Just wondering if your players are satisfied with the amount of magic they are finding in the AoW adventures or do you find that they have to rely on item creation or buying/selling items to get what they want?
Just wondering if your players are satisfied with the amount of magic they are finding in the AoW adventures or do you find that they have to rely on item creation or buying/selling items to get what they want?
If they aren't than they need to seriously consider how they define their characters. 3.5 gives all characters enough potency to survive just about everything near their ECL based on character abilities and teamwork alone. Magic items do add a lot, and in 2nd edition you NEEDED them to obtain abilities worth having, but not so in 3.5.
I would suggest allowing them to do some shopping when they visit Greyhawk City. They find a LOT of loot during the course of their adventures, so having sufficient funds to buy items they deem necessary to their success shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Personally I try to keep my players away from magic dependence because if the group has one bad mishap (fighting the Elder Black Pudding, or a Para Ooze Elemental) you suddenly have a table full of people who look lost and hopeless ("My sword! I'm useless without my sword!").
The party are thinking more in the way of overcoming the DR of future opponents. They know that magic works best with some and special materials work best with others. They want to develop a range across the party to deal with all-comers. I suppose the trip to Greyhawk will help.