Absorbing magical items

[ImSAMazing]

I am a DM, and one of my players is a lvl 11 wizard(artificer: see Unearthed Arcana: Eberron). He has studied a +1 longsword 22 days in total(with 3 arcana checks higher then 20). His target is to learn how to "absorb" the magic that is inserted into the longsword, and I think that is possible, because it could also be inserted into it and he is an artificer. With absorbing I don't mean eating it, I mean pulling the magic out of the weapon to gain power(and weaknesses).

The question is: what benefits would he gain and what drawbacks would he gain? Ofcourse, after the +1 longsword he will continue to absorb more things. Can you please help me answer this question?

Great suggentions(the parts I like of the suggestions):


I'd allow him to have knowledge on how to craft absorbed magical items permanently, without needing to have the recipe to do so. <removed the rest>


Well, what goes into a magic weapon? Time and valuable components. So perhaps let him use up the energy to cast rituals faster <removed this part>.
He gains spell slots and loses hp or skills?


Possible bonuses
- transfer that +1 to another item
- de-magic the item and gain the ability to give that same enchantment to another valid item with a touch once per extended rest for a minute as an action
- use the magic retrieved to make some residuum, essentially magic in dust form. It can be used as very valuable currency or as part of most magical endeavors, including replacing material components of spells, ritual casting and magic item crafting.
- learn how to enchant items with that enchantment
- new proficiency in relevant skill/tool, or expertise in skill/tool
- increase spell attack/dc/damage
- magic-sense

Possible penalties
- Reduced max hp
- Reduce nonmagical attack/damage rolls
- vulnerability to magic
- reduced ability to benefit from magic items
- lose spell known/prepped
- loss of a proficiency
- mental side effects, eg curiosity, obsession, greed, absent-mindedness
- physical side effects eg twitching, numbness, lack of energy, frailty

[Ralanr]

Um...you say absorb the magic, yet all I'm thinking is that he'll be a sword swallower.

If a fighter or barb started to use him as a weapon, it'd be a plus 1 I guess. I don't have a serious answer.

[ImSAMazing]

Um...you say absorb the magic, yet all I'm thinking is that he'll be a sword swallower.

If a fighter or barb started to use him as a weapon, it'd be a plus 1 I guess. I don't have a serious answer.

With absorbing I mean that he litterally pulls the magic out of the weapon(it doesn't really need to be a weapon but still). Not eating the weapon xd.

[Grinner]

...If I were in his shoes, giving an XP bonus or something like that might be cool. That might affect the party dynamics negatively, though...

[Gnomes2169]

I'd allow him to have knowledge on how to craft absorbed magical items permanently, without needing to have the recipe to do so. I would also give him advantage on spell attack rolls and saving throws on a day where he eats a magic item, but that's about it.

Now obviously you should limit what he can munch by time, rarity and level, maybe something like:

Level 1-7: Uncommon items, 10 days
Level 8-14: Rare items, 25 days
Level 15-20: Very rare items, 50 days
Level 20+5 epic boons: Legendary non-sentient items
Artifacts and sentient items: Never, as such things are made by gods or people/ mythical creatures typically being bound to a weapon.

[ImSAMazing]

...If I were in his shoes, giving an XP bonus or something like that might be cool. That might affect the party dynamics negatively, though...

First, thanks for your feedback! But I don't think XP is the solution, because it gives disadvantage to the other party members AND he is an artificer(lvl 14 feature = each 30 days you can make a magic item of magic item table a & b of the DMG = infinite XP). I'm thinking about a permanent benefit, but also a permanent drawback which gets stronger each time you absorb another magic item his power...

[CantigThimble]

Well, what goes into a magic weapon? Time and valuable components. So perhaps let him use up the energy to cast rituals faster or eschew valuable components. Otherwise a general bonus to combat abilities for a few days?

Or perhaps he gains spell slots and loses hp or skills? Or vice versa?

[ImSAMazing]

I'd allow him to have knowledge on how to craft absorbed magical items permanently, without needing to have the recipe to do so. I would also give him advantage on spell attack rolls and saving throws on a day where he eats a magic item, but that's about it.

Now obviously you should limit what he can munch by time, rarity and level, maybe something like:

Level 1-7: Uncommon items, 10 days
Level 8-14: Rare items, 25 days
Level 15-20: Very rare items, 50 days
Level 20+5 epic boons: Legendary non-sentient items
Artifacts and sentient items: Never, as such things are made by gods or people/ mythical creatures typically being bound to a weapon.

Thnx for the feedback! I really like your idea's. But the fact that it takes so much days... It wouldn't be useful when you really need it(example: you are in the middle of a dungeon...). Also can you think of a drawback?

[ImSAMazing]

Well, what goes into a magic weapon? Time and valuable components. So perhaps let him use up the energy to cast rituals faster or eschew valuable components. Otherwise a general bonus to combat abilities for a few days?

Or perhaps he gains spell slots and loses hp or skills? Or vice versa?

Thnx for the feedback! I llike your idea's, but valuable components... I won't go for that. But gaining spell slots and losing hp/skills is something I really like. It is a good benefit and a good drawback.

