"You find an unusual sword. It has a distinct magical aura to it."

Why does dnd never have blessings for equipment? At the very least, 5e has nothing of the sort besides generic holy water.

I want to bless the shit out of my gear. I want a sword attuned to my god, with traits appropriate for such a god, such as blinding light and searing flames for pelor. Or a spear that strikes true and inflicts deep, grievous wounds upon chaotic entities with a lawful god's blessings upon it.

Sword of Eventuality
If the strike is successful the actual damage will appear in 1d6 turns
>Pain and dead shall reach you... eventually

Sun's Blessing
An armband that lets you Kamehameha once a day (requires a few hours of being exposed to partial or full sunlight to recharge.

Also makes you great with plants and allows you to instantly grow one tree or plant a day from a seed.

5e is pretty light on magic item rules to allow for module design.

A blade of magically hardened amber that stops time briefly every time you swing it. Once per round when you attack and confirm a critical hit with the weapon, you may take one additional swift action to perform an action that affects only yourself.

You're supposed to do that as the GM in 5E. The DMG has a few classics and whatnot in the line of magic items, but it's pretty explicitly encouraged across the board to just make things with themes in mind.

Shield of Blame Deflection.

For whatever reason the holder just isn't at fault, no matter how badly they screw something up.

Fragarach
>+X Sword
>Properties: Applies -3 to target's AC save
>Properties: "The Answerer." Target is automatically paralyzed and is compelled to answer truthfully so long as tip of the blade is pointed at the neck.

The Helm of Count Brennox.

This odd-looking helmet was forged to look like the ever-grimacing face of the legendary Count Brennox. It is said that he had this helm made just so that he'd have no need of revealing his face to others again, and indeed, it was whispered that he had never removed this helm alongside his armor and regalia. But the truly odd thing pertaining to this helm is that the Count was seen in public far more often than before, whereas he had only gone out on his long nightly walks before returning to his manor in the past. Truly odd indeed!

This helm grants the wearer an immunity to the effects of heat and fire from curses and self-inflicted spells. But why would the Count have need for such a thing?

In DND I don't bother.

I have a backpocket fantasy setting I use for games outside of DND Path and in that setting magic items are rare as fuck. Took a group of players to legendary from 0 xp in Savage Worlds using the legit pacing and one dude had a magic hammer because he was a minor royal and they picked up a couple of fake ones (simply enchanted, not magical in nature) towards the very end.

The hammer had a complex backstory and name.

On the off chance that one of my players from years ago is stalking this thread at 1 am our time, the name of the Hammer was Hill-Line the Castlemaker.

Somebody's been reading the iron druid chronicles

I like this one, it's pretty easy to figure out that the Count was/is(?) a Vampire.

That, and Welsh mythology is metal as fk.

The Sinister Eye, a Magic helmet that was at one point created by a powerful god/dess of Good. It was handed down a few generations before the young son of a champion, he was talented like his father, but haughty, proud, and impatient. Denying the power of the helmet after he was defeated in battle by a foreign champion, it was picked up by a minor demon/magic user/evil-doer, who found a way to corrupt its original purpose, weakening those with a just cause who fall under its glance and allowing the user to detect pure intentions within whatever structure or cave system they are in. It still provides magical protection against mortal weapons.

Visually, it once had an attached facemask, but now only an eye loop remains. The bronze it was cast in has shriveled, no longer large enough for a full grown warrior to wear with it scratching the head when worn.

Older creatures, particularly evil ones, will still know it to be a good artifact and will not trust a henchmen that wields it. This has caused it to gain the reputation for being more minor than it really is, as it tends to find itself in the hands of goblin chieftans or minor cult leaders and the like rather than powerful agents of evil who could otherwise use it.

No, chumps attach sentimental value to tools

They'll know if the sword is important enough to have a backstory.

>Do you name your magical items?

Yes. Generic names. If it's a specific, unique magic item, then it might get a Proper Name. If it's unique and doesn't have a Proper Name of its own, I'll let the player name it, if they like. If they do, I'll note it down.

You need to be careful with the crossed.

Sword of Forgotten Legends.

