D&D 5E Homebrew items, spells, and sundry that you've added to your campaigns

[cbwjm]

Hey Guys, we all spend a lot of time discussing how to improve classes or complaining about percieved problems in 5e. Howabout instead we have a thread about what we have all created for our homebrew worlds, things that have actually been used in our campaigns. I'm talking about feats and subclasses and spells and items rather than worlds and cities and pantheons. For instance, the following two items I have created for my games (I copied these from onenote, not sure why they transformed into images, but here we are).

Most of these are found in ancient dragonborn tombs or ruins, having been created during the time of a great war between dragons, elementals, and giants.

The Planar Shards are generally found when there is a place of planar bleed through. Close a portal to another realm and one might show up. In this case, the weapon smith needs to be a mage-smith to adjust a weapon to channel its power through a weapon. This is another addition to my games and is basically just someone trained in both Arcana and Smith's Tools. A dwarf mage-smith is also able to craft a masterpiece, a magical item, once in their lifetime in much the same way as dwarves in norse legends were crafters of items.

So what have you created? I'd like to check it out.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I almost always homebrew magic items for my players, and I have a character who crafts in my buddy’s campaign. Some of my favorites:

Armor my rogue enchanted for my wife’s ranger, with help from her (the character) husband.

Armor of The Stormstalker

This white and grey armor is made from the pelt of a Snowy Mountain Owlbear, and reinforced with its bones. Grey streaked white fur lines the armor.

While wearing this armor, you are unaffected by temperatures ranging from 120 degrees Fahrenheit to -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

You do not suffer disadvantage to Wisdom checks when your vision is lightly obscured by dim light, or by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
You can cast Speak with Animals once without spending a spell slot or material components, while you are wearing this armor. The spell cannot be cast in this way again until the next dawn.

(Note, we imagine studded leather as two layers of leather reinforced with bands of metal. Any “studs” are simply a result of overly utilitarian design, and are rivers holding the armor together. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the idea that studs make the armor work better)

For my Shadar-kai Monk, in Eberron:

Bracelets of Obsidian

These bracers appear to be perfect circles of pure obsidian, about 2 inches wide, and as thin as a blade. When attuned, they reshape themselves to fit snug on the wearer's wrist, and seem to reshape themselves as if made of silk when the wearer moves their hands, always perfectly comfortable, and cool to the touch regardless of the temperature of the wearer or the weather around them.
While attuned, the wearer can draw a weapon of pure obsidian out of the material of the bracelet as part of making an attack, or by Interacting With an Object. When doing so, a wisp of shadow escapes the bracelet and reaches out to the wearer's fingers, forming the weapon from the shadowstuff as the wearer pulls it into their hand.
The weapon can take any of the following forms. The specific look of the weapon is determined by the attuned wearer's expecatations, and can even change from one use to another.
Obsidian Blades.
Daggers. The dagger can be anywhere from 2 to 9 inches long, though this has no affect on the statistics of the weapon. The handle of the dagger can either be flat for optimal throwing, or thicker than the blade for a solid grip. Your range when throwing these daggers is increased to 60/120.
Handaxes. As handaxes, the blades can be anywhere from 10 to 20 inches long, though this has no affect on the statistics of the weapon. The light material and perfect balance of these blades make them a more elegant weapon than they would otherwise be. The blades gain the Finesse property.
A wearer can only have 2 Obsidian Blades manifested at once, and manifesting a new blade causes old bladess to return to shadowstuff, and dart at incredible speed back into the bracelets, regardless of distance.
Spiked Chain.
The chain can be of a length ranging from a 4 to 9 feet, and is a whip, except that it has the Versatile (1d6) property, and is a monk weapon. If you are attuned to the bracelets, you are proficient with this weapon.

My Bard In FR has a “Songblade” that gives him some extra (and more powerful) things he can do with Bardic Inspiration and lets him attack with Charisma. His half-brother, a Ranger I used to play who is now an NPC, has a Lightning Rod Spear that is finesse, does extra lightning damage on a crit, is returning, and can cast Lightning Bolt 1/day, as well as a Finesse Returning Handax that does extra Thunder on a crit, called Storm Wind.

In that same campaign, my bud has armor that lets him recharge any limited use class features such as Superiority Dice, spell slots, or Bardic Inspiration Dice, up to some amount per day (don’t recall off hand).

