Hey guys. Wanted to run a bunch of magic items past some people. My players will be getting them at level 1. I know you're not supposed to hand out strong magic items straight away, but here's the catch - these magic items are literally all the players will have. They're starting the campaign with nothing except the clothes on their backs; no armour, weapons, money, food, water, torches (and they're all human so no DV), etc.. The first part of my campaign is a survival challenge, and these items are the only things they get to keep themselves alive, and they don't even receive these straight away. Each item is for a specific class depending on what they pick (so a max of five will be in the game, as I have five players who will all have different classes), will automatically attune to that player and can't be unattuned without destroying the item, so they can't trade. They are;
Cleric - Tymora's Coin - A +1 Shield, non-magic ranged attackers have disadvantage to hit.
Paladin - Tymora's Fist - A +1 Warhammer that can produce a light source.
Warrior - Razorwind - a +1 Shortsword that allows 5ft of extra movement, so long as the wielder can attack an enemy by using that extra movement.
Barbarian - Wasp Sting - A +1 Javelin which, when thrown, can be summoned back using a bonus action.
Monk - Soul Force - Hand wraps gain a charge every time you successfully strike an opponent, to a maximum of five charges. You gain a charge each time you successfully land an unarmed strike on an opponent. As an action, you can spend any number of charges to produce a Magic Missile Dart (Range 120ft, 1D4+2 Force Damage), or all five charges to cast Chromatic Orb (Fire, Lightning, or Cold damage only).
Rogue - Black Dagger - +1 Dagger. When using Sneak Attack with this dagger, rather than gaining extra damage, you can choose to attempt to knock out your target instead. The target must pass a CON saving throw against your Dex modifier+10, or be rendered unconscious
Warlock - Gift of the Patron - A necklace which, once per long rest, allows the Warlock to create an elaborate illusion in the form of their patron. Any enemy that can see the illusion must pass a WIS saving throw or become frightened.
Sorcerer - Broach of Retribution - a broach which, when its wearer is damaged by a ranged attack, will automatically strike back at the attacker. The enemy must make a DEX saving throw or take damage equal the damage the wearer received, as magical piercing damage.
Bard - Charming Bracelet - once per day, the wearer may gain +1 to any skill check.
Ranger - Soul Seal Ring - This ring has 1 charge. If the wearer fails a Death Saving Throw while wearing this ring, the charge is expended, and the throw isn’t marked. The ring can only be recharged by being soaked in the blood of an enemy slain by the ranger.
Druid - Bloom - +1 Quarterstaff, once per day can be used to conjure enough fruit to feed the party, healing them by 5HP. (Doesn't count as food for starvation purposes)
These items vary quite a bit in power. First off, I recommend droping the "automatically attuned" anf "cannot unattune without destroying it" part of the item and just make have to be attuned by a specific class.
Tymora's fist reminds me of the lightbringer. Which is a little weak compared to others.
Razorwind is basically just a +1 shortsword. Conditional +5 movement is practically nothing. I say make the bonus movement at least 15 feet.
Wasp sting is ok.
I have a few problems with soul force. First, if you are not going to be casting the spell, don't reference magic missile, just say "...produce that many darts, each dart automatically hits a target creature within 120 feet and does 1d4+2 force damage." Adding chromatic orb on top of this is too much.
Black dagger is a scary item, but is probably fine because boss enemies usually have abilities to succeed saves.
Gift of the patron I guess is at least better than fear, so it is the right power. Make sure to specify the save DC (use warlock spell save DC).
Broach of retribution is too strong. Period. It should have a limited usage and/or require the sorcerer to use its reaction. And you need to specify the save (I recommend somewhere around 12 depending on how much it is limited, as is, a DC11 would be generously high).
Soul seal ring, weak. You realize after succeeding 3 death saves, you are still unconscious with 0 hp, and make more saves if you are hit again. You should make it something like "when your HP is reduced to 0 you may expend the charge to regain 1d6 hp."
Bloom should just be able to cast Goodberry Once per day. The druid will know the spell anyway.
Huh, I actually thought Soul Seal Ring would be one of the more OP items, but if you think the straight heal would be better, I'll probably change it to that.
How about if I change Razorwind to "You may use the Dash action as a Bonus Action, so long as you move within melee range of an enemy. You must then attack that enemy"?
Broach of Retribution I'll change to once per short rest.
And I thought Chromatic Orb might be a bit OtT so I'll drop that.
How about if I change Razorwind to "You may use the Dash action as a Bonus Action, so long as you move within melee range of an enemy. You must then attack that enemy"?
Slightly better idea: "You may use your bonus action to move up to your movement speed toward a creature and make a melee weapon attack with Razorwind. You cannot use this action if you cannot make an attack."
