Magic Tools/Running shoes/Clothes (+#); why don't they exist??

[Zazamori]

I'm fairly new to D&D, so there may be obvious answers that I haven't realized, but are there any good reasons why the following aren't in the official books (or even hard to find discussed in forums or exemplified in homebrew catalogs):

+1/2/3 to relevant ability check magic tools

+5/10/15 feet ground movement speed magic shoes

+1/2/3 AC magic clothes (such as common clothes, traveler's clothes, costume clothes, fine clothes mentioned in the PHB) with the caveat that they only work while not wearing armor. I feel like this one particularly is necessary to give barbarian, monk, wizard, & sorcerer an equivalent body slot magic item to +# armor.

These could all just barrow the standard uncommon (+1), rare (+2), very rare (+3) pattern. I'm sure plenty of people must have thought of these, is there any reason why nobody ever mentions them??

What other no-brainer magic item ideas have y'all thunk up??

[Bjarkmundur]

I love clickbait-y titles. We need more of then, honestly.

I had a whole heap of them, but I seem to have deleted the document :O
I'm really looking forward to see what other people have come up with ^^

[BerzerkerUnit]

The tools are fair but easy homebrew. The rest is numbers creep.

A Monk that takes few feats will have a 20 AC without a shield at level 20, adding clothes would be a 23. Same for a Dex Barbarian that could get 28 with a magic shield.

A fighter in magic plate would be 21 after lvl 17 (the likely time for a +3 item) but need the shield and a fighting style to tap 27.

This is why numbers creep is avoided.

[theVoidWatches]

There are Bracers of Defense, which work pretty much like your proposed magic clothing in that they don't function along with armor (or shields, in fact) and therefore work best for Monks, Barbarians, and and Mage Armorers. The bracers are +2 by default, but it's not hard to imagine +1 or +3 variants - I might make the +1 variant just "Bracer of Defense" with the joke being that each bracer is +1.

[Zazamori]

I love clickbait-y titles. We need more of then, honestly.

I had a whole heap of them, but I seem to have deleted the document :O
I'm really looking forward to see what other people have come up with ^^

Was having trouble thinking of a title that summarizes the idea without being too wordy. My bad.


The tools are fair but easy homebrew. The rest is numbers creep.

A Monk that takes few feats will have a 20 AC without a shield at level 20, adding clothes would be a 23. Same for a Dex Barbarian that could get 28 with a magic shield.

A fighter in magic plate would be 21 after lvl 17 (the likely time for a +3 item) but need the shield and a fighting style to tap 27.

This is why numbers creep is avoided.

I don't see the problem, unless you're saying ANY flat boost items are problematic.

Is the issue that if different party members have too big of an AC difference, then for a monster to threaten the most defensive one, the squishiest one would have to be damaged every attack?? Think one has 30AC while another has 10AC. I can see how that may be difficult to manage as a DM.


There are Bracers of Defense, which work pretty much like your proposed magic clothing in that they don't function along with armor (or shields, in fact) and therefore work best for Monks, Barbarians, and and Mage Armorers. The bracers are +2 by default, but it's not hard to imagine +1 or +3 variants - I might make the +1 variant just "Bracer of Defense" with the joke being that each bracer is +1.

Oops. You're right. I had forgotten that the bracers don't stack with shield/armor. Thanks for pointing that out.

Is there a reason the bracers require attunement while a +2 shield/armor doesn't??

I feel like that still leaves barbarians out since they, unlike monks, can use a shield & still get unarmored defense.

[sandmote]

Magic tools weren't really a thing because there were already "masterwork tools" in order editions, and frankly there was rarely any reason to buff them more. Allowing magic thieves' tools in particular would pretty much be a tax on whichever character used them. Instruments (like the Lyre of Building) don't give a bonus to performance checks for a similar reason.

In 5th edition bonuses were compressed, so that high level characters still need to worry about weak monsters. In 3.5e, your AC and to hit bonus would grow to the point those weak monsters would automatically go down without having hit you. Part of this compression is that Masterwork weapons were removed, and masterwork tools went with them. The isn't really any reason not to allow magic tools in your games. They certainly wouldn't be bad minor magic items, as they'd last a while.

Items boosting your speed aren't listed because the books mostly ignore speed as mechanic.