My favorite right now is my rogue’s “light dueling spear” (reflavored rapier) named Spell Eater.

While holding this weapon, you can use a reaction to expend 1 of its 7 charges to cast the absorb elements, or 3 charges to cast the counterspell, or dispel magic spells
The weapon can also be used as an arcane focus.
The weapon regains 1d6+1 expended charges daily at dawn.

Edit: Spell Eater May eventually do even more spell eating, but focused on disrupting things like the connection between a caster and a summoned or controlled creature. Possibly modeled by transferring some of the damage it deals to a creature to any creature tied to it by magic? We are still working out the details.

 

[DND_Reborn]

My gosh, there is too much to post! But, since I rarely see people talking about feats, I'll share ours. Some are new, some are house-ruled to match our other rules, and some are revisions of the ones already in the PHB.

 

[cbwjm]

I almost always homebrew magic items for my players, and I have a character who crafts in my buddy’s campaign. Some of my favorites:

Armor my rogue enchanted for my wife’s ranger, with help from her (the character) husband.

Armor of The Stormstalker

This white and grey armor is made from the pelt of a Snowy Mountain Owlbear, and reinforced with its bones. Grey streaked white fur lines the armor.

While wearing this armor, you are unaffected by temperatures ranging from 120 degrees Fahrenheit to -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

You do not suffer disadvantage to Wisdom checks when your vision is lightly obscured by dim light, or by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.
You can cast Speak with Animals once without spending a spell slot or material components, while you are wearing this armor. The spell cannot be cast in this way again until the next dawn.

(Note, we imagine studded leather as two layers of leather reinforced with bands of metal. Any “studs” are simply a result of overly utilitarian design, and are rivers holding the armor together. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the idea that studs make the armor work better)

For my Shadar-kai Monk, in Eberron:

Bracelets of Obsidian

These bracers appear to be perfect circles of pure obsidian, about 2 inches wide, and as thin as a blade. When attuned, they reshape themselves to fit snug on the wearer's wrist, and seem to reshape themselves as if made of silk when the wearer moves their hands, always perfectly comfortable, and cool to the touch regardless of the temperature of the wearer or the weather around them.
While attuned, the wearer can draw a weapon of pure obsidian out of the material of the bracelet as part of making an attack, or by Interacting With an Object. When doing so, a wisp of shadow escapes the bracelet and reaches out to the wearer's fingers, forming the weapon from the shadowstuff as the wearer pulls it into their hand.
The weapon can take any of the following forms. The specific look of the weapon is determined by the attuned wearer's expecatations, and can even change from one use to another.
Obsidian Blades.
Daggers. The dagger can be anywhere from 2 to 9 inches long, though this has no affect on the statistics of the weapon. The handle of the dagger can either be flat for optimal throwing, or thicker than the blade for a solid grip. Your range when throwing these daggers is increased to 60/120.
Handaxes. As handaxes, the blades can be anywhere from 10 to 20 inches long, though this has no affect on the statistics of the weapon. The light material and perfect balance of these blades make them a more elegant weapon than they would otherwise be. The blades gain the Finesse property.
A wearer can only have 2 Obsidian Blades manifested at once, and manifesting a new blade causes old bladess to return to shadowstuff, and dart at incredible speed back into the bracelets, regardless of distance.
Spiked Chain.
The chain can be of a length ranging from a 4 to 9 feet, and is a whip, except that it has the Versatile (1d6) property, and is a monk weapon. If you are attuned to the bracelets, you are proficient with this weapon.

My Bard In FR has a “Songblade” that gives him some extra (and more powerful) things he can do with Bardic Inspiration and lets him attack with Charisma. His half-brother, a Ranger I used to play who is now an NPC, has a Lightning Rod Spear that is finesse, does extra lightning damage on a crit, is returning, and can cast Lightning Bolt 1/day, as well as a Finesse Returning Handax that does extra Thunder on a crit, called Storm Wind.

In that same campaign, my bud has armor that lets him recharge any limited use class features such as Superiority Dice, spell slots, or Bardic Inspiration Dice, up to some amount per day (don’t recall off hand).

My favorite right now is my rogue’s “light dueling spear” (reflavored rapier) named Spell Eater.

While holding this weapon, you can use a reaction to expend 1 of its 7 charges to cast the absorb elements, or 3 charges to cast the counterspell, or dispel magic spells
The weapon can also be used as an arcane focus.
The weapon regains 1d6+1 expended charges daily at dawn.

