APL 4-5. Using Automatic Bonus Progression (So, no flat enhancement bonuses, resistance bonuses, etc.). Excluding weapons and armor. Need some decent generic gear for an extremely poorly equipped party, the main cast of which are a dagger-wielding rogue, a natural attack using ranger, and (mostly) melee hunter. Main Tactic: None of us are fighters, The main healer's dead, but let's charge in anyway!
Looking for some generally good equipment for min. 3 players, totalling 6000-8000. More than willing to let them exceed this total, as a reward for putting up with nearly no equipment for so long.
The dagger-wielder had to craft his daggers. From the bones of an orphan. Help.
I'm still only a fledgling GM at this point, and taking a shot at making a homebrew game for my players. 8 or 9 sessions later, it seems pretty successful, though I'm having a little difficulty putting some creativity into the story.
A more immediate issue is their gear; After a rampage through a prison island, trudging through a small dungeon, and fleeing from trolls, the players (APL 4, very soon 5) barely have any gear to their name. The most pricey bits of gear they've found are a single set of usable mithral armor and a few potions, scrolls and minor wondrous items that they've failed to identify (They got unlucky and lost the one spellcraft-savy NPC they knew... As well as 1 player death, and a few other NPCs they dragged along...). I'm quickly beginning to realize I need to enrich (pun intended) their next encounter.
Anticipating this, and knowing myself to place only what's necessary and expected in a grittier barren world, I've given them bonuses as per the Automatic Bonus Progression, and they've so far adapted pretty well. But the players have missed a few opportunities and are only now really getting the chance to a visit a neutral/friendly town. Knowing the players, they're Not going to invest time in researching desired items for themselves, so it's going to be up to me (Or you guys!) to suggest items, and provide opportunities to get them without all the coin they never picked up.
Their next encounter is likely going to be through some abandoned drow ruins, and at least one monster attack at an above-ground settlement. Basically, I can throw in any shiny knickknacks I like... But that massive list of items is a bit intimidating, so I'm posting here first for some general advice before diving into every specialized belt, boot, and bracer.
6000-8000 is the total for the party or for each member? Standard WBL says they should have ~6000 each at 4th and ~10500 each at 5th.
EDIT: Oh, that gets adjusted for use of the Automatic Bonus Progression, right.
Automatic Bonus Progression covers all the basic essentials that characters "need" from a magic perspective.
Make sure they have the weapons and armor they want, as well as consumables like wands of CLWs and other useful 1st level buff spells.
Other magical items they want will depend greatly on the character and build they're going for.
For some more general gear have a look at these links here, here, and here.
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I agreenwith Claxon that ABP covers the 'necessary' magical items, but it does assume access to basic mundane gear like weapons and armor, so you should ensure they have those.
If A were you, I would figure out the 'best' weapons and armor for each player (according to their playstyle and proficiencies) and ensure that they have mundane versions of them at the very least, and perhaps versions made with special materials like mithral if you want to give them an extra boost.
Otherwise, you could pepper in some useful, but relatively minor magic items. Healing seems to be a key party 'need', so a nearly fully charged wand of cure light wounds and some potions could be handy.
Other items could include things to amplify existing abilities. For example, if the hunter/ranger like to use buff spells, maybe drop a Pearl of Power or a Lesser Rod of Extend metamagic to allow extra castings/extra duration.
As a player, it is also fun to get items that grant minor additional abilities or creative roleplay/problem solving options. Maybe something that gives the Mage Hand cantrip 5x a day, or even the ever-popular Robe of Useful Items.
You can also add in interesting items that aren't "loot" for one person, but for the party.
You mentioned the party is on an island. What about if you gave them Besmara's Tricorne with the numbers filed off. And by numbers filed off I mean change the deity to one that the party worships and is appropriately related, or just completely remove the deific connection.
Heck, you could give them their own actual ship to get them off the island and have the tricorne be on the boat.
Now you're in a pirate campaign!
Stealing from the best -- sources here on these boards -- I've got the following wish list ready for loot to hand out to my 3rd level PCs. (I don't know if all of them would benefit your party.)
Hat of Disguise [head; price: 1,800 sol; aura: faint illusion; CL 1st; weight: —]
Sleeves of Many Garments [wrists; price: 200 sol; aura: faint illusion; CL 1st; weight: 1 lb]
Handy Haversack [slotless; price: 2,000 sol; aura: moderate conjuration; CL 9th; weight 5 lbs]
Bead of Newt Protection [one-shot; price: 1,000 sol; aura: faint abjuration; CL5th; weight: —]
Potion: Feather Step [one-shot; price: 50 sol, aura: faint transmutation; CL 1st; weight: —]
Potion: Fly [one-shot; price: 750 sol, aura: faint transmutation; CL5th; weight: —]
Potion: Remove Blind-/Deafness [one-shot; price: 750 sol, aura: faint conjuration (healing); CL5th; weight: —]
Skeleton Key [price: 85 sol; mundane; weight: —]
EtA: one caution w/ a Pearl of Power: while yes, the ranger can use a 1st-level one at 5th level, a hunter is a spontaneous caster, and thus cannot.
