Use Magical Items
When intelligent opponents have magical treasures, they should use them
against the PCs. If faced with defeat, an intelligent opponent who owns a charged
magical item should expend charges freely; if the PCs capture a charged item with
lots of charges left, the opponent probably wasn’t using the item properly.
If the PCs seek favors, information, or services from NPCs—or even from their
own henchman—they should expect to offer magical items in payment, especially
if the task set before the NPC is particularly demanding. Note that even the
most loyal henchman is going to become a little surly if the PCs start carrying
around (or storing) magical items they never use.
Don’t forget to roll those item saving throws when a PC fails a saving throw,
and remember that magical protections a character enjoys don’t extend to his
equipment once a saving throw fails. For example, if a high-level character
wearing a ring of protection +3 and a cloak of protection +3 fails a save vs. a disintegrate spell, the character’s items do not enjoy a +6 saving throw bonus. Each item
saves individually.
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