Awarding Magic Items in Dungeons and Dragons 5e

[@DungeonDudes]

One topic we didn't cover in this episode was CRAFTING magic items and/ or designing your own homebrew magic items. If you're interested about this topic, we'd love to hear your questions, thoughts, or challenges you've encountered so we can tackle them head on in future videos!

[@zewwy]

Great video guys! A video on how to make magic items would be greatly appreciated too, as my group has an aspiring Alchemist that wants to make potions and such. Keep up the great work!

[@AryadiSubagio]

Yeah, I'm thinking of making a sentient magical shield that actually houses someone from an ancient kingdom. Really have to think about his background and the benefit of knowledge he brings to the party.

[@telkei3365]

Making spell storing items and balancing them I plan to play an Eldritch Knight who makes magic items (originaly an artificer, but i love fighters) Most people will think thats too much for low levels but have some little things that could ballance it 1. Less flexibility, make it so they can only cast 1st level spells or only 2nd level so on and forth 2 can only have spells from the attuned holder, or from a specific class so a cleric cant put spells in a wizard ring of spell storing 3.Maybe a schools of magic only, have a philosophers stone that only recives transmutation spells,but from any class and due to transmutations interchangeable and flexible nature , could fit more space. And these wont be boring, just explore its limitations It could have belonged to an aprentice transmutation wizard who had no idea how the divine magics work, who slowly began to understand how it works, but only got to the point were it could accept transmutasion spells and no more than 6th level due to his findings and manipulations considered heretical from the church See? Don'tbe afraid.

[@hangryisangry427]

Dungeon Dudes Yes please. I'm actually about to run an Eberron campaign in 5e and am curious about how others would Dole out equipment.

[@jordanb7304]

Way back in the start of my campaign, my players received a magic weapon that could morph and change depending on the user and their intent. My intentions were to encourage group thinking and sharing ideas between each other. I made a specialized version that it would default to if they were handed it, I called it the Weapon of Glenadra and I gave it way too many bonuses. But that aside a player that joined maybe a month after that session, took it between encounters and literally never gave it to anyone after the fact. It was a little disheartening because it just crushed my original intentions and a few players were bummed that they could use it on occasion.

[@raymondwilliams379]

I have a weapon set called "Gullumund's old (insert weapon here)" and its a set of weapons crafted for a blind fighter that announce their name when the hilt is grabbed, and then his actual weapons on him are +2 weapons because they talk him through the fight, acting like eyes, they'll say stuff like "His guards high" or "This ones a little short" its fun

[@DungeonDudes]

Very cool concept. Might have to steal this one!

[@raymondwilliams379]

Dungeon Dudes Haha go for it, im glad you liked it

[@dissolution9843]

I'm...Definitely stealing this one...

[@TardisPilot2004]

Raymond Williams this just got stolen. By me. I’m using this idea.

[@lute1069]

I absolutely love this idea

[@talongreenlee7704]

I’ve had a DM that basically handed out one magic item of increasing rarity at the end of each tier of play to each player, using that “dragon’s hoard” mentality. They usually play it off as “the party finds these magic items: divide them amongst yourselves”, but each item was tailored for one player character, so nobody ever fought over them, and everyone really liked showing off their magic item for the first time, especially when for the next few combat encounters, the DM tailored the encounters to let one of those magic items shine.

[@cmdrfunk]

Tailor made magic items to a player are so silly. How convenient that these are the magic items that just happened to be there.

[@jesuschristonabike8878]

@@cmdrfunk - Issa game.

[@Koryogden]

"everyone gains a level, and here is a nice item for each player" basically how our games ended

[@syvajarvi2289]

I do one of two things: I’ll start characters with an heirloom item that I home brew that gains in power as they do or I use home brewed forging rules that allow players to upgrade items but on bad rolls destroy them. It depends on the campaign I’m running and the level of the encounters. I use to be a Monty hall type of DM but as I gained experience I found other ways to reward the players and my setting is high magic so sometimes an event in a session like almost drowning in a magic spring that gives a fighter the magic initiate cleric feat is bigger than a magic item because it’s a gift that keeps on giving. I play in a setting where my character has spell wrought tattoos as most of his magic items. He has a magic long bow +2, a frost brand longsword, a short sword of throwing +1, bracers of defense, and a shadow fell tattoo. Of those items three need to be attuned. The spell tattoos except for the shadowfell tattoo are one use disposable and don’t require atunement so I collect them like scrolls as they show up if I can. Being that this character is a Barb/ranger dual class I can’t use them while raging so they are a limited use item until I close in and do barbarian things. My DM does increase attunement slots beyond three for other classes based on proficiency bonus through feats if we want to take them as well as increasing slots of artificers accordingly. So it’s ultimately how you want to run your campaign.

[@buckhunt6832]

@Kory Ogden every teir, likely means 1-4,5-10, etc etc

[@johnpettus5874]

Guys - this was one of your best videos. I don't need to hear the rules. I have a book full of them. But hearing your thoughts about how to handle complex topic like this is really great.

[@DungeonDudes]

Thank you! We enjoyed doing the "rules explained" series, but we are really excited about doing more videos like this one that are more about running the game well.

[@Dmaster2k]

You actually CAN buy a tank... you just can't have the main weapon operational, and you have to have rubberized treads to drive it on roads. It can be licensed to drive though.

[@Exphautaz]

Only in some places, in illinois the my remove the tread and brick the engine

[@charlottewalnut3118]

@@Exphautaz fuck your states government then

[@mitch9347]

I THOUGHT DIS WAS 'MURICA!

[@lucirmarvrasrockurd2029]

Those are called rubber grousers.

[@bluelionsage99]

You can not often get the tank street level however. So own land to drive your tanks on.

