When one is running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, it can be very tempting to take several shortcuts as one realizes that their party is struggling far more than one expected with even the more simple aspects of the story. You might feel as though that it could be a good idea to give your party a bit of an edge in order to help them get on with the plot/story you created for them. But do not give in to temptation.
However, no matter how tempted one might be, it is prudent that any and every Dungeon Master avoid these ten cheats as they can have rather unfortunate consequences for both the master and the party.
10 10. Maxing Stats At Level One
Though watching your party get slaughtered due to their poor stats by the least threatening obstacles can be disheartening as it feels like they will never get to advance through your carefully crafted and curated story, avoid the urge to max out their stats.
Maxing out their stats will make them vastly overpowered and will take away the risk that each choice has in the game (as they will be able to mow right through it.) If a player has truly low stats, one can give them a minor boost; but never max out a low-level party's stats.
9 9. Invisibility
Everyone wants the power of invisibility; however, giving this incredibly powerful ability to your party can seriously derail every and any stealth mission you have planned for them.
If they are given the option of invisibility, they will no longer need to sneak around traps, guards, or any obstacles in their path. They will avoid important quest starters and might even derail the plot entirely in order to explore the limits of this power.
8 8. Accessing Other Planes
Though it sounds cool on paper, giving you party the ability to access other planes can seriously derail a well-planned campaign.
Most party members will either use this plane to house every single obstacle in their path or they will simply pop into it whenever trouble is afoot and exit it on the other side of the danger. Low level party members needs to do the grunt work and explore the world on their own.
7 7. Immunities To Non-Magical Damage
A very important aspect of low-level campaigns is the need to build experience. Party members need to encounter several easy-to-defeat obstacles in order to build up their XP, so that they can advance both with the story and with their characters.
If a DM is so kind as to provide them with serious immunities, they are simply going to manipulate these to avoid doing any real work. Though it may feel tedious, your party needs to explore the world for themselves and face the consequences for their actions.
6 6. Bottomless Money Bags
Money motivates players to do things (see quests.) If players are loaded at the start of the game, they aren't going to bother with the dangerous quest that the mysterious man in the tavern offers them.
They could also seriously impact the in-world economy as well as obtaining truly powerful magical objects from merchants that they should not be granted access to until later levels of the game.
5 5. Unlimited Wishes
If a DM gives players to option to wish away their problems, they will do exactly that. Though Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy game, there still needs to be an element of realism in order to make it fun and worth the effort.
If players can simply wish away every obstacle in their path as if they have a personal Genie, they are not going to work for anything and the game will lose the sense of accomplishment entirely.
4 4. Vorpal Weapons
A vorpal weapon is a special kind of weapon that ignores armor entirely. If a player uses one against an enemy, it has the ability to slice through them as if they were made of butter.
Though these weapons will be incredibly useful against the overpowered bosses that they will come across later in the game, they are simply too powerful for low-level players.
3 3. Artifacts
Artifacts are ancient items that possess truly impressive amounts of power. They usually come with curses, hidden powers, and all sorts of other fantastical abilities.
Truth be told, they are usually used at plot devices more often than weapons. However, giving them to low-level players can be rather dangerous as they simply do not have the power to properly wield these weapons (which can be rather dangerous for all involved.)
2 2. The Deck Of Many Things
The Deck of Many things a deck of cards with unbelievable magic power. In short, it can fulfill their wildest dreams, max out their stats, deem them royalty, and curse them in unspeakable ways.
Simply put, it is far too powerful a device for players who can't even take down a beholder without sustaining high levels of damage.
1 The Bag of Holding/Portable Hole/Arrow Trick
The Bag of Holding is a little bag of extra-dimensional space. The Portable Hole is another extra-dimensional space trick that allows the player to reach through solid walls to the other side of said wall. When combined, disaster can strike.
When two extra-dimensional items are combined, they explode and open a portal to the astral realm. This is bad for several reasons. The first being the fact that this explosion will deal an incredible amount of damage to everything within a ten-foot radius. The second being the fact that the astral realm is simply crawling with demons and is better kept away from the mortal world entirely.
If a player attaches the portable hole to the shaft of their arrow and then shoots it into the bag of holding, then will essentially create a nuclear bomb filled with demons. Which no low-level player will be able to survive the fallout of.