Magic Items Granting Condition Immunities

[Sparky McDibben]

What magic items grant immunity to the stunned and charmed conditions? Prepping a surprise for my monk and sorceress players.

[Mastikator]

I don't think there is a magic item that grants immunity to stun. But you can protect yourselves with cloak of protection and ring of protection.

The Greater Silver Sword (legendary) and Staff of the Forgotten One (artifact) grant charm immunity, if you're comfortable giving your players both legendary and artifact tier magic items.

But if you're a DM then you can homebrew the items. IMO condition immunity items should require attunement and be at least of rare quality. See for example Ring of Free Action granting immunity to paralyzed and restrained, rare (major tier). However if you're the DM you could just not use many monsters that cause charm or stun and skip the need for those items.

Edit- you could make the Staff of the Forgotten One a McGuffin in the campaign story, so that one player has immunity to charm for most of the story, but at the end they have to give it up.

[Vorpalchicken]

A Stirring Scaled Ornament (from Fizban's) can grant charm immunity. Stun immunity is pretty rare but the Witchlight Vane (from WBTWL) will do it. Any artifact with random major beneficial properties can also potentially grant stun immunity if you don't want to use the Witchlight Vane.

Keep in mind these items will likely fall into the hands of your player's characters and might disrupt things. You might consider just giving the bad guy legendary resistances and good Constitution and Wisdom saves instead.

Edit- The above mentioned Staff of the Forgotten One actually gives immunity to both Stuns and Charms -at the risk of giving out an artifact

[Unoriginal]

Demon ichor can make you grow a second head, which grants you advantage on saving throws against both stunned and charmed (among others).

Creatures born with multiple heads have the same bonus (and more), so an item that would transform you into an Ettin or an Hydra or a two-headed dog would work too.

[Kane0]

Maybe just make up some 'potions of clarity' or like a custom circlet/headband or something? Can tailor it to suit that way (consumable vs charges vs permanent, attunement or not, etc)

[Derges]

Are you creating a gift for your players or a tough encounter?

Because if it's a tough encounter magic items aren't the way to go, you just add the condition immunity to the stat block (and maybe budget a little bit of extra xp and let the immunity be apparent to a knowledge check).

[KorvinStarmast]

Suggest you add either advantage on the saves or legendary saves.
Or add proficiency to CON saves.
You seem to be getting into a bit of PvP (DMvP) with your monk player here.
Or, include the magic item which your party will doubtless harvest from the dead monster/NPC since there is more to this party than the monk.

[Sparky McDibben]

Are you creating a gift for your players or a tough encounter?

Because if it's a tough encounter magic items aren't the way to go, you just add the condition immunity to the stat block (and maybe budget a little bit of extra xp and let the immunity be apparent to a knowledge check).


Suggest you add either advantage on the saves or legendary saves.
Or add proficiency to CON saves.
You seem to be getting into a bit of PvP (DMvP) with your monk player here.
Or, include the magic item which your party will doubtless harvest from the dead monster/NPC since there is more to this party than the monk.

It's an odd situation. They're going to be getting into a tournament arc when they're close to closing out the campaign. Probably no more than one session, but I'm thinking about how to challenge them. For most of it, monsters and standard magic will suffice, but the capstone encounter will be with the Prince's current champion, whom they'll have to defeat in combat to gain the title. I was thinking about diegetic ways to give him immunity or resistance to stun and charm effects, since the PCs are known to rely on those, and it makes sense that the Prince would have forearmed their champion with the tools to deal with those effects.

The champion is loosely based on the Conquest Paladin, but with some factional benefits (like magic items the PCs can't loot when they win - those are property of the Prince). Hence, how would the Prince go about giving her hero the tools to deal with a high-level monk and a high-level sorceress?

The reason I want it to be diegetic is because they've seen this guy in action before, and he got charmed in that fight, so if he shows up and is now immune to charm, it breaks continuity.

[KorvinStarmast]

The reason I want it to be diegetic
Why is the contest two on one? Or the party versus the champion?

[Sparky McDibben]

Why is the contest two on one? Or the party versus the champion?

