Darned Good Reason

[Chrismith]

I've seen a houserule referred to as "Darned Good Reason" (or DGR) mentioned on the boards a few times. I've also seen the comic, but I couldn't find anything about how it works. Apparently each player starts with a magic weapon or item of some kind, but how is that determined? Do the players just choose an item, subject to DM approval? Is it rolled randomly? If the item is rolled for, how do you assure that players wind up with something useful, as opposed to a scroll of water breathing?

[Magnor Criol]

I'm fairly certain it's just a DM fiat sort of thing. There's not tables, no rolls, etc. They just choose an item and submit it for approval. This lets the DM make a stronger campaign without killing everyone.

If there were tables, and they rolled for something useless for the given campaign, the DM would simply let them roll again.