The Huge Issue With Magic Items In DnD
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- There is a major issue with DnD Magic Items and this video shows you how to fix it!
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Breaking down items by "what they're about" is actually really useful and seems so simple in retrospect. Fantastic advice!
Ayyy my Icelandic pal
Hi daddy. Good to see you here
@ I am not your father
@@Mystic-Arts-DM POV: Anakin doesn’t have kids, doesn’t become a sith lord, and starts a TH-cam channel.
One of the best videos I have seen as a new DM
Ok, about the "Waterbroom" one of my players from past editions, had a Broom of Flying that granted waterbreading for up to 4 creatures that were riding the broom, and the reason he had this, was because his mother was "The Dreaded pirate Bane Witch, the Kelp Queen of the dead coast" who would hang entire pirate crews from the masts of their ships with enchanted blood sucking kelp, and in her old age, opened a bakery in the fishing village the players were from. Because it was a gift from his mom, he had the stipulation that he could never De-attune from it. Not because it was cursed, but because the Character was a Momma's boy. An item with story to it can be more meaningful than a perfect build item.
Waterbreading… does that mean that they breed *with* the water, or breed with each other. Or did you actually mean bread… it turns any body of water that it touches into a deep fried and breaded body of water 😅
I like magic items being active in the world rather than purely a reward. Maybe your players hear about a thief that snuck out with a whole treasury of coins or a bandit captain who's suddenly seemed to jump in sword skills and viciousness. If they want those effects they follow the rumour. But they don't have to. It's not the main quest and there are other rumours they can choose.
It has the benefit of them hearing about or even experiencing what the item does. Plus, it adds different motivations on a quest or triggers character discussion. For instance, if the enemy they're after has consumables they want they need a plan of attack that doesn't cause the enemy to use them up first or perhaps that +1 axe belongs to a kindly, but slightly senile, elderly hero who values it as the last treasure of her adventuring life. It can even add some positive to getting hurt ("You look down at the arrow sticking out of your shoulder and notice two things: there's more damage than there should be and it's not broken")
They can also be used in the main story as a hook balance. Maybe the party decides they need to apprehend an informed enemy to interrogate. Of the two best targets one is easier to get but the more difficult target has a rumoured item. They can then decide whether the item is worth the trouble.
With this they get to choose the items they want to a degree, some enemies get a bit of difference, cursed items can be fun without being a gotcha to the players, and the items they don't pursue still exist in the world to potentially be a later problem or to just deepen the lore by existing distantly.
in my world most of the magic academies and collages have their apprentices and first year students just churning out utility magic items like everburning torches and bags of holding as part of their education requirements and to stay financially viable. That way they're abundant in the world and not that expensive. weapons and armor are much harder to make and more expensive though.
The Flanders joke sent me. Didnt expect the echo of "Nothing at all"
Nothing at all
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This was incredibly helpful! Love the suggestions and guidance on consumables. Thanks a ton!
Cant put into words the amount of anxiety this has helped in terms of not wanting to give players broken or too many magic items, feel like i understand the theory of it all more now so thank you so much
My players for Kingmaker, a Pathfinder AP, got really inventive with their own magic items, and went out of their way to pay for comissioning. Hilariously, it wasn't actually weapons or armor they were after. No, no, they wanted Rings of Sustenance, and Boots of Springing and Striding for everyone. Yeah, they also got stuff like a Bag of Holding, but a huge focus for them were Standard of Living items. The Rings, Boots, and Bag made it so they could move around the wild area we were in without the need for horses, and then as the campaign and time progressed, they began coming up with some changes. The Boots got two upgrades: Wilderness Stride, and the Winterlands upgrade, cutting out the need to worry about terrain for the most part. The other big thing they got is now referred to as "Daern's Instant Cabin".
Ironically, they were *selling off* a number of offensive and defensive items in pursuit of this. It was the most nutsy thing, but I wasn't pushing any of this, the party was just realizing that the wilds themselves were an actual part of the adventure, and responded to it like adventurers.
