Magic Items: Difference between revisions

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{{Magic-Item-Master-Table|Hauberk of the Magus}}
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Latest revision as of 22:17, 19 August 2023

The finer things in life.

A magic item is a piece of adventuring equipment that has been enchanted to be better than a mundane version of that item. It is quite common for an adventurer to start their career without any magic items at all, because they are VERY expensive. Indeed, one powerful reason to go and slay monsters is to get their loot, turn it into money, and then buy better stuff (so you can slay monsters, get their loot, etc.).

Like all equipment and tools, magic items give your character more powers and abilities, making them more dangerous, tougher, and faster. While you don't precisely NEED magic items, the game is balanced with the assumption that you will get the proper amount of treasure, and then spend it to maintain your gear at the 'cutting edge'. If you neglect to buy better magic items, you will find that the game gets very, very difficult, quickly!

Pre-Made Vs. Custom-Made

It is possible for characters to gain the Creator (Feat), allowing them to make their own magic items, usually saving quite a bit of money in the process. However, most adventurers are too busy to spend the weeks and months it takes to make their own items. As a result, most characters will buy their magic items from vendors or makers, who specialize in the creation of these wondrous wares.

Some items will not be immediately available in a given city or town. Indeed, smaller settlements rarely have a diverse stock of the many magic items adventurers may find themselves wanting. The percentage chance that a settlement has a shop containing any given magic item is listed on the Money and Merchants page.

If an item is not available, that simply means that there isn't one in town. It doesn't mean that one couldn't be made by one of the skilled creators and makers in the town, or imported from another town for the character's convenience. The character could also just go somewhere else with a better stock of magical equipment, but again, an adventurer's time is precious — they need to get back to the killin' and lootin' as soon as possible!

The time required to craft a magic item is detailed on the Creator (Feat) page, but has a base time of 2 days + 1 day per creator level (CL) of the item. Makers will always demand payment up front for an item, and the player character won't get it until it's finished, often a week or more from the day the payment is made to have it built.

Some of the more upscale vendors of magic items offer loaner equipment during this waiting period, to ensure the adventurer doesn't have to walk around completely unprotected while that new suit of armor is made. Such loaner equipment usually requires a sizable deposit, only returned when the loaner is returned in good condition.

"Off-Menu" Magic Items

In general, you cannot buy, create, or otherwise acquire an item that isn't listed within the Epic Path rules. Allowing magic items from other games into your campaign is STRONGLY discouraged. It is so strongly discouraged, in fact, that we don't even have rules for it. Bringing in items from other game systems is nearly always going to harm your campaign.

Furthermore, you cannot take the effects or abilities of two or more items and merge them into a single item, nor can you take an item that isn't slotless and make it slotless. The idea is that each character has to make tough choices as to which cool things they want to equip at any given time. Allowing item merging or the en-slotless-ifying of items trivializes those choices. Keep your players wanting more. More. MORE!

GMs can, of course, create their own magic items, artifacts, and other MacGuffins for their campaigns, as they see fit, but they shouldn't really have a gold value. There are often occasions when the story calls for something unusual or special to fall into the players' hands, and there's nothing wrong with that. However, should the players decide to sell this MacGuffin or artifact, it is recommended that there be grave consequences for this greedy and selfish decision. For example, a bunch of low-level players who suddenly find themselves in possession of a million gold will almost certainly get mugged by the nearest party of epic-level adventurers (or the nearest evil church or cult. You can buy a LOT of goat's blood with a million gold...). Not only have they thrown away their artifact, now they have powerful new enemies! A win-win for the GM, and a solid lesson for the players.

Magic Item Slots

As listed below, there are no less than twenty different 'kinds' of magic items. The first thirteen of these are 'worn' items, meaning that they are like pieces of clothing. You can only wear so many different pieces of clothing, and so it is that you can only have one magic item in each of these thirteen slots. (Except for rings, of which you can wear two. There's always an exception....) As your character advances, you should strive to have at least some sort of a useful magic item in as many slots as you can. But don't worry if you don't manage this for a while! It is perfectly valid to concentrate on a few 'good' or 'essential' items for a while, or even for your entire adventuring career. Spending a LOT of money on a few powerful items can be just as effective as keeping every single magic item slot filled with a 'decent' item.