[@funnelrust6613]

I recently homebrewed a magic item for my campaign which was technically a sword that could switch the type of damage it does, which was great and the barbarian loves it. However, each of the seven damage types it can deal gives the sword another personality. This resulted in them figuring out it was magical and sentient when the player tried to bust down a door with it and it burst into flames and started cussing at him because it was stuck. Magic swords with multiple personalities are super fun to RP. The barbarian also ticked off the sword by trying to figure out all its powers outside of combat when it just wanted to sleep.

[@revshad4226]

I do write ups for magic items on simple 3x5 index cards, that I hand out for my players.

[@vincentnicosia2315]

robert oliver that’s what my dm does and it’s pretty effective to keep track of items and their effects

[@DungeonDudes]

Index cards are a classic way of doing it. My handwriting is rubbish, so I like to get blank cardstock or photo paper sheets and print them out instead.

[@dresetfrostwood8449]

Same

[@Justanothernerdlol]

Please do! Hombrew crafting rules are a must at my table. I really dislike the DMG crafting rules. In my experience players rarely have that much gold, resources or downtime time to create even minor magic items.

[@doms.6701]

I have the opposite problem. My players have nothing but downtime

[@DesolatorMagic]

Whenever my party is shopping for rare, powerful, sought-after items to see if what they want is "in stock" at an NPC's store, I always roll to see if by random chance it's there but for flavor I have it be one of 2-3 items in a glass case or mounted on the wall that's like the big draw item where people stop into the store just to see the famous 10,000 GP cloak that the user can use to fly or whatever. It's like a tourist item that the owner never thinks they'll actually sell but is for sale for the right price.

[@jjs8426]

What are you doing here Des?

[@linkno1]

Seems risky to have a cloak of flying or something of similar usefulness just hanging around in such an easy to obtain place. Even if they can't afford it, what if the players decided they're just going to take it either by force or some sort of robbery/heist...If the DM told me that there was a cloak of flying in the shop, I'm immediately working out a plan in my head of how to 'take' it.

[@Phnxkon]

@@linkno1 doesnt sound like anything wrong with this. Maybe the shop that sells enchanted items has powerful wards or constructs guarding it. I dont think I'd let anyone get such a thing with 2 stealth and thieves tools rolls.

[@ericsmith6996]

@@linkno1 Not at all. Town guards. LOTS of them. Oh, and slaughtering dozens of working class citizens (like the aforementioned town guards), essentially orphaning their children and plunging their families into economic ruin, is an incredibly chaotic evil act, that will alter a character's alignment and have lawmakers pursuing the party for the rest of a campaign.

[@caramonmajere447]

A plain ole +1 Weapon can be a permanent weapon by using the description of "Magical Rune engraved weapon" because runes can be added to. After a few levels, a character could find a Master Smith to turn the +1 weapon into a +2, then later a +3, and so on... This works pretty well for us.

[@fenwah1]

I like to 3d print and paint custom dice in little dice boxes to represent magic weapons. The box holds all the associated weapon damage dice and a little card with the rules and flavour text. In one case I even added a hidden compartment with the weapon's secret abilities in it. If they lose the weapon I take the dice from them. It really adds a lot of flavour and helps the players get attached to their weapons beyond just the in game abilities

[@qualandrew201494]

thats an awesome concept. i might try that since i 3d print.

[@traevinfeldmann7231]

My DM used an "evolving" item type of system. We recieved a few magic items that were tailored to our character concepts over the course of a campaign. They would "level" with us, gaining new powers and generally becoming stronger as we went.

[@legendahri6311]

I had an evil dm that made a lot of magic items available from quests and other means. However, word around town would get out about your magic items and people would attack you and try to take them. It added an aspect of keeping magic items secret and made you think twice about using them until the perfect moment.

[@rowanheyd1200]

This episode reminds me of two stories of my own groups where I, being a new DM, handed out some nice little homebrew magic items. In the first instance, the item was actually stolen. Let me set the scene: in my world zeppelins are a thing (mainly because I don't know how to make long travel interesting) and my players were using one to go from point A to point B. En route, the ship was attacked by a gang of four halfling air pirates in a small airship shaped like a crow. The rest of the party lured the pirates into the bowels of the airship. The wizard took one look at the airship and was like, Ok, this thing will be mine. Basically the rest of the party handily dispatched the pirates and I couldn't think of a way to deny her the airship. The party was level 3. whoopsie. In the second case, I had handed out the item, but the dice had conspired to goof 'em up. I handed out an item that allowed a player to learn another language for a limited amount of time, but as a cost they would loose the ability to speak common for 1d6 days. The party adopted a mephit (low cr steam elemental) and wanted to speak with it, so the guy with the item decided to speak aquan, which sounds like blowing bubbles in water. I asked him to roll a d6 to see when he could speak common again. Fucking 6. The guy was a real pro and roleplayed being able to speak in bubbles so well. his character was also prone to panic, so when shit went south, he would scream this stream of bubbles. I think that this was my favourite magic item ever.

[@involuntaryascetic3602]

i personally would have taken the final fantasy approach to the airship, give them a taste of the sky then ground it in the sea until they are higher level and can get it fixed. a medium sized ship is mostly reasonable for a 3rd level party

[@sk8rdman]

I LOVE the idea of a sort of "cursed" magic item for learning a language. I've got some players who've been asking about how to train a new skill or learn a new proficiency during downtime, but the rules for that require something like a year of study. An item like that could be a great way to give them what they want (for a price).

[@iaifia3224]

Yup im using this

[@PJRZ1]

I also introduced a flying ship, though at much higher character level. In fact, it was a spelljammer! But in my case the old spelljamming rules applied (using the helm sapped spellcasting ability), and I also introduced an NPC pilot of the ship. The ship became a convenience to getting around but only above ground obviously - and it got damaged on a semi-regular basis requiring stop-offs for repair and adventure! It didn't cause an issue, though as said, it was introduced only at mid-teens level and my adventures could take account of its presence.