At one time this sword was an incredibly powerful enchanted sword used to defeat some ancient evil. The only problem is, it happened so long ago, nobody really knows who wielded it, made it, or what exactly it did! The sword since then has been used for miscellaneous squabbles between kingdoms for ages and thus its magical and physical properties have deteriorated considerably. It has been rusted and nicked to the point that there is nothing to rust or nick anymore, making it immune to weapon damage and thus has the properties of a regular sword.

The Legendary Quiver of Consolation.
It doesn't make your arrows sharper or anything, but it does magically carve the word "sorry" onto the shaft of any arrow contained within.

Player: In my setting, magic items are rare and defined by the spells they are enchanted with. So a "Bracelet of Willpower" is a spell storage with three Psychostabilis spells. Self charging artifacts are even rarer. When my group finds one it is usually woven into the quest we're doing and thus also has a backstory.

If it's significantly higher in power level than most things in the campaign, or it's a really odd effect, yeah, definitely.

Otherwise it's a +3 sword from the land of fuck you.

Holaxy

A greataxe, it was once wielded by brother kings who knew of the power of the berzerker rage (adjust per your game's cultures), one of the brothers would run out into battle, while the other waited, when one became weary, he'd walk back to the midline and hand the weapon over and the process would repeat. This way the weapon's magic was always leveraged and they reduced the chance of their land being left without a ruler. They fought for so long that old age almost took them, they then handed the weapon down to a son/nephew and the two kings entered battle one last time, but finally together.

Holaxy is a weapon that does not know wear or exhaustion, it extends the time of a rage or rage-like ability or atleast puts off the penalties, it also provides a constitution/health bonus, and reduces penalties for missing sleep. It's final potential is that the con and sleep bonus can be extended to nearbye allies that the user trusts like a true brother, this level of trust would be something most players would have to push for over the course of the campaign.

Boots of travelling. They're two huge boots. Putting one on causes you to fall through it to wherever the other boot is.

Sword of absorption.
It absorbs the powers of whatever magical creatures it slays, but can only hold one power at a time.
So if you slayed a fire elemental with it, it'd do fire damage. If you slayed a vampire, it'd drain health from the enemy.

>slayed

>Not wanting to turn a fire elemental into a giant slay

"Pot of Stone Soup"

Large heavy pot that is magically enchanted to created a special soup. It can create up to 4 servings of soup and all that is required are 4 large rock, water and sunlight. The broth of the soup can fully fill a stomach. It also provides stoneskin for 1 hour after consumption. Cooking requires no fire but can only be done once per sunrise.

"These ancient pots were thought to be gifted to primitive humans by a God who opposed giving humans the power to create fire. After humans received fire from another god the pots were forgotten in favor of the more destructive and versatile gift. Centuries later the pots powers were rediscovered by monks and became common possessions in monestaries."

Here's one I actually use in my campaign, it has a complex history, but I'm just going to list how it gets used.

Cape of the Riverstone

A powerful cape weaved together by a sorceress who founded a town by a mighty river. The cape flows beautifully, but its true power is that it allows the user to swim as quickly as they can run, sink like a stone and walk along the bottom of a river, fight unhindered in water, breathe underwater (but not speak), and emerge from the water with everything on you being perfectly dry and not ruined.

However, it hasn't been used for adventuring or even anything worth helping the town in quite a few generations. It is now simply known for its beauty, and wielded by a dumb-fuck local baron. It's potential is completely and utterly wasted and the point is to throw it in the PC's faces to tempt them into justifying straight up stealing it from its rightful (and otherwise decent and good natured) owner.

In my actual game, there's two of these, the Greater and the Lesser, both are squandered similarly, but the lesser doesn't give you the swim speed benefit. They are both beautiful, but you'd be surprised how having a "lesser" choice makes the PC's feel like they're compromising by only stealing the less valuable one.

Go ahead, I dare you, use this in a DND campaign and watch how the party always chooses to steal the Lesser but not the Greater. Go ahead, I fucking dare you. Screen cap this and get back to me.

A jar of red hister beetles that burrow into the flesh of whoever uses them. With their sharp mandibles and special saliva, they painlessly remove any parasites, tumors, or other such internal diseases the user might have. After they've done their work, they go into the large intestine to breed, lay eggs, and die.

