D&D 5E magic item gifts

[pukunui]

Hi all,

For my Tyranny of Dragons campaign, my wife made a dwarf wizard who's best friend is a silver dragon. She wanted him to have an amulet made from one of the dragon's scales, and she was hoping it would be magical. I created a thread about that a while back, and I've since settled on making it function like a ring of warmth - so as long as the dwarf is attuned to the amulet, it grants him resistance to cold damage and lets him be comfortable at temperatures as low as -50 F. My wife also wanted it to make it so the amulet lets the dragon sense whether the dwarf is alive or dead.

All good there.

But while I was developing that, I thought I'd come up with similar little unique magical gifts for the other PCs in the party too. One of the other PCs is a human noble fighter based off the pregen from the Starter Set. As such, her bond is that her greataxe is a family heirloom. We also recently established that she is from Baldur's Gate, and since the party will be arriving in that city next session, I thought it would be fun to have a little vignette in which she discovers that her heirloom greataxe is actually magical! I still need to work out the details of the scene, but the effect I'm thinking of is the thrown property. Basically she'll be able to make ranged attacks with the axe with a range of 20/60 ft; after each attack, the axe instantly flies back to her hand. I don't think I'll have it do any extra damage, though, as 1d12+Str at range is already pretty good.


The next PC is a goliath moon druid. His player has focused on having him only wild shape into bear forms, and we plan on reskinning some other monsters as dire bears and the like for later levels. I'm having a little difficulty finding a good item for him. One thought is a sort of bear totem that lets him use speak with animals at will but only with bears. Another might be an item that lets him talk even while in bear form. It's a shame there aren't very many magic items that are thematically appropriate for a druid in the 5e DMG. I hope they put out some more in a supplement soon.


The last PC is an elf arcane trickster. I'm thinking of either letting him have a special magic bow or giving him some sort of elven-themed item, like boots of elvenkind or something, although I'm not sure I want it to be something that "generic", if you know what I mean.


The reason I'm posting is twofold:

1) Has anyone got any ideas for how I can reveal that the fighter PC's axe is magical? I was thinking that maybe the reason it hasn't ever registered as magical before is that its magic its either suppressed, masked, or depleted. Maybe she needs to go through some kind of ritual or test or something to unlock or recharge the magic. Perhaps she meets with her father or uncle or aunt or something in Baldur's Gate who shows her how to do this. Anyone got any thoughts on that?

2) Has anyone got any ideas for thematically appropriate items for the druid and rogue?


Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Jonathan

 

[was]

1. Perhaps the magical axe is inhabited by the spirit of one of the pc's ancestors. A family trip to the cemetery, to pay respect to lost loved ones, could make for an interesting reveal.

2. The druid has a realistic, terrifying nightmare where he fights off a ghostly bear. He awakes to find himself seriously wounded. There is a single bear claw embedded in the wound that turns out to be a magical talisman. He has been marked by the bear spirit/totem.

3. The arcane/rogue elf rescues some sort of sylvan creature (i.e. fey/dryad) who makes a bowstring out of her hair which allows him to deliver touch spells through arrows.

 

[Dkase]

1. If the PC is a noble, then perhaps and older retainer recalls certain tales of previous wielders that would hurl the ax to smite their foes from afar and return to their hand when they called for it. Or perhaps the weapon has a limited sentience and begins to communicate with her. The latter also paves the way for increased abilities so you don't have to have the PC chose between a more powerful weapon and an item her character has a deep sentimental attachment to.

2. If the player prefers fighting in wild form, then perhaps an item that allows their attacks to be counted as magical? I'm not too familiar with the druid, so I don't know if there is already a feature that allows them to do that... maybe it grants them temporary hit points when they assume their form instead? For the rogue, I would probably roll on the DMG's properties and quirks tables to make a more unique variant of a 'generic' item.

 

[pukunui]

1. Perhaps the magical axe is inhabited by the spirit of one of the pc's ancestors. A family trip to the cemetery, to pay respect to lost loved ones, could make for an interesting reveal.

1. If the PC is a noble, then perhaps and older retainer recalls certain tales of previous wielders that would hurl the ax to smite their foes from afar and return to their hand when they called for it. Or perhaps the weapon has a limited sentience and begins to communicate with her. The latter also paves the way for increased abilities so you don't have to have the PC chose between a more powerful weapon and an item her character has a deep sentimental attachment to.

Oooh, I really like both those ideas! I've got a little sidetrek dungeon involving undead-filled catacombs that I've been wanting to insert into the campaign, but I've been struggling to figure out a decent hook. This could be the answer!

I could make it so she - along with her companions - has to fight through some undead to reach the crypt of her ancestor, whose spirit then goes to inhabit the axe ... making it sentient and magical!

Thanks!

2. The druid has a realistic, terrifying nightmare where he fights off a ghostly bear. He awakes to find himself seriously wounded. There is a single bear claw embedded in the wound that turns out to be a magical talisman. He has been marked by the bear spirit/totem.

That's a cool idea. What would the talisman do?

3. The arcane/rogue elf rescues some sort of sylvan creature (i.e. fey/dryad) who makes a bowstring out of her hair which allows him to deliver touch spells through arrows.

I like the idea ... the effect could either be quite potent or completely useless, though, depending on what spells he selects. As an arcane trickster, most of his spells have to be either enchantment or illusion spells. I'll have to see how many of those are touch-based.

2. If the player prefers fighting in wild form, then perhaps an item that allows their attacks to be counted as magical? I'm not too familiar with the druid, so I don't know if there is already a feature that allows them to do that... maybe it grants them temporary hit points when they assume their form instead?