Whole party, but the monk and sorceress are the only two I'm worried about.

[Unoriginal]

It's an odd situation. They're going to be getting into a tournament arc when they're close to closing out the campaign. Probably no more than one session, but I'm thinking about how to challenge them. For most of it, monsters and standard magic will suffice, but the capstone encounter will be with the Prince's current champion, whom they'll have to defeat in combat to gain the title. I was thinking about diegetic ways to give him immunity or resistance to stun and charm effects, since the PCs are known to rely on those, and it makes sense that the Prince would have forearmed their champion with the tools to deal with those effects.

The champion is loosely based on the Conquest Paladin, but with some factional benefits (like magic items the PCs can't loot when they win - those are property of the Prince). Hence, how would the Prince go about giving her hero the tools to deal with a high-level monk and a high-level sorceress?

The reason I want it to be diegetic is because they've seen this guy in action before, and he got charmed in that fight, so if he shows up and is now immune to charm, it breaks continuity.

I understand the situation, but worth noting that diegeticaly, it also makes sense that the Prince doesn't have access the right item to solve those two issues, especially given how rare and powerful the few items who can do that are (basically only artifacts grant those immunities).

However, there are other ways to counter the abilities both Prince and champion knows the champion will struggle against.

For example:

-Targeted Offense Is the Best Defense: the champion gets an equipment setup specifically to help them taking out the Monk and/or the Sorcerer, neutralizing them before they can hinder him. It is possible for the group to notice that and identify the champion's tactical goal in advance.

-First, Master the Basics: the champion figures that boosting their overall fighting prowess is a better path to victory, selecting items such a the Belt of Giant Strength or the Flame Tongue or the like to make their general attack and/or defense better.

-What Makes You You?: the champion figures that to beat the PCs, he needs to take his signature abilities up to eleven. As someone with powers similar to a Conquest Paladin, Fear-inducing items would be appropriate.

-Disruption Is the Best Defense: the champion thinks that the best way to deal with the two PCs who risk to cause them the most troubles is simply make them unable to do their troublesome moves on him. Items that would prevent the Monk from landing any strike on them (ex, by getting superior mobility making the Monk unable to follow the champion, or by pushing the Monk away, or giving them a Parry/Shield like reaction) while preventing the sorceress from casting (ex: items like the Eversmoking Bottle that makes it impossible for the caster to use spells requiring the target to be seen, or items that immobilize or silence the caster) would be favored here. Alternatively, effects that inflict damage to people nearby every time you are hit can be devastating against a Monk, who rely on hitting a lot of times.

-The Unusual Suspect: the champion is known for X. PCs will be prepared for X. So the champion can get an edge by deliberately seeking the unexpected or the counter-intuitive, so long as it's not counter-productive. Ways to do that is for the champion to get something that is either powerful but not the typical Conquest Paladin equipment choice (like a Bag of Tricks, summoning allied animals, or an Headband of Intellect making the champion smarter and as such better at dealing with the tactical concerns both during
planning and during the fight, on-the-fly), or to use something that is seemingly ridiculous and easy to underestimate, or plainly just use a cursed magic item that is beneficial to this one situation, knowing they can get the curse removed no matter what.

[KorvinStarmast]

I understand the situation, but worth noting that diegeticaly, it also makes sense that the Prince doesn't have access the right item to solve those two issues, especially given how rare and powerful the few items who can do that are (basically only artifacts grant those immunities).

Good point, and all in all a very good post. Hope that Sparky can use some of that, seems to fit his scenario.

[Sparky McDibben]

I understand the situation, but worth noting that diegeticaly, it also makes sense that the Prince doesn't have access the right item to solve those two issues, especially given how rare and powerful the few items who can do that are (basically only artifacts grant those immunities).

However, there are other ways to counter the abilities both Prince and champion knows the champion will struggle against.

For example:

-Targeted Offense Is the Best Defense: the champion gets an equipment setup specifically to help them taking out the Monk and/or the Sorcerer, neutralizing them before they can hinder him. It is possible for the group to notice that and identify the champion's tactical goal in advance.

