Magic Items
Your nonmagical pieces of equipment are the tools of your trade; they allow you to play your characters to their full potential. Magic items, on the other hand, add capabilities and powers beyond that; they allow your character to transcend the rules and accomplish extraordinary things. A magic item can make you better at what you normally do, and a magic item can transform the way you play beyond your normal options. They exist in the game to add interest and fun, to reward and enhance your character, and to offer novel options for telling stories and creating adventures.
That said, the "Rule Zero" of magic items is that if an item does not serve those purposes, or if a particular item does not fit the theme or tone of a campaign, the game master may choose to eliminate it from the game, even after it has been introduced to play, through a declaration by the Universal System. If the System disallows an item owned by a PC, then it replaces the forbidden item with an item of basically equivalent value.
On this page: Types of Magic Items | Using Items | Body Slots | Obtaining Magic Items | Magic Item Descriptions
On other pages:
- Consumable Items
- Permanent Items
- Casting Items
- Free-Willed Items
- Constructs
- Cursed Items
- Crafting Items: How to make your own magic items.
Types of Magic Items
At low levels, magic items will be more rare, and permanent ones even more so. No character can start the game at first level with a magic item. As you adventure, you acquire lesser items, such as potions, and then more powerful ones as your progress in your adventuring career.
When you advance in tier, your character may choose to soul-link some items -- that is, you bind yourself to an item, give up some experience points, and unlock special powers that grow each time you move to a new tier. Lesser magic items cannot be soul-linked, and the most powerful must be soul-linked to function at all.
While your character level is 1 to 5, that is, while you are in the Tyro Tier, you cannot soul-link an item. After you advance to character level 6, you may soul-link magical items. When you reach Adventurer Tier at level 6, the Universal System will first confirm your advancement choices based on class and character level, as usual. Then the System will survey your inventory, identify items that can be soul-linked, and if it finds any, ask you to pick items to link. Each time you level up going forward, the System will again review your possessions and ask if you want to soul-link — or unlink — any eligible magic items.
The advantage to soul-linking an item is that if lost, broken, or destroyed, it is restored to you the next morning. And of course, soul-linking an item unlocks more powerful options. The disadvantage is the experience point cost. The cost varies with how many items you have linked:
- One item linked: Pay 1% of xp gained that level.
- Two items linked: Pay 3% of xp gained that level.
- Three items linked: Pay 6% of xp gained that level.
- Four items linked: Pay 10% of xp gained that level.
- Five items linked: Pay 15% of xp gained that level.
- Six items linked: Pay 21% of xp gained that level.
- Seven items linked: Pay 28% of xp gained that level.
- Eight items linked: Pay 36% of xp gained that level.
- Nine items linked: Pay 45% of xp gained that level.
- Ten items linked: Pay 55% of xp gained that level.
Consumable Items
Consumable items are used up when activated. They may be single-use items, such as potions, or have charges, such as wands. But if they are used, eventually they will be used up. Consumable items cannot be soul-linked. They sometimes take up a body slot.
Permanent Items
Permanent items last forever. Many must be equipped into an body slot if you wish to use their magical powers. They may be soul-linked if you wish to use enhanced magical aspects of the item.
Casting Items
Powerful casting items cast spells when activated with a command word. They usually do not take up a body slot; some can be used as weapons. They use your character level, casting stat, and BAB to determine variable effects, saving throws, attack rolls, and so forth. Moreover, they usually expand your spells known list, if their type of magic (arcane, divine, natural) matches your own. Many have an extra magical power. They must be soul-linked to be used.
Free-Willed Items
Intelligent items and lesser artifacts have minds of their own, minds that the crafter creates or provides. A free-willed item not only requires a soul-link, but can only function if you end all soul-links with other items.
Constructs
Constructs, including golems, are magical creatures that are created and controlled by you. It is possible, albeit rare, to soul-link a construct.
Using Items
Almost all magic items must be worn, held, or touched to function. To use a magic item, it must be activated, although sometimes activation simply means putting a ring on your finger. Some items, once donned, function constantly. If the individual magic item rules do not specify, activating an item requires a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. By contrast, spell completion items (scrolls) are treated like spells in combat and do provoke attacks of opportunity when activated.
The four ways to activate magic items are described below.
Spell Completion
This is the activation method for scrolls. A scroll is a spell that is mostly finished. The preparation is done for the caster, so no preparation time is needed beforehand as with normal spellcasting. All that's left to do is perform the finishing parts of the spellcasting (the final gestures, words, and so on). To use a spell completion item, a character must have a caster level equal to the scroll's. Activating a spell completion item is a standard action (or the spell's casting time, whichever is longer) and provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.
