A Guide to Homebrewing Magic Items
There’s a lot of things to look forward to when you create your own world for Dungeons and Dragons. You can make landscapes, entire dimensions, societies, religions, divine beings, terrifying enemies - it’s all at your command. To be honest, though, while every creation I make excites me in some way, the unique element of magical items in D&D is some of the best fun I can have. Perhaps it’s the little giggle to myself as I place it in the world for the party to find, or seeing my players’ faces light up when they get to use it. Regardless, it makes me happy, and can be an exciting way to both utilize awesome powers and introduce lore into the world.
However, magic items also walk the unique line of having more rules than the usual aspects of worldbuilding. When I make a mountain made of chocolate in the Feywild, I don’t necessarily have to go into the nitty gritty of how it mechanically functions in nature. I can, but it’s not required unless the players ask. Items I make for them to utilize on their journey, however, have to both be thematically realized in the world and mechanically balanced for in-game usage, and that’s where fledgling Weavers may find themself in some trouble.
As creatives, we know how to make stuff work from a narrative standpoint. However, D&D is also a game, and like I mentioned in my worldbuilding article on realism and believability, having rules helps ground the players and makes the gameplay more fun and challenging. Of course, all of us have likely bent the rules a bit one way or another for a cool moment, but when creating something that’s meant to be consistently balanced, it’s a good idea to err on the side of caution.
Study Up on Official Magic Items
If you’re just starting out as a DM, you may not be super familiar with the power level of certain abilities. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with them first before you attempt to craft an item, as to avoid any frustration. The Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG) has a list of many magic items (excluding ones released in specific guides and adventures.) This is where you want to start. But wait, we’re making our own magic items, so why do we have to look at official ones? Well, it’s so we have a good baseline to work off of.
I’m going to have a separate article on creating your own homebrew monsters, but I utilize the same philosophy there. Using existing items as a base, even if you completely change them, is a good way to ensure that you have some balance right off the bat. The longer you spend running the games, the more of a feel you’ll get for what types of abilities are very powerful, and what types are weaker. You can also use official items to gauge the power differences between the lowest rarity and the highest rarity. I’ll elaborate on rarity further in this article.
Another good reason is simply to check and see if the item you have in mind already exists. I know I’ve come across a couple items that already do what I intended to make a homebrew item for. Or, something super similar that I just wanted to make more powerful or less powerful. There’s zero shame in taking abilities from existing items, too. I’ve made weapons and items that are very much just mash ups of existing ones, because the abilities were already written out and I had less legwork that way.
Item Rarities
Magic items in D&D are split up onto six rarities: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, Legendary, and Artifact. You’ve likely seen a system like this in a video game, because it’s a very common tier list to gauge power for items. The higher the rarity, the more flexibility you have for the powers you equip to the item. However, balancing an item has just as much to do with the player you’re giving it to as the item itself. Rarity gives a good baseline for power, but an Uncommon item in the hands of certain builds may be more powerful than you think it is from the start. It’s a good idea to understand the levels at which each item rarity is good to give away.
Here’s a handy chart that I use for dictating rarity and when it’s suitable for the party.
Common. Has one minor ability that is generally harmless to others, or only does minor harm. Examples include an item that changes the color of clothes, casts a cantrip once a day, or a candle that doesn’t ever snuff out. Suitable to give to the party as early as Level 1.
Uncommon. Has one major ability that can only be used once or twice a day, or a consistent stat increase. Examples include an item that stores more than it appears to on the outside, jewelry that casts a spell below 5th level once a day, and situational items, such as a rod that can’t be moved when you click a button. Suitable to give the party by level 5, with some flexibility.
Rare. Generally has one major, consistent ability, or multiple, minor abilities. A rare item may contain multiple spells, raise Armor Class, grant a resistance, or grant advantage on certain ability checks. Suitable for parties of level 9 or higher.
Very Rare. Has a couple major abilities. These items may give an ability that can paralyze or stun, have a consistent teleport, allow wielder to cast a spell of 7th level or lower, summons a powerful creature, or raises a stat above 20. Save these items for parties above 13th level.
Legendary. Very powerful abilities for the stuff of legends. Includes big bonuses to attack, granting multiple resistances, granting multiple bonuses in general, has some kind of sentience, etc. Parties of 15th level or higher generally can wield these items.