Edit: Spell Eater May eventually do even more spell eating, but focused on disrupting things like the connection between a caster and a summoned or controlled creature. Possibly modeled by transferring some of the damage it deals to a creature to any creature tied to it by magic? We are still working out the details.

I like these items, I'm always a fan of weapons and armour that do more than just grant a bonus to hit and damage. The songblade reminds of an item I was thinking of making which was called a wizard's dagger that allowed them to use Intelligence to attack with it, that would be all it would do though. Your spell eater weapon is pretty cool, I can imagine a mage-slayer with something like that hunting down rogue mages.

The charges of spell eater also reminded me of some wands I created, I'd forgotten them because I made them in DnD Beyond rather than writing them down in my one note campaign journal. I liked the old wands of flame from 2e that allowed the wizard to cast 3 or 4 different spells with them so created some similar, though smaller in scope. Wands of frost, flame, and storms. Each one grants the user a cantrip (which scales with level), as well as a 1st level spell that uses charges.

My gosh, there is too much to post! But, since I rarely see people talking about feats, I'll share ours. Some are new, some are house-ruled to match our other rules, and some are revisions of the ones already in the PHB.

Some nice changes to feats, I also allow ritual caster to choose any spell with the ritual tag. I'm also considering it for spellcasters that have ritual casting as part of their spellcasting feature to all have ritual books and also be able to add any ritual spell to them, still restricted to their spell list for choosing spells when levelling up. I also just saw your response to someone in another thread about Expertise so I can understand why you changed that one to remove expertise. I actually made prodigy free for any race to pick rather than just human and human adjacent.

Just wondering about durable, do you have a houserule in effect so that you don't regain all hit points during a long rest?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I like these items, I'm always a fan of weapons and armour that do more than just grant a bonus to hit and damage. The songblade reminds of an item I was thinking of making which was called a wizard's dagger that allowed them to use Intelligence to attack with it, that would be all it would do though. Your spell eater weapon is pretty cool, I can imagine a mage-slayer with something like that hunting down rogue mages.

The charges of spell eater also reminded me of some wands I created, I'd forgotten them because I made them in DnD Beyond rather than writing them down in my one note campaign journal. I liked the old wands of flame from 2e that allowed the wizard to cast 3 or 4 different spells with them so created some similar, though smaller in scope. Wands of frost, flame, and storms. Each one grants the user a cantrip (which scales with level), as well as a 1st level spell that uses charges.

Thanks!
I’m all about leveling up items, as well, btw. Spell Eater began as simply a magical weapon that allows me to cast Absorb Elements for a charge, with 3 charges, regained in full with long rest. The fact that it works a bit like a wand is intentional, because he is a rogue/wizard inventor, and has a very mathematical understanding of both sword fighting and spellcasting (and enchanting). He combined an owlbear’s femur with a leaf shaped obsidian blade, both primed by their nature for certain types of magical effect, to create a blade for hunting mages (excellent eye on that call, btw!) and particularly necromancers and diabolators. He has Mage Slayer, and as a Gnome Rogue he is pretty hard for a mage to kill.

That same character also has a revolver hand crossbow. It’s got Reload 6, but is otherwise a normal hand crossbow, for now. He plans on upgrading the arms, and adding enchanted primers for alchemically prepared arrows.

Lastly, he has slowly been improving the formulas for Acid and Alchemists Fire. Firstly, he has made them concentrated enough to work at full effect in a crossbow arrow (“bolt” is incorrect for a fletched arrow, which is what most crossbows use). He is working on a formula that will pressurize and stick to things when activated, so he can shoot an AoE version of the formulas, and his AF can deal 1d6 fire on the initial hit, and to make both formulas less expensive if possible.

What’s fun ( for me ) is having to work for these things, and play out the R&D process, make checks, sometimes waste a vial worth of ingredients, and ultimately take time and money equal to crafting a magic item in order to make the improved formula or figure out the new invention.

 

[Bitbrain]

In my current Eberron campaign, the only real magic weapon yet encountered is the Fiendlock’s magic longsword. Currently, the weapon deals an extra 1d4 fire damage in addition to the regular 1d8 slashing damage.

Spoiler

The Orc Life Cleric and the Human Necromancer Wizard have both concluded that there is something suspicious about the Fiendlock’s weapon, but have differing opinions on what exactly.