Spell Trigger
This is the activation method used for wands. Spell trigger activation is similar to spell completion, but it's even simpler. No gestures or spell finishing is needed, just a single word that must be spoken. If you have the spell on your known spells list, activating it from a wand costs but one charge. If you know a spell of the same type (arcane, divine, inherent, or natural), activating it costs three charges. If you do not know any spell of the same type, you may not activate it. Before you can activate a wand, you have to figure out what spell is stored in it. Activating a spell trigger item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Command Word
If no activation method is suggested either in the magic item description or by the nature of the item, assume that a command word is needed to activate it. Command word activation means that a character speaks the word and the item activates. No other special knowledge is needed.
A command word can be a real word, but when this is the case, the holder of the item runs the risk of activating the item accidentally by speaking the word in normal conversation. More often, the command word is some seemingly nonsensical word, or a word or phrase from an ancient language no longer in common use. Activating a command word magic item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Sometimes the command word to activate an item is written right on the item. Occasionally, it might be hidden within a pattern or design engraved on, carved into, or built into the item, or the item might bear a clue to the command word.
The Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (history) skills might be useful in helping to identify command words or deciphering clues regarding them. A successful check against DC 30 is needed to come up with the word itself. If that check is failed, succeeding on a second check (DC 25) might provide some insight into a clue. The spells detect magic, identify, and analyze dweomer all reveal command words if the properties of the item are successfully identified.
Use Activated
This type of item simply has to be used in order to activate it. A character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, interpose a shield to deflect a blow in combat, look through a lens, sprinkle dust, wear a ring, or don a hat. Use activation is generally straightforward and self-explanatory.
Many use-activated items are objects that a character wears. Continually functioning items are practically always items that one wears. A few must simply be in the character's possession (meaning on his person). However, some items made for wearing must still be activated. Although this activation sometimes requires a command word (see above), usually it means mentally willing the activation to happen. The description of an item states whether a command word is needed in such a case.
Unless stated otherwise, activating a use-activated magic item is either a standard action or not an action at all and does not provoke attacks of opportunity, unless the use involves performing an action that provokes an attack of opportunity in itself. If the use of the item takes time before a magical effect occurs, then use activation is a standard action. If the item's activation is subsumed in its use and takes no extra time use, activation is not an action at all.
Use activation doesn't mean that if you use an item, you automatically know what it can do. You must know (or at least guess) what the item can do and then use the item in order to activate it, unless the benefit of the item comes automatically, such as from drinking a potion or swinging a sword.
Size and Magic Items
When an article of magic clothing or jewelry is discovered, most of the time size shouldn't be an issue. Many magic garments are made to be easily adjustable, or they adjust themselves magically to the wearer. Size should not keep characters of various kinds from using magic items.
There may be rare exceptions, especially with race-specific items.
Armor and Weapon Sizes: Armor and weapons do not resize. Those found at random have a 30% chance of being Small (01–30), a 60% chance of being Medium (31–90), and a 10% chance of being any other size (91–100). The game master reveals if these items resize for the wearer.
Saving Throws Against Magic Item Powers
Magic items often produce spells or spell-like effects. For most items, a saving throw against a spell or spell-like effect from a magic item, the DC is 9 + half the level of the spell or effect + the ability modifier of the minimum ability score needed to cast that level of spell. For soul-linked items, the saving throw uses the minimum ability score needed or the owner's ability score, whichever is higher.
Most item descriptions give saving throw DCs for various effects, particularly when the effect has no exact spell equivalent (making its level otherwise difficult to determine quickly).
Body Slots
Permanent magic items usually need to be worn, held, or touched by a character who wants to employ them or benefit from their magical capabilities. It's possible for a creature with a humanoid-shaped body to wear as many as 11 magic items at the same time. However, each of those items must be worn on on a particular part of the owner's anatomy, known as a “body slot.”
In general, a humanoid-shaped body can be decked out in permanent magic gear consisting of one item from each of the following groups (two items are allowed in the fingers slot). A few permanent items are slotlesss and do not use a body slot. A few consumable items take up a body slot. Casting and free-willed magic items generally do not take up slots, although some may (see individual descriptions).
Arms: shields, bracelets, and bracers.
Eyes: eyes, glasses, and goggles.
Feet: boots, shoes, and slippers.
Fingers: rings (up to two).
Hands: gauntlets and gloves.
Head: headbands and phylacteries, circlets, crowns, hats, helms, and masks.
Neck: amulets, brooches, medallions, necklaces, periapts, and scarabs.
Shoulders: capes, cloaks, and mantles.
Skin : earrings and other piercings, anklets, and other adornments touching the body.
Torso: suits of armor, robes and vestments, sashes, shirts, and vests.