[Gnomes2169]

Thnx for the feedback! I really like your idea's. But the fact that it takes so much days... It wouldn't be useful when you really need it(example: you are in the middle of a dungeon...). Also can you think of a drawback?

The drawback of losing a magic item permanently nd the drawback of having to wait for a while before you can benefit it are the two that I thought of, and the day limitation isn't actually too big of a penalty... You can study an uncommon item for 9 days and then, if you are going into a dungeon and want advantage on attack rolls and saving throws, you can study it for the last day and benefit from the advantages for your first (and typically only) day in the dungeon.

And the main reason behind the time limit is that this is giving you the ability to craft any item you absorb, which is an incredibly potent ability. As it stands the crafting rules require you to have an item recipe, which is one step of rarity above the item itself and exceptionally valuable. This variant also allows you to craft non-sentient legendary items, which is impossible in the system as it stands currently.

[ImSAMazing]

The drawback of losing a magic item permanently nd the drawback of having to wait for a while before you can benefit it are the two that I thought of, and the day limitation isn't actually too big of a penalty... You can study an uncommon item for 9 days and then, if you are going into a dungeon and want advantage on attack rolls and saving throws, you can study it for the last day and benefit from the advantages for your first (and typically only) day in the dungeon.

And the main reason behind the time limit is that this is giving you the ability to craft any item you absorb, which is an incredibly potent ability. As it stands the crafting rules require you to have an item recipe, which is one step of rarity above the item itself and exceptionally valuable. This variant also allows you to craft non-sentient legendary items, which is impossible in the system as it stands currently.

Maybe a cooldown would be better? Else you gain longterm madness or something

[Gnomes2169]

Maybe a cooldown would be better? Else you gain longterm madness or something

Hmmm, a cooldown might be a bit tricky to implement, but if that works for you then go for it! Maybe you have to wait for 10 days in between each magic item consumption... Though I would personally limit immediate item breakdown to items the character has already broken down in the past, or at least make it so they only gain crafting knowledge from the items they have studied for the proper amount of time.

[ImSAMazing]

Hmmm, a cooldown might be a bit tricky to implement, but if that works for you then go for it! Maybe you have to wait for 10 days in between each magic item consumption... Though I would personally limit immediate item breakdown to items the character has already broken down in the past, or at least make it so they only gain crafting knowledge from the items they have studied for the proper amount of time.

Really thanks for your help! Adding you to good suggestions ;)

[Kane0]

Possible bonuses
- transfer that +1 to another item
- de-magic the item and gain the ability to give that same enchantment to another valid item with a touch once per extended rest for a minute as an action
- use the magic retrieved to make some residuum, essentially magic in dust form. It can be used as very valuable currency or as part of most magical endeavors, including replacing material components of spells, ritual casting and magic item crafting.
- learn how to enchant items with that enchantment
- new proficiency in relevant skill/tool, or expertise in skill/tool
- increase spell attack/dc/damage
- magic-sense

Possible penalties
- Reduced max hp
- Reduce nonmagical attack/damage rolls
- vulnerability to magic
- reduced ability to benefit from magic items
- lose spell known/prepped
- loss of a proficiency
- mental side effects, eg curiosity, obsession, greed, absent-mindedness
- physical side effects eg twitching, numbness, lack of energy, frailty

[ImSAMazing]

Possible bonuses
- transfer that +1 to another item
- de-magic the item and gain the ability to give that same enchantment to another valid item with a touch once per extended rest for a minute as an action
- use the magic retrieved to make some residuum, essentially magic in dust form. It can be used as very valuable currency or as part of most magical endeavors, including replacing material components of spells, ritual casting and magic item crafting.
- learn how to enchant items with that enchantment
- new proficiency in relevant skill/tool, or expertise in skill/tool
- increase spell attack/dc/damage
- magic-sense

Possible penalties
- Reduced max hp
- Reduce nonmagical attack/damage rolls
- vulnerability to magic
- reduced ability to benefit from magic items
- lose spell known/prepped
- loss of a proficiency
- mental side effects, eg curiosity, obsession, greed, absent-mindedness
- physical side effects eg twitching, numbness, lack of energy, frailty

Really thnx! Adding you to the good suggestions!

[Slipperychicken]

I'd think you could let him cannibalize the item into components and reagents worth half the gold cost needed to construct the item, allowing him to use those reagents for both item-crafting and spellcasting (those components can also be sold to talismongers for half their value). He can also try to learn the formula for the item, but doing so takes a high intelligence(arcana) roll, takes twice the time normally required to construct the item, and regardless of success or failure involves stripping down the item until it's a worthless unsalvageable wreck.

I don't know. Maybe he could also try to grind up and snort the reagents, get so messed up that he has advantage on mental saves for 1d3x10 minutes, then crash and gain the poisoned condition for like 8 hours.

[Kane0]

I don't know. Maybe he could also try to grind up and snort the reagents, get so messed up that he has advantage on mental saves for 1d3x10 minutes, then crash and gain the poisoned condition for like 8 hours.

In my games when one snorts residuum they manifest the ability to cast a random spell a couple times over the course of a week or so at the cost of disadvantage on saves vs spells.
There is also the magic illusion high and horrible exhausting hangover.