In the case of clothing, the compression of stats at high levels is again the culprit. Classes are balanced by their expected AC, and allowing an AC boost for unarmored characters like that would be a bit nuts. Shields and Armor account for this, and are particularly rare as a result. The Bracers the defense require attunement because they shore up one of the main weaknesses of monks, sorcerers, and wizards, and allow Barbarians to switch to a larger weapon without losing any AC. So they need some additional cost to stop every single monk, sorcerer, wizard, and barbarian from automatically choosing to use that item for the entire game. Whereas characters using armor are assumed to get upgrades as the game goes on.

[Amechra]

Honestly, if they took up an attunement slot? They're fine.

Dexterity-focused Barbarians getting stupidly high AC out of it isn't an issue, since they're sacrificing use of their primary class features for it - Rage and Reckless Attack only boost Strength-based attacks, and missing out on those is... well, why did you decide to go Barbarian again?

[Breccia]

Honestly, if they took up an attunement slot? They're fine.

Agreed.

Also, +movement can become a real issue if it's allowed to stack. Attunement is one way to handle this.

[Zazamori]

Erm, so...I'd firstly like to throw out again that I'm fairly new & so are they folks I play with. I feel like I have a fairly decent grasp on game mechanics, certainly enough to make the game work, but ummm...I might appreciate being lectured like a school kid a little more. I certainly won't pretend to be an expert. What I'm really looking for is examples of specific scenarios or number crunching to explain why these are bad ideas, if they are bad ideas. I'm afraid I need more context than most people do for things to make sense to me.

I'm also still looking for alternative suggestions that may be equally beneficial.


Magic tools weren't really a thing because there were already "masterwork tools" in order editions, and frankly there was rarely any reason to buff them more. Allowing magic thieves' tools in particular would pretty much be a tax on whichever character used them. Instruments (like the Lyre of Building) don't give a bonus to performance checks for a similar reason.

In 5th edition bonuses were compressed, so that high level characters still need to worry about weak monsters. In 3.5e, your AC and to hit bonus would grow to the point those weak monsters would automatically go down without having hit you. Part of this compression is that Masterwork weapons were removed, and masterwork tools went with them. The isn't really any reason not to allow magic tools in your games. They certainly wouldn't be bad minor magic items, as they'd last a while.

I've never played older editions. I don't believe I understand. Why would a magic tool be more of a "tax" than a magic weapon??


Items boosting your speed aren't listed because the books mostly ignore speed as mechanic.

My group has been considering it mostly only during combat, which seems to be the vast majority of all the times it would matter. It may occasionally factor for narrative purposes, but I'm not sure the actual number matters in such cases. Still, my character is a melee fighter & we're playing on a grid, so a small boost has great potential to pick up the pace for me specifically in combat.


In the case of clothing, the compression of stats at high levels is again the culprit. Classes are balanced by their expected AC, and allowing an AC boost for unarmored characters like that would be a bit nuts. Shields and Armor account for this, and are particularly rare as a result. The Bracers the defense require attunement because they shore up one of the main weaknesses of monks, sorcerers, and wizards, and allow Barbarians to switch to a larger weapon without losing any AC. So they need some additional cost to stop every single monk, sorcerer, wizard, and barbarian from automatically choosing to use that item for the entire game. Whereas characters using armor are assumed to get upgrades as the game goes on.

By "assumed to get upgrades as the game goers on", are you referring to acquiring magic armor??

& why is it a problem for every monk, sorcerer, wizard, & barbarian to use an AC boosting item for the entire game when it's not a problem for a Paladin to use a magic shield for forever??

I've read numerous times elsewhere (I think including in the DMG) that the game is intended to be balanced for no magic items. In my mind, that means when you introduce magic items that enhance AC for one class, to maintain balance you would need to give other classes similar options for upgrades by similar values. Not necessarily give everyone the same boost at the same time; I realize that would make it unspecial, but the possibility ought to be on the table, shouldn't it??

A Paladin/Fighter can get magic armor & shield for AC buffs (compared to mundane versions of the same items) from both with no attunement & all class features intact. Nobody seems to have a problem with that.

Monks are supposed to be a decently high AC class also, correct?? To maintain balance, wouldn't they also need options to add AC on top of their class features without invalidating those class features?? They only have access to one item (not counting ones which are equally viable for all other classes) which requires attunement. I think that's a fine item. I would agree it would make sense to require attunement on the bracers if it were stackable with +AC magic armor/shield, but since it isn't, that seems to me to only be limiting the characters that are already limited in the +AC magic item department.

Then there's the Robe of the Archmagi in the DMG. Which strikes me as quite powerful, even compared to most other attunement legendary items, & makes a caster's AC automatically as high as what a monk can get at the best of times.