I really like this one

A bucket that, when filled with water and splashed on a corpse, reverses the corpse's state of decomposition. It only works if there is still some flesh attached to the bones of the corpse.

The rogue I play got a black knife. Its +2 spellstoring I got from a pathetic orc, but it is his favorite dagger, and the fact that it is his only possession that survived a tendriculus digestive system adds to the sentimental value of it. Apparently it is an item of evil that on hit can turn creatures who fail a saving throw closer to evil (I know that off character and no one knows it in character, and character isnt evil or evil enough to use it to make everyone evil). I didnt investigate the story of the dagger but I do care about it more than most of my other party members care about their +5 stuff, but as soon as I go back to town I will research about its material and abilities.
And ofcourse attatch to the knife a heroic story about how I got it :D

I'm sure he suffered from photophobia, possibly as a result of Albinism, which also coincides with him hiding his face.

Vamprism is just ridiculous, the count was an upstanding man. Why, my great grandfathers journal tells of the time where he bumped into the count by mistake and spilled the rice he was bringing home. The count not only help him recover it, but counted every grain to ensure none were missing.

I've been considering letting my players get their hands on a sword that cannot cut living beings and passes through them, but slices inanimate material with ease. I imagine they'll quickly use it to destroy the weapons and armor of those they fight. How should I calculate the AC and HP of those objects? Should I just have them function until reduced to 0 HP and then fail completely, or have it "damage" the bonuses, as Rust Monsters do? 5e.

That's sleigh. What the hell you guys?

You're better off asking in 5e general, but in most cases, players will avoid anything that might destroy their loot.

Well I mostly play WFRPG, on low-magic grimdark setting, where all magic is rare and dangerous, even not very powerful magic. So yeah, magic items have to have a story and actually are plot devices more often than not.

In a setting where magic is a commonly known and accepted things and you can just go and buy a magical sword, I wouldn't probly do it.

You shouldn't. The player attacks the item. If the strike is successful, the item breaks. Magical items are immune.

>you find a dagger with dildo handle
>do you really want to know more about it?

That's basically a lightsaber that cannot cut organic/living material, right? Would it be able to deflect projectiles?
It seems too powerful to me but if you want your players to have access to high damage super-weapons with a lot of utility outside of combat, then I'm glad your players have a DM like you.
It also sounds really useful against golems/constructs and perhaps some types of elementals.

>slaying a legendary creature with their trusty weapon and it picking up magical attributes.
Talk dirty to me more, user

As a GM, I often actually describe a weapon's mechanically qualities secondary to what the weapon is. And give each magical item it's own look and origin.

As an example for a Cloak of Resistance +1

"What you hold is a finely made cloak of a crucible nomad, a heavy set cloak stitched beautifully with suslandic knot designs and fringed with tassels held in place by crucible beast teeth that have been expertly scrimshawed. (if they manage to roll a good knowledge check or just plain identify it) It is said that cloaks like these are often worn by caravan elders who have brought great wealth to their tribe, and that it protects them from harm in ways above it's craftsmanship."

At this point if they've identified it's properties I'll add a: "It functions as a cloak of resistance +1, which will grant you a +1 bonus to your saves, here's a link to the item if you wish to record down the exact details"

I try to.

Or if there are multiples than it is part of a legitimate series of weapons, such as the Storm Bow and Phantom Phalanx (both were sets of artifacts made to help a kingdom compensate for their weakened military numbers)

Helps I've been catching a lot of history channel, so it gives me ideas of how sometimes even minor little things can have an interesting story.

>"It's a +3 dagger, had it not been rusting in a bog for centuries it probably would have been a whooping +10, even so, the fine craftsmanship still shows through. Research mentions the bog you found it in was the site of an ancient battle, the dagger was a bootknife used by the noble who had led the charge. That knife had been with him since he was a boy and was a gift from his godfather who was a legendary blacksmith. Historians note that while the battle was won and the old kingdom flourished for over a century before being subsumed by the modern empire, the nobleman lost his bootknife because he lost his leg with it. The Noble became known as Jakal the Sodomizer, as he became infamous by punishing his worst enemies by plunging the clawed and spiked prosthesis he got after the fight into the rectums of his foes."

