Magic items you might have overlooked?

[jaappleton]

Can anyone think of a magic item that has more use than you originally thought?

As an example, give me a moment to bring up the Wand of Paralysis.

Rare, requires Attunement by a spellcaster

Seven charges, regains 1d6+1 charges at dawn.

I initially overlooked this for so long because I originally thought it only impacted Humanoids, but it impacts all creatures. Unfortunately it does target Constitution, with a DC15, as opposed to the Hold ____ spells which target Wisdom.

But its much more useful than I originally imagined, especially for its rarity.

[Pyrophilios]

I'm not sure if it's overlooked, but the Alchemy Jug is a super cheap and super useful tool to produce lots of acid for the catapult spell (or giant amounts of mayonnaise)

[Rusvul]

I'm not sure if it's overlooked, but the Alchemy Jug is a super cheap and super useful tool to produce lots of acid for the catapult spell (or giant amounts of mayonnaise)

Mayonnaise is very calorie-dense! The alchemy jug produces 2 gallons, which is ~48,000 calories--enough to meet the caloric needs of a good dozen and a half people (even if they're adventurers who need lots of calories). It's nutritionally awful, of course, but in a pinch you can sustain your party for a good while on no resources with an alchemy jug.

It's not even unprecedented! Mountain climbers will (and historically have) eaten just butter for short periods of time when climbing mountains, because carrying only fat gets you more calories per pound. Mayonnaise is also almost entirely fat! So eating a few cups of mayonnaise each day is, like, not totally out there. You'd become malnourished eventually, but until then you're ready to fight!

[Cicciograna]

Mayonnaise is very calorie-dense! The alchemy jug produces 2 gallons, which is ~48,000 calories--enough to meet the caloric needs of a good dozen and a half people (even if they're adventurers who need lots of calories). It's nutritionally awful, of course, but in a pinch you can sustain your party for a good while on no resources with an alchemy jug.
Not to mention that it could be weaponized, considering that some monsters are particularly careful to their diet (https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0432.html)!

[Rusvul]

On a tangentially related note: tallow candles (1 cp, - weight) are also edible, since they're just rendered animal fat. Carry a few pounds of candles in your bag for cheap emergency rations--or replace your rations entirely with candles, if buying rations at less than half cost (2 sp/day) is worth snacking on just tallow.

There's some cool things you can do with Boots of Elvenkind--if you turn invisible while wearing them, you might theoretically be undetectable. I guess your DM could make you roll stealth? But at that point you're invisible and your steps are silent, so unless someone can hear you by the rustling of your clothes or your heartbeat, or see your footprints in the mud, you should be nigh impossible to detect.

[Droppeddead]

On a tangentially related note: tallow candles (1 cp, - weight) are also edible, since they're just rendered animal fat. Carry a few pounds of candles in your bag for cheap emergency rations--or replace your rations entirely with candles, if buying rations at less than half cost (2 sp/day) is worth snacking on just tallow.

You best stock up on some fiber and some toilet because you will get the runs from eating just tallow. Same goes for the two gallons of mayo. It's better than starving but you're going to hate yourself in the morning. :P


There's some cool things you can do with Boots of Elvenkind--if you turn invisible while wearing them, you might theoretically be undetectable. I guess your DM could make you roll stealth? But at that point you're invisible and your steps are silent, so unless someone can hear you by the rustling of your clothes or your heartbeat, or see your footprints in the mud, you should be nigh impossible to detect.

Footsteps, your breathing, the rustling and creaking of your gear, your smell. Lots of ways you can be detected if you're not careful.

As for useful items, I'm a huge fan of discrete items that ca be used in any situation. A Frostbrand is a terrific weapon but you probably won't be allowed to bring it to an audience with the king. Jewelry like a Ring of the Ram on the other hand...

[Rusvul]

You best stock up on some fiber and some toilet because you will get the runs from eating just tallow. Same goes for the two gallons of mayo. It's better than starving but you're going to hate yourself in the morning. :P

Footsteps, your breathing, the rustling and creaking of your gear, your smell. Lots of ways you can be detected if you're not careful.