Yeah, they already get those things. Their beast form attacks count as magical from 6th level, while their beast form hit points already kinda count as temporary hit points, so I'd be hesitant to give them even more ... Survivability is already a moon druid's main strength.

For the rogue, I would probably roll on the DMG's properties and quirks tables to make a more unique variant of a 'generic' item.

Yeah, I thought about that. I might do that if I can't come up with anything better.

 

[Wik]

I've got one for the arcane trickster.

An elven coin, said to be left on the Earth by some sort of Elven God of Gambling - a Dionysius sorta fellow. It gives the wielder the ability to bend luck - both good and bad. Once per day, the elf can flip the coin. If heads, the elf will get advantage on one check in the next ten minutes. If tails, the elf will get disadvantage on on check in the next ten minutes.

The catch here is that the GM picks which test gets the modifier - and it's usually going to be a big one.

And if the elf DOESN'T flip the coin... the elf's luck gets completely twisted.

***

Another idea is don't give all the PCs magic items. For example, why not give the druid a relatively harmless animal companion? Say, a mouse with a character trait of some sort? Or a hare that gives (awful) advice? You're looking for relatively harmless character-building items. Relatively harmless henchmen fill the same purpose, and prevent you from having to wrack your brain to find a square block that fits a round hole.

 

[pukunui]

I've got one for the arcane trickster.

An elven coin, said to be left on the Earth by some sort of Elven God of Gambling - a Dionysius sorta fellow. It gives the wielder the ability to bend luck - both good and bad. Once per day, the elf can flip the coin. If heads, the elf will get advantage on one check in the next ten minutes. If tails, the elf will get disadvantage on on check in the next ten minutes.

The catch here is that the GM picks which test gets the modifier - and it's usually going to be a big one.

And if the elf DOESN'T flip the coin... the elf's luck gets completely twisted.

That's an intriguing idea! Thanks.

Another idea is don't give all the PCs magic items. For example, why not give the druid a relatively harmless animal companion? Say, a mouse with a character trait of some sort? Or a hare that gives (awful) advice? You're looking for relatively harmless character-building items. Relatively harmless henchmen fill the same purpose, and prevent you from having to wrack your brain to find a square block that fits a round hole.

That's possible. Funny you should suggest that, though, because I was actually thinking of giving him a human follower. Last session, he saved the life of a deckhand on a barge the PCs were traveling on when it got attacked by gnolls. The deckhand now owes the druid a life debt, and I thought maybe he could have a spiritual awakening sort of thing and decide that he wants to learn the ways of the druids or something.

 

[Wik]

T
That's possible. Funny you should suggest that, though, because I was actually thinking of giving him a human follower. Last session, he saved the life of a deckhand on a barge the PCs were traveling on when it got attacked by gnolls. The deckhand now owes the druid a life debt, and I thought maybe he could have a spiritual awakening sort of thing and decide that he wants to learn the ways of the druids or something.

Oo! Fun stuff. I approve. And here's an idea I was having myself - I was gonna use it for my own druidic PC, but that game went under, so now it's just floating around and I have to share.

The human companion is a guy who has always "felt the pull of the wild", but not to forests or anything... instead, he feels the pull to the sea/river. He felt at first that this meant he should be a sailor, but now that he's met a druid, he realizes it was something more. He wants to be a "water druid" or something similar.

What is fun with the guy is that he soon learns to shapechange... but he BECOMES the animal. As in, he loses almost all of his human identity, intelligence, or anything like that. He's a much more "primal" druid than the PC, and this can cause all sorts of problems that the PC has to sort out. Also, we're talking a druid here with a sailing background, and therefore is a druid who hates fire - very odd for every druid I've ever seen!

(in my own game, my druidic master was one who spent so long in animal form that he lost sight of his original form, and now was constantly shapeshifting. this druid had no name, gender, race, or any form of identity, because everything was in flux. However, druids flocked to him/her for leadership and guidance, because in a weird way, this druid that was now mostly animal had retained his/her intelligence. It was a really fun, almost jedi-like relationship!)

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

How about the hair lets the archer shoot themselves a la Misty Step?

 

[pukunui]

The human companion is a guy who has always "felt the pull of the wild", but not to forests or anything... instead, he feels the pull to the sea/river. He felt at first that this meant he should be a sailor, but now that he's met a druid, he realizes it was something more. He wants to be a "water druid" or something similar.

That sounds great. I could have him learn stuff like the shape water cantrip.

(in my own game, my druidic master was one who spent so long in animal form that he lost sight of his original form, and now was constantly shapeshifting. this druid had no name, gender, race, or any form of identity, because everything was in flux. However, druids flocked to him/her for leadership and guidance, because in a weird way, this druid that was now mostly animal had retained his/her intelligence. It was a really fun, almost jedi-like relationship!)

Neat!

How about the hair lets the archer shoot themselves a la Misty Step?

That's a cool idea! Thanks.

 

[was]

That's a cool idea. What would the talisman do?

..Maybe speak with bears at-will, maybe make all bears automatically friendly towards the druid or maybe allow him to transform into a bear at-will (normal at levels 1-10, dire at levels 10-20).

I like the idea ... the effect could either be quite potent or completely useless, though, depending on what spells he selects. As an arcane trickster, most of his spells have to be either enchantment or illusion spells. I'll have to see how many of those are touch-based.

..You could also have the bowstring produce/grow normal arrows at-will made of a thorn-type substance.