Rules of the Game - Using Magic Items

From the player's or DM's point of view, a magic item is an object that provides the user with some paranormal ability that is stored or channeled within the object itself. Nothing puts a sparkle in a player's eye quite like a magic item. It represents power in the game world and serves as a badge of success among other players. Most of us just can't get enough magic items. Unfortunately, a magic item that looks cool on a character sheet can cause trouble in play, especially when the DM and the player can't quite agree on exactly how the thing works, as is often the case when the course of an adventure hangs in the balance.

This article focuses on magic items and how they work. For an overview of the rules that govern magic in the D&D game, check out Chapter 10 in the Player's Handbook. Also see The Rules of the Game: Reading Spell Descriptions.



Here are a few terms you'll encounter in this article and in the rules when they discuss magic items.

Activation: To make use of a magic item's powers, you must activate the item. In most cases, activating an item requires the activate magic item action, which is a standard action (see pages 138 and 139 in the Player's Handbook for more on standard actions) that does not provoke an attack of opportunity.

All magic items in the core D&D game use one of four activation methods: Spell completion, spell trigger, command word, and use-activated. All of these are discussed on page 213 in the Dungeon Master's Guide and in Part Two.

Aura: Most magic items have magical auras that detect magic spells can reveal. The power and school of an item's aura is shown in the item's description. See the detect magic spell description for details.

Caster Level: Every magic item has a caster level, which the item's description shows. An item's caster level determines the item's own saving throw bonuses when the item must make a saving throw. If an item can produce a spell effect, its caster level determines any level-based variables the spell effect might have (such as range and damage). An item's caster level also determines how susceptible the item or the spell effects it produces are to dispel magic effects.

Charge: A discrete unit of an item's power that is used up when someone activates the item. For example, a newly created wand has 50 charges. An item becomes non-magical when all its charges are used up.

In general, a charged item cannot be recharged.

Item Slot: A specific part of the user's body where an item must be worn before it can function. Sometimes it is simply called a slot.

Market Price: The cost, in gold pieces, that an item brings on the open market. Sometimes this is simply called price. An item's market price is a retail price (or the price a character must pay when buying the item). Characters who sell used items can expect to get only half the market price.



The D&D game divides magic items into nine broad categories, which are described in Chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. Individual magic item descriptions tend to be very brief, and many details that determine how an item works in play are contained in the notes for the item's category. Here's an overview:

Armor and Shields: These protective magic items work just like their non-magical counterparts (see Chapter 7 in the Player's Handbook). That is, a magic heavy shield works pretty much just like a non-magical heavy shield in addition to any magical properties it has.

Though the rules don't come right out and say so, you must wear magic armor to use any of its abilities. Likewise, you must pick up a magic shield and either hold it in your hand or strap it to your arm (or what passes for an arm if you're not humanoid), or both as appropriate for the kind the shield, to get any benefit from the shield.

Most purely defensive properties that a set of magic armor or a magic shield has (such as enhancement bonus to Armor Class, resistance to energy, or the like) work continuously once you don the armor or have the shield ready on your arm. Most other special abilities (such as attacking foes or magical travel) require you to both wear the armor (or properly wield the shield) and speak a command word.

All magic armor and shields are masterwork items, and any armor check penalties they impose on you are reduced by one point, to a minimum of 0. (Just in case you're wondering, arcane spell failure chances aren't reduced unless the item description specifically says so or the item is made from a special material that reduces them, such as mithral.)

Prices given for armor assumes armor made for Medium humanoids. Armor for most other creatures entails an additional cost, as noted on pages 123 in the Player's Handbook. When armor is made for an unusual creature, subtract the armor cost for a Medium humanoid and then add the armor cost for the unusual creature.

For example, a suit of +1 half-plate armor usually costs 1,750 gp, which includes 1,000 gp for the +1 enhancement, 600 gp for a suit of half-plate armor, and 150 gp for masterwork armor. A suit of +1 half-plate barding for a war horse would cost 3,550 gp, which includes 1,000 gp for the +1 enhancement, 2,400 gp for a suit of half-plate armor for a large non-humanoid wearer, and 150 gp for masterwork armor.

Weapons: Like magic armor and shields, magic weapons function just like normal weapons, and they're masterwork items, too. Even if a magic weapon's magical properties are suppressed (as they would be in an antimagic field), the weapon still provides a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls thanks to its masterwork quality.

The rules don't say so, but you must hold a magic weapon in one or two hands (as appropriate for the weapon) to use any of its magical properties. You cannot, for example, use a sword's spell-like abilities while you have the sword put away in its scabbard.