[@Hazel-xl8in]

Rowan Heyd if it helps, think of it just as an amazing experience that the players got from your game and no one else’s. you can *not* pilot an airship in any game, after all.

[@TheShadesOfBlack]

The Infinity Guantlet shirt felt like a good choice considering the content.

[@revshad4226]

I craft almost entirely custom items for my campaigns, and one of my favorite things to do with them is make them have a campaign event end. Two examples 1) a statue that gave the caster the ability to regain spell slots, but when they reached teir 3 play the statue "awoke" as a knowledge spirit which now helps them to gain information but cannot be used in the way it was before. 2) a cape that was crafted from the feathers of a pegieus when it was tortured into a nightmare, that can be used to restore it.

[@dcoffinh]

that's a really clever way of keeping finished or no longer used items relevant and having a satisfying conclusion to their story with you. Very nice!

[@DomesticTourist001]

My favorite item I ever created was a dagger with +1 damage. However it had demon text that would allow you to bond to it and once done it became weightless doubling throwing range. Also whenever you say its name it flew to your hand. Literally would use it like a boomerang and it flew through enemies.

[@michaelehalsey]

The most satisfying campaign I was a player in, involved use of skills. Arcana, History, Investigation, Religion, Perception, and Insight all came into play. It took 11 levels for us to find the first item the Paladin was after but it definitely gave us a reason to adventure other than the typical "jail or save the town" scenario. We searched for things that were no longer there, we got things that were not what was expected, and eventually got something we were looking for... As a side note this amazing DM also gave us opportunities to learn skills over time, and later we even became patrons for another band of adventurers, which required us to provide items to their party. Perhaps you could do a video on how DM's can provide positive motivation. If i "wake up" in jail one more time /sigh.

[@brandonwilliamson2791]

i love how you guys go so in depth. in my recent campaign as a key component of the story, the players found a homebrewed item i created called the cloak if tree stride. in the beginning i was worried that i had made a game breaking item, it allowed the party to traverse the forest very quickly. knocking hours off of there time. eventually the party used the cloak to enter a dungeon with no doorway, as i had planned for them to do. the cloaks were imbued by the boss, and were linked to him. when he died, the cloak lost its power, and served as a single use puzzle item. i will have to be more careful from now on, when introducing my own magical items. they didnt end up at the dungeon for quite some time😅

[@alanschaub147]

I love the arms dealer comparison. It makes so much more sense why more powerful magic items are not available on the open market if they are capable of toppling kingdoms. 👑

[@joeyelmer8549]

"You only get 3 attunement slots" -laughs in Artificer

[@Randomdudefromtheinternet]

What about items that are race exclusive? I was thinking about a potion that increases the power of Dragonborns' breath to that of a true dragon (wyrmling is rare, juvenile is very rare, and adult is pretty much legendary)

[@Hazel-xl8in]

Miguel Angel Rangel like a spell scroll of fireball or cone of cold but instead needing to be a spellcaster, you need to be a dragonborn? if it’s single use, go for it!

[@g.j.anderson3972]

YOU JUST SOLVED A MAJOR BLOCKAGE I'VE BEEN HAVING IN MY CAMPAIGN thank you as always Dungeon Dudes, your videos are amazingly helpful for running my first ever homemade campaign setting!

[@Shadowmib]

I really like these videos. "Military grade" magic items makes a lot of sense, because if you have three wizards each with a staff of fireballs, you could take on a small army.

[@caramonmajere447]

A plain ole +1 Weapon can be a permanent weapon by using the description of "Magical Rune engraved weapon" because runes can be added to. After a few levels, a character could find a Master Smith to turn the +1 weapon into a +2, then later a +3, and so on... This works pretty well for us.

[@RaphaelLamour]

Love the card, I m doing this with itens and animal companions. I find that award too many itens make players dont use them at higher levels. Because of that, I m customizing some of them to evolute with player levels or after a major quest of the item. Exemple: a +1 shield of lathander, have a quest: if you redeem a ghost spirit, the shield will unlock a new power, like give a bless 1x a day. or a Warhammer if you defeat a elemental, will unlock the power of call lightning (defeat a water, storm, air elemental) or fireball when hurled the warhammer (fire elemental) .. that way the itens became part of the character story. and because of attunement, less is more. Great side quests can be done with that ideia inside the main arc. love this channel thx

[@DungeonDudes]

I love the idea of going on quests to "unlock" new powers for a magic item.

[@jlaw131985]

This was a bit like a concept they were working out in 3.5 of magic items that grew in power, which was why I was home brewing the same thing. It seems like a fairly popular home brew too…I wonder how much it is independently invented.

[@strikethespike816]

I think the Clockwork amulet is actually a really powerful common as it can turn your attack roll to a roll of 10. when you add your to hit bonus it can turn a miss into a hit. It's one of those useful things that I feel a PC would value.

[@Charoy612]

One of the favorite ways I ever handed out a magic item was the Decanter of Endless Water- The campaign was centered around a mercenary company that was trying to make up for a worse-than-expected series of losses from the local militia, leaving the area open to banditry and interference from other political factions. At one point, a local reservoir was ovverrun, and the water supply held hostage. The party was sent to regain control of the reservoir. At one point, one of them spies a glimmering object at the bottom of one of the holding channels- if they release the water, surely it'll be flushed away, but it's so deep that it couldn't possibly be retrieved... Needless to say, everyone I ran that mission for had a different approach. The /sensible/ people had access to Alter Self and simply took on waterbreathing while they swam to get the Decanter. I had a few players drown trying to get down to it, and in one case a Barbarian dragged one of the party's prisoners into the water, stabbing them every now and then to keep up their rage, and even though they technically /died/ swimming down, their rage kept them from dying since they were stabbing the prisoner. It. Was. Brutal. And so clever I allowed it, knowing the party Paladin would be pissed- I wanted to see what would happen when the Barbarian got back up, seemed to die, then spewed water as they came back to life using the Half-Orc racial trait. Really, my favorite way that I ever let a party get a magic item. Yes, I did fudge it so the prisoner didn't drown and become an invalid target which would have kept the Barabarian from keeping their Undying Rage active. I have no regrets.