In addition to the base slots, there are seven other types of magic items. These are: weapons, armor, rods, staves, wands, slotless items, and consumable items. Don't be fooled into thinking that these items are any less important, though! Magic weapons and slotless magical bags are among two of the very most important items the well-equipped adventurer should get first!

There are many, many versions of all these items, because most items come in 'families'. This means that there is a low-level, relatively inexpensive item that does 'something'. As you level up and grow mighty, better versions of that item that become available, usually for a LOT more money, which serves as a built-in 'upgrade path' for you to follow, if you want to.

Upgrading to a higher-quality item in the same family as an item you already possess only costs the difference between the item you have and you want to upgrade into. Normally, when you sell something back, you only get half its value from the merchant; upgrading within a family of items lets you get the full value you paid for the item applied toward the cost of the upgrade. So efficient!

The high epic items are very, very expensive. But don't worry! If you keep playing and having fun with your friends, you can eventually reach the point where even those incredible items become available to you.

Worn Magic Item Slots

Many magic items have to be worn in order to gain their effects. However, you cannot wear two magic coats and expect to gain the benefit of both coats at the same time (although you'll certainly be warm). Therefore, worn magic items are broken out into thirteen "slots". You may wear a single item at any one time in each of these slots, and enjoy the benefits of each of them, with the exception of rings. The powerful magic of enchanted rings prevents the use of a ring on every finger, but you can have one ring on each hand, to a maximum of two rings at any given time.

Wearing two items in the same slot disrupts the magic of both items, meaning you get no benefit from either until one of the items is removed. Items not worn (such as those stowed in your backpack) provide no benefit.

Armor Belt Body Chest Eyes Feet Hands
Head Headband Neck Rings Shoulders Wrists

Wielded Magic Items

Listed below are all of the various magic items which you must hold in,or manipulate with, your hands to gain benefits from them. While sheathed, stowed, or otherwise not being wielded, these items provide no benefits to their owner. You will immediately notice that while you only have two hands, you have access to five types of items that you have to use your hands to use. This makes the Combat rules for switching things around in your hands quite important.

Magic Weapons Magic Rods Magic Staves Magic Wands Magic Shields

Slotless Magic Items

Slotless items, as the name implies, do not have to be worn or wielded in a magic item slot in order to make use of their effects. This is very powerful, since you can, theoretically, have an infinite number of slotless items and enjoy the benefits of all of them at all times (assuming their benefits are distinct enough to avoid stacking issues with the bonus types). The most common class of slotless items are containers, such as handy haversacks and portable holes.

In most cases, you'll also need a free hand to interact with the slotless magic item (such as pulling something out of your handy haversack).

Slotless Magic Items

Consumable Magic Items

The final type of magic item is consumables. These are potions, scrolls, or items with limited uses, after which they become useless or mundane objects (or perhaps crumble to dust, as their magic essence fades away). While throwing gold into items that can only be used once (or a few times) may sound wasteful, the effects available can be quite powerful, while still being quite affordable, even at low levels.

While it may seem like a Light Caduceus Rod, which allows 50 castings of Cure Light Wounds before it has to be recharged with a Small Manastone is a much more efficient use of your money than a bunch of potions of cure light wounds, those potions are affordable after your very first battle with monsters, and there's no Use Magic Device check required to drink a potion (unlike that rod). You have to buy the rod all at once, and you'll likely find its cost to be prohibitive until at least level 2, if not later.

Consumable Magic Items

Bonus Types and Stacking

Most magic items which grant any sort of a numerical bonus (like +1) to some aspect of a character's abilities do so using an Enhancement Bonus. It is very rare for a magic item to provide a numerical bonus to any ability using a different bonus type than Enhancement. Since Enhancement Bonuses do not stack with themselves, two magic items providing an Enhancement Bonus to the same character element (for example, the character's Stealth skill) do not stack; instead, only the single highest available bonus is used.

