Magic Item Overview

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Player's Guide

Character Creation
the next level
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champ, opportunist, researcher, sage, scion
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gerudo, goron, hylian, rito, zora
anouki, deku, korok, twili, zonai
Equipment
armor, weapons, gear, tools, goods, services

System Reference

Hyrulean Guidelines
Using Ability Scores
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Time & Movement
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Compendium

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Techniques
Spellcasting
spell list, spell gallery
Creature Overview
monsters, NPCs, other creatures
Magic Item Overview
item list, item gallery
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Magic items are gleaned from the hoards of conquered monsters or discovered in long‑lost vaults. Such items grant capabilities a character could rarely have otherwise, or they complement their owner's capabilities in wondrous ways.

The Magical World of Hyrule

Magic items are a little more intuitive and abundant in Hyrule compared to universes like the Forgotten Realms.

  • No magic items in Hyrule require attunement.
  • It's always immediately apparent what a magic item does as soon as one attempts to wear or to use it, as that's part of the magic. You needn't identify the item first, unless the DM prefers the more traditional, D&D-style way of identifying magic items.
  • Some low-tier magic items have specific prices attached in Equipment, can be permanently created by spells like craft rod, and appear very often in Treasure Chests.

Wearing and Wielding Items

Using a magic item's properties might mean wearing or wielding it. A magic item meant to be worn must be donned in the intended fashion: boots go on the feet, gloves on the hands, hats and helmets on the head, and rings on the finger. Magic armor must be donned, a shield strapped to the arm, a cloak fastened about the shoulders. A weapon must be held.
     In most cases, a magic item that's meant to be worn can fit a creature regardless of size or build. Many magic garments are made to be easily adjustable, or they magically adjust themselves to the wearer. Rare exceptions exist. If the story suggests a good reason for an item to fit only creatures of a certain size or shape, you can rule that it doesn't adjust. For example, goron-made armor might fit gorons only. Items made by minish might only be usable for minish-sized folk.
     When a nonhumanoid tries to wear an item, use your discretion as to whether the item functions as intended. A ring placed on a tentacle might work, but a lynel with four hooves instead of feet can't wear boots.

Multiple Items of the Same Kind

Use common sense to determine whether more than one of a given kind of magic item can be worn. A character can't normally wear more than one pair of footwear, one pair of gloves or gauntlets, one pair of bracers, one suit of armor, one item of headwear, and one cloak. You can make exceptions; a character might be able to wear a circlet under a helmet, for example, or to layer two cloaks.

Paired Items

Items that come in pairs—such as boots, bracers, gauntlets, and gloves—impart their benefits only if both items of the pair are worn. For example, a character wearing a power glove on one hand and a fire glove on the other hand gains no benefit from either.

Activating an Item

Activating some magic items requires a user to do something special, such as holding the item and uttering a command word. The description of each item category or individual item details how an item is activated. Certain items use the following rules for their activation.
     If an item requires an action to activate, that action isn't a function of the Use an Item action, so a feature such as Fast Hands can't be used to activate the item.

Command Word

A command word is a word or phrase that must be spoken for an item to work. A magic item that requires a command word can't be activated in an area where sound is prevented.

Consumables

Some items are used up when they are activated. A potion or an elixir must be swallowed, or an oil applied to the body. The writing vanishes from a scroll when it is read. Once used, a consumable item loses its magic.

Spells

Some magic items allow the user to cast a spell from the item. The spell is cast at the lowest possible spell power, doesn't expend any of the user's magic points, and requires no components, unless the item's description says otherwise. The spell uses its normal casting time, range, and duration, and the user of the item must concentrate if the spell requires concentration. Many items, such as potions, bypass the casting of a spell and confer the spell's effects with their usual duration. Certain items make exceptions to these rules, changing the casting time, duration, or other parts of a spell.
     A magic item may require you to use your own spellcasting ability when you cast a spell from the item. If you have more than one spellcasting ability, you choose which one to use with the item. If you don't have a spellcasting ability, your spellcasting ability modifier is +0 for the item, and your proficiency bonus applies.

Charges

Some magic items have charges that must be expended to activate their properties. The number of charges an item has remaining is revealed when an identify spell is cast on it, as well as when a creature attunes to it. Additionally, when an item regains charges, the creature attuned to it learns how many charges it regained.

Rank and Rarity

Magic items are divided into two ranks and six rarities.
     The two ranks are minor and major. Minor items are usually "consumables" which can only be used once or a very limited number of times, while major items can either be used many times or are completely permanent. Minor items are easier to buy and craft, while major items are comparatively expensive.
     The six rarities from lowest to highest are common, uncommon, rare, very rare, legendary, and master. Each rarity of item is substantially more powerful than the last, on average. Items that are more rare show up less frequently in treasure, and might be practically unobtainable except by characters of the highest level. Most common and some uncommon magic items can be bought and sold as if they were any other items, but those of high rarity are so powerful they could change the world's landscape or turn the tide of a war.
     Finally, artifacts are the most powerful magic items which are one of a kind and cannot truly be destroyed or replicated. From the master sword to the triforce of wisdom, these almighty items shape the entire Light World and the history of Hyrule itself.

Buying, Selling, and Crafting

This page or section is incomplete, and will eventually be expanded with more information.

Common magic items like bombs and red potions can be bought sold like any other items. The cost of these items is listed on the gear page as well as each item's individual page. If a magic item doesn't have a price listed on its page, it can still be bought and sold as a downtime activity. Some magic items can also be crafted during downtime. See the downtime page for details on these activities.

Cursed Items

A few magic items are cursed. Most forms of identifying a magic item fail to reveal the curse or its effect. Once a character wears, wields, or is otherwise subjected to a cursed item, the curse cannot be broken without the remove curse spell or similar magic. The curse may not become apparent immediately, unlike most properties of a magic item. A cursed item usually harms or hinders the character who uses it, but may have a beneficial effect so powerful the curse could be worth bearing. See Gallery of Cursed Magic Items.

Item Categories

Each magic item belongs to one of the following categories.
     Armor. This magic item functions as armor, and unless otherwise stated it only has a magic effect when worn. An armor will usually specify what type of armor it is, such as scale mail or plate. If none is specified, the DM either decides one or chooses one type randomly.
     Potion. This fluid comes in a bottle and only has a magic effect when it is completely drunk by one creature. In Hyrule, drinking a potion only requires a bonus action. You can administer a potion to a willing or unconscious creature as an action.
     Ring. A small jeweled ring designed to be worn on your ring finger, it only has a magic effect when worn properly.
     Shields. This magic items functions as a shield, and unless otherwise specified it only has a magic effect when wielded. An armor will usually specify what type of armor it is, such as iron shield or heavy shield. If none is specified, the DM either decides one or chooses one type randomly.
     Rod. This is a scepter, wand, or staff usually composed of metal. It can be used as a club. You must normally hold a rod to have any effect. A rod usually functions better if you have proficiency with rods.
     Weapon. This magic item functions as a weapon, and unless otherwise stated it only has a magic effect when wielded. A weapon will often specify what type of armor it is, such as a broadsword or boomerang. If none is specified, the DM either decides one or chooses one type randomly.
     Wondrous item. This catch-all category includes all magic items which don't fit in other categories, from clawshots to hover boots.

Magic Items


The text of this page is partly based on the the V5.1 Systems Reference Document (SRD). The text of both this page and the SRD are released under Creative Commons (“CC-BY-4.0”). [1]