You get any enhancement bonus on attack rolls that the weapon provides simply by attacking with the weapon. Most other powers, however, require you to hold the weapon and speak a command word.

Most magic ranged weapons that use ammunition impart some of their magical properties to ammunition fired from them. The ranged weapon's enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls applies to the ranged attack, even if the ammunition isn't magical, and the ammunition overcomes damage reduction just as if it were a magic weapon itself. If both the ammunition and the weapon have enhancement bonuses, however, they do not stack under the D&D 3.5 rules (they did stack in D&D 3.0), only the highest enhancement bonus applies. If the weapon has an alignment, it imparts that alignment to the ammunition, and the ammunition overcomes damage reduction accordingly. If the ammunition already has an alignment, it has both its own alignment and the weapon's alignment when fired, even if those two alignments are opposed to each other. (The Dungeon Master's Guide uses the example of anarchic ammunition fired from an axiomatic weapon, making the ammunition both lawful and chaotic when fired; see page 221.)

When a ranged weapon has another magical property that can affect things the weapon hits in combat, the weapon might also impart that property to ammunition fired from it; see the descriptions for the various weapon powers on pages 223-226. For example, a flaming bow imparts the flaming property to arrows fired from it.

If the ammunition already has one or more magical properties, add the weapon's properties to the ammunition's properties. DMs can, and probably should, place some limits on what properties ammunition can receive. For example, it probably wouldn't do for ammunition to receive the same property twice; that is, you'd get no extra effect from firing arrows with the flaming property from a bow with the flaming property.

Like armor, weapon costs assume a Medium wielder; adjust the cost for bigger or smaller wielders as noted for armor.

Potions and Oils: These items are essentially precast spells in liquid form. You trigger the spell by drinking the potion or smearing on the oil; this is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity.

If an attack hits you while you're drinking a potion or applying an oil, you must make a Concentration check. The check DC is 10 + the damage dealt. The rules say that you make the check exactly as if you were casting a spell, which would make the check DC 10 + spell level + the damage dealt; however, you aren't really casting a spell when you're drinking a potion or applying an oil, so the spell level isn't relevant. Using a potion or oil on yourself is always a standard action, no matter what casting time the stored spell normally requires (see Part Two)

If you fail a Concentration check while drinking a potion or applying an oil, you can't use the potion or oil, but the item isn't wasted. You foes, however, can direct their attacks (even attacks of opportunity) at the vial containing the potion or oil and could break the container and effectively destroy the potion or oil.

Rings: To use a ring, you must wear it on your hand (or on what passes for a hand). Most rings are activated with a command word, but some work continuously once you put them on, and some work automatically whenever you do something that the ring affects. In general, when a ring produces a spell effect, you must use a command word to activate it. Rings that give you some kind of bonus (such as a skill bonus or an Armor Class bonus) work continuously or work automatically when you need them. Rings with defensive abilities usually work continuously, and rings that allow some kind of attack (such as shooting stars or ramming) require a command word. In most cases, the ring's description will at least give you a hint about how the ring is activated -- look for words and phrases such as "on command," "continuously," or "as a free action." Note that even when you can activate an item as a free action, you usually can do so only during your turn. Beware of rings that produce spell effects with unusual casting times, however. For example, a ring of feather falling requires a free action to activate because you cast the spell as a free action. You also can activate the ring when it's not your turn, just as you can cast the spell when it isn't your turn.

Rings generally fit any corporeal creature, regardless of the creature's size. If you don't have a detect magic spell handy, you could try to put on a ring you've found. If it just happens to fit, it could be a magic ring. (Though a crafty DM might decide that a magic ring won't resize itself unless you know it's magical before you put it on.)

Rods: Rods look like short sticks or scepters, and some of them are heavy and sturdy enough to function as clubs or maces.

Many rods are activated by command word, though a few require some specific action, such as pressing a catch in the rod or planting the rod in the ground, and some rods work automatically. Most of the comments on activating rings also apply to rods, but it always pays to check the rod's description for the activation method. Some rods have different activation methods for different functions. For example, you can configure a rod of lordly might to serve as various kinds of weapons, and you do so by pressing catches on the rod. Manipulating a catch works just like drawing a weapon (see the first paragraph in the rod's description). That means you can operate a catch as a move action, or as part of a move action if your base attack bonus is at least +1. Presumably, you can operate a catch as free action if you have the Quick Draw feat. A rod of lordly might also has spell-like abilities that require a command word (and thus a standard action) to activate, though some of those work by touch, so your standard action to activate the spell-like ability also includes the touch attack.