Artifacts. Not to be confused with Legendary items, Artifacts are different in that they are often creations of extremely powerful creatures or the Divine. They can be found in dormant states and awaken with certain parameters. Artifacts have a number of ‘properties’ from the “Artifacts” section of Chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. These items generally exist as plot hooks as opposed to items the party frequently and often uses. Artifacts also generally have very specific methods for their destruction.
Of course, the list above is just a general gist: you will find exceptions and differences based on the availability of magic items in your game, the make-up of your party, and your personal DM style. You may decide to hand your party a Very Rare item at level 5, and that’s alright! But, it’s good to get a handle on what makes an item a certain rarity, so when you create your own, you can determine when best to introduce it to the party.
Common Mechanics for Magic Items
Magic items have multiple common formats depending on the function of the item. Here’s a list of some common functions that you can implement to give reasonable limits to items:
Attunement. Items with consistent bonuses or powerful abilities generally require Attunement, meaning a player would have to use one of their three Attunement slots in order to access the abilities of the item, or may be barred from using the item at all, depending on their class or other factors. For example, staves normally require attunement by spellcasters, so your barbarian player wouldn’t be able to use it. Consider whether the item is in need of attunement, which generally becomes more required the higher the rarity.
Charges. Items with charges can only be used a limited number of times a day. The number of charges tends to vary by rarity, but somewhere between 3-6 is the most common. Charges sometimes never return once they’re used, but more often, a number of charges return under a condition. For example, an item may recharge 1d4 + 1 charges after a long rest, the next dawn, at midnight, or when the item is left in sunlight. You can have a solid number of charges return, or you can have a die roll. Using all the charges before a recharge may have an adverse effect, such as the item having the potential of being destroyed.
Command Words and Phrases. Some items may require you to say a special word or phrase to make them work. For example, a Flame Tongue weapon requires you to say the command phrase in order for the weapon to catch fire. You can have the word be known to the player as soon as they pick it up, or it can be a whole extra side quest to learn it.
Curses. Some items are cursed, causing ill-effects to the wielder. Curses can range from minor annoyances to character altering effects, and should be thought of carefully to ensure the temptation of the item’s power matches the intensity of the curse. Curses can often be broken by the Remove Curse spell, or by performing a certain action.
Sentience. An item may contain an entity or have some kind of awareness of its own. These can be super fun, but tend to be relegated to more powerful items. Many sentient items are evil and try to corrupt the wielder, but some may be friendly, or trapped, or benevolent. Sentient items generally have mental stats, but no physical stats, and can see and hear to a certain distance and have personal goals and personalities. Have some fun with these, and they can become some engaging NPCs in the party's explorations.
The Importance of Clarity
When you’re making a magic item, you’ll want to brush off your language skills to make sure the player can understand the abilities as well as you do. It’s one of the dryer aspects of creating magic items, but making sure the description is clear, concise, and only has a minor amount of room for interpretation. One of the most common troubles I see with creating magic items, especially ones with more unique abilities, is a lack of clarity with how it works. This is one of the few times you can’t really improvise as a DM: you need to have a very solid decision of what the item is capable of and how it works.
Let’s use an example. Suppose you want to make a wand that, when you fire a blast at another creature, you could potentially switch places with that creature. Let’s call it the Wand of Switchstep. You can’t simply say ‘when you point the wand at someone, you switch places with them’. Well, you could, but that opens a lot of questions. Does the target get a save? What’s the maximum distance? Can it be blocked? What if the space is too small for you to stand in?
To make sure you answer the many questions that come to mind, consider the following anagram: Ransac.
Rarity. What is the rarity of the item?
Attunement. Does the item require attunement? If so, what are the attunement requirements?
Negation. Is there something that prevents the item from working, such as cover, antimagic fields, or resistances?
Save. For the effect of the item, does it require a save? Is it equal to a spellcaster’s save DC, or does it have it’s own? What type of save is it?
Attack Type. If this item is capable of damaging someone, is it considered a weapon attack or a spell attack? Ranged or melee? If it’s ranged, how far is the range? Does it require sight?
Charges. Does the item have charges? How many times a day can the item be used? When does it recharge and how? Does it have a chance of being destroyed if all charges are used?