>"You can identify the family crest as still being around, they might appreciate the ancestral weapon being returned to them. You can also look more into the blacksmith who crafted this to find more of their works."

if it is nothing the PC himself would be able to know about it , i wont tell him.

if the story , manufacturer etc. isnt written on it or definable through the piece itself, he would need to ask somewhere else

Every barb of those feathers is a +5 keen vorpal blade

That's nothing, I hear he was a true gentleman, and despite his nobility, he asked even the common serf if he may be permitted to enter into their home, what dignity!

Sanderson, go home

remember to make it scream tho

Any item of noteworthy magical quality, ie. any magical weapon in settings where they aren't basically churned out in s factory or a particularly rare magic item in settings where they are, getsat least a token backstory when I GM, the players may never come across it if it isn't relevant but I make sure that I never let powerful magic become so mundane.

it is nice. A while ago I was playing a game and we got a +1 broadsword of Giant's bane, and the DM had a backstory and name for it, and it made it so much better to find it. We didn't even have anyone who wanted to use it, but it was still nice to find.

Hammer of the Elder

A +1 one handed hammer with the soul of an elder paladin (his god being at the GM's discretion) inside it.

Can only be wielded by good - neutral characters.

The paladin can & will offer advice wether wanted or not about the current events, the advice can only heard by the wielder of the weapon.

I like the idea of paladins avoiding a straw death by binding their souls to magic weapons or armor, to help the constant fight against evil. Paladin orders can even give out "loaners" in times of great need to Lawful Good characters.
I like the idea of the paladin armory clamoring around when they hear the party is back in town, all eager to get a fresh sheen of oil and get back in the fight.

Depends on how rare magical items are in the setting. I mean, if every noble and knight has a +1 or +2 blade of warhammer, naw, a +3 sword isn't gonna be that impressive.

If you can go your whole adventuring career only getting a handful of enchanted bits and bobs, then yeah, a +3 sword is gonna be close to legendary.

I like the idea of that, I think I'm going to steal it.

Hmm, it also introduces the possibility of them "loosing" some of their weapons who then attempt to convert their wielders to the righteous path.

As a GM: some of them I name, though most are just miscellaneous utility items created by an enchanter friendly to the party, usually as test items(the giant metal falcon, Peregrino, was great at transporting the party, but turned out to be fragile as fuck in thunderstorms), or simple little baubles(a strap and wristband that gave the weapon the strap was placed on Returning, Horseshoes that enable the horse to run longer and over rougher terrain with ease[though those specific shoes are also enchanted to harm demonic/dark creatures]).
But seeing as how I run Anima, I'm grateful that there's already a plethora of magic items with names and backstories available in a single book.
As a player: It's never really occurred to me before.

Is there a Fantasy Item Name Generator? There seem to be a lot of two-word names.

Always. I always try to give some background towards any magical item the players get even something as simple as a fucking fold out cot that can fit into their pocket.

I never usually go the "you stumble upon x item..." unless it fits the location. But my players are weird and hate going into the unknown so I've always had to get very creative.

Ever since I read the Earthdawn rpg years ago, I've adopted a similar approach to magic items in my games. The more you research an item, the more details you know about it's associated legends and deeds, the more of it's power you can access. So simply casting "Detect Magic" on it might just tell you that it's magic, and maybe give you a +1 to rolls with it.Tracking down the fact that it was created by Elves in the employ of a town guard in an ancient now-lost magical kingdom might grant it a glow when goblins are near, or up it's bonus to +2, or something of the sort. Discovering it was used in the mythical War against the Newts aeons ago might grant it a bonus against reptiles and amphibians and dragons, or the ability to detect dimensional warps, or something else in some way associated with the details of the weapon's history.

Of course not every item has a glorious or even useful history, but anything interesting enough to be the reward for a quest arc probably should, and discovering said history will not only draw your players into the fluff of your setting, it will also provide future questlines that you know they will be eager to follow. I've found that you don't even have to come up with the stories and details ahead of time, the players won't know either way, and often during the adventures to unlock an items history, the players will provide you with a great idea for it that wouldn't occur to you alone.

not sure if it counts as a magic item, but in one low magic campaign i played one of the gifts from a god was a cow with regeneration and a high pain threshold, which basically gave unlimited beef to the church and its followers

Truely the Count is a fine man, for I heard that when a river broke its banks and covered the path is a small layer of water, enough to easily walk through, the Count immediately ordered his men to contract a Stone Mason to shore up the banks and prevent the flooding. The path outside the maiden Vimis's house was repaired in less than a day, whereas under our previous Lord we would have had wet feet for the entire Autumn.

