Top 10 Worst D&D 5e Magic Items | Nerd Immersion
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2024
- My patrons voted, so it's time for my Top 10 (Bottom 10?) Worst D&D 5e Magic Items. This is once again a personal list, but aren't all Top 10s? What do you think? What's the worst magic item in 5e?
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00:00 Introduction
02:19 Saint Markovia's Thighbone
07:01 Mask of the Beast
10:43 Mace of Terror
13:53 Balance of Harmony
16:12 Gloves of Swimming and Climbing
17:05 Ammunition, +1
19:17 Eyes of Charming
21:24 Staff of the Python
25:03 Helm of Brilliance
29:48 Ioun Stone of Language Knowledge
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02:19 Saint Markovia's Thighbone
07:01 Mask of the Beast
10:43 Mace of Terror
13:53 Balance of Harmony
16:12 Gloves of Swimming and Climbing
17:05 Ammunition, +1
19:17 Eyes of Charming
21:24 Staff of the Python
25:03 Helm of Brilliance
29:48 Ioun Stone of Language Knowledge
You should read fireball again: "It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried." That combined with the Ioun stone being a worn item while it orbits your head means that fireball shouldn´t damage it
@@markuskeler758 Fireball wouldn't set it on fire, but can still damage it. Just like when you touch a hot pan you get burned but aren't set aflame
Ioun stone is considered worn by the user. This means that it negates fireball and almost any AoE
Hopeful Mayhem “It is considered to be an object worn while it orbits your head”
@@hopefulmayhem5744 it literally says it's considered worn while orbiting your head in the description
Fireball also says that "Each creature" in the range must make the saving throw. Ioun stone isn't a creature.
@@LeeMcKusick although yes fireball doesn't hit the ioun stone. I would argue against what u said by saying just because it says "each creature" makes a saving throw that doesnt mean other objects within the radius aren't affected. a fireball into a small thatch hut is going to break it. the walls and roof aren't simply going to ignore the explosion simply because they aren't mentioned in the spell.
@@Tru3Spart3n The walls and roof of a small thatch hut are not worn or carried items.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind Saint Markovia's thighbone being destroyed, but only if it was connected to Strahd specifically. I like the idea of her determination and desire to take down the vampiric tyrant being so powerful that her bones don't rest until her mission is complete.
I agree the Thighbone should be Strahd death's or something.
Although I do like the idea that it doesn't work on Vampires because that's what killed her.. but it should 1d4 club againt vampire or something, not destroyed upon touching them.
How is Saint Markovia’s thighbone rare? It’s literally the only one, at most she had two thighbones, so even if the power level is that of a rare item, it’s still unique.
There is some historical precedent for the faking of relics, the body parts of saints in particular. Or perhaps she was just the first and every magic bone thing was named after her
Well, there are seven heads officialy recognized by the church as the head of Jesus' grandmother, so...
@@JoschiChr Gosh darn hydras infiltrating my good Christian religion
@@ChunkyTheClown Took Herakles a while to put her down.
Give a dog a bone.
I somewhat disagree with the hate on the helm of brilliance, you have a 5% chance against failed saves of fire spells to have it destroyed. While fire damage is common how often do you come by actual fire SPELLS? Fire from say a red dragon for example is not a spell so it won't affect the helm at all. It's only if you're up against an actual spell caster do you have to be worried about it.
And even then unless the DM is intentionally trying to kill you with the helm, you would likely only encounter a few spells like fireball or burning hands
I came down to the comments to say this exact thing. He's treating it like it's ALL fire damage and is confused by why people never use the DC. He fell for his own trap of "They don't read it." He may have read the text but he certainly didn't read it. Which is funny because he even said "fire spells" and didn't even notice he said it.
@@LeonJagerWulf What can you expect from munchkin who for example dismissed class feature and called it useless because it wasn't pure op mechanical bonus. This channel author proves time and time again to be a mucnkin power-gamer who is not even paying attention to actual rules, Just to what he perceives after getting quick skimming look at something
I have never encountered non-spellcasted fire and that is the fault of the person who gave me control flames and create campfire
You might be interested to know that almost all AOE spells _explicitly_ don't affect ioun stones (or any other worn or carried item for that matter). Nearly all AOE spells either _only_ affect creatures, or, in the case of fireball and shatter for example, only target objects "that aren’t being worn or carried." Notable exceptions to this rule include _control water_ (specifies simply objects) and _storm of vengeance_ (9th level - if you run into enemies with this, you have bigger problems.)
Many multi-target spells, however, can target and damage ioun stones, but it must be a conscious choice by the enemy caster to do so. As many ioun stones are incredibly rare and powerful, it's likely the enemy caster would want that power for themselves and elect to kill you first or attempt to steal it from you. This means most enemies smart enough to register the stone as a threat will actively avoid targeting it.
As an important side note, RAW, all magic items have an AC (usually quite high) and hit-points (usually quite low). What's interesting about the Ioun stones is that the item description specifically calls this out. 🤔
Realistically, the enemy could target any of your magic items with an attack (not an aoe), even your armor, which is weird.
What can you expect from munchkin who for example dismissed class feature and called it useless because it wasn't pure op mechanical bonus.
Привал славных путников I like how this man complains about people not reading during the Helm of Brilliance segment and he can’t read himself.
@@CloudyDaze Exactly. And funny thing that he reads aloud that for example with Helm of Brilliance you have to failf a saving throw against a spell and then on a SECOND roll after that get 1, Probability of which is like immensely small and he still whines. Also. nowhere said that you can't use inspiration/bless/ etc on a second roll thus preventing helm from suiciding almost with 100 % probability.
Привал славных путников technically the Helm of a Brilliance roll is not a attack or saving throw so bless and inspiration wouldn’t work for that roll per say... but Bless and Inspiration would help you out avoiding the fire spell save. 😏 Basically proving he’s got so little to worry about it’s basically a nonissue. You’d have to basically crit fail twice in a row for this to go off and he says it’s bad.
Fireball doesn't affect worn items either. Basically no AoEs do because they would destroy your armour and weapons if they did.
This ^
And clothes don't forget clothes, just a bunch of naked adventurers coming back from a dragon fight.
