions are everywhere, but maces of disruption are hard to come by. Potions require simple ingredients; maces require the moving of mountains.