In a small campaign i ran every player got a custom magic item as a reward. The players had just rescued the Thunderbeard twins, dwarven blacksmiths that together could do a ritual with a pc that would create/modify them a personalised item, i asked players what kind of thing/abilities they'd be looking for and mixed a couple of up to rare items and flavoured them to suit working with the players out of game (made some awesome ai pics they all loved), and then we had a fairly rp heavy session as each player went to the twins to get their item made while the others did some downtime activities, i posted the items in the group chat as they were made. It was loads of fun customising items for them, one of them even wanted a cursed item we had a great time building, it fit really well with the character's backstory, I'd put more about it but i think this post is already getting long enough 😅 happy to share if anyone is interested though
The problem with the DMs items by rarities is that consumables are in no way in the same tier of a reward as other items. Lvs 1-4 here are your 6 common potions of healing, 4 potions of resistance and 1 potion of mind reading... and your players are going to be pretty ticked at that. When alternatively each player could get a +1 implement/weapon, and maybe one person finds something cool like a flametongue.
Could giving 4x amount of consumables make sense? An example 4 spell scrolls for the wizard
@@soMeRandoM670 A spell scroll for a wizard lets them add it to their spellbook if they don't already know it. Unless they cast the spell from the scroll in a moment of dire need where short-term survival needs to take priority. Or if they do already know it. So wizard scrolls are the worst possible example; cleric or bard scrolls or any other caster class would be mostly equivalent to a potion in terms of use-once. Although the caster would still have to maintain concentration, unlike with a potion.
My thought is this list is not meant for consumables
@@Shattered_Entertainment Even in the video he was talking about giving out consumables... plus what kind of common items are not consumables? Does everyone get a cape that magically blows in the breeze? And this is the real problem its not specific is it? we can interpret the same rules in completely different ways creating drastically different outcomes on what is considered "normal". I just let my players find 8 very rare healing potions, did I break the game?
@Shattered_Entertainment I use monster consumables an example is an bugbear having an potion if players kill the bugbear fast enough they gain an potion. The rule of engagement is the enemy use an action to drink potion optimally meaning an players can focus fire them to get them to die faster than use potions.
14:37 For item NPC's, I recently attached the ghost of a hero to a ring one of my party members found in an urn of ashes. The ghost is a barbarian who was in a party with the BBEG way back in the day, and I gave her special possession abilities to buff the holder of the ring while also giving my party a tie to the wider plot. My druid just has to fail a few more Wis saves 😅
The old idea of a wish list also is helpful in so many ways. Shows what they want (so you can know what they are trying to do) and any possible conflicts.
Absolutely. Players can have or develop ideas for their character's build and aesthetic. Getting input from them as to what they want to accomplish, or feel that they need (front liner might want damage resistance on their armor upgrade).
For additional magic item options, a DM can always look to 3rd party content creators (like Griffon's Saddlebag). Then keep in mind that some items are class/species specific to insure items go to one who needs it.
My dm did this, asking us to give a list of what we might want to see down the line. I just browsed dnd beyond and looked for things that my character might want or get a lot of use out of. Who knows if or when those items will appear but he now has a better idea what to go for when choosing this stuff
Great video! I appreciate this content, talking about specific troubles DM might have.
This was really helpful. Thank you!
This is a great guide, thank you!
5:23 Although...it could make for a VERY tense scene with the party trying to get inside a room while locked in combat with a horrifying monster lumbering their way. Every round they can try to unlock the door or they can try to run, but every round *IT* gets closer...
I like to give my players a lot of very unique items. They can sell them if they dont want to use them, or keep them. At level 5 they are getting a plot of land that a family lives on and an old blacksmiths home that has been abandoned, which has a smithing shop for the fighter who likes to make his own weapons, a cellar for brewing for the dwarf and a large garden and shed with tools for the druid. They have a small room to sleep in and the basic necessities there and can leave things they dont need there because I will not be giving them a bag of holding for at least 3 more levels.
Rather than give an item to a PC, how about giving an item to an evil NPC and have them use it in a tactically good way for the adventure. Instead of having a wizard controlling undead, have a wizard with a ring that controls undead. When the PCs finally kill the NPC, they might find the item and have a deeper emotionial attachment to the item.