Ransac considers a lot of the basic questions of making an item. Of course, it doesn’t consider super specific questions based on the abilities you’re applying, but it will help you make sure you get some of the most important clarity questions out of the way.
Back to the Wand of Switchstep. Let’s apply the steps of Ransac to this example:
Rarity. The wand is a rare item
Attunement. The wand does not require attunement.
Negation. A successful save prevents the ability from working, as well as not having a clear line of sight, or the space you’d switch to not being large enough for you to occupy.
Save. The wand requires a Charisma saving throw of 14 if used against an unwilling target. A willing target switches automatically.
Attack Type. The wand does not require an attack roll and is considered a ‘use an item’ action. The range of the wand’s effect is 60 ft, and you must see the target you’re aiming at.
Charges. The wand has 4 charges. 1d4 charges return on the next dawn. If all charges are used, roll a d20. On a 1, the wand disappears from your hand, lost until found again.
With the basics down, we can write out a description of the item typical to something you could see in the DMG. It’s also a good time to add a description of what the wand looks like! Naturally, be as creative as you can:
Wand of Switchstep
Rare
// A black and white wand of two interlocking swirls of crystal. Each end has a softly glowing orb of light, one white and one black, that switches back and forth between the ends.
This wand has 4 charges. As an action, you can point this wand at a creature you can see within 60 ft. of you and speak the Command phrase. If the creature is unwilling, they must succeed a DC 14 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, you teleport to the creature’s space, and the creature is teleported to your space. On a success, nothing happens. A willing creature automatically switches with you.
The space you switch to has to be large enough for you to occupy, and the space you left has to be large enough for the target to occupy, or the effect fails, and you do not teleport.
The wand regains 1d4 charges at dawn of each day. If you use all the charges, roll a d20. On a 1, the wand blinks out of existence, lost until found again. //
Now we have a good description and mechanics for this item! Remember: you should always write out the exact mechanics you want, so your player doesn’t have too many questions on how the item works. However, you may miss something, and there’s only so many preventative measures you can take without moving on to the next step: playtesting.
Playtesting, Balancing, and Reworking
The more experienced you become in homebrew, the easier it will be for you to create balanced items with intuition alone. However, even if you’re very confident in your ideas, it’s still a good idea to add homebrew items with a disclaimer of changes being made if necessary. It’s very likely your players will find ways to use the item, no matter how specific, in ways you weren’t expecting.
If you’re currently running a game, or about to run one, make sure you preemptively explain to players that homebrewed items are subject to tweaks and changes for balancing purposes. You don’t want to blindside your players by suddenly changing how something works without explaining yourself. If you find an item is out of balance - either too powerful or too weak - explain your reasoning to the player before you make the changes. The good thing about items that are overpowered is you can always restore their ‘full power’ later on when applicable, but weaken it for a few levels until it’s appropriate. You can adjust saves, rulings, and mechanics as you see the item in action. You may flip flop a bit, and that’s okay - remain transparent and you’ll get better and better.
During this process, you may find an item you made simply isn’t working out. This isn’t a failure, and if anything helps you become a better homebrewer to have some misses. If you’re worried about handing too many items to the party only to take them away, consider showing the item descriptions to fellow DMs or players not in your campaign - just like editing articles, other pairs of eyes may find flaws you didn’t initially consider. Working with others in general can help you organize your thoughts and articulate what you want the item to be capable of and how to word it in a reasonable way.
Homebrewing items may be something you do just to fill your world with unique items, but you may find yourself making an item to the specifications of a request your player gave you, or something you’re making as a surprise. It’s always a good idea to gauge the interest of your player before you go all in on a custom item. Trust me when I say removing an element of surprise is significantly favorable to spending a lot of time on something the player isn’t interested in using.
If you’re like me, who runs a fairly high magic game with a lot of magic items, you may ask your players to create a magic item wishlist to pull ideas from. That way, you can be certain items you create are in line with their interests.
And finally, as I try to do with these articles: remember to give yourself a break. You may make a few items in a row that don’t work or get frustrated with mechanics, and that’s alright. Everything you make, even if you don’t use it, has helped you in some way. The work of a World Weaver can be exhausting, but oh so rewarding in the end.