@@devin5201 That was sort of how Fireball and Lightning Bolt worked in 1E. If the target survived the attacks fine (so you couldn't blow off anybody's gear or anything) But if those spells killed it's target, ALL the items the target was wearing or using had to save or take damage.
So you could end up fighting the main enemy but you couldn't cast any spell like Lightning Bolt or Meteor Storm on him for fear of destroying any magic loot that the guy had on him.
If I remember correctly, the only direct damage spells that didn't destroy gear back then were the cold based magic like Cone of Cold and Magic Missile.
@@ViccVegaa023 woah, that sounds just needlessly realistic, next thing you'll tell me on a critical hit you gotta roll to not dislocate your arm from the unexpected force of the impact.
@@devin5201Ha. Yeah this was RAW (imo, only jerk Dms actually did this, lol) meant to punish players for overuse of AOE magic.
Like Fireball and Lightning Bolt was supposedly only for minion killing not for using on the DMs BBEG (who if he was a Wizard or Rogue could likely be one shot if he failed his save).
On the Ioun Stone, a fireball doesn't deal damage to items you're wearing or carrying. So the Ioun stone is safe from aoe damage. Additionally, Fireball says each CREATURE caught in the blast makes the saving throw.
Not gonna lie, those "gamerglasses" actually fit you surprisingly well Ted.
Honestly don’t think the keyhole bridge on the glasses fit his nose that well. Made for a more narrow nose.
@@piece1309 ye but was talking about the aethetic as a whole :)
Nebbus 🤓
I think you're supposed to only wield her Thighbone against Strahd himself as a Cinematic final fight scene!
"The Thighbone is glowing as the party fights strahd. The Cleric swings it at the spot the spirit said was weak from her fight with him. As the weapon connects, the Ghost of Saint Markovia drives it deeper while yelling 'THIS IS BOTH JUSTICE AND REVENGE!' After the subsequent blinding blast, all that is left in front of the Cleric is a pile of shimmering ash where the Mighty Vampire Lord once stood."
@31:32
FIREBALL says, "The fire spreads around corners. It ignites flammable Objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried."
Fireball does in fact discriminate between objects that are, or are not, being worn or carried. As the Ion Stone counts as being worn or carried, it does not take fireball damage.
Have to totally disagree on Mask of the Beast, you get this very early on and are at that point doing a hexcrawl through the jungle of chult with all manner of dinosaurs. If you are not getting use out of it then your DM is just not doing the Jungle of Chult justice, yes there are undead, and monstrosities, but there should be loads of animals for you to interact with on a daily basis.
Was just about to write that, completely agree. Also, if you have a problem with the low DC for non-spellcasters, just let the spellcaster wear it.
@@jakubguziur7522 Yup, I actually think items like this go really well on half or 1/3 casters as it gives them another option to work with without dedicating a spell known to it.
@@thomasmccormick9544 I actually wouldn't frown about it as a druid, it frees my spell choice and possibly saves me up to 3 spell slots per day, for a low level group it's potent enough. Also, in ToA, where if you die, you die for good, skipping few encounters is very nice.
Jakub Guziur also wanted to bring up about the Eyes of Charming, he was grading it on the opposite terms of Mask of the Beast. Because you could give those Eyes of Charming to a fighter or a rogue or someone without spell casting ability but good in social situations.
@@CloudyDaze I can see some usefulness in these, but only on lower tier of play, as it requires attunement and the low save DC isn't worth it on higher levels. That's actually why I really like the Mask of the Beast, which is just like "hey, sweetie, do you want some free stuff?" But I agree the Eyes are quite useful for a nonspellcasting rogue when he runs off once again and gets in trouble... once again.
im surprised "Horn of Blasting" isnt one of the 10 worst items
its has a 20% chance to blow into your face with 10d6 dmg when you use it
>Helm of Brilliance 5% Chance to accidentally nuke and wipe out an encounter in exchange for the helm itself: GARBAGE
>Magic item with 20% chance to do damage to yourself repeatedly: Totally cool.
Scam someone saying it’s a horn of Valhalla
@@CloudyDaze and to make Helm of Brilliance nuke you and yourself you also have to LOSE a SAVING THROW against a FIRE SPELL
There are so many specific thing that must happen that it's even overall less than 5% to get that thing destroyed, it's more likely you use all the gems first and you leave those 3-4 you need for passive effects lmao
Oh.. Can I just add regarding the mace of terror, you mentioned that frightend is easily resisted and I feel that is kind of a myth which is thrown around within the D&D community and regarded as just a fact. But I would argue it's not true.
In the MM, MTF and VGM there are roughly around 725 monster/creature statblocks in total.
608 of those creatures doesn't have immunity to frightend condition. 608! Though 81 of those creatures are low lvl beasts which you will probably never encounter.. But that's still 527 without immunity!!!
118 of them has immunity to frightend condition - and that can seem like a lot. BUT 39 of those 118 creatures are either constructs, plants or "vermin swarms" which is from my experience 3 types of creatures, which are not seen that often.
It's true that a lot of fiends and a lot of undeads are imune, so if your campaign revolve around that then yes you might get a feeling that it's easily resisted, but even a classic villian like a vampire with lots of vampire spawns are not even imune to the frightend condition.
But other than that, I totally understand why you don't like that mace of terror with that co-player, who never used it. xD
It's more of a perception of the maths side of things, once you start running into CR6 and above monsters, there's a good chance of them having proficiency in wisdom saves, so they only need to roll a 10 or less depending on the creature's stats, so a dc of 15 seems like it's not worth using that ability if you've got a better option, which most of the time you do.
@@whiskeyhound That is true that a lot of creatures have strong Wisdom saving throws, but I don't see people throwing shade at litterally all enchantment spells or other spells which calls for wisdom saving throws to the same degree that people throws shade at "fear effects". :)
@@Viking2Go I've got a pretty strong dislike of how worthless a lot of the lower level charm person mental effect spells are at actually doing what they're intended for in universe, i.e charm person telling the affected target exactly who charmed it even if you did it stealthily.
It seems relatively common for people to dislike them, as for fear spells it doesn't appear that most people use them.