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Consumables:
Wand of Cure Light Wounds
Potions
Anti-toxins/Venoms
Scrolls
Special Materials:
Armor and Weapon special materials- Cold Iron, Silver, (Later- Mithral and Adamantine).
Mundane Items:
Dragonskin Grips
Alchemical Items
Masterwork Tools and Items
Bags:
Bag of Holding type 1
Handy Haversack
Masterwork Backpack
Magic Items:
Cracked Dusty Rose Prism
Elixers
Ioun Tourch
A Continual Flame
There are a lot of little items you can give out that everyone will like.
Wayfinder with clear cracked spindle ioun stones are very popular
And I never have a character without a dull grey ioun stone with heightened (4th level) continual flame on it. It costs 330 gp and defeats any darkness spell that isn't heightened basically (which is pretty uncommon).
Wand of CLW
Wand of Lesser Restoration(made by a paladin or ranger)
Handy Harvasack
Bag of Holding
Drow Poison
Acid
Cool Mount(s)
Enchanted Arrows- elemental damage, bane, high +bonus, utility
Bear Traps
Potion of Vanish/Invisibility/Expeditious Retreat
Skill Boosters- perception, stealth, insert favorite skill here
Oil of Magic Weapon Greater or Aligned Weapon
Robe of Twine
Resonant Powers: When an ioun stone is set within the special indentation in a wayfinder, a secondary resonant power sometimes manifests to augment the ioun stone's powers, though this suppresses the wayfinder's normal magical abilities. This minor function is in addition to the stone's normal abilities, which continue to affect the wayfinder's bearer as though the stone were orbiting her head. Two resonating wayfinders wielded by the same character suppress one another's abilities, but both return to normal when one wayfinder is set aside. 75% of ioun stones grant resonant powers when placed in a wayfinder. 25% of cracked or flawed ioun stones have resonant powers (see Wayfinders and Ioun Stones) compared to the 75% chance for typical ioun stones; only 10% of scorched ioun stones have resonant powers.
Whew! Most of these suggestions are fantastic. Taking notes...
Items they already have, that have been listed:
Ioun Torch (The other players had darkvision. I'm not that cruel to leave one guy blind.)
Potions of CLW, Invisibility & Bear's Strength (They just... killed the character that could tell which is which.)
Scrolls, Spellbooks & items intended for magic users (Since none of my players have caught on that they might really, really need UMD or Spellcraft in the near future, my favorite way of awarding currency after a battle is to let them find all that useful Wizardry stuff that they can barter with. Fun story; They found a scroll of Dispel Magic alongside a spellbook trapped with Sepia Snake Sigil. The NPC that opened the spellbook never got fixed up, and ended up being stabbed and abandoned. Scroll acquired?)
Approved:
Handy Haversack and/or bags of holding (Keep forgetting these thing exist for some reason. They built a makeshift cart/sled and got something to drag it around, originally.)
Potions of Fly, Feather Step (They've had difficulty navigating terrain in the past)
Skeleton Key
Alchemical Items (Especially weapon blanch, and acid.)
Enchanted Arrows (I thought of enchanted weapons already, but it hadn't occurred to me to make some great ammunition. I could make puzzles around this!)
Bear Traps. (Fantastic idea! I think the party would love these.)
Robe of Useful Items
Sleeves of Many Garments (I tend to be a bit anal about player appearances, food and water intake, sleep, etc. The players have caught on and even take it in a more positive light, since most of them are trained in Survival. This gives a great excuse for those without Prestidigitation to look like civilized folk, and not dirt-encrusted bandits. Speaking of which... Soap.)
Pirate Queen's Tricorne (Great idea! They actually have a swan boat feather token already, but decided against using it when they could because none of them actually knew how far they'd need to travel, or how to navigate the open sea.)
EDIT: I didn't see that duration on the Tricorne... nevermind.
Hard No:
I'm strictly opposed to a Wand of CLW; I'd much rather they find potions or natural herbs/substances that can replicate that effect (Better still if they refine them). These players are charging headlong into battle, and have already managed to kill a fellow PC because of it. This isn't because of a lack of RP either- One of the chaotic ones just really has a deathwish. I'd rather not reward behavior that is repeatedly killing their assets by healing up fully between every single encounter, but give them something that the other players will find useful on this guy's corpse, or forcing them to find contacts/limited items. They've already gotten significant XP boosts just for surviving, and bypassed quite a few of my plans.
The main cast of players came across a new PC , a tengu using a hat of disguise, and immediately got her separated and killed. They failed to even recover the corpse. Since this item is so popular already, I'm confident the players will actively seek if out if they need it.
Many thanks, and when I have the time to spare, I'll look through those links.