This whole chain of comments really does just show how much of a good person a vampire with a ring of sustenance and protection from light/heat is.

>slaying a legendary creature with their trusty weapon and it picking up magical attributes

I didn't know I wanted this so much until now.

As a player, I feel that it's situational. Generally speaking, random drops (even if magical) don't really need a backstory. An item that's a family heirloom or obtained from a beating a difficult enemy might get a bit of exposition (at least describe it's grandeur to me if not a bit of it's past). Some legendary gear would be cool to have a small story to it, maybe a paragraph at most.

As for names, I honestly don't care what it's called before my character wielded it. A name should be earned, depending on how it's used, and what work it's put to. Also;

>naming your weapon yourself
I don't know why, but it makes me cringe ever so gently.

user, you sure slew that sentence.

Short answer: yes and yes.

Long answer: If we're playing Eberron or some other extremely-high magic setting, I expect some magic weapons will be semi-mass produced but still high-status. Sort of like buying a sports car or a high-end gaming system. You can rattle off all the interesting statistics and quote a lot of the history, but there's ultimately a few hundred like it.

But otherwise, when magic is a big deal, I expect magic to BE a big deal. If we don't know much about the thing, at least give it a description and something. Even if it's entirely forgotten, don't just make it
>magic longsword +2
Make it
>A remarkably unremarkable longsword, worn and chipped, but still razor-sharp. The blade is etched with several runes and bears the inscription "Await the opportunity". Scribbled much more clumsily on the hilt is "Remember Catherine".
The former is boring. The latter is really interesting, and I literally pulled that description as I wrote. It never needs to mean anything if you don't want to, but it makes something more. Something else.

>Do you name your magical items? Give them a backstory?
every time.
even a +1 weapon is going to have some kind of story to it.

This, and usually a minor fluff ability.

As a GM, Yes, Yes and No. I removed the numerical aspects of magical items in my games and made the bonuses inherent to player growth. Magic items are not bought or made in simplistic nature. They are rare armaments from previous ages. To gain them, players must quest for them. Closer to artifacts, though not quite as sentient.

Lenin's mausoleum would pay handsomely for it.

An orb of slope detection. When placed on a slope you can see steepness of the slope in degrees written inside the orb. When rolled from a slope it shows average steepness, length and height. Item highly sought by builders for it's far superior to a glass of water.

>"Where's it from? Who owned it? Why was it crafted? What is it called?"
But how would your character know the answer to any of this unless he's some kind of lore grandmaster?

From the research they stated they were doing two lines up. I can only assume if that was an action they were taking they had access to some sort of appropriate reference material.

>Robes of Feign Death
>An old and mundane looking brown robe with a hood
>If you are struck with an attack that would have been fatal, you will be teleported 10ft out of harm's way and made invisible, an illusionary double remains in your former place that functions as a Programmed Image. The illusion dissipates after 5 minutes.
>This effect may trigger once per day.

Bag of finger bones

A bag of fingerbones that will point in the general direction of something based on the type of person the finger bones came from.

If they were the fingers of a coward who left their comrades to die it will point out a source of danger.

If the they are the finger bones of a greedy person who killed someone for the sake of money it will point out a source of great wealth.

Once done the spirit of the person is no longer bound to the bag and a new one has to be made.

Would depend.
A +1 sword isn't usually worth writing anything about, maybe a name if it was an object of significance to someone or some decoration that hinted at ownership/deeds.
A +2 and higher sword would have a summarised backstory (Such as it belonging to a Hero who held off an entire siege singlehandedly) and would always be named.
A +4 and higher sword would be practically a historical artefact and have a detailed backstory behind it and potentially have a story attached to it (Essentially like Excalibur).

