D&D 5E Magic Items You'll Never Give Out

[Draegn]

I encourage my players to create their own items.

 

[TheNoremac42]

As a DM, my goal isn't actually to kill characters. That is simply a side effect of other things that are happening (dice, monsters, player actions, etc).

This is something I sometimes struggle with... I want to accurately play the bad guys, and often their goal is to kill the PCs trying to foil their plans. However, if I put all my energy into killing the PCs (which is what the NPCs would do) then I look like a jerk. But I also don't want to give the PCs plot armor. It's a difficult balance to find, and sometimes a conflict of interest.

On topic though... Weapons of Warning, and those eagle-eye goggle things. We once had a ranger/assassin with the Sharpshooter feat, those goggles, and an ever-filling quiver. You could've switched his bow with a heat-seeking missile launcher and you wouldn't have known the difference. Besides that, my DM experience is too small to really judge anything else.

 

[Caliban]

This is something I sometimes struggle with... I want to accurately play the bad guys, and often their goal is to kill the PCs trying to foil their plans. However, if I put all my energy into killing the PCs (which is what the NPCs would do) then I look like a jerk. But I also don't want to give the PCs plot armor. It's a difficult balance to find, and sometimes a conflict of interest.

Matt Mercer (DM on the Critical Role podcast) said something that I found particularly apt.

"I'm not trying to kill the PC's, I'm giving them an opportunity to be heroes." Or something like that.

Let the bad guys do what they would do. Sometimes you put your finger on the scale to make it more exciting or give someone a chance to do their special thing, but ultimately let the PC's succeed or fail on their own merits.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I don't like plain +x weapons/armor. I try to make sure that any magic weapon or armor I give out has some cool feature to it. (In the campaign I just ended, Clench was a +2 short sword that could also function as an immovable rod. Though of course, not usually at the same time, since it takes an action to activate the rod.)

I don't like items that completely bypass an aspect of the game, such as the aforementioned periapt. Otherwise, I tend simply to avoid items that are inappropriate for a given game, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't use them in a different campaign. (Though there may be some I'm not thinking of.)

 

[Quickleaf]

I'll never include the Eye, Hand, or Head of Vecna... promise (fingers crossed)...

at least not by a name or form the players will readily recognize.

 

[pemerton]

I'll never include the Eye, Hand, or Head of Vecna

Ignoring the Head, why not the Eye or Hand?

 

[futrtrubl]

Well it's just good planning. What, you expect them to do something crazy, like remove the periapt and stab them again?

You don't need even that. It would be easy to kill a periapt user as an Assassin. "My character draws an extra dagger." Main hand attack probably a crit. Off hand attack, probably a crit. Dead.

 

[Quickleaf]

Ignoring the Head, why not the Eye or Hand?

"at least not by a name or form the players will readily recognize." Because I'm a rat bastard.

 

[hastur_nz]

I've never been a fan of Cursed items, and from memory 5e does a poor job of implementing them, probably worse than AD&D was (where they at least fit into the 'save or die' type mechanic, i.e. something for DM's to pick on their players with). That said, I don't recall any items in 5e that I'd *never* give out - with so few items given, compared to what's available, you just never know when something might take your fancy and end up in your game; it's all a matter of context.

For example I once ran a 3.5 campaign where a player got an intelligent item, a talking (sentient) Horn of Valhalla. It was kind of a joke initially, but it was actually a cool item that added value to the game all the way through to the end, which was quite a few levels. I think it helped that we only had 2-3 players, so an additional Personality in the mix, from time to time, wasn't a big deal (the PC in question was an Ogre, and also had his own personal Dire Elk to ride, and so on - it was approaching Epic level). Basically, the magical horn was a minor NPC.

Oh hang on - one item I'd probably never put into my game would be the Head of Vecna... you just never know how stupid your players might be...

But I have used the Hand of Vecna, in Age of Worms, twice - first time the group was pretty tempted to use it I forget what happened in the end; second time they burred it in the centre of Oearth. Oh, and in AD&D days I definitely handed out the Sword of Kas, but those days were pretty dumb...

 

[ccs]

Hopefully, the assassin knows enough to check for and remove jewelry or other possible magic items after the second or third time they do an auto-crit sneak attack on the unconscious body and the target doesn't die. Or even research their target enough to know what protective magic items they have ahead of time...

Because if they just stand there sawing away at the unconscious guys throat...well, they deserve whatever happens.

Well if I can't saw his head off I guess I'll just have to smother him with this pillow....