@@whiskeyhound What? Well agree to disagree. Suggestion is usually used for all levels.. Hold person/monster is strong AF, Command sees a lot of use often as well for smart players, Vicious mockery is arguably one of the top 5 strongest cantrips, dissonant whisper really good with a Rogue, hideous laughter great for lockdown as a 1. lvl spell.. Polymorph for turning enemies into sheep. All crazy strong spells calling for wisdom all of them enchantment except polymorph.
@@Viking2Go Fair enough, never had them come up in any of the games I've played in, most of them were fairly railroady so probably wouldn't have been useful even if they'd technically worked.
loool: "Number 7: Mace of Terror. This one f'ing guy, took this as his rare magic item for no good reason. Its been 4 months and I still can't understand the madman. It keeps me up at night. 6 years later I met him again at another con and asked him "why did you take that mace you never used." I shit you not, he looked me dead in the eye and said "the book picture was sweet." I was so overwhelmed by his confidence I just gaped in silence. I still haven't forgiven him to this day."
Well it give you terror so it worked
The virgin min-maxer
The chad rule-of-cool
@@vladulenta6525 sure, if you like being a dead weight to your party just because you wanted to be quirky.
@@digitaldevil696 who says it is necessary requirement of being deadweight. He may be more than effective, just not like being a dumb munchkin minmaxer
@@MsKeylas You can flavor any weapon as looking like what you want, taking a rare item simply because the picture looks cool rather than taking another effective item isn't just not being a minmaxer that's being plain dumb. Taking a magic item you're actually gonna use isn't being a minmaxer it's not being an idiot. If they were a new player who didn't understand much then sure but doing it like you suggest simply to not be a minmaxer is just silly.
I THINK the intention for the thighbone is be used to kill Strahd, and then, the saints purpose realized, the weapon crumbles to dust.
While I agree, it still is an Item that requires meta-knowledge for the character to only use it for THA specific purpose. If the brides still live and you play Strahd well, he has many vampire spawn at his disposal. Once you get that thighbone, you are already at his castle and fight many undead. There is no reason for the character to not use it against a vampire spawn, unless the item specificly tells them that it will crumble, which is odd - I mean, your character also only feels the holy radiance in an item that deals radiant damage or knows the command word for the flames to errupt from a flame sword its not like they get told by the item "by the way, I deal fire damage" if it isn't sentient.
Also, it is an instinctual thing as a player, to hit a vampire with it. I totally agree, that this is how it is supposed to be used, but if you dont get it as a means of preperation for the final battle, it is almost certainly something you will use to kill one vampire spawn and then you basicly wasted it. I'd say it should only crumble if you fight Strahd and just be less effective against vampire spawn. Maybe also make it sentient and infused with St. Markovias spirit - that way the item could just flat out tell the player its weakness.
Ion ston is concedered an item being worn by you so it doesnt get affected by like 99% of spells "they say objects that arent being worn or carried also take the damage for example fireball" So Ion stones are safe on that regard.
ion stone are targetble with weapon attack , --disintegrate-- checked it it specially says magic items arent effected and fire bolt to name a few that can target , and a weapon like shatter spike can be a nightmare for you "technicly all items has ac and hp -there was a player with shatter spike saved us from a gunslinger rogue who had a gun that shot like 4d6 per hit or something that crazy.-"
Shatter spike isn't a spell
@@kbeazy_3050 Never said it was. but sorry for not being clear its a magic item "a long sword I believe" it does double damage to objects. and can be slashing or bludgeoning.
I always thought the markovia's thighbone thing was a typo, that the thing that crumbles into dust is the vampire, meaning that it cannot respawn or escape once you defeat it with the mace
I looked it up and based on this Adventures League document it looks like that's not the case sadly
media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/DDADVL_FAQv3.pdf
@@isaac_marcus Damn shame
When you get the Balance of Harmony in Tamoachan, you explicitly get the gems used as part of the spell as well. I guess that doesn't help if your DM uses it but doesn't give you the gems, but there it is.
Also, Ted complains about the logistics of the scale balancing from one side or the other and that you have to touch it to get the exact details. At the table, all that fluff translates to the DM telling you what the scale finds. No need to have a 15 minute RP session with an inanimate object.
Staff of the Python? More like Staff of Moses.
I feel like you neglect what an item is intended for and you flip criteria based on the worst outcome for the items.
For the "Mask of the Beast" , you called it useless because a non-caster will have a terrible DC for it, then you flipped for the "Eyes of Charming" and talked about how useless it is for a caster that already has the "Charm Person" spell.
I find those to be features that key those items to their intended participant. It's like saying a "Holy Avenger" longsword is useless because my druid can't wield it.
The Mask is meant for the druid, ranger or other animal oriented caster like paladin or conjuration wizard. It's not meant for the fighter.
Same with the Eyes. It's more geared towards being used by the rogue or fighter, who doesn't get access to spells, but likes to talk.
Also it doesn't have components. Means, there's no somatic or verbal, you don't physically do anything except no other action for 6 seconds while staring at the target. I don't know why the target would know you tried to charm it...
After seeing him put Helm of Brilliance on the list, I’m looking at this and can tell Nerd Immersion is the kind of DM that would specifically give the helm to one of his players specifically so he can target them with fireballs so he can watch the helm explode.
Banking on a critical failure of your players is just kind of a dick attitude to have.
I mean fireball is not exactly an uncommon spell. But even a burning hands or create bonfire would have a chance to explode the item.
Sergio Le Roux that much is true. Still, personally I think it’s rather in poor taste to expect a player to fail once and immediately astronomically fail a second time. It’s still only a 5% chance that happens.
@@CloudyDaze maybe, but that's only 1 in 20. It means after failing 20 times since putting the item on, it's probably going to explode. It's a big chance since it's cumulative.
Or maybe take the helmet off if you're facing casters. (And hope you don't run into too many exploding Wards)
I just wanted to point out that the glasses of charming, which I learned about when I was playing an enchanter of wizard, as with all magical items, does not require any components for its magical effect.
This means the primary use of the glasses of charming is to cast charm person without anyone being able to find out if you cast it and failed. Which is probably why has the additional restriction that they must look at you. Though I would really like if they had a special function that for bards and enchanter wizards it used your spell DC.