There are a lot of mundane magical items that are just +2 swords or swords that light on fire. Anything with a +3 or +4, I usually have a couple of notes regarding it's origins and aesthetics. +5 and beyond are artifact weapons and usually have a paragraph or an A4 page of bullet points, as well as being unnaturally stylised.

A pair of boots that leave wolf paw-prints instead of footprints.

A saddle made for a human. Wearing it will make any human or horse think you are a horse. No other animals are affected.

A t-shirt with a phoenix printed on it. Any physical injury to the upper torso that damages the shirt will cause it to burn up magically, and absorb the injury. Only the t-shirt's collar remains afterwards; if hung up on a hanger for a week, it will gradually re-grow into its original form, and can be worn again for the same protection.

A pastel yellow and pink baseball cap, with pink butterflies embroidered on the front. Attracts small animals to sit on the brim.

A pair of tatty woolen hobo gloves, with thumbs but no fingers. The wearer gains the ability to blag a free ride in any vehicle with room for an extra passenger, just by sticking out their thumb in the direction the vehicle is travelling. The magic will fail instantly if the wearer abuses their host's cooperation (using the gloves to hijack cars or rob people, for instance), and will visit grave misfortune upon the wearer unless they make amends.

A gythka made of deep crystal, empowered with the psychic prowesses of powerful thri-kreen. Any time its wielder dies, their soul and psychic strength are added to the gythka. In its complete form, the wielder can use the gythka to manifest psychic constructs of up to five of any of the previous wielders of the gythka.

A bracer with chunks of metal attached to it. When a command phrase is spoken, the chunks of metal can be pulled off. These metal chunks can be squished in the hand and molded as though they were made of putty or clay. The metal can be re-hardened upon speaking the command phrase again. Once the bracer runs out of metal, new chunks of metal can be attached to it, and are thus affected by the command word.

Gay

Assuming D&D basic and other OSR systems.
+1 and +2 weapons are just well crafted stuff. Not worth of a name.
+3, now those weapons have history. They always have a name, and I steal every single backstory for them from the infinity engine games.

Not that user, but i've seriously thought about adding stuff like that to any fastest setting.

You don't just make a +3 sword, the weapon gains power through the characters exploits.

It's not a +3 sword it's
> Bareal's blade, bane of the demon lord, slayer of the spider priest.

For dnd you can just add abilities as the plot develops or have characters make thier own weapon and add bonuses to it equal the a portion of the starting wealth of a character of thier level.

I think a particularly powerful or special weapon ought to have some sort of history. Other artifacts would, why not a weapon?

>yes

I don't make magical items appear often, if at all. Since they're so rare, I go out of my way to name them and give them a brief timeline (to disassociate them from a DMG entry, etc.). Then I can connect it's backstory to plot hooks or NPCs at my leisure.

I like the Kingkiller Chronicles' Ademre sword history. It was welded by x, then by y, etc.

I care if the GM cares. My character has named several items themselves, both magical and not, with names they think is at least slightly meaningful like calling their first sword "Trainee". Not gonna cut a werewolf in half anytime soon, but it's sentimental.

Heh, I'm actually right at this point. My party (I'm DM) is about to get its first set of magic items (6th level, 5e D&D).

The battle they just finished was against a large group of Drow and a giant spider. The party won the fight, if only just barely.

I'd like to give them each an item an item or really upgrade an item they have based on the fight. Ranger (archer), Druid, fighter.

Any suggestions?

>>I don't know why, but it makes me cringe ever so gently.
It makes you cringe because you've been taught to hate things that are cool but easy to muck up.
Same with teleportation (don't tell me you don't think Nightcrawler is kickass), one-liners (don't tell me you don't think 90s action heroes are kickass) and extreme DEUS VULT (don't tell me- okay no maybe some people don't think psycho templar knights are kickass, but I'm not sure I wanna associate with those people)

t. pragmatist with no sense of romance

please elaborate
what happens to the newlyhatcheds

>>A t-shirt with a phoenix printed on it. Any physical injury to the upper torso that damages the shirt will cause it to burn up magically, and absorb the injury. Only the t-shirt's collar remains afterwards; if hung up on a hanger for a week, it will gradually re-grow into its original form, and can be worn again for the same protection.
I really like this one actually. Regenerative ablative armor

That cat bell is feared by my fellow players and GM's in my anima groups.