I have seen folks argue that +1 items as a whole are unbalancing & best avoided for the sake of the bounded accuracy concept. I get that. What I don't get is why adding AC to a monk via magic items is so much worse than adding it to any other class. Unless I'm missing something, that seems to be a severe lack of parity. That's what confuses me.


Agreed.

Also, +movement can become a real issue if it's allowed to stack. Attunement is one way to handle this.

I was thinking it would make sense for it to be a footwear exclusive property, similar to attack/damage being almost exclusive to weapons & AC being almost exclusive to armor/shields.

Still, in what way would it become an issue?? As long as there are trade-offs involved; I'm not suggesting one ought to be able to get +15 speed on their High Heels of Speedy Flying Spider Climbing & Striding without costing an attunement slot, but I certainly don't see +5-15 movement on it's own being worth an attunement slot.

[sandmote]

I've never played older editions. I don't believe I understand. Why would a magic tool be more of a "tax" than a magic weapon?? It's a tax in addition to the other equipment, rather than instead of it.


By "assumed to get upgrades as the game goers on", are you referring to acquiring magic armor??

& why is it a problem for every monk, sorcerer, wizard, & barbarian to use an AC boosting item for the entire game when it's not a problem for a Paladin to use a magic shield for forever??

I've read numerous times elsewhere (I think including in the DMG) that the game is intended to be balanced for no magic items. In my mind, that means when you introduce magic items that enhance AC for one class, to maintain balance you would need to give other classes similar options for upgrades by similar values. Not necessarily give everyone the same boost at the same time; I realize that would make it unspecial, but the possibility ought to be on the table, shouldn't it?? Not everyone has the same strengths and weaknesses. For a low AC class like a wizard, +2 AC shores up their main weakness. For a class with more AC like the paladin getting successive upgrades to their shield means more. The barbarian is meant to get higher AC anyway, so allowing them to same bonuses messes up bounded accuracy.


A Paladin/Fighter can get magic armor & shield for AC buffs (compared to mundane versions of the same items) from both with no attunement & all class features intact. Nobody seems to have a problem with that. That's partially due to 5e still having Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards) (Warning: link goes to TV tropes). More details below.


Monks are supposed to be a decently high AC class also, correct?? To maintain balance, wouldn't they also need options to add AC on top of their class features without invalidating those class features?? They only have access to one item (not counting ones which are equally viable for all other classes) which requires attunement. I think that's a fine item. I would agree it would make sense to require attunement on the bracers if it were stackable with +AC magic armor/shield, but since it isn't, that seems to me to only be limiting the characters that are already limited in the +AC magic item department. Monks get most of their surviveability from keeping themselves from being attacked rather than AC.

The monk is a bit of a special case though, because 5th edition is balanced around the party taking several short rests between each long rest. As most parties don't do this, monks are a lot weaker in practice than on paper. Giving them an AC boost is less of an issue than of the classes with limited option for boosting AC.

The other classes limited in the +AC magic item department really shouldn't be getting many +AC options. Wizard and Sorcerers already get reasonable AC and defensive options, and barbarians have among the highest AC anyway. Before 20th level, a barbarian with high stats has +2 AC compared to someone with Full Plate armor. And they can get a shield (including a magic shield). Or attune to the bracers and get more out of their class features instead.


Then there's the Robe of the Archmagi in the DMG. Which strikes me as quite powerful, even compared to most other attunement legendary items, & makes a caster's AC automatically as high as what a monk can get at the best of times.

I have seen folks argue that +1 items as a whole are unbalancing & best avoided for the sake of the bounded accuracy concept. I get that. What I don't get is why adding AC to a monk via magic items is so much worse than adding it to any other class. Unless I'm missing something, that seems to be a severe lack of parity. That's what confuses me. It's +2 AC for the wizard though. So its pretty much is an upgrade for the bracers. You can also just stack it with the bracers. Meanwhile you'd have to replace +1 magic armor with +3 magic armor. Even if you skip straight to +3 armor, the fighter gets to compensate having a weaker legendary item by attuning to something else.

To repeat the above, the items that exist and that you described wouldn't be exclusive to monks. If you make very rare "Enlightened Robes" which grant +3 AC and some other bonuses and require attunement by a monk, that would work okay. I this case, attunement is necessary to stop other classes that don't use armor from using the item.


I was thinking it would make sense for it to be a footwear exclusive property, similar to attack/damage being almost exclusive to weapons & AC being almost exclusive to armor/shields.