Interesting list, keep up the good work ! That being said, it seems you read the Helm of Brilliance wrong yourself. You don't need to roll to see if the helm blasts its surroundings and is destroyed any time you take fire damage, only any time you take fire damage as a result of *failing* a saving throw against a *spell*. That means that taking half damage after succeding on a save doesn't count, neither does taking fire damage from anything that isn't a spell !
That one made me chuckle because it even says it clear as day, it’s a rather specific circumstance. It’s only fire damage from a spell that have a saving throw. So things like firebolt or breath weapons don’t proc this effect in the first place. Plus yanno, you can always just take it off and it won’t be affected during that encounter.
18:05 the prop to use for keeping count of arrows is a toothpick jar. Food coloring for special arrows
I don't know how common this prop is, but that is a fantastic ideia that I will use until the end of time! I never had a problem ticking boxes on a draft paper, but using toothpicks is genius. Thank you for your comment.
@@AntonioCarlosPorto You might like using an abacus to track hit points or magic points if you use that system.
As a DM, I really like +1 ammunition. It allows me to give my players magical loot, without having to worry about unbalancing the campaign. They'll save them for a big foe, feel *good* about using them, and my life hasn't gotten harder.
And, even at higher levels, when they have a magic bow, all that still applies.
You need to reread the fireball spell it specifically says, "It ignites flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried." This line means the Ioun stone is safe from fireball or any AOE spell that similarly calls out that it doesn't effect worn or carried items.
you need to re-read the fireball spell in regards to the Ioun stone. Fireball ONLY affects flammable objects that aren't being Worn or Carried.
Almost nothing affects object that are being worn or carried. If they did, that same fireball would destroy your armor, weapon, cloak, underwear, etc. One 3rd level spell and everybody's fighting naked? No.
Those items don't have an implied HP. Therefore don't apply
Daniel, objects carried or worn cannot be targeted unless it explicitly says so (like disarm).
@@danielsousa8151 they sometimes too
Had a DM destroy all non-magical/mithril/adamantine items with a green slime trap. This included our money. Our cleric/mage dwarf lost his clothes and our cowardly goblin rogue hid within his naked illusion copies.
The Staff of the Python is super powerful. I let a Druid start with it in a level 7 campaign and the snake was more effective in combat than the ranger and he had a +2 bow.
Honestly attunement is only precious when it is. Most games I play in and run it's pretty rare for any PC to have more than one item that requires attunement.
Fireball actually doesn't deal damage to objects, only to creatures, and igniting only objects that aren't worn or carried.
@@hopefulmayhem5744 read the spell description. It explicitly says that it doesn't affect worn or carried objects
@@hopefulmayhem5744 I would say it does. In my opinion the stone floating around your head is more flavor and a way for an intelligent enemy to target it. I don't think it was intended to be destroyed by aoe damage and would rule that way in my own game
@@hopefulmayhem5744 An ioun stone is considered to be an object that is being worn while it is orbiting around your head.
@@hopefulmayhem5744 fireball doesn't damage things that don't make saving throws according to the spell's description
@@hopefulmayhem5744 I mean it does change RAW if the person DMing decides that it doesn't make sense to decide to give a player a magic item to then turn around and try to destroy that very magic item. If you're going to as a DM target an ioun stone and try to destroy it then why give them the magic item in the first place, it just seems mean to give a player something cool to then try to take it away.
a helm of brilliance on a high level forge cleric (17th lvl) would be perfect, because you eventually become immune to fire damage. and since you can't take fire damage you never have to worry about it self destructing.
though once all the gems are expended, the item doesn't have any use any more
I will say that my archer rogue has enjoyed his +1 arrows and now that he has run out I have placed some other magic arrows in their path for the future. We also do track arrows, but I just trust players to manage these themselves. It has also lead to some good roleplay and interactions trying to recover arrows and javelins or sharing them around. Not for everyone for sure, but it works for us.
Also gives those of us with the Mending cantrip or Tinkers Tools something to do.
@@robinthrush9672 I hadn't thought of that! My rogue would probably love mending... I wonder if I can stick it in a magic item for him lol
@@michaelasmitty Magic initiate?
@@robinthrush9672 True, I could suggest that to him, but I think he'd take something like sharpshooter first
I take it he's not an arcane trickster either then. Well, time to tell the cleric to take it so it can mend clothes as well as flesh
I feel that if I were to run the thigh bone, I would probably make it oath bound magic item that literally can’t rest until strad is put to his eternal rest. Might make an interesting item thar really turns the tide for the beleaguered party.
On the flip side I also get that it is a thigh bon. Hehe
7:00 i would tweek it's self-destruct requirements to being the true death of Strahd, and maybe it can compel it's bearer to cast it away if they attempt to leave Morovia prior to Strahd's destruction.
I would like to point out that a mace of terror on a conquest paladin has a different effect than the fear spell because the fear spell lets them use there action on whatever they want when the can't move while the mace makes them only dodge, also for the helm of brilliance it requires you to fail a saving throw and roll a 1 to explode so while the result sucks its kind of a non issue
Also, it’s only fire damage from a spell that has a saving throw too. So you can take a full blast from a red dragon’s breath attack and the helm won’t care.
Technically the 8d6 fire damagr from a fireball does specify thet the target is a creature and then it says that any flammable object that isnt being worn or carried is also ignited. An ioun stone is considered a non-flammable object being carried or worn. Fireball has no effect on it.
i think its Thematic that the Thighbone destroys upon being used on Strahd, with its lore it makes sense and given with where it comes from you'd imagine you'd want to use it *On* Strahd himself
The Balance of Harmony seems like a great magic item for flavoring the world, just not good for adventurers. Not every piece of technology in the real world is meant to help in war, so it makes worldbuilding sense for magic items to work the same way.
As a player, I’d totally still be disappointed if that came up in a random treasure horde though.
So the problem with his example with the balance of harmony is that in the module it’s found in it already comes with the transparent gems to make it work... so he ignored it’s primary purpose
St. Markovia's bone's the worst. Running CoS I gave it to a player and it worked like a normal mace of disruption so it didn't crumble to dust after hitting vampires. Easy fix, but annoying having to do it
I don't see why it doesn't crumble ONLY after Strahd is killed. Sounds like a weak-ass saint to me.