The Orc Cleric believes that it is cursed, and hosts a demonic spirit.

The Necromancer thinks it negatively affects probabilities, bringing social and emotional misfortune down upon the Fiendlock.

Spoiler

They’re both wrong.
The Fiendlock actually possesses a latent Aberrant Dragonmark, and while powerful, the weapon itself is just a red herring.

 

[delphonso]

Creating magic items is just about my favorite part of preparing for a session. I tend to avoid the stuff given directly from the DMG, and make my own instead. As a result, they're often completely broken and unbalanced - but generally my players handle it well. I often give them as specific rewards for players who are doing a damn-good job. I'll include a few below.

Strongheart's Helmet

Plain, steel, and rounded - this helmet is unassuming except for an anatomically correct image of a heart just above the brow. In combat, the wearer of this helmet may choose an enemy. If the wearer starts their turn with less HP than this enemy, they recover 1d8 HP. This health can only be regained once per day, and only one enemy may be selected.

(Made for our Ranger, who - for some reason - ended up being the tank of the party. Basically, it's a Second Wind that requires a long-rest.)

Bear Brawler

This cloak is made from the skin of a dire bear. It rests as a hood and robe over the wearer, and gives them a grizzly appearance. When shrugged off of your shoulders, you gain 1d6 temporary hit-points. Fear effects will strip the user of these temporary hit points.

(For a monk who killed a dire bear with a flurry of blows. This became an emblematic tool of the character - shrugging it off before every fight - often while leaping through the air toward enemies. Never exploited it - as he could have spent combat just putting this thing back on and shrugging it off at every hit.)

Fake Deaths (Half dozen: 600gp, Dozen: 1000gp)

These small, egg-like objects can be smashed over a living being to create a perfect replica of their body, appearing in all ways to be dead. The body double lasts for 12 hours. With a DC 16 Investigation test, others can realize the body is a fake.

(Taken from an Oglaf comic. My PC's had a great time with these.)

Mask of the Devotee

This mask, which morphs to look like the primary deity of the wearer, grants the wearer a boon of devotion to their cause. The wearer gains +2 to Initiative and is immune to fear effects.

(Given to the Paladin in our party who role-played the job very well.)

An Extra Pair of Hands

These pure white pine hands are carved with precise skill - looking almost lifelike. They're connected by a blood-red ribbon, allowing them to be worn over the shoulders like a stole. If worn, a paladin gains an additional 5 points of Lay on Hands to use in a day.

(An item for that same paladin as they were the party's only form of healing. I gave this to him when he went 3 sessions without ever healing himself and only helping party members in between Divine Smites. Best damn paladin I've ever seen.)

Amulet of Pure Bravery

The wearer of this amulet can dig down into a resource of absolute bravery, granting themselves and 2 of their allies 3 times the usual movement speed as long as that movement is away from enemies toward safety. This effect may be used once per day, activated as a bonus action.

(On the rare occasion when a party chooses to leave a fight, regroup, and tackle it another way, I want to encourage that behavior.)


And, the one I absolutely recommend to any group that fails to think ahead:

The Mission Clipboard (200gp)

When the user and up to 5 allies spend 10 minutes together talking about some plan or strategy, the Mission Clipboard will grant all of them +2 to one skill of the holder's choice. This bonus lasts 1 hour, and can be changed at any time by spending 10 minutes with the Clipboard again.

(This is a Campaign Podcast reference. I've seen this item entirely change the way groups play the game.)

 

[MonkeezOnFire]

In my current campaign I came up with a system called Corruption which is basically how often you encounter evil influences. These evil influences were very much by my gut as a DM. It could be anything from failing a few too many saving throws against the despair inducing Shadowfell to just spending a too much time near areas tainted by demonic influence. Currently only 1 PC has been affected enough to become corrupted and this is what happened to them:

-Magic Resistance: You have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects
-Fear of Death: When you are reduced to half your hp or less you gain the frightened condition for 1 hour. This effect ends early if you regain enough hp to be over half your maximum or if you remove yourself from the environment in which you were feared.

NPCs went further along and got even more abilities and drawbacks. One villain got the ability to inhabit the body of anyone he killed. A divination wizard ally to the party purposely exposed himself to a corrupting disease so that he could gain the ability to sense corrupting influences and individuals with corruption in order to help catch the villain.