[@MannyBrum]

Another bit of advice is if you roll a hoard for a boss at the end of the dungeon, you can split the items up and hide them throughout the dungeon they don't all need to be in a pile at the end. There very well may be other creatures guarding them or traps or whatever.

[@rowanash5378]

Please, *please* make a video about homebrew magic items! I need other people's opinions on how they should be designed.

[@GrahamMitchell1974]

I know I'm super late to the party, but I really like that fact that you matched the colors of the rarities to the ones from Borderlands 2! Yet another reason I love this channel.

[@TacDyne]

My favorite thing to do all the years I actively played was rolling up the loot, regardless of who was DMing. I especially loved that rare moment when an intelligent weapon came into the rolls. I'd roll them up on the NPC tables, including habits, psychosis, etc.. Made for some good times. :D

[@au715]

This video is really exceptional - well done! Rarely are any of youtube's DM tip videos this thorough, clear, and concise. I'm making myself a DM Resources Hall of Fame, starting here.

[@UltimateZinco]

Would love to hear of magic items that you've crafted/incorporated into your games! The more videos from you lads the better

[@stodorovic]

The way I handle additonal ways of obtaining magic items is like a mix of gathering, crafting and buying - a) I motivate my players to think of ways they could use something like a green dragon's tooth, troll hide, pixie dust etc. (or gather knowledge about the said things) b) they make skill checks to safely extract/remove those things (survival/nature/arcana/dex/str etc.) c) allow them to parley with expert craftsmen, artisans and mages (whose reputation they've earned) when they encounter them in big cities and figure out potential ways to upgrade some of their existing items (though this should very rarely have major effects) or tweak magic items that they've found but perhaps can't/won't use. That way we have 1) more motivation to explore 2) another way to reward their creativity 3) more skill challenges and 4) an additional way to spend some of that gold they've acquired

[@LemanRussVanquisher]

One thing If your campaign only goes up to say level 5 or 8 or whatever, then these rules don't work as well and you should feel more free to drop that flame tongue greatsword or staff of the magi early so your players can feel extra powerful to go fight the final boss.

[@chrishansen8119]

Ehh, maybe. I mean, give them something they can use but a campaign can never truly end.

[@chrishansen8119]

Well I guess all the players could die but I digress

[@VOID-GRIMM_Sinn]

I'm playing a campaign based on a game(like skyrim etc) so when my players die they respawn back at a checkpoint. I have alot of items to give but I don't think we will make it passed lv 10 haha. We never play

[@Hazel-xl8in]

Will Mills that’s my attitude most of the time. like “hell you could play the rest of your life and might never encounter the hand and eye of vecna, why not?”

[@telkei3365]

My favorite items definitely the ring of spell storing Suprise your enemy and dms

[@Kitkat-986]

The big bad power word killed my cleric. The whole party was in silent shock as their most powerful member lie dead before then, the big bad gloating. Thing is, they had a ring of spell storing with "raise dead" in it. The DM describing the shock and horror of the big bad as they see my angry half orc walking once more, now leading a small army of undead into battle, was priceless.

[@AlphaEmery]

Hello, newer DM (playing 5e for 14 months, DMing for 10 months). What my player group seems to enjoy are when I drop a magic item that multiple people could benefit from using (a firebrand warhammer is good for the Hexblade, the Barbarian, the Fighter, or the Paladin) and watching the players bid on who gets what. Try to not make the items more specific (a mace of smiting for the Cleric or a +2 Rapier for the only Finesse weapon user). This seems to make everyone happy as they all start trading items anyone can use. (Before the final combat encounter for my last campaign, all the players were talking about who needed the +1 spell attack and save dc item, who needs the Wound Closure, who needs the +1 Admantine Greatsword) It seems they enjoy to have a bit of excess just so they can trade around the items for the benefit of each other.

[@some_hippies]

I've definitely run into the problem of giving out too many items. To compensate, I've simply started treating the players as if they were a level or two higher than they are for CR calcs. They dont have any game breaking items, but they have several too many and they're more versatile they they should be. When they had two Ropes of Climbing, they munchkin argued that they could bypass any trap by ha int the rip drag them over or around. And then a kobold threw a cauldron of napalm at them while they were doing it and now they have no Ropes of Climbing. I as a DM really like giving out sweet items though, so if you're the type who enjoys making and handing out magic gear, keep pretty strict about the tiers of play. Dont let them have very rare items at level 8, it's too much of a power jump, but also pay attention to what some items do. Flametongue swords add on average 7 damage per attack, Belts of Giant Strength and the Stat Becomes 19 items break the bounded accuracy system the game was based on. In that sense, an Amulet of Health can potentially increase somebody's Con by 4, suddenly the wizard isnt squishy and will pass all his Concentration saves. The Fighter might not benefit from Gauntlets of Ogre Power but now you have a cleric that can hit like a truck if any enemy gets close or tries a grapple.

[@technonecromancer]

Hey guys, love your videos! I'm one year into my first D&D campaign ever, and my DM was gracious enough to grant me the Staff of Power as a 3rd level wizard (evoker). It's definitely shaped my character's behavior and willingness to engage in fights, but I've very much enjoyed it. I'm in a party of 5 and am the only one to have a magical item above common, so the balance is there.

[@DungeonDudes]

Wow! A staff of power for a 3rd level Wizard? I don't think I've ever had players under 11th level find one of those. You lucked out!

[@CoconuDuty]

I love hearing your guys’ opinion and ideas on stuff like this. Keep ‘em coming.

[@adamoutrage6597]

Initially when I started playing 5th I had the crafting of magic items be a lost art, and eventually when the players got high enough it became a side quest for them. At first they were just able to transfer magic from one item into a different nonmagical item and it produced a similar effect. Then when they got the ability to start traveling the multiverse, they were able to find magical substances and crafting instructions to make wholly new ones.