Hmm, I think you're right on both counts (though I certainly wasn't expecting for it to be pleasant to eat exclusively mayonnaise). I suppose the boots-and-invisibility tactic only works for a well-oiled naked Warforged.

[Dork_Forge]

I'm not sure if it's overlooked, but the Alchemy Jug is a super cheap and super useful tool to produce lots of acid for the catapult spell (or giant amounts of mayonnaise)

I included an Alchemy Jug for my party in a loot drop, a few sessions later they found a weird dagger that they could reveal to be a dagger capable of storing and delivering poison.

...They've done nothing but drink it mayo straight from the jug, including lounging in a hot tub whilst chugging it at one point, much to the horror of the third PC that chose his cahracter would... not think of mayo as anything but a condiment.

I had them recently roll up treasure and they acquired both a Cube of Force and Holy Avenger (the Paladin was very happy). After having read through the Cube of Force I'm thinking I may find that one an interested hand out >>

[Droppeddead]

Hmm, I think you're right on both counts (though I certainly wasn't expecting for it to be pleasant to eat exclusively mayonnaise). I suppose the boots-and-invisibility tactic only works for a well-oiled naked Warforged.

Now there's a Friday night in Waterdeep! :D

Jokes aside, both the mayo for emergencies (at least if you have water to drink) and the boots + invisibility are good tactics. They just have some drawbacks to them. :)

[da newt]

I'm a big fan of the slippers of spider climbing - I have a PC who refuses to walk on the ground/floor unless it's the only option.

With a permissive DM the common Cloak of Many Fashions can be very handy for terrain / environment specific camouflage / ghillie suit.

[JackPhoenix]

On a tangentially related note: tallow candles (1 cp, - weight) are also edible, since they're just rendered animal fat. Carry a few pounds of candles in your bag for cheap emergency rations--or replace your rations entirely with candles, if buying rations at less than half cost (2 sp/day) is worth snacking on just tallow.

That weight of - is a problem, though. How many candles to a pound? Because those coppers *will* add up. The lightest listed pieces of equipment are arrows at 0.05 lb and darts at 0.25 lb (and coins at 0.02 lb). Let's say you'll need 20 candles for a pound of "food"... that's 2 sp/day, as you've noted. But the rations weight 2 lb, so despite the label, there's enough for them to comfortably sustain you for 2 days.... and that means you're only 5 cp ahead with candles.

Or, if you want actual cheap food, you can buy flour for 2 cp/lb, which (if you have access to water to turn it into a gruel or hardtack) will also fulfill the need for food. Add salt (5 cp/lb, and no, that's not anywhere near reasonable price for a pound of salt in pseudo-medieval economy) and you have actual decent (if still not very nutritious) food. You can even combine it with the candles! Or you can buy chickens for 2 cp, though you'll have to butcher them yourself, and they are somewhat less convenient to carry with you. A loaf of bread is also 2 cp, so there are other, even cheaper ways to get food.

[NRSASD]

Hmm, I think you're right on both counts (though I certainly wasn't expecting for it to be pleasant to eat exclusively mayonnaise). I suppose the boots-and-invisibility tactic only works for a well-oiled naked Warforged.

Thanks everyone, now I have the image of a naked, stealthy warforged oiled with mayo. Time to go find a bucket of bleach to stick my head in.

[kingcheesepants]

Cape of Billowing. You can make it billow dramatically as a bonus action. It's 100% up to the DM and not written anywhere in the description but see if you can get a bonus to Cha checks with it after all a paladin with a dramatically billowing cape is more persuasive than one without such a cape. Another fun use, have it billow into the enemies face during a fight (ala Dr. Strange) maybe a low DC Dex save for the enemy to avoid being blinded for a turn. Plus it's just cool.

[MaxWilson]

Mayonnaise is very calorie-dense! The alchemy jug produces 2 gallons, which is ~48,000 calories--enough to meet the caloric needs of a good dozen and a half people (even if they're adventurers who need lots of calories). It's nutritionally awful, of course, but in a pinch you can sustain your party for a good while on no resources with an alchemy jug.