However, a character can enjoy the benefits of multiple Enhancement Bonuses, as long as they each affect different things. For example, you can have a belt that grants you a +2 enhancement bonus to your Strength ability score, and a headband that gives you a +2 enhancement bonus to your Intelligence ability score, and these two items work perfectly fine together. If both items granted their bonus to Strength, the character would only get to use the bonus from one of the items.

Different bonus types stack with each other, even on the same character aspect. For example, a +2 Enhancement Bonus to Maneuver Defense would stack with a +2 Training Bonus to Maneuver Defense.

The only bonus types that actually stack with themselves are Dodge Bonuses and Circumstance Bonuses. All other bonus types behave like Enhancement Bonuses — they don't stack with themselves when applied to the same character element, but they will stack with different bonus types, or when applied to different character elements.

List of Magic Item Families

Descriptions on this page do not provide all the details of the items described -- they are just summaries, and are often incomplete. Click on the item's link for complete details. In any case where the summary contradicts an item's full description, the full description should be considered correct (barring GM exception).

Magic Item Name Slot Description
Amulet of Natural Armor Neck Adds Enhancement Bonus to Natural Armor.
Amulet of Mighty Fists Neck Adds Melee Magic Weapon Enhancement bonuses and Magic Properties to your unarmed attacks.
Armatura Protectica Hands Grants the wearer a Shield Bonus to AC.
Arsenal Gloves Hands Store and sort an arsenal of handheld items quickly and easily.
Auric Enhancer Armor Grants +1 additional target to spells or True Dweomers that are either rays or have a limited number of targets greater than one.
Bag of Holding Slotless Humble bags that hold much more than they appear to.
Bandeau of Grace Belt Grants the wearer a bonus to their Dexterity score.
Belt of Physical Perfection Belt Grants the wearer a bonus to their Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength scores.
Belt of the Powerful Form Belt Grants an enhancement bonus to two of the wearer's physical stats (STR, DEX, or CON)
Boots of Bounding Feet Sleek footwear that grants a Hover move.
Boots of Speed Feet Aggressively styled boots that add to your movement speed.
Boots of the Daredevil Feet Adds bonuses to reckless movement.
Bracelets of Resistance Wrists A Bracelet of Resistance adds a Resistance bonus to all saving throws made by an attuned wearer.
Bracers of Armor Wrists Grant an Armor Enhancement Bonus to the attuned wearer's Armor Class.
Chronicler's Coronet Headband Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Charisma score.
Cloak of Displacement Shoulders Causes the wearer to fade and blur, granting them defenses and movement powers.
Cloak of Elvenkind Shoulders Well-made cloaks that allow the wearer to be stylishly unobtrusive.
Cloak of Resistance Shoulders A Cloak of Resistance adds a Resistance bonus to all saving throws made by an attuned wearer.
Component Pouch Slotless A small leather pouch that can magically produce any spell component worth 1 gp or less in value.
Coronet of Eloquence Headband Teaches the wearer languages instantly.
Crown of Swords Head Strike at foes who attack you.
Deadhead Headband Headband Changes the wearers appearance to that of a skull and affiliates them with Death.
Deathwatch Monocle Eyes Grants the wearer an intuitive knowledge of the health of nearby creatures.
Diadem of Deep Design Headband Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.
Facade of Winsomeness Head Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Charisma score.
Facade of Facility Head Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.
Facade of Perspicacity Head Grants an enhancement bonus to two mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).
Facade of Wisdom Head Grants an enhancement bonus to the Wisdom score.
Facade of Wits Head Grants an enhancement bonus to the Intelligence score.
Farstrike Bracers Wrists Adds reach and new damage types to melee attacks.
Finemail Smallclothes Armor Grants wearer the effects of a dweomermetal, without the hassle of wearing armor.
Fugue Potion Consumable Grants imbiber a full-night's rest in 1 minute
Gifting Mantle Shoulders Gift spells to yourself or your allies.
Gloves of the Designer Hands Grants an enhancement bonus to five different skills.
Gloves of the Maker Hands Grants an enhancement bonus to eight different skills.
Gloves of the Tradesman Hands Grants an enhancement bonus to three different skills.
Gloves of the Worker Hands Grants an enhancement bonus to a single skill.
