D&D 5E Most annoying / awesome magic items

[Li Shenron]

Can't say which were the most awesome because there are actually too many...

But as for the most annoying, the prize simply goes to all the weapons/armors/shields that besides a (possibly awesome) main magic ability also come with a +.

 

[dmnqwk]

I've been writing custom magic items for 5E. I like that 5E encourages the creation of custom magic items that last a character's entire adventuring career.

Speaking of creating custom magical items, I agree that 5th edition is good for that. I also like to create items wherein the power level of them is tied to the player's bracket (ie 1st to 4th, 5th to 10th, 11th to 16th, 17th to 20th) and instead of simply being +1, +2, +3 etc having a weapon that unlocks as their character progresses (so they dont feel they have to abandon favourite ones)

Flametongue Dagger, for example, could be a scaling weapon that adds fire damage to the player as well as offering bonuses relating to diplomacy
1st-4th: The dagger adds +3d4 fire damage on critical hits, as well as advantage on deception checks while wielded.
5th - 10th: It adds +1d4 fire damage permanently, as well as advantage on persuasion checks while wielded.
11th - 16th: The critical hit effect is replaced by producing a burning hands spell (3rd level) and intimidation is added to the list of advantage.
17th: The permanent fire damage is increased to +2d4, the burning hands effect is up to 5th level and you gain advantage to diplomacy checks just by having it on you.

By not forcing you to even require a +bonus to make weapons magical I feel it opens things up nicely to allow you to equip a party with magical weapons that don't necessarily boil down to combat modifiers.

 

[Mirtek]

Hope you mean "worn", not " wielded"

Unless you mean during agresive negoations

 

[Prism]

In my last long running 1e campaign (that ended right before the playtest started), we had a paladin in our group, and yes, he wanted a holy avenger. We were running T1-4, and one of the arch villains was a half ogre wielding Blackrazor (long story). After finally beating Zuggtmoy and that half ogre, the paladin got a vision that he'd have to take the evil sword, have a white dragon breath on it, and then smash it with Whelm. Only then could he take it to a high church of St Cuthbert and have it reforged into a holy avenger. So naturally it was a pretty significant quest item

As far as worst magic items I've seen in 5e so far? Hezeron (sp) from HotDQ. A greatsword that inflicts an extra 2d6 damage above and beyond normal was like giving a cheat code to the fighter, largely because it is found at such a low relative level. I've never been one to really care if another PC did more damage on average, but that sort of goes above and beyond.

Well the flame tongue also does 2d6 extra damage so its not too out of place to be found at 7th-8th level. However I think what is missing is some extra background on the fact its an intelligent evil item - probably because the DMG wasn't completed at the time of writing. When we played this adventure and found it we threw it away as soon as we found out that it was intelligent and started to offer things to its wielder (me). To much bad history with intelligent items I guess.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

2. Ring of Sustenance. What do I get? Protection? Regeneration??!!??? Oh, wait... I no longer have to write down that I have two weeks of rations on my character sheet. Thanks.

I like the Ring of Sustenance for the two hours of sleep needed. I had a Fighter with one in an urban campaign and it let her patrol the bad part of town at night superhero style and she was still active during the day.

I'm a fan of the random items--Wand of Wonder, Deck of Many Things (although I've never seen it in actual use), Robe of Useful Items (although it's versatile rather than random), etc.

To echo many others I'm not a fan of +X items because they're boring to me. I'd rather have a +0 shortsword that glows when orcs are around than a +X weapon because it sparks my imagination more.

 

[Ristamar]

In terms of "classic" magic items, I've always liked Beads of Force.

 

[Miladoon]

The Dust of Dryness is a quest item I am using for a novel I am writing. The novel is based off of a 5E game session and the DoDryness was amazing. I needed some Dust of Dryness during my high school days.

Sun swords are annoying in a cool jedi sort of way.

I find the art more annoying than the write ups. Weapons look unwieldy and the shields look like wall ornaments. I mean, what kind of manly Eldritch Knight is going to be found wearing THAT Headband of Intellect? (DMG, pg. 145)

But then again, there is some pretty cool looking magic item art.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Heh, I had a villain use that very same trick on the PCs.

I’ll amend my dislike of plain +1 items with an exception. Playing BECMI, that first +1 sword you get that also sheds light is still the coolest in my book.

I used cursed weapons to great effect back in AD&D days, because they typically were cursed so you couldn't get rid of them. So basically you couldn't be disarmed.

 

[Istbor]

I don't disagree- but this works best for low-magic (as in low-magic item) campaigns.

It's about the game structure. I would argue that character power and differentiation in 1e/OSR came about largely from roleplaying and "stuff" (magic items), whereas there's a lot more meat to the player abilities in 5e (thus requiring there to be less stuff, or your games start to get absurdly overpowered).

5e makes it much easier to support a low-magic item campaign, and, therefore, allows each item to be more special.

Very true, but you have figured me out I am afraid. I am a huge fan of low-magic settings and campaigns. Though in editions or settings where more magic is needed to keep with the status quo, I always did so.

I tell you, I hated every minute of it! Haha, no. I am very glad 5e generally brings that feeling of magic items are magic once again.

The only other magical item I hated was a statuette of a pair of Lions that ended up being intelligent and lawful good. Not to get into too much detail, but we kept our horde of loot on a Paladin's summoned mount and these blasted things convinced him to some holy quest through a mysterious portal we had found. Taking the treasure with him, as he was compelled to leave that very night, the rest of us decided to pursue in hopes of getting our hard earned wealth back. Let's just say, it went down hill from there.

 

[TwinPeaksGuy]

I am personally a fan of +0 items. Things like a quarterstaff that can cast Light on itself for 1 hour upon command and counts as a magical weapon, but offers +0 to hit and damage. Or a Breastplate made of Bulette shell that is wearable by a Druid but a normal breastplate stats-wise.

If the magic items are to be scaled back in power, having more items available on the lowest end of the spectrum adds flavor but little additional power, and still makes that +1 item feel like something to really appreciate.