It's not even unprecedented! Mountain climbers will (and historically have) eaten just butter for short periods of time when climbing mountains, because carrying only fat gets you more calories per pound. Mayonnaise is also almost entirely fat! So eating a few cups of mayonnaise each day is, like, not totally out there. You'd become malnourished eventually, but until then you're ready to fight!

Thank you for ruining my appetite, maybe forever.

[Pyrophilios]

Going away from the more disgusting aspects of mayo, I'd like to draw attention to the staff of power, which is a very rare item and possibly able to replace a wizard in a party.

First it is a +2 Quarterstaff - neat in and off itself.
It provides +2 to hit for spell attacks, +2 to saves and AC. That's already a super charged cloak of protection and half a wand of the pact keeper.
It has 20 charges and you can expend single charges to add 1d6 force damage per attack. So in a pinch you can turn it into a one handed great sword, damage wise.
There are a bunch of spells on it - most important the Wall of Force and Hold Monster (there are also blasting spells, levitation and ray of enfeeblement as well as magic missile on it, because: why not)

The ability to sequester powerfull enemies at will is so incredibly vital, that alone those two spells would be worth the price. A group without controler type character definitely should try to get their hands on this neat magic item.

[SteadyAim]

Wand of Magic Missiles. Just keep burning through them in your extra non-attunement slots.

[Bobthewizard]

Can anyone think of a magic item that has more use than you originally thought?

As an example, give me a moment to bring up the Wand of Paralysis.

Rare, requires Attunement by a spellcaster

Seven charges, regains 1d6+1 charges at dawn.

I initially overlooked this for so long because I originally thought it only impacted Humanoids, but it impacts all creatures. Unfortunately it does target Constitution, with a DC15, as opposed to the Hold ____ spells which target Wisdom.

But its much more useful than I originally imagined, especially for its rarity.

I will second the wand of paralysis and add in the wand of fear for the same reason. They give you control abilities that DON"T USE CONCENTRATION! That alone makes them amazing. Even if they only land 1/2 of the time, they're still worth using. 6 hold monster spells per day or 3 fear spells per day is pretty amazing when they don't use concentration.

For the wand of fear, I'd never use the one charge command. Just let the cleric cast command. But the mass fear effect, while not as powerful as the fear spell since the targets don't have to drop their weapons, doesn't use concentration, so one caster can drop this on everyone after laying down a hypnotic pattern.

Did I mention they don't use concentration?

[JackPhoenix]

Going away from the more disgusting aspects of mayo, I'd like to draw attention to the staff of power, which is a very rare item and possibly able to replace a wizard in a party.

Assuming you already have a sorcerer, warlock or a wizard so they can actually use it.

[Dork_Forge]

Assuming you already have a sorcerer, warlock or a wizard so they can actually use it.

Depending on the level, a Thief or Artificer could also make use of one.

[JackPhoenix]

Depending on the level, a Thief or Artificer could also make use of one.

Thief sort of can't.... the DC for the spells from the staff is the caster's spell save DC, but Thief, as non-caster, doesn't have spell save DC.

[ff7hero]

Thief sort of can't.... the DC for the spells from the staff is the caster's spell save DC, but Thief, as non-caster, doesn't have spell save DC.

Nah. Their Spell Saves are just calculated as if they had +0 in their casting stat. If they have a positive mental score, they can also dip a casting class that uses that score.

[da newt]

Wand of Web and Entangle are very handy too.

The Ever-smoking Bottle can be game changing at times.

Cube of Force, Daern's Insta Fortress, and Ring of Free Action are some others that don't get much love.

[Asisreo1]

I will second the wand of paralysis and add in the wand of fear for the same reason. They give you control abilities that DON"T USE CONCENTRATION! That alone makes them amazing. Even if they only land 1/2 of the time, they're still worth using. 6 hold monster spells per day or 3 fear spells per day is pretty amazing when they don't use concentration.

For the wand of fear, I'd never use the one charge command. Just let the cleric cast command. But the mass fear effect, while not as powerful as the fear spell since the targets don't have to drop their weapons, doesn't use concentration, so one caster can drop this on everyone after laying down a hypnotic pattern.