[@nathanbaca5131]

You guys made a great point about making the magic items means of traveling across previously impassable terrain. I remember one campaign where we had to pass through a volcano but to do so we needed some sort of magical heat resistance. In order to continue the main story line we had to do some side quests for an enchanter in order to gain his favor so he would enchant the party's armor or clothing to resist volcanic heat.

[@RegalRegex]

Glad I waited til the end because I was definitely gonna ask for a 'homebrew magic items' video! This was really helpful. I've definitely leaned into Xanathar a little bit for common items, and their organization of item tiers, as you said, was really really helpful. I think Monty's point of choosing magic items for the *Campaign* was a really good point! My 100% custom campaign is in a desert world, so I've got to think of some clever ways to implement magic items that would make sense there... But what I DEFINITELY didn't think about was how groups or governments would treat/hoard *very* powerful magic items as dangerous weapons or political deterrents! That's very clever and makes a lot of sense. Really going to have to put some thought into that.

[@cameronf5893]

You guys have the energy of a well done pbs how to show. It's pretty great :)

[@RaphaelLamour]

I really wanna do a elven holy avenger that was made of a fragment of Corellon original sword. Something special for a elven paladin. With some dreadfull quest to beat.

[@charger1369]

I would like to hear your guy's opinion on which of the common and uncommon magic items are most useful.

[@JonnoDavies1]

I was looking through the DM guide on creating an item. I looked through the suggested pro's and con's and came up with: "(insert god's name) Tome of Healing". The inscription says "The gift of healing means one cannot turn a blind eye to those in need or a deaf ear to those crying out in pain". Pros: Gives Proficiency on Medicine. Add's +1d4 to administering health potions to other PC's/NPC's. Gives advantage roll to stabilising an unconscious / bleeding out PC. Cons: If book removed from attuned PC, they go blind and deaf. If PC attuned attacks enemy not engaged with an unconscious / bleeding out PC, they have disadvantage. Basically, if they ignore the needy (attack an enemy that is not within 5 feet of a downed player) or are separated from this book in which they make an "oath to do no harm" they suffer a negative. I don't think it's a bad balance. I'm a fairly new DM, so if anyone thinks this is OP/under powered to the consequences then let me know! Especially DD's, I would like to hear what you think.

[@DungeonDudes]

This is a cool item! I think it can be little stronger if you want it to have a downside, as stabilizing a downed player is already pretty easy. Perhaps the tome grants you the Spare the Dying cantrip as an at-will power (you have to hold the tome to cast the spell). The other power is interesting because it affects your potions, and not your spells or other powers. What if the effect was that whenever you cast a spell or use an item that restores hit points to a *dying* creature, that creature gains the MAXIMUM amount from any dice rolled. This makes it a super awesome item for bringing a downed character, but it doesn't benefit healing used on someone who "is not in dire need". As far as the downside, what if you make this an Intelligent item, possessed by the spirit of the great healers and doctors who wrote the tome? The spirit harbours a deep regret for not being able to save a life when it could have, and uses it's ego to drive players towards saving lives. The reason why is that sometimes, it's actually really hard to get to someone to save them, and so the book wouldn't punish a player that needs to fight their way past an enemy to get to a dying friend. It also might talk to the player by writing new pages in the book or speaking in their mind, filling their head with medical knowledge.

[@playerzero7890]

This videos only got better, and that means something because the quality is very existent in the videos three years ago

[@jhutchnik]

I have found that if you drastically reduce the charges on a magic item such as a wand, etc., that it makes that item more valuable. It takes thought into when and where to use it since it can only be used a handful of times--especially at lower-level campaigns. Love you guys!

[@totallyrealname6376]

I appreciate your knowledge on the matter, I just came from someone else's video who had no clue how these tables worked or their power levels.

[@ericsmith6996]

Thanks very much for this excellent video. The "approximately one item of each rarity for each character total" and "approximately one item per character per level" metrics are very useful. 1.) A couple of additional thoughts, gentlemen: 1.) Who is John Toller and what is the Crown of Rast? 2.) Having foes USE magic items against a party greatly adds to the satisfaction of acquiring them afterward, and helps boost challenges when needed.

[@hamishmarshall7782]

One of the most memorable magic items my party found was in a dirty Goblin kitchen of an Orc fortress. It was the infamous “Ramsey’s cooking pot”. Basically anything you put in it could be cooked into a eatable meal and it talked like Gordon Ramsey. Not too game breaking, and it made long trecks entertaining.

[@DStars92]

"Don't give low level characters too many super strong items" Sweats while looking at Level 4 Fighter with a Javelin of Lightning, Cloak of Invisibility, and a homebrewed battleaxe that grants an extra attack when you kill someone. Whoops.

[@tiatrips]

You could always play into them later that the javelin gets stronger with some event or something along those lines. And thieves exist, too.

[@Hazel-xl8in]

DStars92 the battleaxe sounds like great weapon master but in an axe

[@CidGuerreiro1234]

Stronger players just mean you can be extra rough on them.

[@k0pstl939]

@@naddarr1 If I were to have that item, I would have it be once per turn

[@thetreeboy.]

Legendary item idea The Faux Excalibur It’s just a fancy longsword BUT you have the ability to convince anyone that it’s the real Excalibur Think about it for a second, you are holding a sword that everyone thinks makes you the one chosen and worthy king

[@leodouskyron5671]

Yes love to hear your take on crafting by players and making as a dm magic items. It is a different topic but always fun.

[@AvenueStudios]

Great ideas for handling magic thank you guys! I have a funny problem where my players love hoarding and then forget they have stuff till like a year later and then I start to forget so they end up stacked with all kinds of consumables haha

[@CloudyDaze]

With the way you guys talk about how Magic items are such a natural part to the game, I feel as if I’ve been playing wrong my whole life. Or rather I keep running into DM’s who don’t like giving them out at all XD

[@RPGBros]

Smart with the Magic Item cards. I've been doing that lately and my players love it.

