What was your favorite 1e/2e magic item?

[candidus_cogitens]

What one item has the most nostalgia for you as you think back on early editions of D&D?

 

[Psion]

Staff of the Magi

It was a brass ring for mage characters.

And whenever one made it into the game, you could just about guarantee it would be cracked in two in an attempt to escape from a desperate situation.

 

[Crothian]

I loved the Staff of the Magi! that was the item that started our Plan B scenerio which was to break it and just hope for the best. Eventually plan B became a combination of two great items: Bag of Holding and the Portable Hole.

But my favorite was always the Wand of Wonder. It was just so silly but the times it was useful are very memorable.

 

[Gruns]

I remember it as though it were a meal ago...

Ah yes, 1E/2E... I'll never forget the day the Thief in our party discovered a fabled +1 Dagger... Of course he was lvl 6, so already pretty epic. This was just the icing on the cake...

Gruns

 

[Betote]

Rod of Wonder.

I didn't even look at the item description. I just knew that, when I pointed at anything, something happened. And I freakin' loved it

 

[Friadoc]

Although there are plenty of items that draw my mind to them, for all sorts of reasons and memories, it is the combo of Gauntlets of Ogre Strength and the Girdle of Giant Strength that brings me back to my first character, Wildstar Leedy, who was a fighter that I had in Basic D&D, converted to AD&D, and played for much of my childhood. He was a fighter from the Duchy of Karameikos who eventually carved a small stronghold out of the land, married the sister of his friend, and retired to live a long life before, somehow, rising to demigodhood.

His story took on a different feel to it when he found those two items at the same time, eventually he got ahold of a thrower, too. He was a crimson-haired Thor, that's for sure.

 

[Clavis]

The Ring of Shooting Stars. It was characteristic of the flavorful, mysterious, and just plain weird magic items of 1st Edition. Plus, there's just something romantic about a magic ring that functions best under the stars.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Mirror of Opposition. I don't know why but I just frickin' loved it.

 

[Richards]

I'll always remember with great fondness the mop of flying (naturally, a variant of the broom of flying) that my son's PC picked up in a 2E Dungeon adventure. I'm sure it was meant as a throwaway gag, but he put that thing to good use: not only as a means of airborne flight, but also as a weapon (his PC would "slap" the wet end into an opponent's face and use the handle like a quarterstaff). I even allowed him to gain "weapon proficiency" of a sort with it, and eventually his PC had a "scabbard" specially-made for the thing.

Good times.

Johnathan

 

[Oni]

Horn of Change. My DM at the time was both smart and cruel, he made sure my character got the artifact because I was known for two things. Being the unluckiest gamer to ever roll dice (I seriously almost gave up dnd over my very first charcter it was so bad) and a complete inability to so no to taking a gamble on the dice. Anyway long story short that terrible instrument was the source of more fun (and terror) than any other item I've seen a game since.

I'm happy to say my luck has improved since then though I've never had another artifact.