Did I mention they don't use concentration?
Don't forget to mention the fact it doesn't require attunement by a spellcaster, meaning the group can give it to the barbarian, fighter, rogue, or any other class that isn't a spellcaster.

[stoutstien]

The bag of holding created by the artificer's infusion has an interesting tag in that when destroyed the contents are harmlessly placed in and around the space the bag was.

64³ ft of *insert material* in an instant is a lot of fun.

[diplomancer]

I will second the wand of paralysis and add in the wand of fear for the same reason. They give you control abilities that DON"T USE CONCENTRATION! That alone makes them amazing. Even if they only land 1/2 of the time, they're still worth using. 6 hold monster spells per day or 3 fear spells per day is pretty amazing when they don't use concentration.

For the wand of fear, I'd never use the one charge command. Just let the cleric cast command. But the mass fear effect, while not as powerful as the fear spell since the targets don't have to drop their weapons, doesn't use concentration, so one caster can drop this on everyone after laying down a hypnotic pattern.

Did I mention they don't use concentration?

Pipes of Haunting have a weaker effect, but still very good, and they don't require attunement nor do they have friendly fire. They are both very good, but Pipes of Haunting is a reason I usually try to have proficiency with wind instruments with my characters.

[Segev]

The circlet of human perfection is pretty interesting for Small PCs. A way to vary one’s size is handy.

I don’t know if it’s overlooked, but the Broom of Flying is only Uncommon in 5e, and not only grants that third dimension of mobility, but comes when called!

The ring of jumping is also an uncommon item that makes a ninth level warlock invocation seem weak by comparison: it lets you cast Jump as a bonus action. (Self only, but still, affordable even in tier 1!)

The stone of earth elemental command reduces the casting time to one round. A massive beatstick once per day is pretty useful.

[MaxWilson]

Anything which doesn't use concentration is better than it first seems. For example, the Bag of Tricks is actually pretty nice for an Uncommon item!

[Renvir]

The circlet of human perfection is pretty interesting for Small PCs. A way to vary one’s size is handy.

I don’t know if it’s overlooked, but the Broom of Flying is only Uncommon in 5e, and not only grants that third dimension of mobility, but comes when called!

The ring of jumping is also an uncommon item that makes a ninth level warlock invocation seem weak by comparison: it lets you cast Jump as a bonus action. (Self only, but still, affordable even in tier 1!)

The stone of earth elemental command reduces the casting time to one round. A massive beatstick once per day is pretty useful.

The Broom of Flying is crazy useful. I gave one to an evocation wizard in a campaign a few years back. She was already a force to be reckoned with but with the broom she might as well have been a god among mere mortals. And the Uncommon tag is ridiculous when compared to other flying items.

[Yakmala]

Robe of Useful Items.

Sure, the word "useful" is right there in the title, but it's even more useful than most suspect.

Ripping off a a patch to block a corridor with an iron door or to open up a 10' pit under a monster has saved lives and ended encounters. Almost every item on the robe has the potential to be the exact thing you need at any given time.

[micahaphone]

My monk player likes doing monk stuff, so I put a Ring of Free Action into a loot pile. A monk that can't be slowed restrained or paralyzed is scary stuff.

[ff7hero]

The Broom of Flying is crazy useful. I gave one to an evocation wizard in a campaign a few years back. She was already a force to be reckoned with but with the broom she might as well have been a god among mere mortals. And the Uncommon tag is ridiculous when compared to other flying items.

The lack of attunement is what puts it above every other flying item for me.

[No brains]

Tentacle rod is a weird one. You can say its lack of bonus to d6 damage and the need for all three tentacles to hit mitigates its usefulness, but 15-foot reach, an independent +9 to hit, and the fact it legally works with Holy Weapon means it can give any class as many attacks as a fighter.

[Mr Adventurer]

The Broom of Flying is crazy useful. I gave one to an evocation wizard in a campaign a few years back. She was already a force to be reckoned with but with the broom she might as well have been a god among mere mortals. And the Uncommon tag is ridiculous when compared to other flying items.

Just looked it up, wow, yeah, that's crazy useful. The only limiting factor that immediately occurs is if a DM starts requiring ability checks to stay astride it while under attack or in combat.