Glowing Gloves Hands Handgear with many marking, debuffing, and movement abilities.
Goggles of Night Eyes Grants Darkvision.
Hardened Cassock Body A Hardened Cassock adds an Armor Enhancement Bonus to the wearer's Armor Class.
Hat of Disguise Head Allows the user to Disguise themselves very quickly and skillfully.
Hauberk of the Magus Armor The Hauberk of the Magus provides the finest magical enhancement a wizard (or divine caster!) can secretly wear.
Headband of Gracious Wit Headband Grants an enhancement bonus to two of the wearer's mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).
Headband of the Logician Headband Grants an enhancement bonus to five different skills.
Headband of the Philosopher Headband Grants an enhancement bonus to three different skills.
Headband of the Savant Headband Grants an enhancement bonus to eight different skills.
Headband of the Theorist Headband Grants an enhancement bonus to a single skill.
Helm of Protection Head Grants the wearer a Shield Bonus to AC.
Honcho Helmet Head Grant a bonus move action to your summoned monster, familiar, or animal companion a limited number of times per day.
Hornet Wing Cloak Shoulders Typically sporty cloaks that manifest wasp wings and allow extended periods of flight.
Jangle Bangles Wrists Add shocking goads to all successful melee attacks.
Jaunt Boots Feet Allows the wearer to move more freely in battle.
Limitless Quiver Slotless Creates an unending supply of non-magical ammunition.
Magic Haversack Slotless A backpack which holds more than its size suggests, without increasing in weight.
Mantle of Armoring Body Adds an Enhancement Bonus to Natural Armor.
Manual of Bodily Health Consumable One-use magical books to increase Constitution.
Manual of Gainful Exercise Consumable One-use magical books to increase Strength.
Manual of Quickness of Action Consumable One-use magical books to increase Dexterity.
Mask of a Thousand Tomes Head Acts as a magical Library.
Mechanists Lappet Headband Adds bonuses to all DC's of one or more other items attuned to the wearer.
Meridian Belt Belt Allows the attuned wearer to wear and use more than two Ring items.
Monkey Belt Belt Grants the wearer amazing powers to move and bounce.
Mortal Coil Belt Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to Constitution.
Muleback Cords Shoulders Adds the ability to carry heavy weights and break things in your way.
Necklace of Adaptation Neck Grants many benefits against environmental and gaseous effects.
Necklace of Fire Neck Grants scaling fire powers to the attuned wearer.
Pearl of Power Neck Adds one spell slot per spell level its level and below.
Pirate's Eyepatch Eyes Adds many piratical benefits to the wearer.
Poisoners Gloves Hands Stores and enhances a few doses of Poisons.
Portable Hole Slotless Pieces of cloth or small boxes, oddly weighty for their size, that open into large storage spaces.
Quickrunner Surcoat Chest This elegant surcoat lends the wearer speed and the ability to escape obstacles.
Reinforced Waistcoat Chest Adds an Enhancement Bonus to Natural Armor.
Ring of Alacrity Rings Grants the attuned wearer bonus Action Points after a time interval has passed.
Ring of Caring Rings Adds bonuses to all healing bestowed in any way by the attuned owner.
Ring of Devotion Rings Doubles the number of Divine Spell Slots of a given level or levels.
Ring of Expertise Rings Grants an enhancement bonus to eight skills.
Ring of Ferocious Action Rings Grants many martial and teamwork bonuses to the wearer and their allies.
Ring of Invisibility Rings Boring bands of metal that have nothing to distinguish them.
Ring of Practice Rings Grants an enhancement bonus to a single skill.
Ring of Protection Rings Grants the wearer a Shield Bonus to AC.
Ring of Savvy Rings Grants an enhancement bonus to five skills.
Ring of Talent Rings Grants an enhancement bonus to three skills.
Ring of the Weaponeer Rings Transfers the wearer's skill and investment with a chosen weapon to one or more mundane weapons as well.
Ring of Wizardry Rings Doubles the number of Arcane spell slots the wearer gains of certain spell levels.
Sage's Circlet Headband Grants the wearer an enhancement bonus to their Wisdom.
Scholar's Laurel Headband Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Intelligence score.
Seafoam Foundation Armor Seafoam fills the armor slot and adds many benefits to the attuned wearer.
Shifting Wraps Body Adds bonuses only while Transmogrified.
Shroud of the Unterwelt Body Grants many earthen powers of protection, concealment, and even movement.
Sipping Jacket Chest Can store and apply the effects of magical potions.
Spectacles of Winsomeness Eyes Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Charisma score.
Spectacles of Facility Eyes Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom score.