-First, Master the Basics: the champion figures that boosting their overall fighting prowess is a better path to victory, selecting items such a the Belt of Giant Strength or the Flame Tongue or the like to make their general attack and/or defense better.

-What Makes You You?: the champion figures that to beat the PCs, he needs to take his signature abilities up to eleven. As someone with powers similar to a Conquest Paladin, Fear-inducing items would be appropriate.

-Disruption Is the Best Defense: the champion thinks that the best way to deal with the two PCs who risk to cause them the most troubles is simply make them unable to do their troublesome moves on him. Items that would prevent the Monk from landing any strike on them (ex, by getting superior mobility making the Monk unable to follow the champion, or by pushing the Monk away, or giving them a Parry/Shield like reaction) while preventing the sorceress from casting (ex: items like the Eversmoking Bottle that makes it impossible for the caster to use spells requiring the target to be seen, or items that immobilize or silence the caster) would be favored here. Alternatively, effects that inflict damage to people nearby every time you are hit can be devastating against a Monk, who rely on hitting a lot of times.

-The Unusual Suspect: the champion is known for X. PCs will be prepared for X. So the champion can get an edge by deliberately seeking the unexpected or the counter-intuitive, so long as it's not counter-productive. Ways to do that is for the champion to get something that is either powerful but not the typical Conquest Paladin equipment choice (like a Bag of Tricks, summoning allied animals, or an Headband of Intellect making the champion smarter and as such better at dealing with the tactical concerns both during
planning and during the fight, on-the-fly), or to use something that is seemingly ridiculous and easy to underestimate, or plainly just use a cursed magic item that is beneficial to this one situation, knowing they can get the curse removed no matter what.

This is all super useful, thanks!

[GeoffWatson]

The Prince has his Court Wizard (or Cleric) cast a defensive spell on the Champion, before the battle.
Mind Blank would stop the Charm, but I can't find anything that stops Stun.

[Sparky McDibben]

The Prince has his Court Wizard (or Cleric) cast a defensive spell on the Champion, before the battle.
Mind Blank would stop the Charm, but I can't find anything that stops Stun.

Already on it! Unfortunately, non-opponent NPCs don't have anything over 5th level spells. But I can definitely drop aid, bless, freedom of movement...

Ooh, a ring of spell storing!

Good ideas, guys!

[GeoffWatson]

A scaled ornament(rare) from Fizban's gives charm immunity, and gives advantage on saves vs charm for nearby allies.

[Derges]

It's an odd situation. They're going to be getting into a tournament arc when they're close to closing out the campaign. Probably no more than one session, but I'm thinking about how to challenge them. For most of it, monsters and standard magic will suffice, but the capstone encounter will be with the Prince's current champion, whom they'll have to defeat in combat to gain the title. I was thinking about diegetic ways to give him immunity or resistance to stun and charm effects, since the PCs are known to rely on those, and it makes sense that the Prince would have forearmed their champion with the tools to deal with those effects.

The champion is loosely based on the Conquest Paladin, but with some factional benefits (like magic items the PCs can't loot when they win - those are property of the Prince). Hence, how would the Prince go about giving her hero the tools to deal with a high-level monk and a high-level sorceress?

The reason I want it to be diegetic is because they've seen this guy in action before, and he got charmed in that fight, so if he shows up and is now immune to charm, it breaks continuity.

You're mixing fluff and crunch.
Crunch - immunity/ increased saves because you want it to be a cool fight.
Fluff - Any justification you want. An imbued tattoo, shiny amulet, magical salt bath, intense training against charm spells, precast spells/blessings. These can be unique things that aren't available to players, they don't need rules definition just story explanation.

[Anymage]

Charm spells can be stymied by a rod of absorption. It's very rare, but also very reasonable from a diegetic point of view.

Monks are kind of built around stun spam. You can reasonably give the NPC legendary saves because their whole point is letting important enemies have an out against anticlimactic first round disabling effects. Between those and the saves a paladinlike can bring to the table, you can put off the stun for a while. You can enhance this by having the prince have a transmuter wizard handy, since the transmutation stone can be given to others and can grant proficiency in Con saves. (Plus having minimal cost and being easy to recover if looted.) Add in the conquest paladin's Scornful Rebuke for a thorns effect to punish a flurry of stuns, and that should be surprise enough.