[micahaphone]

Tentacle rod is a weird one. You can say its lack of bonus to d6 damage and the need for all three tentacles to hit mitigates its usefulness, but 15-foot reach, an independent +9 to hit, and the fact it legally works with Holy Weapon means it can give any class as many attacks as a fighter.

I never thought about doing weapon buff spells on a tentacle rod. That's good and terrifying.

[Hopeless]

Funny you should mention the Alchemy Jug, my group just got hold of one whether the dm will allow us to keep it is another matter entirely.

My character is a malformed wood elf Knowledge domain Outlander Cleric currently 4th level.

I'v been considering buying some hide armour to replace the chain shirt she's been using and then a Cookery Kit so it matches my character's encumberance dropping her AC by 1.

Given my character's foraging ability its only after reading this thread that I'm left thinking can my character forage chickens or other foodstuffs suitable for use with mayonaisse?

Doesn't it also produce vinegar?

[loki_ragnarock]

Boots of Striding and Springing allow you to wear full plate with a 7 strength without impacting your movement speed.

Further... it might let you ignore things that would straight up reduce your movement speed, like Lance of Lethargy. 30 ft of movement, forever, unless your move speed is higher. Even, maybe, things that would typically reduce your movement rate to zero, like the grappled and restrained condition.

It can slot into some edge cases that way. Definitely a magic item that can cause some arguments.

I'm sure there's a sage advice about this very thing, because how could there not be? Surely someone has tried to argue that the nature of the wording for boots of striding and springing allow you to walk out of a web spell or away from a luchador, forcing a ruling for clarification?

Almost out of battery, can't look it up.

EDIT:
Battery back, looked at the sage advice document, there's nothing in it for Boots of Striding and Springing specifically.

So I suppose it's an open question. The grappled and restrained conditions set movement to 0. The boots set movement to 30 unless the movement rate is higher than 30. Zero is lower than thirty. Thus it is set to thirty? Or is thirty set to zero?

Personally, I'd rule in favor of the Boots; if specific beats general, the scenario of grappling is more general than the scenario of grappling a person wearing boots of striding and springing.

[micahaphone]

I would disagree, you can still be grappled while wearing the jumping boots. But I have no RAW argument, just a gut check. Is that a RAI argument?

[Pex]

People like the Alchemy Jug, but I never did. I find it doesn't do anything. Obviously it does something but not anything useful and not necessarily for combat. Being cynical, it's a magic item a DM can give so he can honestly say he gives out magic items but won't do anything to affect anything meaningful. It will provide for an occasional laugh. However, I eventually found a use for it, ironically for combat. It's not much, but it's something. It does give two free vials of acid per day. You can use them with the Catapult spell to add 2d6 acid damage to the spell's effect.

[Grek]

The Moon Sickle (new in Tasha's) is a +1 silver weapon/druidic spell focus which also adds +1d4 to all healing spells. Know what healing spell is on the druid/ranger list? Goodberry. This lets you heal an average of 35 health per first level spell slot, provided that you're willing to have said healing occur at a rate of 1d4+1 per action. You basically give everyone in the party 1-2 miniature healing potions per casting.

[Asisreo1]

People like the Alchemy Jug, but I never did. I find it doesn't do anything. Obviously it does something but not anything useful and not necessarily for combat. Being cynical, it's a magic item a DM can give so he can honestly say he gives out magic items but won't do anything to affect anything meaningful. It will provide for an occasional laugh. However, I eventually found a use for it, ironically for combat. It's not much, but it's something. It does give two free vials of acid per day. You can use them with the Catapult spell to add 2d6 acid damage to the spell's effect.
Funny you say its one of the non-effective magic items because it kinda is. Its considered a minor item even though its not a consumable meaning the DMG doesn't consider it any more impactful than a Driftglobe or Potion of Growth.

[loki_ragnarock]

I would disagree, you can still be grappled while wearing the jumping boots. But I have no RAW argument, just a gut check. Is that a RAI argument?

Honestly?

I don't know what they intended here.

It comes down to which effect the DM decrees has preeminence for determining speed. The thing that sets it to zero or the thing that sets it to 30 or higher.