[@Perial51]

I created a magic quiever for my ranger player. It has 4 different effects in it, depending on what kind of element the arrow was in contact with. Because the quiever has elemental power, on each side there are little lights/colors (blue, red, green and some kind of white/pale). We decide on a d4 roll which effect appears. 1) fire arrow: If the arrow has a dancing fire around its tip, the arrow deals extra 1d4 fire damage. On a crit the arrow applies the burn effect on the enemy. 2) wind arrow: A tickling, hand covering wind plays around the hand of the owning archer and deals on a hit 1d4 extra piercing damage. On a crit the arrow penetrates small to large creatures and if somebody is standing behind the penetrated creature, he takes the same amount of damage. The extra piercing damage counts as magical. 3) water (or rather ice) arrow: Ice crystals are appearing around the arrow. On hit the arrow deals 1d4 cold damage. On a crit the arrow cools down the enemy and reduces his speed by half. 4) plant arrow: Some vines surround the wooden part of the arrow. On a hit the enemy has to make a DC15 strength or dexterity saving throw. If he fails he can't take a reaction until his next turn. On a crit the vines grow so big and strong, that the enemy is either incapacitated if the creature has the size of large or smaller or bigger creatures are grappled then and have to make a DC18 strength or dexterity saving throw. I hope you could give me some feedback even if this video is some months old already. I designed this item on my very first session as a dm.

[@benjaminglendenning4622]

YES Please! cover crafting/designing, very interested to hear more about "homebrew" styles from the "Dudes".

[@fullmetalpoitato5190]

I tried something with my first full campaign as a DM after doing a couple of short pre-mades. I had this Master Craftsman Dwarven smith that had set up shop in the hub city of a localized campaign. The party discovered that he was capable of crafting magical weapons and armor (basic +1 stuff nothing crazy) but the catch was that they would have to find some unique crafting materials for him to be able to craft the custom materials. So they got to go on some adventures and dungeon crawls to get the materials needed and then bring back to have their specific item crafted, and the Smith named each item upon completion of a job. It really helped the group aspire towards some loot, questing and adventuring that they were invested in while also allowing me to find a way to reward them without drowning them in magic items.

[@wayneweibel8970]

i have referenced this video several times (especially recently), great work guys. a little help for others - timestamp for how many? @13:45, done the math @15:40

[@nunyabusinesss1476]

In our modified 2cnd ed campaign many years ago my Illusionist/Thief decided to expand his abilities into a more ranged kit. With this in mind our dm had him find an ancient-rune-etched shortbow (it was a +2 to start was perfect as he was a Halfling). As the campaign continued he discovered that what he thought were just decorative runes could actually be activated and imbue his bow with elemental and other properties. He spent the better part of the campaign mastering the various combinations and eventually learning how to etch his own. At the end of the campaign he found a special arrow that, when combined with the bow, activated all the runes at once and turned the arrow into the equiv of a tact. nuke. The drawback, he found out, was that the arrow had a mind of it's own and, though it appeared back in it's special container most of the time, there was a chance it would leave him. After each use the dm would have me role a percentile dice to see if the Arrow would stay or disappear. Fortunately I only lost it once and went on a lil side quest to get it back. He eventually retired from adventuring when his exploits gained him the favor of a local order of Dragon Riders. He was asked to become an apprentice and left the party. I must say it was pretty awesome the first time I used the bow at full power lol as our dm did a great job narrating. We came to call it the Patriot Arrow :D

[@AROAlvi]

I am playing in a campaing in which magic is pretty common, and so are magic items. My character, which can fly naturaly, found in a shop a pretty rare item which, with a command word, gave it freedom of movement. I had to ask another character for some money and now I owe him, but it became such a character defining item. I've rushed through water just to save a friend thanks to that and more things like that. Even an item which felt "simple" can become an awesome defining character item.

[@RobertZembrzycki]

My party uses custom made cards for skills and spells (awesome way to keep in mind what your character can actually do) :) They are based on Magic The Gathering cards, and we just get images for them from pinterest, print them out and put in a sleeve ;) Looks killer, and works well. Pair it with an awesome back side adorned with characters name, and it's an amazing thing to have! :)

[@darklordthomaspie6293]

Thank you, I learned a lot of things that could help my next adventure.

[@baltsosser]

I enjoyed presenting a Ring of flying as a GM that was not made by a master crafter, but by an apprentice trying to do it behind his masters back before he was ready. That resulted in a flawed ring that gave the wearer the ability to fly...but required rolls while doing so on a D10 because it had a 30% chance of failing while in flight. That did make things interesting.

[@Heartdrive]

OW my ears at the start .. Kyle xD. Great video guys Ive always been struggling thinking of how many items to give player. Definitely would love to hear about homebrew items. Wanna do that in my campaign for sure to surprise my players

[@CalebHoss37804]

We typically like a lot of Magic Items. I’ve currently got magic Axe, Warhammer, and shield. Not to mention a wand of magic detect. And that’s just my PC. The other 3 also has some. Our DM is good about balance tho. She knows we like more dice rolls so she ups the enemies health pools.

[@jacquescelliers1491]

Another great video guys, helped me with some thoughts and questions I had about how and when to give some of my players magic items since they're getting close to the point of being able to get them. Also, my first campaign as a DM went really well the other day thanks to the tips I learned from your videos.

[@DungeonDudes]

So glad to hear! Hope your campaign goes amazingly well!

[@jacquescelliers1491]

Dungeon Dudes Thanks, I believe it will.

[@trapical]

7:15 I do enjoy how literally everyone, and every game, have seemed to formed a sporadic, unspoken agreement to always use the same 4 colors denoting item rarity. I think it started with WoW, but now there is just this understanding that white = common, blue = rare, etc.