Although since you noticed that incapacitating effects are brutal against a single big enemy, I will wonder how badly party vs. single champion action economy would screw him even if you did just up and give him a macguffin of immunity to charm and stun.

[Unoriginal]

Good point, and all in all a very good post. Hope that Sparky can use some of that, seems to fit his scenario.


This is all super useful, thanks!

Thank you.


You're mixing fluff and crunch.
Crunch - immunity/ increased saves because you want it to be a cool fight.
Fluff - Any justification you want. An imbued tattoo, shiny amulet, magical salt bath, intense training against charm spells, precast spells/blessings. These can be unique things that aren't available to players, they don't need rules definition just story explanation.

The thing is that immunity can make a fight less cool. It's not always the case, of course, it can also make a fight cooler, like in Kung Fu Panda 3 where

Kai reveals he's immune to the Wuxi Finger Hold, since the move works by sending mortals to the Spirit Realm and he is a spirit

or if two dragons are fighting tooth and nails and wings because they're of the same element, or similar.

But if an enemy is suddenly immune to something without foreshadowing or tangible explanation, it can feel "cheap", so to speak. An immunity works best when it's either something known in advance that can be planned around (or at least, that people can *try* to plan around), or a shocking reveal with the dramatic weight it deserves (which should make people both in and out the story go "oh ****. This is really bad").



That being said, OP, I have an idea that could work well for you:


Give the champion a Flail Snail shell shield. For a month after the Snail's death, a shield made out of the shell grants this feature to the user:


Antimagic Shell.

The snail has advantage on saving throws against spells, and any creature making a spell attack against the snail has disadvantage on the attack roll. If the snail succeeds on its saving throw against a spell or a spell attack misses it, an additional effect might occur, as determined by rolling a d6:

1–2. If the spell affects an area or has multiple targets, it fails and has no effect. If the spell targets only the snail, it has no effect on the snail and is reflected back at the caster, using the spell slot level, spell save DC, attack bonus, and spellcasting ability of the caster.

3–4. No additional effect.

5–6. The snail's shell converts some of the spell's energy into a burst of destructive force. Each creature within 30 feet of the snail must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 1d6 force damage per level of the spell on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

So imagine, the PCs enter the battlefield, and the champion is waiting for them with a black, featureless shield. The fight starts, and the moment a spell is cast on the champion, he grins, put his shield in the way.

And the paint covering it breaks and cracks away, revealing the scintillating matter underneath.

For the Monk, well, Conquest Paladins have access to Bestow Curse, so cursing the Monk (perhaps in DEX, but WIS would be much better considering the Paladin's powers) would not only make the Monk more vulnerable, it would also impose disadvantage on all attack rolls made by the Monk against the champion, so it would make a Stunning Strike landing much more unlikely.

All in all, I think the champion should make it a point to mention during the fight that he had to do his homework specifically to handle the Monk and the Sorcerer, and that it wasn't simple to figure out how to beat them.

That way the players can see their PCs are badasses that require far from few efforts to counter.

Opponents who sincerely respect the protagonists are often memorable, especially when the opponent in question is acknowledged in and out of story as a badass themselves.

A great example of that is Godfrey the First Elden Lord, in the video game Elden Ring. Godfrey defeated Giants, monsters and heroes both as a general, leading his army from the frontline, and in duels, conquered most of a continent. Then he was exiled and lead his people through a perilous journey through land and sea, finally settling in the harsh, danger-filled area known as the Badlands, with the implication that their descendants can be found all over the world. Near the end of the game,

a resurrected Godfrey faces the game's protagonist. He is more than 5m tall (nearly three times the protagonist's height, and nearly three time their width too), incredibly fast for his size, wield a greataxe that is even longer, and has a spirit lion bound to his back as a way to limit his bloodlust.