The only reason I'd side with the boots is because - in general - when you go to grapple or restrain someone they aren't wearing boots, which makes it a more specific thing. But I'd also accept the other ruling without complaints because - in general - when you're wearing magic boots you aren't being grappled or restrained. They're both perfectly valid interpretations. The actual phrasing used makes for some ambiguity; grappling sets to zero and doesn't allow for bonuses to movement, but the boots don't actually provide a bonus to movement and sets it to 30.

I just side with the boots because that makes them feel special and magical, which is what they're supposed to be. But your gut is as good as mine on this one. I only bring it up because... it's probably not a novel line of thought, but it was novel to me when I reread the boots entry yesterday and started thinking about the larger implications. My first take was, "Oh, this is pretty good for halflings and dwarves and I guess everyone else gets the benefit of jumping." But my second take was, "Oh, actually, it says your speed is 30 feet regardless of what your normal speed would be. That could actually be pretty dope in edge cases for everybody and makes these feel magic and special instead of halfling fodder."

But for what they intended? I really can't tell.

[loki_ragnarock]

So, I've been reading through magic items and recording my thoughts on some of them, trying to get into the spirit of the thread.

And... I legit had that moment the OP describes when I my eyes gazed upon The Rod of Absorption:

- Rod of Absorption
Huh. Whelp, that’s gross, but I guess on a down day there’s nothing stopping you from casting all your “self” spells and using your reaction to absorb those spells for an extra 50 levels of spell slots come your next adventuring day. May as well call this the Rod of Starbucks, because it’s most of the way there to a coffeelock on it’s own. With that in mind, it’s usefulness as a defensive item is… kinda irrelevant? I totally misunderstood the utility of this item until today.
In the hands of an actual sorcerer? This is the tool you use to convert your slots from yesterday into spell points for today. Wow. Those builds that burn all their spell points on a metric ton of modified cantrips suddenly become a great idea.
In the hands of an actual warlock? Many short rests on your down days turn into no need for them on your adventuring days; you have as many spell slots as you need for whatever combat, guaranteed, shoring up one of the big weaknesses of the class. Wow.
Totally undersold this one in my mind on first reading. This puts almost every other magic item to shame for raw power boost. Holy cow, there isn’t even an action associated with generating spell slots with it?! Jaw drop and mic drop in the same moment.
So, this one. This is the one. The rod of nigh infinite flexible spell slots has been misnamed.

[PhoenixPhyre]

So, I've been reading through magic items and recording my thoughts on some of them, trying to get into the spirit of the thread.

And... I legit had that moment the OP describes when I my eyes gazed upon The Rod of Absorption:

- Rod of Absorption
Huh. Whelp, that’s gross, but I guess on a down day there’s nothing stopping you from casting all your “self” spells and using your reaction to absorb those spells for an extra 50 levels of spell slots come your next adventuring day. May as well call this the Rod of Starbucks, because it’s most of the way there to a coffeelock on it’s own. With that in mind, it’s usefulness as a defensive item is… kinda irrelevant? I totally misunderstood the utility of this item until today.
In the hands of an actual sorcerer? This is the tool you use to convert your slots from yesterday into spell points for today. Wow. Those builds that burn all their spell points on a metric ton of modified cantrips suddenly become a great idea.
In the hands of an actual warlock? Many short rests on your down days turn into no need for them on your adventuring days; you have as many spell slots as you need for whatever combat, guaranteed, shoring up one of the big weaknesses of the class. Wow.
Totally undersold this one in my mind on first reading. This puts almost every other magic item to shame for raw power boost. Holy cow, there isn’t even an action associated with generating spell slots with it?! Jaw drop and mic drop in the same moment.
So, this one. This is the one. The rod of nigh infinite flexible spell slots has been misnamed.

Doesn't it go away for good once it's absorbed 50 spell levels cumulatively? So not infinite. Large, but not infinite.

[loki_ragnarock]

Doesn't it go away for good once it's absorbed 50 spell levels cumulatively? So not infinite. Large, but not infinite.

Ah, so it isn't that it stops absorbing spells for the moment, it's that it's 50 levels *ever.* That's waaay saner.