Quickleaf
Legend
Here's a house rule I'm considering playing with inspired by Simon the Sorcerer from the D&D movie. Appreciate your critical eye. Some of the goals:
Attunement: Attuning to a magic item is an Action, but it is not automatically successful and there are consequences for failure. On the other hand, there is no arbitrary 3-item attunement limit. Here’s how it works: When you attempt to attune to an item, make a check according to the item type (e.g. a vicious longsword might require a Strength check while a helm of comprehending languages might require an Intelligence check).
The DC is 10 for common items, 12 uncommon, 14 rare, 16 very rare, 18 legendary, and 20 artifact. The GM adds a +1 bonus for each way you align with the item (e.g. having the Sage background might give +1 on the check to attune with a helm of comprehending languages), and a -1 penalty for each item you’re already attuned with. If you’ve recently attuned to an item or the item was recently attuned to someone else, you have disadvantage on the check. Whereas if another PC is able to Help you, you have advantage on the check.
If the check succeeds, you attune to the item. However, if it fails, you suffer some consequence like a level of exhaustion, but some magic items may present unique consequences for failure. Here are some ideas for balancing consequences:
EDIT: need to provide less severe example consequences per @Vaalingrade's and @JohnSnow's feedback.
- Allow PCs to try and use a magic item that requires attunement on the fly without needing to break pacing with a short rest.
- Lift the arbitrary 3 item attunement hard limit, and use a softer more risk-based limit.
- Provide a mechanic that the GM can build on top of with Curses, Ancestral/Vestige/Level-based improvement, Memories revealed, etc.
Attunement: Attuning to a magic item is an Action, but it is not automatically successful and there are consequences for failure. On the other hand, there is no arbitrary 3-item attunement limit. Here’s how it works: When you attempt to attune to an item, make a check according to the item type (e.g. a vicious longsword might require a Strength check while a helm of comprehending languages might require an Intelligence check).
The DC is 10 for common items, 12 uncommon, 14 rare, 16 very rare, 18 legendary, and 20 artifact. The GM adds a +1 bonus for each way you align with the item (e.g. having the Sage background might give +1 on the check to attune with a helm of comprehending languages), and a -1 penalty for each item you’re already attuned with. If you’ve recently attuned to an item or the item was recently attuned to someone else, you have disadvantage on the check. Whereas if another PC is able to Help you, you have advantage on the check.
If the check succeeds, you attune to the item. However, if it fails, you suffer some consequence like a level of exhaustion, but some magic items may present unique consequences for failure. Here are some ideas for balancing consequences:
EDIT: need to provide less severe example consequences per @Vaalingrade's and @JohnSnow's feedback.
| Rarity | Attunement DC | Example Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 10 | Expend Hit Die, knocked prone, 1d10 damage, Cantrip or 1st level spell |
| Uncommon | 12 | A level of exhaustion, paralyzed, 3d10 damage, 2nd or 3rd level spell |
| Rare | 14 | Item teleported or stolen, stunned, 6d10 damage, 4th or 5th level spell |
| Very Rare | 16 | Item becomes nonfunctional for a time, petrified, teleported 100’s of miles, 10d10 damage, 6th or 7th level spell |
| Legendary | 18 | Item vanishes or is planeshifted, Legendary Actions of an androsphinx, 12d10 damage, 8th or 9th level spell |
| Artifact | 20 | GM's discretion |
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