And even then, he addresses the main character with utmost respect, acknowledges the feats they accomplished and the hardship they overcame, before declaring that the protagonist and himself are each other's final obstacle before reaching the titular Elden Ring.

Even more impressively,

during the fight, seeing as he cannot defeat the protagonist otherwise, Godfrey mauls the spirit lion on his back to death, unleashing his bloodlust and fighting the MC as Hoarah Loux, the warrior he once was before taking on the mantle of Lord.

Hoarah Loux is a blood-soaked berserker, even faster than before, and he's fighting the MC bare-handed. more than able to throw them around the area with brutal wrestling moves, claw them to death or tear their limbs off.

And even then, as he's defeated, he shows his profound respect for the protagonist.

[Derges]

The thing is that immunity can make a fight less cool.

Agreed, but the OP wants to give immunity. However this achieved an in-world explanation would be expected. Having the players hear about it is up to storytelling and their information-gathering attempts, and again, is aside from the way things are mechanically constructed.

To the players the Champion gaining a magic item that grants immunity is as much BS as being immune some other way if there's no warning.

Rumours spreading of the Champion training to shrug off charm* seem more likely (to my mind) than whispers of the Prince giving a McGuffin but both work.


* I want to add "Prolonged staring contests with a Brain in a Jar in the Grand Viziers Lab" to my list of explanations.

[J-H]

Why not just have the Prince send people out to gather rare components for a ritual - including the party? Then the ritual is done the day of the battle, and it confers Mind Blank for 24 hours.
Alternatively, the ritual covers all the contestants, and gives them Mind Blank to make sure all the fights are fair.

[Unoriginal]

Why not just have the Prince send people out to gather rare components for a ritual - including the party? Then the ritual is done the day of the battle, and it confers Mind Blank for 24 hours.
Alternatively, the ritual covers all the contestants, and gives them Mind Blank to make sure all the fights are fair.

I mean, the Prince could also just make any charm effect against the rules, if it's a "charm effects are unfair" question (or framed as such by a ruler who wants them banned from the competition).

However, I was under the impression the Prince and the champion wanted to show the champion could beat the PCs even with the PCs allowed to do their best.

[JackPhoenix]

There's another possibility: Trickery and deception.
There's surprisingly few monsters with stun immunity... outside swarms and some high-CR threats, there is the revenant and helmed horror... and that's about it. While it's possible the king may find a revenant and promise to help with its revenge if it fights the PCs while disguised as the champion, that's kinda convulted (but potential plot hook! Hell, perhaps the revenant is one of the PCs previous foes!). But Helmed Horror is basically empty suit of armor... what if the champion wears it, and when he gets disabled, the "armor" takes over? You could do all kind of things with that... perhaps they need to deal with the armor and wearer separately, the Helmed Horror on its own is probably a worse combatant, providing some reward for the PCs tactic even if it's not full-on stun and potentially cluing them what's going on, maybe the king even gave the champion his new armor without informing him what it is, and the champion may feel his honor was impugned by this deception!

[Unoriginal]

There's another possibility: Trickery and deception.
There's surprisingly few monsters with stun immunity... outside swarms and some high-CR threats, there is the revenant and helmed horror... and that's about it. While it's possible the king may find a revenant and promise to help with its revenge if it fights the PCs while disguised as the champion, that's kinda convulted (but potential plot hook! Hell, perhaps the revenant is one of the PCs previous foes!). But Helmed Horror is basically empty suit of armor... what if the champion wears it, and when he gets disabled, the "armor" takes over? You could do all kind of things with that... perhaps they need to deal with the armor and wearer separately, the Helmed Horror on its own is probably a worse combatant, providing some reward for the PCs tactic even if it's not full-on stun and potentially cluing them what's going on, maybe the king even gave the champion his new armor without informing him what it is, and the champion may feel his honor was impugned by this deception!

If the OP goes with that, I hope the champion rips himself out of the armor once the stun wears off and help the PCs take the Helmed Horror down while in his under(armor)wear and using nothing but his Smite-delivering punches, kicks, headbutts, etc (aside from relevant spells and class abilities).