I allowed a Hammer of Thunderbolts with the gauntlets and girdle once. ONCE. It was absurd. Granted it was the first time I ran the giants modules, but it was absolutely ludicrous. I never allowed that combo again. For the scale of the game at the time, it was an impressive amount of to hit and damage bonuses.
AD&D- Overpowered Magic Items
- Thread starter Snarf Zagyg
- Start date
Blue
Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
Alas, I played a lot more high level AD&D 2nd then AD&D, so my memories are from then.
But if I can slide in from there, if you managed to roll that 17 needed for Charisma (and my primary DM made us roll in order) in order to play a Paladin, then the +5 Holy Avenger was your everything.
On other other hand, everyone could have Acme-brand fun with Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments.
But if I can slide in from there, if you managed to roll that 17 needed for Charisma (and my primary DM made us roll in order) in order to play a Paladin, then the +5 Holy Avenger was your everything.
On other other hand, everyone could have Acme-brand fun with Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments.
fuindordm
Adventurer
AD&D magic items deserving of unreasonable love? There are many, but the following are burned into my memory so I don't even need to open the DMG.
- Horn of Valhalla -- so much fun to summon a squad of einherjar for those big fights that my DM finally had a high-level thief steal it
- Frost Brand -- this one goes up to +6. Not all the time, but so amazing when it applies. Source of unlimited puns.
- Iron Bands of Bilarro -- An item that wouldn't be out of place in a Dr. Strange story. But who is Bilarro and why are their iron bands so damn strong? And do they watch every time you use it?
- Luck Blade -- sword with a wish!
- Staff of Power/Magi -- by the time you find one, you probably don't need it... but having the nuclear option in your hand is a real ego-booster.
- Tentacle rod -- <Homer>Let the probing begin!</Homer> OK it is from a module but I believe it entered Unearthed Arcana
Gus L
Adventurer
I don't know how overpowered these items are for AD&D... They're absolutely meant to win fights and provide players with very powerful options, but a) most have charges b) the game plays differently then more modern editions and it's not really about 1-2 big fair fights per adventure. Adventure design and general play style in AD&D mean that being able to trivialize a few (or many) combat encounters is something players are expected to be able to do... something they can already do. By mid-level any face-to-face fight in AD&D is going to be dangerous and at best result in PCs who have drained many spells and lost tools and HP. There's no short rests, and there are random encounters. Healing involves either waiting days or wasting magic that is better spent on utility or combat spells.
It's been said that PCs in older editions largely "level" by finding magic items, not through gaining class abilities. That's what these mostly rare magic items do. Not saying some aren't silly - I always liked the "Ivory Goats" figurines of wonderous power and the goat of Travail's ability to absolutely destroy things ... but I figure it's fair at a level when you start meeting things like demons that gate in their pals.
It's been said that PCs in older editions largely "level" by finding magic items, not through gaining class abilities. That's what these mostly rare magic items do. Not saying some aren't silly - I always liked the "Ivory Goats" figurines of wonderous power and the goat of Travail's ability to absolutely destroy things ... but I figure it's fair at a level when you start meeting things like demons that gate in their pals.
I wouldn’t call it overpowered, but the Quiver of Ehlonna/Efficient Quiver was a favorite of mine across all editions.
Other faves:
Decanter of Endless Water
IOUN stones
Boots of Speed…especially when paired with Shortswords of Speed
Helm of Opposite Alignment
Drawmij’s Instant Fortress
That last one we only got to use once. The party was being pursued in The Abyss, and we needed to change the odds more in our favor. Quickly.
So my PC tossed the DIF high in the air over the demonic leaders among our pursuers…and said the command word.
The now full-sized fortress crashed into the ground below with a thunderous, metallic “SPLANG!”, crushing unknown numbers of demons below it, Wizard of Oz/Wile E. Coyote style. It was also firmly wedged between two cliff walls. We had to leave it there to block the pursuit.
The Helm also only got deployed once. Someone teleported the party’s thief behind the Lich we were fighting, and he slammed it down on the Lich’s head. Unfortunately, not only didn’t it work, it was destroyed in the process. Still, the “boom” in question did turn the tide of battle permanently in the party’s favor.
Good times. Good times.