It does say AFTER the BATTLE not after one hit. I think it is meant to save for Strahd, but the temptation to use it on lesser vampires is dramatic
@@TheADHDM And it also mimics her story, first a great victory and then a defeat at the end.
I think you hit on the staff of the python a little too much. It's uncommon, it can do everything you said like being called back and sent out again as a bonus action, separate initiative... yeah it destroys itself if it drops to 0, BUT, I haven't seen that kind of damage in 2-3 turns in early-mid game where this item belongs.
a homebrew rule i use for magical ammo is that they each have 10 charges and are more rare.
Hey Ted,
Always glad to see another video.
Mace of Terror was a real life saver for my PCs in Tomb of Annihilation more than once. Depends on the situation I guess
It is not all fire damage. It is getting a 1 on a saving throw against a SPELL that deals fire damage. Meaning the destruction mechanic only has a chance of happening when fighting spellcasters or beings that can cast fire spells with saving throws
Great video. I liked the Ioun stone a lot more after this. As a campaign item it is brilliant. I can give my players the skill they need to operate in a difficult environment; language, an unusual resistance, whatever. But anyone who interacts with them can see the gem and potentially take it away. Gold. It smooths entry into a campaign without taking away from players who naturally have the skills to begin with.
Hey welcome back!!! We missed you lots while you were out saving people!
The Mace of terror seems very good to me, It is like a wand, but it doesn't require you to be a spellcaster. Less charges per day yes, but also one of the best 3rd level spells without concentration, and unlike a wand it lets you make opportunity attacks. Sounds like your cleric body didn't realize how powerful fear is.
Haha. I would never have thought that we had so different opinions on magic items and what is basicly magical consumables.
Consumables make players feel epic but it doesn't break the game balances completely. :)
Because I think the saint mace is super cool. I see it as it crumbles because the weapon has served it's purpose whe it's been in a fight with a vampire. Instead of seeing it as "loosing a weapon" then see it as a consumable potion you will use in the final stand.
And I love the ammunition +X
And the constrictor staff is super broken "consumable" for an uncommon item, if it didn't have an inbuild self destroy mechanic it should probably be very rare.
Edit: waow.. And also helm of brilliance. Consumables and freaking awesome flavour.
I'm with you on this one, I know he made it clear it was opinion but it definitely missed a lot of marks in my own personal opinion. Creativity and imagination are the heart of this game I feel like consumable magic items emboldened those principles and allow DMs to hand out even more treasure which let's face it players love. Not that there's anything wrong with rolling a low magic game...
Yeah I think I would strongly disagree with him on most of these and for his reasons given, too. Granted it's just his opinion but it's inconsistently formed. He really likes Arrows of Dragon Slaying for their epic use as a trump card against a powerful foe but thinks the thighbone mace is stupid because it also crumbles after having served it's purpose.
Also the Mace of Terror seems like an absolutely fine magic item and he dislikes it because somebody else he played with didn't use it right..
Another issue I would contest is the Mask of the beast and Eyes of Charming problem, the only reason he complains about them is presuming you've already got access to these spells from your characters. Uhhh, isn't it a bit presumptuous to just assume every adventuring party has a full roster with all the bases covered?
Anyway, griping or not, this is all engagement and good for the channel and I did enjoy the video
@@dartfast Agreed on all points
@@dartfast I assume it's more of an issue with not seeing melee weapons as 'consumables' in nearly the same way as ammunition for bows is used up.
@@dartfast With the Mask of the Beast, I immediately thought no Attunement an additional ability, Uncommon so 500gp... once you get higher level you have money out of the wazoo.. and getting a bunch of these cheap spell or utility items can make a Arcane Trickster a jack of all trades always having a trick for dealing with an issue..
Also the Staff of the Python.. A Huge creature with a swim speed... Yeah I've never used one of these as a way to deal with water crossings.
Ted, thanks for making us videos despite your crazy schedule. I'm putting my comments and critiques in a separate post because I wanted to be sure to explicitly thank you for what you do for the community.
One suggestion I have to make "worst [X]" videos more up-beat, is to add suggestions on how to house-rule them to make them better.
Like, it'd be easy enough to ignore the explosion chance on the Helm of Brilliance if DM and Player don't like it.
I thought Ioun Stones (in general) were stupid for, primarily, the reasons you said, so I gave them a Purpose by negating the Attunement Slot (but you still needed to spend a Short Rest to "activate" them).
I think you're misreading your top 2, Ted.
The helm is only destroyed if you roll a 1 on a save triggered exclusively by fire damage from a failed save against a spell. This means you have to:
1. Encounter a fire damage spell that requires a saving throw.
2. Fail that save and take damage.
3. Then critically fail a second save.
This will very likely never come up and if you do encounter an enemy pyromancer, stick it in your backpack and it's 100% safe forever.
The ioun stones are not affected by anything that wouldn't affect worn/carried objects, so no fireball damage or damage from most things. They are a risk, but not that big of one. Also, I feel like this one in particular is really just a DM tool. Like...
DM: Shit, can anyone speak gnoll?
PCs: Of course not.
DM: Well fu... uh... hey Wizard you notice a strange jewelry box in the corner with arcane symbols on it. Something tells you it'll be very important soon.
*one short rest later*
PCs: Man, I'm sure glad we found that ioun stone of gnoll speech. Lucky.
DM: Yup, crazy lucky loot roll that...
I was wondering why the Helm of Brillance was in here when he said 'theres lots of spells that would cause this' so i looked into it. The only spells you would REALISTICALLY encounter are burning hands, fireball, wall of fire, hellish rebuke, and prismatic spray if you are particularly unlucky. A whopping 5 spells could possibly trigger a 1 in 20 chance of damaging your party and even then its not like you have to walk around in public with the helm on, just store it in your bag for when you need it and suddenly it isnt a bomb like the wild magic sorcerer
How about this for a cursed magic item - Staff of the Monty Python?? 😏
"A spanking, a spanking!" Ach, the curse is affecting me already! Forces quoting of lines from the movies or show. Completely out of context in a medieval setting, naturally.
AoE spells usually don't target warn stuff like you said so almost nothing targets it. That includes fireball.
