"I leave the party"

In the Dark Depths of the Dungeon...
DM: .. your own weight in copper pennies, a bright red gem so small I'm surprised it didn't leave the chest via osmosis, and.. a dagger. A dagger for which I've gone to the trouble of searching the internet for 78 minutes to find just the perfect picture, then had to fight 14 rounds of psionic combat with my printer to produce this stunning home-brew play-aid. Laminated to prevent wear.
Gimlet: I wonder if it's special?
DM: ...
Gimlet: I could carry it around.. to.. you know.. try it out. ;)
Angora: Does anybody use daggers?
Gimlet: I can use daggers. ;) ;)
Angora: Does anybody mainly use just daggers.. as their main weapon?
Crickets: Chirp.
Gimlet: I can use daggers ;) ;) ;)
- they give Gimlet the dagger -

Later...
DM: The orc rejects your reality, and desires to substitute his own! "Gary did not send you! I know it!"
Gimlet: I hit it with my axe!
DM: ...
Angora: You hit it with your axe?
Gimlet: I hit it with my axe!!!

Much Later...
DM: The lich floats toward you, lightning crackling about him! "..and now, you die."
Gimlet: I hit it with my axe!
DM: ...
Angora: ...
Crickets: ...

Back at the Safety of The Inn...
Gimlet: I try to cut things with the dagger. Like bread.
DM: It cuts the bread.
Gimlet: I look for a rope, and cut it. With the dagger!
DM: The rope parts in the manner of room-temperature margarine.
Gimlet: Yes!!
Eggoless: I studied a magic detection spell. I could cast it and examine that dagger..?
All: Please.
- Eggoless weaves his uncanny faerie wizardry, and directs his elven sight to the blade in Gimlet's grasp -
DM: The dagger is magical.
Gimlet: I'm having trouble making it to game night guys. Gimlet gets up from the table, downs the last of his ale, bids you all farewell, walks out of the inn, walks down to the docks, gets on a ship that's ready to set sail, sails down 100 miles of river, gets on a bigger ship, sails out into the ocean for 3 months, lands on another continent, travels inland across a jungle, walks for two weeks across a desert, and arrives at his home town.
All, plus crickets, and innocent bystanders: ...

Much, Much Later...
Eggoless: Hey, where's that dagger we found?

On Being Prepared...

With the right application of spells, wits, and teamwork, even a small party of lower-level characters can handle what might seem like overwhelming numbers. But take one of those factors out of the equation and you might have a bit of a problem on your hands...

DM: As you round the corner, you are presented with an archway that is about five feet wide. Through the archway is what appears to be a large room, lit only by a small cooking fire about 15' away from the entrance. In the glowing light of the fire, you can make out a large number of smaller, dog-faced creatures. [rolls] Having expected to find the main kobold lair in this general vicinity, you are not surprised. [rolls] But the kobolds are taken completely by surprise at your sudden arrival! Apparently one of them was telling such a good story to the others that they missed the sounds of your approach entirely. You will get one free round before we have to roll initiative.

Groin: How many kobolds do we see?

DM: You can't be 100% certain because of the lighting, but at a quick glance you can be sure there are at least ten, though there might be more.

Groin: Well, we should still be able to handle them as long as we play it smart. Angora and I will take position on this side of the doorway, side-by-side. With his sword and my axe, we should be able to keep a minimal number of them attacking us and at least not get overwhelmed. Bore'me will prepare a vial of flaming oil to toss over our heads once they engage us; hopefully that will catch a few of them as well while it prevents them from pressing their front line. Then he can toss a heal our way if one of us needs it. And Eggoless can cast sleep centered on one of the kobolds near the fire right now so tha...

Eggoless: That might not work.

Groin: What? Why not?

Eggoless: I didn't prepare Sleep for the day. I prepared Detect Magic, instead.

Groin: Wha... What??

Eggoless: Well, last time we had that magical dagger in our possession and didn't know about it until we got back to town and had it tested, so I wanted to be able to cast Detect Magic in case we found any other treasure that might be magical!

Groin: Oh, for Pete's sake...