Other faves:
Decanter of Endless Water
IOUN stones
Boots of Speed…especially when paired with Shortswords of Speed
Helm of Opposite Alignment
Drawmij’s Instant Fortress
That last one we only got to use once. The party was being pursued in The Abyss, and we needed to change the odds more in our favor. Quickly.
So my PC tossed the DIF high in the air over the demonic leaders among our pursuers…and said the command word.
The now full-sized fortress crashed into the ground below with a thunderous, metallic “SPLANG!”, crushing unknown numbers of demons below it, Wizard of Oz/Wile E. Coyote style. It was also firmly wedged between two cliff walls. We had to leave it there to block the pursuit.
The Helm also only got deployed once. Someone teleported the party’s thief behind the Lich we were fighting, and he slammed it down on the Lich’s head. Unfortunately, not only didn’t it work, it was destroyed in the process. Still, the “boom” in question did turn the tide of battle permanently in the party’s favor.
Good times. Good times.
James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
I thought it was Daern's Instant Fortress? Either way though, it's a cool item.
More busted items: The Cube of Force. Yikes, just yikes. Being able to protect yourself from exactly what you need at the moment is amazing, but it also demonstrates exactly what a Wall of Force is capable of!
The Wand of Conjuration- what can this do? What can't it do! Recall that this thing can be found with as many as 100 charges!
And then lastly, an oddity. The Robe of Stars, found in Unearthed Arcana grants +1 to all saving throws and can provide up to six magic throwing stars (darts) per day (maximum range 6" or about 30', +5 to hit and damage, and dealing 2d4 base damage). Great but that's not the odd part.
Survive comfortably in SPACE?! What adventures were bringing players into outer space in 1985?! Was Spelljammer already being planned in 1st edition? Or did TSR have entirely different plans for D&D's future?
More busted items: The Cube of Force. Yikes, just yikes. Being able to protect yourself from exactly what you need at the moment is amazing, but it also demonstrates exactly what a Wall of Force is capable of!
The Wand of Conjuration- what can this do? What can't it do! Recall that this thing can be found with as many as 100 charges!
And then lastly, an oddity. The Robe of Stars, found in Unearthed Arcana grants +1 to all saving throws and can provide up to six magic throwing stars (darts) per day (maximum range 6" or about 30', +5 to hit and damage, and dealing 2d4 base damage). Great but that's not the odd part.
Survive comfortably in SPACE?! What adventures were bringing players into outer space in 1985?! Was Spelljammer already being planned in 1st edition? Or did TSR have entirely different plans for D&D's future?
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Remember that the (1979) DMG already had rules for crossover games with Gamma World and Boot Hill. Gary Gygax famously let Jim Ward and company stumble through a one-way portal onto the Starship Warden from Metamorphosis Alpha, as well. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks was 1980. And Temple of the Frog, from 1975's Blackmoor supplement, has an extraterrestrial.
Crossing genres with sci-fi was something D&D had early.
James Gasik
We don't talk about Pun-Pun
Crossing genres, sure, but it just struck me as odd that there was an item specifically designed to let you survive in outer space. The Necklace of Adaptation might allow for it, if the only problem is needing oxygen (for that matter the iridescent spindle ioun stone), but for all I know, the Robe is a functional spacesuit that protects you from the effects extremely low air pressure!
Especially since it's a bit unlikely you'd have a Robe of Stars for the whole party if your DM decides it's time for a space adventure!
Willie the Duck
Hero
The Necklace of Missiles (called Necklace of Fireballs in more recent D&Ds) was always a special one. It was like the Staff of the Magi in that you could blow it up in a massive overkill strike. The difference was that there was a plausible chance that you could do so from outside the blast radius. I know several instances where the immediate thing someone did when finding one was to horde it indefinitely for that one perfect occasion to set off all the uses at once -- at a distance-- and let the DM try to figure out how they wanted to do area overflow for multiple fireballs going off at once.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
True, but from what we saw of Gary's Actual Play reports from Lake Geneva back in the day, solo play wasn't uncommon for high level characters. And there were sometimes tricks or traps which might teleport a single character to a hostile environment (and I could totally see a Classic DM using outer space). Sure, it's a funky edge case, but that's part of the AD&D flavor!
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