Regarding the Soul Seal Ring, I made a ring that is *sort of* similar. "When you reach zero HP, instead of falling unconscious, you can choose to regain 5 HP. The next time you reach zero HP, you automatically have 1 failed death save. This effect ends after your next long or short rest" My PC's are at level 7, so 5 HP is not a whole lot of HP, so I feel like there is fair risk.
I agree that the brooch of retribution is OP. (Also, yes it's brooch not broach. I know it's counter-intuitive given the pronunciation but they are two different words, albeit homonyms.) You also with the brooch need to specify what happens if they make their save. (1/2 damage? No damage? Not knocked prone?)
If the druid doesn't have goodberry prepared that day, then bloom is great. It's good if they have it prepared because then it preserves their spell slot and lets them keep that slot for a defensive or offensive spell should they get into combat.
IMO, black dagger's powers are OP unless you're a really mean DM who would throw high CR monsters at your players at low level. It just doesn't seem worth it against any enemy that your PCs would have a chance to kill outright (and in a survival mode if they see there's a chance of winning, honestly I would think they'd look at the enemy as "Hey, food," and want to kill it). If they come up against something like an ankheg that is super above their paygrade, then yeah, it's an okay item for them to have.
Charming bracelet seems weak, especially since your bard already has bardic inspiration and can give PCs an extra d6 at first level. (Unless I'm misunderstanding the bracelet you homebrewed.)
I agree that the brooch of retribution is OP. (Also, yes it's brooch not broach. I know it's counter-intuitive given the pronunciation but they are two different words, albeit homonyms.) You also with the brooch need to specify what happens if they make their save. (1/2 damage? No damage? Not knocked prone?)
If the druid doesn't have goodberry prepared that day, then bloom is great. It's good if they have it prepared because then it preserves their spell slot and lets them keep that slot for a defensive or offensive spell should they get into combat.
IMO, black dagger's powers are OP unless you're a really mean DM who would throw high CR monsters at your players at low level. It just doesn't seem worth it against any enemy that your PCs would have a chance to kill outright (and in a survival mode if they see there's a chance of winning, honestly I would think they'd look at the enemy as "Hey, food," and want to kill it). If they come up against something like an ankheg that is super above their paygrade, then yeah, it's an okay item for them to have.
Charming bracelet seems weak, especially since your bard already has bardic inspiration and can give PCs an extra d6 at first level. (Unless I'm misunderstanding the bracelet you homebrewed.)
At first I thought black dagger was strong, but not too bad since it lowered damage and a legendary creatures can use a resistance to succeed the save, but when I think about how sneak attack can be used when an ally is within 5 feet of target, I see more ways to abuse this effect. Maybe make it a once per encounter effect or cant be used if the target knows you are there.
I completely forgot the charming bracelet. Yeah this is weak, at least make it advantage or something.
Hey guys. Wanted to run a bunch of magic items past some people. My players will be getting them at level 1. I know you're not supposed to hand out strong magic items straight away, but here's the catch - these magic items are literally all the players will have. They're starting the campaign with nothing except the clothes on their backs; no armour, weapons, money, food, water, torches (and they're all human so no DV), etc.. The first part of my campaign is a survival challenge, and these items are the only things they get to keep themselves alive, and they don't even receive these straight away. Each item is for a specific class depending on what they pick (so a max of five will be in the game, as I have five players who will all have different classes), will automatically attune to that player and can't be unattuned without destroying the item, so they can't trade. They are;
Cleric - Tymora's Coin - A +1 Shield, non-magic ranged attackers have disadvantage to hit.
Paladin - Tymora's Fist - A +1 Warhammer that can produce a light source.
Warrior - Razorwind - a +1 Shortsword that allows 5ft of extra movement, so long as the wielder can attack an enemy by using that extra movement.
Barbarian - Wasp Sting - A +1 Javelin which, when thrown, can be summoned back using a bonus action.
Monk - Soul Force - Hand wraps gain a charge every time you successfully strike an opponent, to a maximum of five charges. You gain a charge each time you successfully land an unarmed strike on an opponent. As an action, you can spend any number of charges to produce a Magic Missile Dart (Range 120ft, 1D4+2 Force Damage), or all five charges to cast Chromatic Orb (Fire, Lightning, or Cold damage only).
Rogue - Black Dagger - +1 Dagger. When using Sneak Attack with this dagger, rather than gaining extra damage, you can choose to attempt to knock out your target instead. The target must pass a CON saving throw against your Dex modifier+10, or be rendered unconscious
Warlock - Gift of the Patron - A necklace which, once per long rest, allows the Warlock to create an elaborate illusion in the form of their patron. Any enemy that can see the illusion must pass a WIS saving throw or become frightened.
Sorcerer - Broach of Retribution - a broach which, when its wearer is damaged by a ranged attack, will automatically strike back at the attacker. The enemy must make a DEX saving throw or take damage equal the damage the wearer received, as magical piercing damage.
