I do one of three things, depending on the campaign I'm in

Method 1:
-Place magic items on key villains and in treasure piles in the dungeon. Roll on charts for which items are there.

Method 2:
-Assume magic stores exist or private enchanters can be purchased for their services. Effectively let PCs choose their own shit, primarily give away gold as treasure.

Method 3:
-Every magic item is story related, work with each player to figure out which items they want, and decide general ideas on how we want to fit it into the story.

With which style I use largely depending on the type of campaign it is and the system. For example, casual Pathfinder I'd use Method 2, 5e I'd use Method 1, actual story campaign I'd use Method 3.

Hope that helps.

3.5

All Splatbooks
Magical Walmart Town
5x Gold Rewards on all creatures.

>>47670681
Any post helps my man.


Gonna do all three.

>>47670593
I like the 5e rewards table for high fantasy games.

Otherwise I choose things I think would work with the character, and only when they get extremely lucky. Like I used to use fudge dice during events to see generally how they went. One of my players on their day off managed to find a small magical knife.

She was into wood carving and the knife could cut through wood like butter. Super useful to her and to anyone else. It was also made from a rare ore that was a part of the larger story of the game and served to introduce them to it.

How did it get there? Who the fuck cares, she found it.

I like obstacles with a glaring weakness, to get the players thinking about the situation, rather than a numbers game of how to burst the most damage, because that gets repetitive. So I keep "numbers" magic items available for sale in the town so that a player can shore up where his character is weak. But I like dungeon finds and crafting recipes to be true oddities that clever players will use to solve regularly-occurring mundane problems or one really dire one.

>>47671622
That's interesting. Care to elaborate on the fudge dice on events? What did the player do to find the knife?

>>47672028
Do you handle the recipes without player input, or only those PCs who actively investigate get the recipe? What about the rest of the party? How does it react when the DM gives one player something but not the rest.

Depends on scope too. Specially tailored magical items for shorter and more wilderness based campaigns far from a major city, Magic Walmart in larger places.

>>47670593
Found magic items are very rare, and usually a signature if an enemy that used it and dropped it when the PCs killed them. I drop a lot more gold that usual instead, and let them buy/craft their own items. Magic items are very important for a build, and I don't want to build someones character for them and take that agency from them.

>>47672181
I like for players with an idea to research a recipe with minimal roleplay, but the final result will come with a chance to backfire nonlethally or a side effect that must be managed. I prefer that magic trade one problem for another rather than solving all problems with the wave of a wand, because where is the challenge then. I would never propose a recipe of my own because it becomes tedious if they craft it and then don't know how to deal with the unexpected side effect.

When magic items are needed for an adventure, I make sure they are provided up front and are durable, mundane, and multiple. I ask my players to share a dungeon haul equitably and let them decide who gets what. I would never presume to give a particular character an item or place an item in a dungeon with one character in mind, because they always miss it. I make dungeon finds obviously glowing or whatever so they know it's a magic item. No class restrictions. The clever players like to accumulate the items, the less clever ones do not, and they sort themselves out.

>>47670593
> Why do you give away magical items?
Some games assume PCs have magical items. Not handing any means they are at a serious disadvantage for usual challenges.

Furthermore, some pieces of magical gear open options or have quirks that add to characters.

> How do you choose what magical item to give?
I requests wish lists from my PCs, pick a few items from it (+/- 60%), pick items close to those they want (+/-20%), insert items I find cool and have huge utilitarian benefits (+/- 10%) and insert some generic ones (+/- 10%).

> When is it time to reward the players with magical items?
1 - When the story calls for it (e.g. reward, MacGuffin).
2 - When it makes for an interesting development (e.g. after a defeat, hidden in the cave where they lick their wounds. Might be cursed. Still worth it)
3. When they TRULY deserved it (challenged and bested a foe that should have been out of their league, the guy was overconfident and never used that awesome item)

Otherwise, games like Pathfinder tend to be terrible at pacing magic item distribution in their random charts. for PF I go:
1: Common masterwork items (e.g. one-handed weapon, medium armor).
2: Uncommon masterwork items (e.g. two-handed weapon) and non-masterwork full-plate.
3: Masterwork full plate, magic trinkets (boots of the cat, cracked ioun stones), rare material weapons / armor.
4: +1 equips
5-6: +2 equips (always includes weapon/armor abilities)
7-8: +3 equips
9-10: +4 equips

Usually, mithril and adamantine are worth a +1 enchantment bonus by themselves. Cool items includes:
Boots of the cat
Cloak of the Hedge Mage
Damaged Ioun Stones
Wayfinder
Magically enchanted Cold Iron / Alch. Silver Gauntlets/Arrows/Bolt
A single adamantine arrowhead
Anymug
Wands of CLW / Magic Missile / Summon Monster
Hat of Disguise
Ioun Torch
Efficient Quiver
Immovable Rod

>>47672087
Basically I ran things on "you have three options" style sandbox-y storytelling and each branch got a fudge roll to determine how it stacks against the PCs.

Then if they are in a settlement for a period of time I roll a few times to make encounters while whatever they are there for is being sorted out. During a stay in a military camp:
>One guy pisses off a rough crowd, they attack him and while he bests them in a struggle they steal his prized family heirloom sword. They bent it and drove it into the ground outside his tent, but were caught by the party and chased through the camp. The PCs round them up and dump them into the policing authority tent. The guy gets his sword reforged with a slight enhancement.
>The poorest dirt farmer member brings his faithful buffalo mount with him. The mount has a fever and is lethargic in camp, he finds a vet to fix the issue having caught it in the nick of time. The Bulls for the vet are huge and he arranges several loans to make do. This was going to lay off later in the game, but I didn't write in how.
>Literally the richest party member (from a noble family) wins the lottery. He decides to hand the ticket to a random soldier.
>The wood carver spends a day training with a mentor she met at an archery tournament. Returning from training she feeds a small animal and it runs away only to fall into a small cache of stone. She carefully pulls it out even with it scratching her and she notices a small wooden box. Inside is the knife.