Waist: belts and girdles.
Slotless: Some items do not use a body slot, though they usually require a free hand to use.
Of course, a character may carry or possess as many items of the same type as he wishes. However, only one magical item can be worn at a time in a given slot (two on fingers). In general, more than one item, magical or nonmagical, cannot be worn in a slot, or if allowed by the game master, only one can provide a magical or mechanical benefit. If you are uing a suit of armor, even a nonmagical one, you cannot also use a robe of useful items, since both use the torso slot.
You can only soul-link one item (or two rings) for a given slot, and you may not use other items in that slot once the link is established.
Obtaining Magic Items
Magic items can be found (as loot or rewards), crafted, or purchased. The game master is free to decide by fiat about item availability for sale, but here are some guidelines that may be of use, based on the size of the community in which you are seeking items for sale.
| Community Size | Base Value | Consumable | Permanent | Casting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thorp | 50 gp | 1d4 items | — | — |
| Hamlet | 200 gp | 1d6 items | — | — |
| Village | 500 gp | 2d4 items | 1d4 items | — |
| Small town | 1,000 gp | 3d4 items | 1d6 items | — |
| Large town | 2,000 gp | 3d4 items | 2d4 items | 1d4 items |
| Small city | 4,000 gp | 4d4 items | 3d4 items | 1d6 items |
| Large city | 8,000 gp | 4d4 items | 3d4 items | 2d4 items |
| Metropolis | 16,000 gp | * | 4d4 items | 3d4 items |
| * in a metropolis, nearly all minor magic items are available. | ||||
Magic items are valuable, and most major cities have at least one or two purveyors of magic items, from a simple potion merchant to a weapon smith that specializes in magic swords. Of course, not every item in these rules is available in every town.
The following guidelines are presented to help game masters determine what items are available in a given community. These guidelines assume a setting with an average level of magic. Some cities might deviate wildly from these baselines, subject to GM discretion. The GM should keep a list of what items are available from each merchant and should replenish the stocks on occasion to represent new acquisitions.
The number and types of magic items available in a community depend upon its size. Each community has a base value associated with it (see Table: Available Magic Items). There is a 75% chance that any item of that value or lower can be found for sale with little effort in that community. In addition, the community has a number of other items for sale. These items are randomly determined and are broken down by category (consumable, permanent, and casting).
If you are running a campaign with low magic, reduce the base value and the number of items in each community by half. Campaigns with little or no magic might not have magic items for sale at all. GMs running these sorts of campaigns should make some adjustments to the challenges faced by the characters due to their lack of magic gear.
Campaigns with an abundance of magic items might have communities with twice the listed base value and random items available. Alternatively, all communities might count as one size category larger for the purposes of what items are available. In a campaign with very common magic, all magic items might be available for purchase in a metropolis.
Nonmagical items and gear are generally available in a community of any size unless the item is particularly expensive, such as full plate, or made of an unusual material, such as an adamantine longsword. These items should follow the base value guidelines to determine their availability, subject to GM discretion.
Magic Item Descriptions
Most magic items have a full description with powers detailed, as described below. A few consumable items (scrolls, potions, and wands) do not need such individual attention. Similarly, weapons, armors, and some free-willed items are each custom built with their own rules. Other items are described with the properties shown below.
Aura: Most of the time, skill or divination can reveal the school of magic associated with a magic item and the strength of the aura an item emits. This information is given at the beginning of the item's notational entry.
Caster Level (CL): The next item in a notational entry gives the caster level of the item, indicating its relative power. The caster level determines the item's saving throw bonus, as well as range or other level-dependent aspects of the powers of the item (if variable). It also determines the level that must be contended with should the item come under the effect of a dispel magic spell or similar situation.
For potions, scrolls, and wands, the creator can set the caster level of an item at any number high enough to cast the stored spell but not higher than her own caster level. For other magic items, the caster level is determined by the item itself.
Body Slot: Permanent magic items can only be utilized if worn or wielded in their proper slots. If the item is stowed or placed elsewhere, it does not function. If the slot lists “none,” the item cannot be equipped, but can be used so long as it is in the user's possession.
Price: This is the cost, in gold pieces, to purchase the item, if it is available for sale. Generally speaking, magic items can be sold by PCs for half this value.
Weight: This is the weight of an item. When a weight figure is listed as N/A, the item has no weight worth noting (for purposes of determining how much of a load a character can carry).
Description: This section of a magic item describes the item's powers and abilities. Some items refer to various spells as part of their descriptions (see Spell Lists for details on these spells).
Construction: Most magic items can be built by a spellcaster with the appropriate feat and prerequisites. This section describes those prerequisites.