Yeah, I think some of this is overly critical. Would anyone really turn down a Staff of the Python because it might get destroyed if they get unlucky or are not careful? Would anyone actually say "Naw, I'll pass on that Helm of Brilliance that can do all kinds of cool stuff because after I fail a save against fire damage there is a 5% chance the helm will blow up" ? Gosh, I wouldn't.
Fire SPELL damage... He reads it aloud, and then ignores it. Dragon fire, burning oil, and lava do not set the helm off.
My old DM would absolutely pick a useless language for the floaty head stone. He gave me an awesome dragonstaff, that was fine except when I used it as a focus it made me speak an ancient draconic dialect no one could understand. Also remove curse only worked on me, not the staff and only until I used it again. Fastest way to make me check out of a game is not letting me interact well in the RP. There's only so much non verbal one can do before it gets old
I think the Ioun Stone of Language Knowledge would be more a backstory goal, a PC with a scholarly or diplomatic background might be searching for them or want to start searching for them once finding one or finding information about them mid campaign, it'd be kinda interesting if they spent downtime with multiples of them using them to accelerate learning the new languages, especially if the DM rules it that each one has a set language you could gather a set that would potentially allow you to pick and choose what language you want to attune to at the time and begin learning that language. A member of a Druidic clan who's teachings are heavily set into true neutral alignment and so have dealings with all entities that are willing and present no overt threat to the clan, retrieving a full set of these stones would make that PC very influential within their clan as a person that's able to converse with any race or species they have dealings with, couple that with eventually gaining timeless body and they'd have a very long lifetime to develop their language skills using the stones and if they ever get tired of the diplomat lifestyle they could go on to teach others in their later years.
we always track ammo. Also with running games online a lot more due to recent events, most of the VTTs track ammo easily. In one combat encounter you may not fire many arrows but in a single session with multiple encounters you can easily go through arrows etc. It is all situational.
So, the thighbone is a Mace of Disruption-ator? And vampires auto-hit the big red self destruct button? Hard pass.
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Not tracking ammunition expenditure is pure laziness. The only exception is if you have a spellcaster with the Mending cantrip, your DM understands you will always repair broken ammo while camping, and no enemies EVER get away with ammo stuck in them. I and everyone I play with always tracks ammunition, to the point that if we replace arrows with goblin arrows or such, we track that as well.
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All too often you complain, as others have pointed out, about items based on what character class wouldn't need them because they are way hella more awesome than an item's spell. That is disingenuous. An item with a spell effect is NOT something you give to the person who can already cast the spell. That's like giving a (making this up) "Ring of Heavy Armor Proficiency" to a fighter and complaining that it doesn't benefit the fighter in any way.
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Staff of the Python: Moses' trick. Don't think of it as an uncommon weapon, think of it as a pet snake you can sneak into meetings and banquets. Your complains about the snake sound like you want an AC20 super-uber-hyper python that spits fireballs and rays of disintegration.
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Helm of Brilliance: "If the rolls come out poorly..." Boo-hoo! You found a magic item that lets you do all sorts of things, but it is slightly used/ Are you supposed to be so upset is isn't pristine that you throw it in a garbage pit? Or maybe use what you've got? Even the 5% chance at self-destruction depends on YOU first failing a save, and it is still hella cool. LOST of wands have a chance to disintegrate is the last charge is used. Do we now refuse to accept wands as valid treasure?
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Re: the Ioun Stone. Others have beaten your horse to death on that one. "All those negatives"???? Do you roleplay or videogame? I'm beginning to think you videogame your tabletop.
It also baffles me that they made am item called "mask of the beast" and didn't have it give you claws or let you turn into a tiger or something
I get the Thighbone Mace because it’s CoS. They don’t want to give you something Uber powerful, otherwise it would negate the fear the setting is trying to convey. It’s something for the final battle. And I totally would agree that you learn it would crumble to dust when attuning. An easy change that is thematic is to change it so that it’s only a Mace of Disruption when fighting Strahd and it crumbles after his death.
1) Fireball only effects creatures for damage so the Ioun stone would be safe.
Disagree on Staff of the Python. It is only uncommon so it is generally given in tier 1-2, in those levels a Giant Constrictor Snake is real strong. It can restrain enemies (giving everyone advantage on the attacks against it and it can do this as part of an attack of opportunity if it wants and is already huge size class so it can restrain massive enemy monsters) and the enemy has to use their entire action to get out of the restrain. 60 hp is a lot at those levels and at the cost of the user's bonus action the snake turns back into a staff and can be resummoned as an action to be back at full hp. That is a huge heal in those levels too. All in all, the fact that the staff can break sucks but I have never seen it come up in practice if the player is paying attention and using it well and it is best used by a support character.
The Staff of the Python seems so cool
I feel like making a broad list like this doesn't really showcase what I would consider good and bad items. I personally consider magical items as something that ought to be comparable to each other in the specific function and rarity. There is no question which one is better, +1 armor or ability to know a language, but I don't think these items should even be compared to each other. There is no situation where i'm considering rewarding one of these. The armor will probably be rather hard fought reward and the stone could be something that is just found laying around in a laboratory where there are books of the language that the stone teaches.
That said, I think all of the ioun stones in general are bad as they are worse versions of other magical items. Not only being able to be destroyed, but the effects are offered at lower rarity and/or with additional benefits.
I think a bad magic item is one which has attunement and will never be the choice the player makes for it's 3 attunement slots. Even things like Boots of Winter don't really fall into this hole as there are cases where you will take a long rest and swap to them in certain situations. I think the Ioun Stones however do, their effects are not worth giving up whatever else you could put in the attunement slot.
@@TheRodentMastermind That's a good classification for a bad item. Tho, in many games the players will have less than three magical items to a head, but I think it's still a good taught experiment to do. "Will this item be attuned to if I have something else to use my attunement for?"
Love the lore on the thighbone.I really like the idea of 1 use items that players stockpile until the have to pull out all the stops in an epic battle. I think as a DM I could make up some additional lore about the saint causing her thigh bone to restore itself to devoted worshippers that prove themselves and have an epic fight ahead of them. It could be the sort of thing that a cleric or paladin earns via a special quest to set up a future quest.
Mundane ammo, meh I dont care for tracking each one. I just tell my players, when you go to town, just pay a base fee and it refills basic things like trail rations, ammo, components.