Scrolls: A scroll is essentially a precast spell in written form. Scrolls can be tricky to use because you must first decipher the writing on them and then read the scroll. The whole process is detailed on page 238 in the Dungeon Master's Guide. Also see the Spell Completion section in Part Two for notes on activating scrolls.

Staffs: A staff holds several different spell effects that you trigger with the spell trigger activation method (see Part Two). A staff has charges, and you expend one or more charges whenever you use the staff.

To activate a staff, you must hold it forth in at least one hand (or whatever passes for a hand) and speak a single word.

A staff is about the size of a quarterstaff made for a Medium creature, and you could assume that a staff can function as a Medium masterwork quarterstaff. In fact, Table 7-32 in the Dungeon Master's Guide says that the cost to create a staff includes 300 gp for a masterwork quarterstaff (though this is not mentioned in the notes for staff creation on page 287).

Staffs also are unusual because the user's caster level and spell save DC modifiers can be used instead of the staff's (see Part Three).

Wands: A wand is a fairly flimsy stick that holds a single spell. Wands have charges; activating a wand releases the spell in it and consumes a charge.

Wands use the spell trigger activation method (see Part Two). To activate a wand, you must hold it one hand (or whatever passes for a hand) and speak a single word.

Wondrous Items: This is a catchall category for anything that doesn't fall into the other groups.

Using a wondrous item usually requires you to wear the item (if it's something that's usually worn, such as a cloak, boot, or gauntlet), or held in the hand (if it's something that's usually held, such as a tool or musical instrument). A few wondrous items work whenever you carry the item with you, for example, a pearl of power. Bigger items, such as magic mirrors, have to be propped up or attached to a wall. And a couple of wondrous items are just plain weird. For example, you have to toss an ioun stone into the air so that it can orbit your head. As always, check the item's description to find out how it's used.

The notes on activating rings generally also apply to wondrous items.

Also like rings, wondrous items that have to be worn adjust their sizes to fit any user.



Most difficulties with magic items arise from questions about just what a wielder has to do to use an item and exactly how often the user can use it. In Part One, we considered kinds of magic items in general and how you use them.



Pages 211-215 of the Dungeon Master's Guide explain item activation in detail, and the introductory text for the various kinds of items in Chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master's Guide contains additional information. This section summarizes that material and offers some additional remarks.

Activating a magic item is a standard action unless the item description indicates otherwise. However, the casting time of a spell is the time required to activate the same power in an item, regardless of the kind of magic item or its activation method, unless the item description specifically states otherwise (see page 213 in the Dungeon Masters Guide). Potions (and oils) are an exception. Drinking a potion or applying an oil to yourself is always a standard action, no matter what the stored spell's casting time is. Administering a potion or oil to an unconscious ally is always a full-round action (see page 229 in the Dungeon Master's Guide).

When activating an item requires an action from you, you usually also must speak; the rules don't say so, but you reasonably can assume that doing so is much like completing a spell's verbal component. You must speak in a strong voice, and anything that keeps you from speaking, such as a silence spell or being pinned in a grapple, keeps you from activating the item.

Spell Completion: This is the activation method for scrolls. A scroll is a spell that is mostly finished. The item user must complete the spell's verbal and somatic components (if it has any), but does not need any material, focus, or XP components the spell might have. (The character who scribed the scroll provided those.)

To use a spell completion item safely, you must be of high enough level in the right class to cast the spell already. If you can't already cast the spell, there's a chance you'll make a mistake, as noted on page 238 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. To activate a spell trigger item with an arcane spell on it, you must have levels in a class able to cast arcane spells. Likewise, to activate a spell trigger item with a divine spell on it, you must have levels in a class able to cast divine spells. If you don't have enough levels in the class to cast any spells yet, you can still try to use a spell trigger item, but your effective caster level for activating the spell is 0.

If a scroll has a caster level higher than your own, you have to make a Spellcraft check (DC = 1 + the scroll's caster level) to activate the scroll. If you fail the check, you don't activate the scroll and the scroll isn't used up.

Activating a spell completion item usually is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity exactly as casting a spell does.

If the spell contained in a spell completion item has a casting time other than 1 standard action, that is its activation time. For example, a scroll containing a summon monster I spell has an activation time of 1 round because that's the casting time for the spell.

The rules don't say so (probably because it's an obvious point), but you must be able to see a scroll to read it. If you're blinded, you can't activate a scroll, and you also cannot do so if darkness, fog, or some other condition keeps you from seeing the scroll. Darkvision lets you see in non-magical darkness, and that allows you to read scrolls in non-magical darkness.