Still, in what way would it become an issue?? As long as there are trade-offs involved; I'm not suggesting one ought to be able to get +15 speed on their High Heels of Speedy Flying Spider Climbing & Striding without costing an attunement slot, but I certainly don't see +5-15 movement on it's own being worth an attunement slot. Given you can't stack them with (say) boots of speed, that would likely be fine.

[Vogie]

Non-armor magic Clothing would not have a AC bonus. However, it would have more mundane magic uses, that 'common magic item' zone like we saw in XGtE, like the Cloak of Billowing. This could include as:

ability to shift colors, sizes, shapes, slogans or styles
ability to adjust comfort of the bearer via venting, cooling, or heating
ability to clean, un-soil, or mend itself
protection from certain conditions, such weighters that never smell like fish, hydrophobic shoes, or gardening gloves with immunity to nonmagic shears.

Also, you can explore attunements to things other than the caster, such as environmental conditions or locations. This could include:

Waterdhavian Trainers, which are magic shoes that increase your speed while in the city of Waterdeep... but everywhere else, they're just shoes.
Forked Gauntlets of Lift, which allow the bearer to lift heavy objects within the attuned dock, boat, or warehouse
Enchanted Peg Leg, which increases traction on wet wooden surfaces, and can be pseudo-immobilized on the attuned ship.
A Rod of Boiling, which heats up (and the water around it) when it's placed in a pot, bowl, or an attuned container of water up to cauldron-sized.
Sickles and Scythes that can automatically bind the harvested crops together


One of the things I like to do with my groups is provide them with worldbuilding through items. Wayford Mill is a logging town, and thus has an abundance of enchanted axes for sale. Returning handaxes, Greataxes that can float; some never get dull, others cut down trees twice as fast; some glow in the dark, others direct you to the nearest tavern. Are there going to be swords and stuff too? Sure, but not in the same quantity or quality.

[sandmote]

Non-armor magic Clothing would not have a AC bonus. However, it would have more mundane magic uses, that 'common magic item' zone like we saw in XGtE, like the Cloak of Billowing. This could include as:
Also, you can explore attunements to things other than the caster, such as environmental conditions or locations. This could include:

Waterdhavian Trainers, which are magic shoes that increase your speed while in the city of Waterdeep... but everywhere else, they're just shoes.
Forked Gauntlets of Lift, which allow the bearer to lift heavy objects within the attuned dock, boat, or warehouse
Enchanted Peg Leg, which increases traction on wet wooden surfaces, and can be pseudo-immobilized on the attuned ship.
A Rod of Boiling, which heats up (and the water around it) when it's placed in a pot, bowl, or an attuned container of water up to cauldron-sized.
Sickles and Scythes that can automatically bind the harvested crops together


One of the things I like to do with my groups is provide them with worldbuilding through items. Wayford Mill is a logging town, and thus has an abundance of enchanted axes for sale. Returning handaxes, Greataxes that can float; some never get dull, others cut down trees twice as fast; some glow in the dark, others direct you to the nearest tavern. Are there going to be swords and stuff too? Sure, but not in the same quantity or quality.Is there a thread somewhere for that sort of 'mundane' magic items? If not I'd like to start one.

Until I'm told there's a place to put them (or that I need to make one), I personally prefer more general items that just have a traditional use. So bladed weapons can be enchanted to tie string around a thick object they cut through, but it's mostly seen in sickles, scythes, and bugbear swords.

Or gloves that grant +1 to dex saves vs slashing effects, which are sold as gardening gloves but provide a mechanical benefit for a party member.

I assume the Rod of Boiling is joke uranium, but I think stones would be more common, as they'd stay on the bottom a bit better and the number could be adjusted to boil or heat larger or smaller vessels (and I'd have an easier time ruling it when the party inevitably throws one).

[Vogie]

I assume the Rod of Boiling is joke uranium, but I think stones would be more common, as they'd stay on the bottom a bit better and the number could be adjusted to boil or heat larger or smaller vessels (and I'd have an easier time ruling it when the party inevitably throws one).

No, I was referring to the very real Immersion Water Heater (https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Immersion-Water-Heater-Voltage/dp/B000AXS0UE), although if you were looking to make it more deadly... something like a Rod of Uranium would definitely fit the bill.

[sandmote]

No, I was referring to the very real Immersion Water Heater (https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Immersion-Water-Heater-Voltage/dp/B000AXS0UE), although if you were looking to make it more deadly... something like a Rod of Uranium would definitely fit the bill. Okay, that makes a bit more sense than a continuously hot item. Thank you for clearing it up for me.