The special features tables for magic items are among 5E’s most flavorful additions. These details grant even the plainest of such items a unique feel. Still, any given list of options only remains fresh for so long. Presented in this series are additional random tables, adding new details and features. In this installment, Ari Marmell offers new quirks for your magic items; previous instalments covered minor properties, origins and history.
What Quirk Does It Have? Roll 1d12 on the table below!
1. Aesthetic
While in possession of this item, the bearer becomes exceptionally fascinated by sights of beauty—artwork, scenic vistas, lush growth—and feels the urge to take every opportunity to stop and appreciate them.
2. Affectionate
The GM selects one of the bearer’s companions at random. While in possession of the item, the bearer feels intense affection for this individual, above and beyond that felt for other members of the party, and makes every effort to perform little favors and services for, and to protect, that individual.
3. Bearer’s Mark
The item physically marks the bearer for as long as it remains in the bearer’s possession. This might take the form of a tattoo or brand, an unnatural change in eye or hair color, a slight alteration in the shape of a facial feature (such as the ears becoming pointed if the item is elven-made), or the like. This change is always minor, but noticeable.
4. Devout
The bearer must recite a prayer to one or more of the gods (of the bearer’s choice) before a long rest or else the bearer gains no benefit from that rest. The bearer must have given up the item at least 24 hours prior before this requirement fades.
5. Dreamer
The item imposes unnatural dreams. The bearer might dream in a different language, or in unidentifiable colors, or even using senses the bearer doesn’t actually possess. This has no effect on the quality of the bearer’s rest.
6. Empathic
This item changes appearance to match the bearer’s mood. Sadness might cause the item to appear worn and to turn blue, happiness might cause it to gleam brightly, anger might make it turn red and radiate heat, and so forth. These alterations are purely cosmetic, and do not alter the item’s function in any way.
7. Leech
The item feeds off healing magics cast on the bearer. Any spell or magical effect that cures injury restores one fewer hit point than normal to the bearer. (For instance, a cure wounds spell that heals 14 points of damage due to the roll of the dice would instead heal only 13.)
8. Mirrored
While the item is in the bearer’s possession, the bearer changes dominant hands. (That is, a right-handed bearer becomes left-handed, and vice-versa.)
9. Odorous
The item emits a constant odor, determined by the GM when the item is created. This might be a pleasant floral scent, an animal musk, a miasma of rot, or the like. Depending on the scent, insects or small animals might be attracted to, or repelled by, the item.
10. Prim
The item imposes a harmless but intense flash of pain on the bearer any time the bearer tells a lie, utters a profanity, fails to show proper respect to an important individual, or generally behaves in a rude or indecorous manner.
11. Ravenous
The item imposes a constant hunger. While the item is in the bearer’s possession, the bearer must consume half again (that is, 150%) as much food and water per day as is normal.
12. Restless
The item desperately wants to be used. (Activated, if it’s an item with charges, for instance; or wielded or worn in combat if it’s a weapon or armor.) If the bearer goes 24 hours without using the item, the item bestows a level of exhaustion on the bearer that disappears the moment the item is used, and can be eliminated in no other fashion.
What Quirk Does It Have? Roll 1d12 on the table below!
1. Aesthetic
While in possession of this item, the bearer becomes exceptionally fascinated by sights of beauty—artwork, scenic vistas, lush growth—and feels the urge to take every opportunity to stop and appreciate them.
2. Affectionate
The GM selects one of the bearer’s companions at random. While in possession of the item, the bearer feels intense affection for this individual, above and beyond that felt for other members of the party, and makes every effort to perform little favors and services for, and to protect, that individual.
3. Bearer’s Mark
The item physically marks the bearer for as long as it remains in the bearer’s possession. This might take the form of a tattoo or brand, an unnatural change in eye or hair color, a slight alteration in the shape of a facial feature (such as the ears becoming pointed if the item is elven-made), or the like. This change is always minor, but noticeable.
4. Devout
The bearer must recite a prayer to one or more of the gods (of the bearer’s choice) before a long rest or else the bearer gains no benefit from that rest. The bearer must have given up the item at least 24 hours prior before this requirement fades.
5. Dreamer
The item imposes unnatural dreams. The bearer might dream in a different language, or in unidentifiable colors, or even using senses the bearer doesn’t actually possess. This has no effect on the quality of the bearer’s rest.
6. Empathic
This item changes appearance to match the bearer’s mood. Sadness might cause the item to appear worn and to turn blue, happiness might cause it to gleam brightly, anger might make it turn red and radiate heat, and so forth. These alterations are purely cosmetic, and do not alter the item’s function in any way.
7. Leech
The item feeds off healing magics cast on the bearer. Any spell or magical effect that cures injury restores one fewer hit point than normal to the bearer. (For instance, a cure wounds spell that heals 14 points of damage due to the roll of the dice would instead heal only 13.)
8. Mirrored
While the item is in the bearer’s possession, the bearer changes dominant hands. (That is, a right-handed bearer becomes left-handed, and vice-versa.)
9. Odorous
The item emits a constant odor, determined by the GM when the item is created. This might be a pleasant floral scent, an animal musk, a miasma of rot, or the like. Depending on the scent, insects or small animals might be attracted to, or repelled by, the item.
10. Prim
The item imposes a harmless but intense flash of pain on the bearer any time the bearer tells a lie, utters a profanity, fails to show proper respect to an important individual, or generally behaves in a rude or indecorous manner.
11. Ravenous
The item imposes a constant hunger. While the item is in the bearer’s possession, the bearer must consume half again (that is, 150%) as much food and water per day as is normal.
12. Restless
The item desperately wants to be used. (Activated, if it’s an item with charges, for instance; or wielded or worn in combat if it’s a weapon or armor.) If the bearer goes 24 hours without using the item, the item bestows a level of exhaustion on the bearer that disappears the moment the item is used, and can be eliminated in no other fashion.
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