Edit: or have an Immovable Rod placed being used just to hold up a rope to another floor with the rod seemingly floating in mid-air. The PCs can still find the item by climbing the rope, but the item has been made part of the world rather than a random treasure chest reward. And it makes the world feel more alive.
I like that idea
I agree with a lot of this, but I believe you should have diversity in your party so they can have their moments for what they're built for. Not everyone needs a pet or a familiar for example.
Very helpful video. Thank you. 😃
My favorite DM gave us items at a relatively low level. The item itself leveled as we did. He would watch what we enjoyed or wanted during gameplay, and add that power to the item. Later. Our items got more powerful, yet the world was not inundated with tons of magic items.
my brother gave me a guide for this. called ancestry weapons or something. I gave it to my other dm because I want to have a magical sword of legend, but of course I shouldn't get all of it's powers at once so it leveling with me helps the journey feel that much stronger
I laughed when you said the Decanter of Endless Water won't break the game
I ran a one-shot in a desert tomb. I let the PCs have 1 low-level magic item each. One chose the Decanter of Endless Water.
We got to the mummy BBEG. After the cleric used Turn Undead, that player opened the decanter opened it and used the Geyser effect.
My players did the math and asked if they could flood the entire room and said they would be willing to wait.
I just kind of buried my face in my hands.
I was running a openworld campaign and the deck of many things is great for that, essentially gives you adventure hooks.
Cursed items are fun if you have that one guy in the party who loves to cast Identify on everything. XD
I love making magic items. If I have the time, I always attach a small story to each magic item. For instance, I am going to give my players a ring of swimming pretty soon. The text in the item states that it is "too big for your fingers, so you have to wear it on your thumb." It's because giants originally made the ring, and their sense of humanoid proportion is off. I also take a lot of inspiration from Destiny 2 and add flavor text to my magic items. It allows me to name drop things from lore before they come up in game, so the players can learn about the world through showing instead of telling.
And don't get me started on weapons that level with the characters. Those are really fun to give out. I really like Ancestral Weapons from the DMsGuild because they also have sidequests before you can advance to the next tier of power in the weapon.
Speaking of communication items, I am pretty proud of my sending stone gimmick: It works like what you expect a Sending Stone to work, you can cast Sending as normal, but it only has three charges and regains one charge per day. The important thing to remember is that it can only regain it's one charge per day if it has at least one charge left; so you can use it twice like normal, but that third charge is crucial; and once the third charge is used then the Sending Stone loses all magical ability until a caster is able to cast Sending onto it to regain that third charge again
I also make it so the activation of the Sending Stone is knocking it three times on a hard surface, and then blowing. So when the PCs are recieving a message this way, the first thing they hear before the 25 word message is a "Knock knock knock puffff"
I made a tent kind of like that awhile back based on a tent from the Witcher that depending on how it was folded could either be a king sized bed with a desk & chair, a dresser and wardrobe inside or a pair of bunk beds and 4 foot lockers a table and four stools, but from the outside was a small one person pup tent. then a guy on facebook got mad at me becasue it had no combat benefits.
Great video! Thank you.
great video, thx!
This is some really good advice! I'm assuming that the magic item tracker is based on a 4-player party, so scale accordingly.
Just started a campaign at level 3. I decided that every player sends me a list of 3-5 items they want and I chose one that they got on previous adventures.
I have a sentient garden gnome who insults the characters, but he can open locked doors
I'm still worried about the Build Magic Item rules in the new DMG are just too easy 200gp and a week for a Uncommon item and that item can be Armor that can cast the Shield spell 6 times a day?!? CRAZY!!! Also, that sheet is made for a group of 4 but it doesn't say that those 6 items are items or charges (like 6 charges of Shield spell) or does that include the 4 healing potions you got from the mayor at the beginning of the day?
This was excellent practical advice on a difficult subject based on experience. Thanks again! Excellent Video.
In my latest (still going for the time I'm writing this comment) campaign, we play as undead. Each of us has an ordinary yet magic item that was meaningful to our characters during their life. We have a special connection with those items, and as we progress with the plot, the items will unlock special abilities.
For example, my dwarf barbarian has a maul that was kinda like his family heirloom. At first, it was broken due to the passage of time, but I had it fixed and unlocked an ability to score an auto crit once per rage.