Wizard - Ring of Spell Storing. https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/ring-of-spell-storing
Bard - Charming Bracelet - once per day, the wearer may gain +1 to any skill check.
Ranger - Soul Seal Ring - This ring has 1 charge. If the wearer fails a Death Saving Throw while wearing this ring, the charge is expended, and the throw isn’t marked. The ring can only be recharged by being soaked in the blood of an enemy slain by the ranger.
Druid - Bloom - +1 Quarterstaff, once per day can be used to conjure enough fruit to feed the party, healing them by 5HP. (Doesn't count as food for starvation purposes)
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These items vary quite a bit in power. First off, I recommend droping the "automatically attuned" anf "cannot unattune without destroying it" part of the item and just make have to be attuned by a specific class.
Tymora's coin reminds me of the arrow-catching shield. Pretty good.
Tymora's fist reminds me of the lightbringer. Which is a little weak compared to others.
Razorwind is basically just a +1 shortsword. Conditional +5 movement is practically nothing. I say make the bonus movement at least 15 feet.
Wasp sting is ok.
I have a few problems with soul force. First, if you are not going to be casting the spell, don't reference magic missile, just say "...produce that many darts, each dart automatically hits a target creature within 120 feet and does 1d4+2 force damage." Adding chromatic orb on top of this is too much.
Black dagger is a scary item, but is probably fine because boss enemies usually have abilities to succeed saves.
Gift of the patron I guess is at least better than fear, so it is the right power. Make sure to specify the save DC (use warlock spell save DC).
Broach of retribution is too strong. Period. It should have a limited usage and/or require the sorcerer to use its reaction. And you need to specify the save (I recommend somewhere around 12 depending on how much it is limited, as is, a DC11 would be generously high).
Ring of spell storing. This is what I am trying to compare other items to.
Soul seal ring, weak. You realize after succeeding 3 death saves, you are still unconscious with 0 hp, and make more saves if you are hit again. You should make it something like "when your HP is reduced to 0 you may expend the charge to regain 1d6 hp."
Bloom should just be able to cast Goodberry Once per day. The druid will know the spell anyway.
Huh, I actually thought Soul Seal Ring would be one of the more OP items, but if you think the straight heal would be better, I'll probably change it to that.
How about if I change Razorwind to "You may use the Dash action as a Bonus Action, so long as you move within melee range of an enemy. You must then attack that enemy"?
Broach of Retribution I'll change to once per short rest.
And I thought Chromatic Orb might be a bit OtT so I'll drop that.
| D100 Non-combat Random Encounter Table | Enchantments Galore |
| Pulsing Brazier Magic Trap | Gnome Capsule Machine | Language - A Primer |
Slightly better idea: "You may use your bonus action to move up to your movement speed toward a creature and make a melee weapon attack with Razorwind. You cannot use this action if you cannot make an attack."
Regarding the Soul Seal Ring, I made a ring that is *sort of* similar. "When you reach zero HP, instead of falling unconscious, you can choose to regain 5 HP. The next time you reach zero HP, you automatically have 1 failed death save. This effect ends after your next long or short rest" My PC's are at level 7, so 5 HP is not a whole lot of HP, so I feel like there is fair risk.
I agree that the brooch of retribution is OP. (Also, yes it's brooch not broach. I know it's counter-intuitive given the pronunciation but they are two different words, albeit homonyms.) You also with the brooch need to specify what happens if they make their save. (1/2 damage? No damage? Not knocked prone?)
If the druid doesn't have goodberry prepared that day, then bloom is great. It's good if they have it prepared because then it preserves their spell slot and lets them keep that slot for a defensive or offensive spell should they get into combat.
IMO, black dagger's powers are OP unless you're a really mean DM who would throw high CR monsters at your players at low level. It just doesn't seem worth it against any enemy that your PCs would have a chance to kill outright (and in a survival mode if they see there's a chance of winning, honestly I would think they'd look at the enemy as "Hey, food," and want to kill it). If they come up against something like an ankheg that is super above their paygrade, then yeah, it's an okay item for them to have.
Charming bracelet seems weak, especially since your bard already has bardic inspiration and can give PCs an extra d6 at first level. (Unless I'm misunderstanding the bracelet you homebrewed.)
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At first I thought black dagger was strong, but not too bad since it lowered damage and a legendary creatures can use a resistance to succeed the save, but when I think about how sneak attack can be used when an ally is within 5 feet of target, I see more ways to abuse this effect. Maybe make it a once per encounter effect or cant be used if the target knows you are there.
I completely forgot the charming bracelet. Yeah this is weak, at least make it advantage or something.
The charming bracelet might as well be guidance, which is only a cantrip. You might as well let it be fully at will, or at least give it some charges.