Special things like magic ammo, consumed spell components with a cost, track those.
Mask of the beast is nowhere near that bad, just give it to the party wizard to give them 3 castings of Animal Friendship. It's worth it as a quest item at least.
Treantmonk rates the Staff of the Python as a really good magic item because you can easily reset its hitpoints with a bonus action back into a staff then action back into Max-health.
Have I read helm of Brilliance? Yes. It was the main item for a guildmaster NPC I had. He rarely used the spells mainly the constant fire damage on his weapon, and the spells for emergencies. He was an eldritch knight so more spells. The item is good, you're just wrong on this one in my opinion, but this is YOUR opinion. I just think you're thinking pretty narrowly on some of these items.
I will concede that the npc had legendary resistance, so the small chance of the only bad thing happening was even further reduced.
I have played in a game where the DM house rules that a bow gave bonus to hit, and ammo gave bonuses to damage.
The most important thing is that any DM can tweak the powers of any magic item to better fit his world
ok, the arrow discussion... I handle arrows by having them have quivers that can only carry so many arrows... this also works for bolts and stuff where you have a limited max ammo which prevents falling into the trap of having too many to keep track of... I am generous about it and let the players stuff 50 arrows in and I usually have it so they can retrieve used arrows, so it's rare for the person to run low on ammo, even with long excursions
or alternatively... to make arrows absolutely trivial, one time I made my character proficient in fletchers tools so I could make my own arrows... I was playing a wild man sort of character and he loved the idea so I never needed to keep track of arrows because arrow materials are easy to gather
Alternatively, have a character with the Mending cantrip fix the broken arrow or have a launcher/ammo bag that generates infinite normal arrows, like Baldur's Gate 2 had.
People keep bringing up that the ioun stone is technically on your person so it can’t be targeted by any AOE (such as fireball) but even without that it’s not worth the attunement at all and is honestly still one of the worst magic items in my opinion of course.
There's a couple of good ones, the proficiency booster and the regeneration one to an extent, but the majority aren't particularly useful.
Yep the issue is it's not worth the attunement slot. I personally think it really defines a bad magic item. Something that doesn't use attunement and gives a minor effect is fine (Helm of Beast). Ammunition as a reward is fine, consumable things like the Staff of the Python etc is fine. The only bad item is one players will never use.
What is it with high rarity weapons and being destroyed forever by really common things. Imagine killing a lich and finding a cool ring that lets you fly at will but it turns into a pile of salt when you sneeze. Bullshit
Yeah i would say that you have some issues with letting go. The idea of non-permanent items seems upsetting to you... that boa staff is awesome; it's just like having a pet Giant Constrictor Snake, except that you can carry the snake around incognito
i actually has a staff of the python on my tortle druid in tomb of anihilation, it was really great to be able to have 2 giant constrictors on the field when i wildshaped.
the worst part was that if it looked like the staff was getting low on hp, i had to revert my shape to revert it because it needs a verbal command to do so.
but if your dm feels like being nice to you, the snake staff will still accept a verbal command to revert while you're a snake because you're technically the same species so it should understand you right?
As a ‘worn item’ wouldn’t Ioun’s stone essentially move with your dex save?
Amunition tracking isn't hard to keep track. Comming from basic, adv, and 2nd ed dnd. Keeping track of ammo in a dungeoun crawl was a thing. Survival bit. Darksun it was VERY important. PArdon my typos.
Worst magic item is a a homebrew item I made called the cloak of attunement. It grants an extra attunement slot but requires one to attune to it.
Gives people shit about not reading helm of brilliance. Doesn't understand that the bad side only takes effect from fail saves from spell attack. Get hit with a firebolt? Doesn't matter. Blasted by a red dragon's fire breath? Not a problem, aside from the scorched chaps. Get hit with a flame tongue? Oh you're fine.
The fail conditions for the spell are so specific there are only a limited number of spells that could even trigger it. Sure some common ones, fireball for instance but going up against an enemy caster isn't the most common thing generally. But for this to happen you first need to fail a save and then and only then if it was a natural one does anything happen. If you have lucky, a divination wizard, if you're a halfling, have bardic or not bardic inspiration then you're good.
i know it's an opinion based list, but just to clarify, at the end the day, mace of terror has a decent ability and your biggest objections is that a player in a campaign you played in had one and didn't use it.
As a DM I just alter the Staff of the Python to take away the possibility of it being destroyed. I instead switch that part to "If the snake is brought to 0 hp it turns back into a staff and cannot be used again for 1d4 days". I also really like the Helm because, similar to cursed objects, it adds enough spice to gameplay. That negative effects only happens if a creature takes fire damage from a spell of effect that forces a saving throw and they fail it. That is super-specific, but just enough that I'm still happy leaving it in my games.
Hey bud, don't worry about the kids upstairs noise. I'm a Dad too and they grow up so fast. My 18 yr old was my little buddy that went everywhere with me it only seems like 6 months ago. Now, he's a legal adult. You're going to miss all of that one day my friend. I fully agree with your list. I've noticed with 5e that the list of useless magic items could fill 10 bags of holding. The variety is greater than back in AD&D but for crying out loud the list of dumb stuff is staggering. I just homebrew most of my useful items.
If I awarded Helm of Brilliance to one of my players I would modify it. It would regen 1d3 gems of varying color at dawn.
Can you read? Markovia's Thighbone doesn't break on the first hit, it breaks when the combat ends. If you get into a fight with four vampires, it will stay intact until every last one is dead or fleeing.
Interesting thing about the Giant Constrictor Snake is that it has no limit on what size it can constrict.
I don't see the point in ranking these items in the first place. Some items are worse than others but that just means you get them earlier and eventually switch them out.
I feel a lot of these items rely on how well the DM makes them fit the environment:
Lets say the party is in a dungeon made by giants. The dungeons still has its traps activated. No one speaks Giant but they find an ioun stone with the language of giants in a tomb. (a relic of a researcher that tried to befriend them so long ago). Now the party has an interesting way to read the warning texts upon the trap ridden hallways. They will use it for this section of the game and then probably attune to something else, which is cool. Ultimately the item can help to add some variety to peoples options.
I understand that your approach is more on a technical & objective level, but to me it takes the "fun" aspect out of the game by having people worry about "whats the best or worst" thing.