 

[cbwjm]

Creating magic items is just about my favorite part of preparing for a session. I tend to avoid the stuff given directly from the DMG, and make my own instead. As a result, they're often completely broken and unbalanced - but generally my players handle it well. I often give them as specific rewards for players who are doing a damn-good job. I'll include a few below.

Strongheart's Helmet

Plain, steel, and rounded - this helmet is unassuming except for an anatomically correct image of a heart just above the brow. In combat, the wearer of this helmet may choose an enemy. If the wearer starts their turn with less HP than this enemy, they recover 1d8 HP. This health can only be regained once per day, and only one enemy may be selected.

(Made for our Ranger, who - for some reason - ended up being the tank of the party. Basically, it's a Second Wind that requires a long-rest.)

Bear Brawler

This cloak is made from the skin of a dire bear. It rests as a hood and robe over the wearer, and gives them a grizzly appearance. When shrugged off of your shoulders, you gain 1d6 temporary hit-points. Fear effects will strip the user of these temporary hit points.

(For a monk who killed a dire bear with a flurry of blows. This became an emblematic tool of the character - shrugging it off before every fight - often while leaping through the air toward enemies. Never exploited it - as he could have spent combat just putting this thing back on and shrugging it off at every hit.)

Fake Deaths (Half dozen: 600gp, Dozen: 1000gp)

These small, egg-like objects can be smashed over a living being to create a perfect replica of their body, appearing in all ways to be dead. The body double lasts for 12 hours. With a DC 16 Investigation test, others can realize the body is a fake.

(Taken from an Oglaf comic. My PC's had a great time with these.)

Mask of the Devotee

This mask, which morphs to look like the primary deity of the wearer, grants the wearer a boon of devotion to their cause. The wearer gains +2 to Initiative and is immune to fear effects.

(Given to the Paladin in our party who role-played the job very well.)

An Extra Pair of Hands

These pure white pine hands are carved with precise skill - looking almost lifelike. They're connected by a blood-red ribbon, allowing them to be worn over the shoulders like a stole. If worn, a paladin gains an additional 5 points of Lay on Hands to use in a day.

(An item for that same paladin as they were the party's only form of healing. I gave this to him when he went 3 sessions without ever healing himself and only helping party members in between Divine Smites. Best damn paladin I've ever seen.)

Amulet of Pure Bravery

The wearer of this amulet can dig down into a resource of absolute bravery, granting themselves and 2 of their allies 3 times the usual movement speed as long as that movement is away from enemies toward safety. This effect may be used once per day, activated as a bonus action.

(On the rare occasion when a party chooses to leave a fight, regroup, and tackle it another way, I want to encourage that behavior.)


And, the one I absolutely recommend to any group that fails to think ahead:

The Mission Clipboard (200gp)

When the user and up to 5 allies spend 10 minutes together talking about some plan or strategy, the Mission Clipboard will grant all of them +2 to one skill of the holder's choice. This bonus lasts 1 hour, and can be changed at any time by spending 10 minutes with the Clipboard again.

(This is a Campaign Podcast reference. I've seen this item entirely change the way groups play the game.)

Nice items, I like how a lot of these are based on campaign events. The Bear Brawler is especially nice in this regard and even thoough it only provides a small bonus, I can imagine it being one of the more memorable items.

 

[cbwjm]

In my current campaign I came up with a system called Corruption which is basically how often you encounter evil influences. These evil influences were very much by my gut as a DM. It could be anything from failing a few too many saving throws against the despair inducing Shadowfell to just spending a too much time near areas tainted by demonic influence. Currently only 1 PC has been affected enough to become corrupted and this is what happened to them:

-Magic Resistance: You have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects
-Fear of Death: When you are reduced to half your hp or less you gain the frightened condition for 1 hour. This effect ends early if you regain enough hp to be over half your maximum or if you remove yourself from the environment in which you were feared.

NPCs went further along and got even more abilities and drawbacks. One villain got the ability to inhabit the body of anyone he killed. A divination wizard ally to the party purposely exposed himself to a corrupting disease so that he could gain the ability to sense corrupting influences and individuals with corruption in order to help catch the villain.

This sounds like quite the cool campaign setting. Only 1 of them has been corrupted, but have any of the other PCs been tempted to purposefully corrupt themselves for power after seeing what happened to the 1st PC?