D&D 5E +4 magic items - page 285 - Creating a New Magic Item

[GreyLord]

On this page in the DMG it appears that you can make +4 magic items. These would be excessively rare. I have not used one of these in a game, but if I read it correctly, this means that +3 is NOT the maximum bonus you can have for a magic item.

Has anyone made a +4 magic item, and what would you include on it. Would it be an artifact? Has anyone had a greater bonus on a weapon (for example, a +5 or +6 or greater?) in their game? What type of impacts did they have?

Would you suggest it? Would you advise against it?

 

[LordEntrails]

Against. There are so many more interesting ways to make a weapon more powerful. A static bonus is boring.

 

[billd91]

I don’t know why anybody would need it.

 

[jgsugden]

What is the difference between a +3 weapon wielded by a PC with a Strength of 29 from a belt of giant strength, and a +7 weapon in the hands of a PC with a strength of 20? Primarily: an attunement slot.

The +3 soft cap is there for a reason, but it is not truly necessary. It is ok to have overpowered PCs, especially at very high levels. I do have a +7 weapon in my campaign, and it has been wielded by PCs in 5E (at the end of two differewnt campaigns) - and it was just fine. It gave the PCs a truly epic retirement adventure experience.

 

[Weiley31]

It would be most certainly an Artifact. Even like an Artifact that goes beyond normal Artifacts. But that's only because in 5E, your Artifacts/Super Important/End Game tier Magic Weapons would be a +3.

 

[dave2008]

On this page in the DMG it appears that you can make +4 magic items. These would be excessively rare. I have not used one of these in a game, but if I read it correctly, this means that +3 is NOT the maximum bonus you can have for a magic item.

Has anyone made a +4 magic item, and what would you include on it. Would it be an artifact? Has anyone had a greater bonus on a weapon (for example, a +5 or +6 or greater?) in their game? What type of impacts did they have?

Would you suggest it? Would you advise against it?

IIRC, EnWorld made Excalibur a +4 weapon in Mythological Figures & Maleficent Monsters

 

[dave2008]

I don't have any issue necessarily with giving a weapon a +5 or whatever, but I am with @LordEntrails , it is just not very interesting.

Personally, I cap most magic items @ +1 to hit, but I give them interesting abilities and often give them bonus damage. Now, I read a book once were a sword "talked" to its wielder and told them when to strike. When I created a similar sword for my game I did give it a higher +bonus to hit because it fit the fiction of the item.

 

[cbwjm]

I'd be willing to use +4 on a weapon but it'd be like it says in the book, legendary. Most likely a singular item like an artefact and the +4 would be only part of what makes it unique. Could even make them the weapons of the gods if that's a thing in your campaigns. How cool would it be finding the spear of Odin or the shield of Zeus.

 

[Quickleaf]

I think if I did it, I would use the AD&D formula of "+1 weapon, +4 or +5 vs. lycanthropes" or something similar.

That allows some design space to add on other cool effects (e.g. "any foe reduced to 10 hit points or less by this blade in the hands of its attuned wielder is instead killed"), and gives a baseline of flavor akin to a "bane" weapon.

 

[Weiley31]

I like the idea that Excalibur becomes a +4 weapon in the hands of King Arthur and is just simply a +3 weapon in the hands of any other being.