I am trying out a simpler inventory system based on cards for items and limiting how many items a character can carry by their strength. We are still on low levels, but I hope they will circle trough theirs equiped items, só I can hand out a lot of items and they have to choose which items they like better tô use, great video very easy to understand
I made a homebrew item I called the "artificers arrow" which is an arrow that can have a level 3 spell imbued onto it. I'm interested to see how the players use it.
As the person who is the ONLY one in my Curse of Strahd game to not have a single magic item (We're level 7, started at 1) aside from the single Uncommon we each started with (Cloak of Protection was my chosen item to start with). Everyone else has gotten 1 or 2 items so far (not including the story-required things... which are in the others' possession) so I tend to make characters who function without magic items because I can count on one hand how many games I have played where my character got items useful to them.
Once. It happened only once in a decade of playing.
I have to ask, how many of those times did you approach the DM with a request? Depending on how many players are at the table, you just might be getting overlooked. Could be a case of "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".
Sometimes we have to advocate for ourselves or fall through the cracks.
@@karenmiles4431 That's a fair question, but the answer is "Every time". And I did try to approach it from the place of "Hey, I noticed something, am I wrong?" It just got to the point where now I just plan ahead for it and try to make my characters functional without magic items and hope to be wrong. That way if I don't get magic items that enhance my build/character's play style, I am not holding the party back.
@@Lrbearclaw That sucks. It also seems like you tend to get a DM that does as little work as possible, gets overwhelmed, or plays favorites (players or classes).
Here's hoping your luck turns in the near future.
If players are martial class with masteries, I’d give them magic items that do less core damage but add elemental damage dice so they use more than only the highest PHB damaging items like they will naturally have to pick.
A very important rule is to never ever give the immovable rod to any group containing Physicists or Engineers. Trust me, don't do it.
I feel like I give magic items pretty liberally, but man, that list puts me to shame! I had seen it in the past, numerically, but when you spell it out like that it's a whole lot of magic!
I had no idea that each table was catered to a different group of classes. Is that explained in the DMG? Never understood the purpose of each table.
Yeah the new DMG explains it but it is easy to miss!
for party-wide items, if I can't find something really good, I try to give them something infinite but not game breaking. infinite identify doesn't hurt anyone, but when players want to interact with your world but are struggling to roll high on their insights and arcanas, go for it. players with the spell will be glad to use the slot for something else.
Give you players powerful items that can only be used a limited number of times. Don’t tell them it’s limited until they used the cone of cold wand three times and the wand disappears and deals 5 cold damage to the user
For some reason the portable hole feels very cartoony... But then again if you think about it so does the bag of holding...
Items are great but all I want is a inventory more then a shopping list we have. Encumbrances is bad as it is but could be fixed
7:21 That's literally a Dresden Files plot
or if you doing a norse campagin a fold away ship.
So many items damn
Consumables are where it's at, although I disagree with the rarity ranking of these items - most of them should be lowered by one rank at least.
High level casters can do a lot. However, martial characters need magic items to balance utility.
Be cautious with constant Flying and Wands/Staff/Rods. Flying trivializes many challenges, and Wands and the like don't run out if you are smart. A simple Wand of Magic Missiles is very powerful.
I like to use Treasure Generators, like the one on Donjon. Generate multiple results and pick one you like. Saves lots of time.
Great Video!
I have also heard often that most tables don't reach level 20. Do any go past Level 20? Are there any campaigns designed for levels 20 to 30, presumably all multi-classed characters?
So about the tracker, the items for example 1-4lvl are for the lot of the whole party or per character?
Who cares if the players don't get the items they want? Giving out player specific magic items is how you destroy game balance. The fighter should feel very lucky to get a flame tongue. He shouldn't feel entitled to it.
I strongly disagree with awarding storage items like bags of holding and whatnot, especially at lower levels. All of the problems of too many choices, unused equipment, power scaling, hoarding, etc get exacerbated by giving pseudo-unlimited storage
I'd say that depends how you rule said bags of holding, I've known several DMs that do have them as basically unlimited storage, however RAW the bag of holding has a 1ft wide opening and a volume of 4ftx4ftx4ft. Now, granted 64 cubic feet is a large volume, but it's far from being unlimited and anything larger than a foot wide or 4ft long won't fit.