[@luketfer]

The only one which didn't use this was Guild Wars 2. Blue is Uncommon, Green is Rare, Orange is Exotic (Epic) and Pink is Ascended (Legendary). Really threw me off when I first started playing wondering why the blue item was worse than a green item.

[@drunkenrobot7061]

I think I heard about a DM who decided what magic items to give his players based on how much and how well they roleplayed. If they didn't do much roleplaying, they'll just get things like potions or magic daggers. If they roleplay extremely well, he is much more generous and would give something up to the Very Rare tier. Now, it obviously depends on circumstances, but I think it's a good system to maybe try out at some point in a campaign with tons of magic in it.

[@ivorthewizardpugh1479]

I once had a group of adventurers that found a “decanter of endless beer”. It did nothing but create beer on command, one pint at a time or open tap where they could get four pints at one burst. They loved the thing. Also, I like to give an aspect of the magic item that takes over the character in a fun way. Like The One Ring in LoTR made people possessive of it. So I give a cloak of invisibility what makes people more outgoing. A sword that likes to pick fights. A a ring that makes the wearer sarcastic…. Or causes a tendency showboat. Done right it helps develop role playing situations.

[@honestreviews8445]

The last part about the politics of parties buying magic items and the effects on their perceived threat / interest level by npcs is a fantastic point. I’ll be using this in my next game.

[@Chris-ci3lu]

Great video, but when you guys said, "magic items are like military grade..." it reminded me of a time I saw a driveshaft on a HMMV held together with duct tape and metal clamps to get it from one parking space to another...

[@justindomer2966]

I usually craft magic items both to the setting and the characters. They're usually unique, unknown rarity items that require cleverness to use or a specially tailored item to the player. Like the dagger I created for a player who is more sneaky and clever. It's called Trickster's dagger, it gives proficiency in Thieves' tool and is a dagger of returning as well. When used in tricky or clever ways I have a sheet tracking it that the player doesn't know about so it becomes more unique and powerful overtime. It's next level offers a use of the misty step spell to where the dagger is once per long rest. So instead of it returning to you, you return to it once it levels up. You still also have the option of it returning to you however.

[@joshuabrown7916]

Family hairloom, Gift of the Void. +1 Dex Bracer/glove that looks like Venoms skin, it actually attaches itself to the Rogue through story reasons. Instead of knocking an arrow, it materializes one when the string of the bow is drawn back. Its ability is when PC hits an enemy with a 18 or higher roll, the arrow rips through the target striking anything behind said target dealing half dmg . Pretty effective when your Rogue knows how to use it. Still decently fair too because of its high hit property.

[@georgemercer402]

I have 2 homebrewed magic items which are important to the plot of the campaign I'm making up: Crystalis (based on the old NES video game) and the only name I have for the other is "Anti" since it basically has the ability to deal extra damage to everything pertaining to the BBEG. They're both in the Legendary category given their respective power levels, but I intend to destroy them when the BBEG is vanquished by having them turn to enchanted dust; the dust can be used at a forge to make another weapon better. The original properties of the omni-pair will go bye-bye and just turn it into a weapon of warning; I can find ways to work around a problem occasionally.

[@crunchyflax]

Thanks for another great video. I hope you dudes do create a video on crafting magic items. If you do, I would love your thoughts on adding magical features to an existing magic item. For example, adding dark vision ability to an existing +1 weapon. The DM's guide doesn't really talk about such a detail.This concept of adding a magical feature to your magic item goes along with your thoughts about not getting rid of your magic items for better magic items as done in video games. I'm really looking for ways characters can customize their hard-earned magic items without making the items overpowered.

[@Rubymagicalgirl88]

Some very good advice, it's got me thinking. My own homebrew is very much a high Magic world but I have quickly found that is trickier then so expected. I'd done an encounter where the party were involved in an airship battle, they were on one the other attacked them. It went well, recently I rolled up more of the items from that hoard and Definitely got more then I expected. At this point it's not really an issue since they are nearing the end of an adapted Storm Kings Thunder. It is definitely worth looking into for my next adventure adapting Salt Marsh.

[@Ridelith]

I like showering my players with quirky Common and Uncommon magic items, like all the common items in XGE, Wind Fan, Decanter of Endless Water, etc. They don't break the core mechanics of the game but man do they open up loads of roleplaying and creative solution possibilities.

[@seanedgar164]

I normally begin planning out for each character a tailored item of low, medium and high impact. Bags of holding and stuff are extras as I see fit. Eg, Bard gets a cloak of protection, scimitar of speed, then a instrument foci

[@christopherdodds9435]

You guys gave me some really good ideas for making my own magic items. this video was just what i needed to get started making items ! Thanks

[@LeetMasterAce]

I think magic items are still an important balancing facet between casters and martial classes, which has always been an issue in D&D. Even though 5e does a GREAT job with balancing the classes out more, there is still a notable difference in power level between the effects of a 3rd level spell and gaining the ability to attack twice in one round.

[@LeetMasterAce]

@Soviet who Cuts Wow, my gut reaction was to scream "THAT'S OVERPOWERED!" but when compared to high level spells, most feats utterly pale in comparison. I suppose that is the nature of martial classes vs spellcasters. We will never truly escape the good ole classic "linear fighters, quadratic wizards."

[@Phnxkon]

Well how many times do you get to cast 3rd level spells at 5th level vs how many times you can use extra attack?

[@abelsampaio389]

Sometimes, I let my players describe their items. It shares the creativity with my players, free my time and brains a little, and makes the item even better for the players, cause they can describe it as they want. I just tell it "You find a +1 magic sword there. How does it look?" (unless it's something more specific, like the sun blade, or the moon-touched sword, or I already have something plot or lore related to share through the item).

