The Trouble With Magic Items
Sneak Peak at the next D&D 5E ePublication from Double0Games: Mythic Items.
DM: Your mother tugs on your arm, guiding you into the den. “My son, before you go off to join the Iron Vanguard and carve a name for yourself in the pages of history, receive your birthright. This sword belonged to your father and to your father’s father before him. It has served as the avenging blade of your family in the service of our king for 40 years. Forged of fine steel and enchanted by the priests of Apollo. By all accounts, this sword has been used to slay over seventy orcs in the last five incursions. Wield it well, my son.”
Player: Awesome. What’s its bonus?
DM: +1.
Player: meh.
(Later in the campaign)
DM: Your intimidation roll doesn’t faze the merchant. He still is demanding 3000 gold for the scepter.
Player: Whatever. I offer him my +1 sword.
DM: Your +1…? You’re trading him your ancestral blade??
Player: It’s +1 and we’re 15th level. The thing is just taking up space in my bag of holding.
The Magic Item Conundrum. You need to put some thought into giving out magic items in your campaign. Some items are fine for low levels and players will be looking to trade them off later. That’s fine for the non-descript, common and uncommon magic items. Then there is the cool, powerful gear that needs to be hard won and is only appropriate for high-level characters. The problem with those items is that the character often only gets to use it for the last 15% of their adventuring career.
But what do you do if you want to introduce an item early in the campaign that has a history or a legacy behind it? The conundrum is, either you make it powerful like an artifact should be (which can be potentially unbalancing at low levels). OR you make it level-appropriate and eventually your players may just advance beyond its usefulness.
Our solution is the Mythic Item. A mythic item is our term for an item that increases in power to match its wielder’s power level. It could be a sword that is a family heirloom. It could be a staff that once belonged to a great sorcerer. It could be a ring found in a dank cave that was once cut from the hand of a demon lord.
But the most important thing is that your player will not outgrow it.
Introducing a mythic item or two into the game allows you to impart an important quest item to an otherwise lowly PC. They have the opportunity to grow into their legacy and earn the abilities of their magic item, rather than have to trade up at the first opportunity.
Mythic Mechanics. The mechanics are fairly simple for a mythic item. Once it is attuned, it has a number of powers that are based on the proficiency bonus of the PC. Any DM worth his salt will no doubt decide later that they want to create their own mythic items. Absolutely. Do it. Think of the list in this book as samples to model your own items off of.
I would highly recommend that when you do give out a mythic item, that you do not reveal the higher level powers of the item for two reasons. First, because it will maintain a sense of mystery, wonder and anticipation for the player with the item. Second, in case the campaign makes a sudden 180-degree turn in a direction that you weren’t planning you can always change the powers as they awaken.
“Not to complain, but this shark-summoning trident hasn’t seen a lot of use in this desert that we’ve been wandering for the last five levels.”
Following are twelve complete descriptions of mythic items. Be a good DM and change the background details to fit your campaign. The Stormborn Heart can be an Ice Mace instead of a Lightning Spear. The Pureblood Avenger can be a greataxe that the orcs created to slaughter humans instead of being an elf-genocide plot device. Just say no to off-the-shelf magic items in your campaign. Unless of course you are purchasing any of the magic item books we previously published, like
- Weapons Cache v1 and v2
- Wondrous Stash v1
- Potion Chest v1 and v2
- Armor Vault v1
- Rod, Staff & Wand Rack v1
Stormborn Heart
Weapon (spear), mythic (requires attunement)
In the days before men lived behind walls there was a great forest guardian that protected and befriended the fragile humans in his grove. The guardian was a massive, walking oak tree. He taught the humans how to hunt and forage and eventually to sow and harvest. Generations passed, and the guardian was killed protecting the humans from an ancient blue dragon that splintered its body with a massive bolt of lightning. Remaining in the charred remains of the guardians body was an impossibly straight shaft of wood with a blackened, glass spear tip; as strong and as sharp as steel. The humans took the spear and left the grove to venture out into the world. The Stormborn Heart passed through the hands of many leaders and allowed men to protect themselves from beasts and eventually to settle new lands.
While some people say that the guardian is to thank for the gift of the spear, others say that the dragon is their savior for setting them free.
Prof Power
+2 +1 on attack rolls. As a bonus action you can alter the size of this weapon, changing it to a javelin, spear, or lance.
+3 Add +1d6 lightning damage on all attacks with this weapon. When thrown it will return to your hand at the end of your turn.
+4 +2 on attack rolls. Drink Lightning. When you take lightning damage, use your reaction to gain lightning resistance until the end of your turn and your next attack with the spear does an additional +1d6 lightning damage.
+5 Add +2d6 lightning damage on all attacks with this weapon.
+6 Heart of the Storm. As a bonus action, you surround yourself with an aura of lightning that lasts for 1 minute. During this time, the spear’s drink lightning ability is always in effect and does not require a reaction to activate. Also, any enemy adjacent to you at the start of their turn takes 4d6 lightning damage. This ability cannot be used again until you have completed a long rest.