The power of a magic item

[jaappleton]

In this topic, pick a magic item and say something some people may not realize about it.

This isn't a discussion about the best magic item, or anything like that. Just something people might not realize about that item.


To begin, let's take a look at one of my favorite weapons. At first, I hadn't realized just how good it is, until I read it for about the 60th time and it finally dawned on me.

Very Rare
Scimitar of Speed

It adds +2 to attack rolls and damage rolls.
The best part of this item? You can make an attack with it as a bonus action on your turn.

What I find many people don't realize about it is that the bonus action attack is entirely independent of your actual action. With something like Two Weapon Fighting, you have to take the attack action in order to benefit from the offhand attack as a bonus action.

Not the case here at all. Cast Fireball, run up to a surviving enemy, and use your bonus action to attack it.

This also basically lets you have TWF while not actually occupying both hands. You can still fully utilize a shield, or hold an arcane focus, etc while using it.

[Protato]

Decanter of Endless Water is a good one. It's got a lot of obvious utility and can be used to flood areas or hit people from off a perch. It's got both obvious and less obvious uses, making it a favorite of mine.

[jaappleton]

Decanter of Endless Water is a good one. It's got a lot of obvious utility and can be used to flood areas or hit people from off a perch. It's got both obvious and less obvious uses, making it a favorite of mine.

I actually love the Decanter of Endless Water in the hands of a 4 Elements Monk, with their 'Shape the Flowing River' ability.

[Beechgnome]

In this topic, pick a magic item and say something some people may not realize about it.

This isn't a discussion about the best magic item, or anything like that. Just something people might not realize about that item.


To begin, let's take a look at one of my favorite weapons. At first, I hadn't realized just how good it is, until I read it for about the 60th time and it finally dawned on me.

Very Rare
Scimitar of Speed

It adds +2 to attack rolls and damage rolls.
The best part of this item? You can make an attack with it as a bonus action on your turn.

What I find many people don't realize about it is that the bonus action attack is entirely independent of your actual action. With something like Two Weapon Fighting, you have to take the attack action in order to benefit from the offhand attack as a bonus action.

Not the case here at all. Cast Fireball, run up to a surviving enemy, and use your bonus action to attack it.

This also basically lets you have TWF while not actually occupying both hands. You can still fully utilize a shield, or hold an arcane focus, etc while using it.

Druids I think would make very good use of that magic item when not in wild shape form, as they could use the action to cast a spell or maintain one of their many ongoing spells like Call lightning or heat metal. They are proficient in it too.

The other magic item I like for druids is Dragon Scale armor. It avoid the metal armor restriction but gives AC 15 plus up to 2 for dex (plus a shield I'd any), resistance to an element, all sorts of dragon specific resistances and has the added rider of allowing you to find a dragon of the same type within 30 miles. Be a dwarven hill druid and take Smith's tools, then go out looking for that dragon scale so you can tank with the best of them.

[AvatarVecna]

This item appears to be a longsword hilt. While grasping the hilt, you can use a bonus action to cause a blade of pure radiance to spring into existence, or make the blade disappear. While the blade exists, this magic longsword has the finesse property. If you are proficient with shortswords or longswords, you are proficient with the sun blade. You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon, which deals radiant damage instead of slashing damage. When you hit an undead with it, that target takes an extra 1d8 radiant damage. The sword’s luminous blade emits bright light in a 15-*‐‑foot radius and dim light for an additional 15 feet. The light is sunlight. While the blade persists, you can use an action to expand or reduce its radius of bright and dim light by 5 feet each, to a maximum of 30 feet each or a minimum of 10 feet each.


Beginning at 1st level, you know how to strike subtly and exploit a foe's distraction. Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon. You don't need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn't incapacitated, and you don't have disadvantage on the attack roll. The amount of the extra damage increases as you gain levels in this class, as shown in the Sneak Attack column of the Rogue table.


When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

The Sun Blade is a weapon that is both finesse and versatile, meaning it qualifies for both Sneak Attack and Great Weapon Fighting style. Additionally, due to the incredibly odd way Great Weapon Fighting style is written, it can technically work with the sneak attack dice. I don't know if this is overpowered necessarily, but it's definitely a solid upgrade if your build happens to support this combo, and I don't see it mentioned too often.

[jaappleton]

The Sun Blade is a weapon that is both finesse and versatile, meaning it qualifies for both Sneak Attack and Great Weapon Fighting style. Additionally, due to the incredibly odd way Great Weapon Fighting style is written, it can technically work with the sneak attack dice. I don't know if this is overpowered necessarily, but it's definitely a solid upgrade if your build happens to support this combo, and I don't see it mentioned too often.

I actually love this. I'm not quite sure how a bright beam coincides with a traditionally stealthy class, but I still adore it!