Staff of the Python is amazing.
I kind of love the flavor of it. It reminds me of Prince of Egypt, turning a walking stick into a snake. If you want to be clever with it, you’re essentially getting another action in the turn order. An action to restrain somebody.
60 HP isn’t a lot of hit points but in situations against one person or trying to restrain someone from escaping, it’s invaluable.
Ted lacks imagination to some of these i swear.
For me personally, I don't care how magical the bow/sling/whatever is, what it says as written, if its string was a hair plucked straight from the taint of AO, if you are using standard ammo it counts as non magical. It's fine in early/low level campaigns, but once you start regularly coming across enemies with protection from non magical damage, no amount of pissing and whining will stop you from being useless until you get yourself some magical ammo. I have zero qualms about letting you be a burden and pissing off your tablemates, because you're too lazy to keep track of ammo.
Eyes of Charming don't require you to be a spellcaster. You could give them to your rogue to help them get themselves out of trouble, or get into some trouble depending on how creatively they use them. Yes, they aren't super useful in a high level campaign. They're uncommon, they're meant to be given out as soon as level 1. No fucking shit they aren't as useful in a high level campaign.
Staff of the Python. Again, it's uncommon. No fucking shit it isn't a game breaking item. It's something you are likely to get somewhere between level 1 and 3, and should last you roughly to level 7. Even if it doesn't break, you should be coming across +1 and +2 staves that outclass it anyway. It isn't intended for high level play.
This video is a bad look. Oh no, this low level thing meant for low level play isn't good at high levels. Oh no, this high level thing that nears being game breaking has a drawback. Oh no, I'm lazy.
"Book has been out for 4 years now" ah yes, the classic 'you instantly gain knowledge of every book that comes out' magic power that everyone seems to have except me. Oh wait, that's not how it works.
Regarding +1-3 ranged weapons vs ammunition: I feel like a magic ranged weapon wouldn’t do magic damage. The enchantments would still give the extra damage, because along with the magical increase in accuracy you’re more likely to hit something a little more vital.
However magical AMMUNITION would clearly do magical damage because it’s physically doing the strike.
I have Staff of the Python as a druid in a game and I love the concept, but I definitely get worried about using it in case it is destroyed. I'm trying to subtly hint at getting Staff of the Woodlands or something else a little better for my character.
There should be a box of ioun stones of Language Knowledge at major entrances of outer planes.
What about some of the magic items from rising from the last war? Several of them require remove curse to take them off. One of them eats your body if you die while using it.
I think that magic items are over proliferate in 'modern d&d', and I think many of the items on this list are applicable in campaign settings where, if you get ANY magic item at all, you are lucky. Along with WotC flooding Character Classes and Races with everything anyone could possibly want (Unicorn Centaur Elf Angel Vampire Cleric Wizard Rogue Paladin Psionic as a Class/Race combo will be in the next Supplement in order to sell more books...that's where it's heading) , they also create magic items and flood the world with them, for the same pandering reason. It washes out 'value', it makes 'everything special so nothing is special'. If you look at Fantasy novels, and the worlds they create...a magic anything is EPIC, has a backstory and impact on history...there is a mystique attached to it, special circumstance in finding it, and a level of status in having it. Taking these things, and Character Classes, and the suitability of races in ecologies for granted just lays everything low. Instead of being excited about naturally rolling the stats that allow you to be a proficient Paladin, subsequently adding to the mystique and rarity of Paladins as a whole...here...have a Paladin. Instead of 'Wow...I have a magic sword that gives me a +1 bonus to hit, and that's a big deal' it's 'Yeah...it's a magic sword...it sucks because it's not a Holy Avenger'. There is no inherent scaling. The result is 'creep'...put out a book with MORE Classes, MORE Races, MORE magic items...and that's what every supplement will be. DM's...resist the urge. You wouldn't believe how fun the game was as AD&D in Greyhawk. Less is better.
The thighbone crumbles to dust after being used against a vampire (not on contact, at the end of the battles) because it's sort of bringing Markovia peace that someone else will take up her mantle. That, or because you used it against Strahd and her task is at last complete. Either way, supposed to be dramatic
I run a game with an archer rogue and she loves having magic arrows. We somewhat track the normal arrows but she makes it a big deal that she is using a special arrow. The armorers handbook had several fun options.
Heres one way to handle ammunition tracking
Players don't like it because it's tedious and slows down combat
But theres always Abstraction which can improve the game experience for alot of things
So as the DM you track it in the background and tell the players how many they lost only at the end of combat, and to adjust their sheet accordingly
Of course they can go retrieve half their arrows at the end too so you take that into account as well
And it's not that painful on the DM side of things, unless your party is like "Oops, all ranged attackers"
Like you may have 1 or two players using ammunition and in my opinion thats fine by me to track and I can just handle most of that so the game isn't slowed down
Ammunition isn't fun to track when a player has to update their character sheet every time they use an arrow instead of just the one time
Plus I feel ignoring things that the party has to buy regularly is part of another problem the community complains about.
"Guys my party always has so much gold and nothing to spend it on. They just hoard it"
If thats happening, you're the DM, give them things to spend it on, but instead you hand wave those things? Idk, it just kinda makes getting treasure not as exciting when you don't make having money a need like it is in real life.
I'm not saying you gotta do everything incredibly detailed, but it's such a simple thing to track consumables.
I think the Dagger of Venom would have been on here. It is a rare plus 1 dagger and, only once per day, will deal 2 D10 extra posion damage and posion a target if they fail a DC 15 saving throw. The posion stays for a minute or when you hut a creature. To trigger this effect, you use an action. You get to hit it once for a decent DC early levels and part of the mid levels. But once you hit the upper levels, things are either gonna be great against posion, immune to it, or can pass the save or suck part of the item. I just think it shouldn't be a rare for its limited applications, but maybe that is just me
Staff of the python is even stronger for a warlock because you can constrict a target and then cast hex on them and give them disadvantage on strength or dexterity checks making it harder for it to escape the restraint.
Tracking the amount of arrows, I could see that in a survival campaign ... but my games, I tend to give my archer a Quiver of Endless Arrows and get that tracking shots nonsense over with.