Spectacles of Perspicacity Eyes Grants an enhancement bonus to two of the wearer's mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).
Spectacles of Wisdom Eyes Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Wisdom score.
Spectacles of Wits Eyes Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Intelligence score.
Spellguard Bracers Wrists Automatically succeed on a defensive casting check and gain dodge bonuses for doing so.
Stampede Stompers Feet Heavy footwear that provides many martial benefits.
Stockings of Agility Feet Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Dexterity score.
Stockings of Physicality Feet Grants the wearer a bonus to their Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength scores.
Stockings of Robustness Feet Grants the wearer an enhancement bonus to two physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution).
Stockings of Vigor Feet Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Constitution score.
Stockings of Might Feet Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Strength score.
Summoners Medallion Headband Summoned monsters are much stronger when summoned with this item.
Tinker's Tunic Body Allows wearer to buy one item from the tunic each day as if it were a merchant.
Tome of Clear Thought Consumable One-use magical books to increase Intelligence.
Tome of Leadership and Influence Consumable One-use magical books to increase Charisma.
Tome of Understanding Consumable One-use magical books to increase Wisdom.
Torques of Agility Wrists Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Dexterity score.
Torques of Physicality Wrists Grants the wearer a bonus to their Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength scores.
Torques of Robustness Wrists Grants the wearer an enhancement bonus to two physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution).
Torques of Power Wrists Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Strength score.
Torques of Vigor Wrists Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Constitution score.
Truss of Might Belt Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to Strength.
Tunic of Deadly Might Chest Add the results of a Might check to one or more attacks.
Vest of Escape Chest Allows the wearer to teleport, both defensively and offensively.
Victory Laurel Headband After defeating an enemy in open combat, grows blood-red berries which sustain and heal.
Wand of Accessioning Wand Grants +1 additional target for spells or spell-like abilities with a limited number of targets.
Wand of Burning Wand Apply your Burning Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Coaxing Wand Apply your Coaxing Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Destruction Wand Apply your Collateral Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Empowerment Wand Apply your Empower Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Enhancement Wand Apply your Enhance Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Fussiness Wand Exclude additional targets with your Selective (Feat) a limited number of times per day.
Wand of Hemorrhaging Wand Apply your Cutting Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Infinity Wand Apply your Absolute Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Joined Fates Wand Apply your Linked Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Maximization Wand Apply your Maximize Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Occluded Casting Wand Apply your Unseen Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Perfection Wand Apply your Perfect Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Piercing Wand Assists the wielder in overcoming a target's spell resistance.
Wand of Reaching Wand Apply your Reach Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Silence Wand Apply your Silent Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Stealthy Casting Wand Apply your Stealth Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Stillness Wand Apply your Still Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Quickening Wand Apply your Quicken Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of the Elements Wand Apply your Element Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of the Fundaments Wand Apply your Fundament Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of the Rudiments Wand Apply your Rudiment Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Toppling Wand Allows the wielder's force-based spells to also knock an opponent down.
Wand of Vastness Wand Apply your Vast Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Widening Wand Apply your Widen Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Warrior Harness Body Reduces armor check penalty and dex penalty to AC of worn armor, and grants temporary hit points.