You could have the party run into a magic item merchant with a collection of insanely useful items that's just outside their price range. Lead them into realizing they could have afforded it if they sold things they don't actually desire or use, and it'll gently incentivize them to change their hoarding behavior.
How do you make sure the intended player takes the item? Do you just tell the group the intention or is there a good in-game way to facilitate your plan?
Morning!
Personaly items should suit location locations should have items from some the catagories possible to find
I like to make the more useful items findable in the world itself and the more basic ones for sale.
Are these tables from the DMG intended to be cumulative?
In my experience 5e characters have a lot of features already. Magic items are fun, but another layer of complication.
Having a checklist and giving out that many items is absurd. The more magic items you have the less special they feel and the more likely they are to be forgotten.
I think they're best used when they make the game more convenient (bag of holding, sending stone), add creative potential solutions (immovable rod) or close the martial-caster power gap.
Keep in mind this is the 2024 D&D rulebook hes referencing. Over the lifespan of 5e their target market has increasingly been players rather than GMs and giving them powerful and diverse options because they sell more books that way.
WOTC/Hasbro were pushing for their virtual tabletop (with optional AI GM) to be the main mode of play not too long ago.
Legendary items generally should be written into the story, right?
The one thing about this. You over looked magic scrolls. It's the one thing always over looked by DMs. Yes it's nice to have magic items. But the bread and butter of the mage/ wizard is getting spells. beyond the 2 we get at each level. It's why we always grab fireball or lightning bolt and hear " fireball/ lighting bolt again really. On 2 cobalts?"
I avoid alot of this by creating what I call legacy items. Magical items that grow with the players.
I'm also fond of cursed items. I gave my paladin a powerful ring that also bound him to a devil. Fun times.
EVIL LAUGHTER. EVIL DM LAUGHTER. Crying in pain another dm did this. Never randomly roll for items. Especially thirty seconds after the group has open the chest.
1: 59 NO. NO. Do not give out free bags. Turn on encumbrance and make the monk and barbarian move only 20 feet due to being over loaded.
5:39 decanter of endless water. I create a short adventure in 1E around this. Dungeon was flooding. Some where some time ago left one running and the water finally broke through into a working dungeon. In 3e I forget which module had it used as fire truck. In 5e Radial Citadel has one. I do suggest changing some of the outputs.
You forgot the Cartoon Portable Hole. Creates a 10-foot pit in the floor or wall of the dungeon. Good for getting around medium big bad monsters.
6:57 BEWARE the MAGIC EIGHT BALL of Death. The 1E version not the wimpy 5E version. I do not suggest you use in your out house.
10:36 A Deck of Many things should be use to end a campaign. Some of the cards are very interesting. How many different producers are selling their version of the cards?
11:29 On Pets. I just make most of them immortal. If I kill them during a session, they back the next session. This is more of book keeping solution than a story solution.
13:08 Creating a magic item. No magic missile machine guns. Hey Talon is suing you for stealing his IP. Lawyer Lee Horsley will be in touch.
14:55 Wise cracking magic swords can become a big bother for both the DM and Group. I think one my creations got dipped into a sphere of annihilation when it got uppity.
Always make your homebrew magic item to have patch notes.
If they are crafting magic items. Those count against the list. Evil Dm Laughter.
Never had an issue with this in any other edition except for 5.x. only a small reason why i left it all together. I do advise others to look elsewhere too.
This is just me, but I think that count of magic items is insane. That's way too many magic items... and I hate how magic items are rated by rarity. You're already rocking encounters with +1 weapons with how bounded accuracy rises with your level and stat bonuses. And catering to the characters is nice, but some randomness caters to player creativity just as much. Again, this is just me, but if I were DMing this hypothetical campaign I wouldn't even give out a third of what the DMG suggests... especially the 5.5 DMG.
"Decades"
it is a random chart.
Whay to much work. Just ask players to give you a wish list. That way, they get things that meet their idea of their charecters. Sure, give a few more, but let the players help you.
third comment