[@jackregz]

Watching this and thinking about how to apply this to my upcoming Dark Sun campaign. The lack of metal and the stigma of magic makes this a whole lot more complicated haha. Thankfully, psionic magic items have been detailed in the past, but they don't typically have the same flavor.

[@TheCasualGM]

We actually came upon a Ring of Wishes which my DM didn’t expect. We were buying magic items at one of the Princes palaces in Port Nayanzaru and they showed us a Ring of Wishes which was waaaaay out of our price range at 200,000 gold. They were about to put it away when our Arcane Trickster Rouge rolled a Nat 20 on sleight of handing the ring away with his invisible mage hand, it worked and before anything bad could happen he used a wish to make anyone who knew of the ring’s existence believe that he was the owner of the ring. Fortunately for our DM he was very nice about using the remaining 2 wishes in non-OP ways but it was freaking amazing!

[@zenithmaiden2109]

Had an entire campaign mini-arc based around a magical armor set. Easily identifiable as an old, valuable set of parade armor the various pieces were split up and sold over the years, but bizarre events involving the armor have lead some to believe the armor is cursed. Turns out the armor is sentient - possessed by a fallen commander who still very much believes the war is on. The party's discovery of the armor and what they ended up doing with it and the spirit that inhabited it were very fun to explore.

[@enderskunk7515]

I played one session so far and we got already a lot of magic items (including a suspicies amount of fire protection...). That entire house we are exploring is brimming with wierd magic Stuff (although usally the room is enchanted not an object). Many rooms keep themselfs clean, instruments always stay perfectly tuned, a bedroom has a calming effect, so children fall asleep faster, paintings charm you to like them... tons of useless but fun stuff

[@jamesembry4921]

Loved this episode. I love rolling random treasure for the players to find. I never worry too much about giving specific player items, I just roll the dice and like watching the players try to figure it out.

[@CarnivorousMeat]

I am actually DMing a group who is slowly finding the individual parts of an artifact that they will be (possibly) reassembling. As they gain more and more of the pieces, they are getting more and more noticed by the beings and powers that are also looking for that item. (This item and been shattered and scattered to PREVENT certain "powerful being" from tracking it down. They will soon become a target as these creatures start noticing that the collected pieces are now becoming traceable through means of divination magics as the item becomes more 'whole')

[@erichellstrom5222]

As a DM I am very generous with magic items, however it is easier to take away the items than you think, potion bottles break, magic swords can be melted by dragon fire or acid. there is also a creature from old Forgotten Realms books and compendium called a Balheir(I think) it was in the book "Spellfire" and it is a Gaseuos cloud that literially feeds of magic. I once completely drained an party of 14th level heroes to zero magic items and spells, it makes a very interesting challenge. I was quick to replace some magic items but in a balanced way.

[@darkyoda1980]

I am new to 5e. I am paying my first campaign. I have the javelin of lightning. This in the 3 weeks ive played. This weapon has pulled us out of a death wipe twice now. Lol. I love it. I am playing a goliath eldritch knight and I play with a shield and javelin. So to throw this weapon for ranged and to call it back is awesome.

[@dontnerfmebro8052]

I use empty salt and pepper shakers, put labels on the side that say the kind of potion it is and in the case of health potions what dice to roll. Fill them with red Gatorade for extra effect.

[@windwatcher460]

I was actually just going to search to see if you have a video on creating magic items, so that'd be awesome

[@DungeonDudes]

We do! kzbin.info/www/bejne/omLKl3eflqqjfZY

[@freman007]

I played a game of Warhammer Quest once where I was playing a Bretonnian Knight. One of the items I gained was a rune on my sword that gave an extra D6 damage on a damage roll of 6. The next quest saw us fighting a Chaos Warrior whose armour negated the strength of attacks meaning he only took the D6 damage, not D6 plus strength. My knight waded into him and swung, rolling a 6 for damage, so I rolled another D6, "6". The Chaos Warrior took 12 damage, which was sufficient to kill him in one hit. He was a good knight.

[@dadsdone3524]

Definitely tailored to the campaign, excellent you guys! Thanks. It's always nice to see how the pros do it :-) I got a lot of interesting creating magic items I would be very interested. ;)

[@williamrogers9918]

I have a good example of what I'd call a good magic item, and it actually was in my first ever campaign I got a common magic item at the very start of our campaign. We were looting a room at the end of a cave that goblins had fortified, which we raided at the request of a nearby town. It was a hard dungeon for us seeing as we were all a bunch of new players and our dungeon master challenged us at our request. There was a small treasure pile of coins, trinkets, and a small chest that we dug up from the pile. We opened it and found a fairly intricate handle. Having played many RPG video games, me and my friend assumed it was a part of a weapon that might be the focus of our campaign. I picked it up, and suddenly a gleaming blade of light extended from it. Right into my friend's arm. We freaked out. On one hand, I had a lightsaber (slightly altered prismatic blade), and on the other hand, my friend almost lost his. It made a really wonderful moment to look back on and gave my character the weapon that would eventually come to represent that character- he went on to be an eldritch knight and he was a bit of a gambler, so the weapon had a feature where I'd roll a D6 and get a random magic effect on an attack; an elemental typing, or a CC effect that did no damage on swing.

[@ayandragon2727]

I hand out a ton of lower class magic items, for my main campaign at least, (it is about restoring a magic item forge to it’s former glory after all), but higher class or really custom magic items like sentient blades or bows able to destroy a soul are rare. I also hand out cursed items a lot, though they always have some use. Like the ring of black pudding my ranger has. Any one handed weapon he holds in his right hand either erodes or loses it’s magical properties, the same applies to any item whether his or not he grabs. Which is useful since he likes grappling. He also has a bow that lets him track someone and if they let eight hours pass without healing the arrow wound he can cause vines to explode from the wound grappling and dealing damage.

[@MrMoshmuma]

Glad to see the continued success of your channel. Great advice guys!

[@atomwangames]

This is such a useful video. I definitely find myself thinking of loot in video game terms