Whenever you activate a scroll, you still need to make any Concentration checks you'd normally need to make to cast a spell, and the spell on the scroll is wasted if you fail the check. For example, if you're damaged while activating a scroll, you must make Concentration check to cast the spell. You can activate a spell completion item defensively; the required Concentration check DC is the same as the DC to cast the spell. If you fail the check, the spell is wasted.

Spell completion items are also subject to arcane spell failure if you use them while armored. If you fail an arcane spell failure roll while using a spell completion item, the spell is wasted.

You can’t activate a spell completion item if the spell stored in the item isn’t on your class spell list or if your ability scores would not allow you to cast the stored spell. For example, a single-classed bard cannot cast a fireball spell from a scroll, because fireball isn't on the bard spell list (see the entry on spell trigger items for a discussion of class spell lists). Likewise, a wizard with an Intelligence score of 12 could not cast a fireball spell from a scroll because a wizard needs an Intelligence score of at least 13 to cast a 3rd-level spell.

Spell Trigger: This is the activation method for wands and staffs. Activating a spell trigger item requires no gestures or spell finishing, but you must speak a single word, and you must hold the item in your hand (or what passes for your hand).

To use a spell trigger item, you must have the spell that is stored in the item on your class spell list. You can use the item even if you're not high enough level to cast the stored spell (or even high enough level to cast any spells at all). It doesn't make any difference if the stored spell is arcane or divine, and your ability scores don’t matter.

See the Player's Handbook (or other appropriate rulebook) for your class spell list. If you have a prohibited school of spells (if you're a specialist wizard, for example), the spells from that school aren't part of your class spell list. If you have access to clerical spell domains, the spells in the domains you've chosen are on your class spell list (spells from domains you could have chosen, but did not, are not on your class spell list). If you're multiclassed, you can use a spell trigger item that stores a spell that is on at least one of your class spell lists.

If a spell trigger item stores more than one spell (for example, a staff), you may find that you can use only some of the item's functions.

Activating a spell trigger item is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If the spell stored in a spell trigger item has a casting time other than 1 standard action, that is its activation time.

Command Word: This is the default activation method for rings, rods, and wondrous items when the item description doesn't mention another activation method. To use a command word item, you speak the command word and the item activates. You need no other special knowledge, but you must hold or wear the item as appropriate for that item (see Part One).

Activating a command word magic item is a standard action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If a command word item produces a spell effect and that spell has a casting time other than 1 standard action, that is the item's activation time.

A command word usually is some seemingly nonsensical word, or a word or phrase from an ancient language no longer in common use. Sometimes the command word to activate an item is written right on the item. Occasionally, it might be hidden within a pattern or design engraved on, carved into, or built into the item, or the item might bear a clue to the command word.

As noted in the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (history) skills might be useful in helping to identify command words or deciphering clues regarding them. A successful check against DC 30 produces the word itself. If you fail that check, succeeding on a second check (DC 25) might provide some insight into what the word might be. For example, a successful check to gain insight might indicate the sort of word the command might be, such as an ancient word for "fire" or a rhyming couplet related to the item's function.

You could possibly pick up a command word when you witness the item being used. I recommend a DC 15 Listen check. Subtract 5 from the DC if the area is fairly quiet and add 5 to the DC if the area is very noisy (such as a typical battle). Also apply the DC modifiers from the Listen skill description. If you have at least 5 ranks in the Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcana) skills, you get a +2 bonus on the check.

Remember that a command word item is pretty easy to use. These tricks won't help you figure out how to use a spell completion or spell trigger item.

The spells identify and analyze dweomer both reveal command words, as noted in the spell descriptions.

Some command-activated items use a command thought or other nonverbal command instead of command word (if so, the item description will say so). Such items work just like command word items in play, except that you can't make a Listen check to learn the command word. You might, however, pick up the command using a detect thoughts spell at the right moment or by making a Spot check, as appropriate for the item in question.

Use Activated: You simply use this type of item to activate it (for example, drinking a potion, swinging a sword, wearing armor, looking through a lens, sprinkling dust, or donning a hat). As noted in Part One, most protective items, and items that give you some sort of bonus on attacks, saves, or checks, are use-activated items.

Unless stated otherwise (and as stated in the Dungeon Master's Guide), activating a use-activated item is either a standard action or not an action at all and does not provoke attacks of opportunity, unless the use involves performing an action that provokes an attack of opportunity in itself. For example, a magic bow requires you to make a ranged attack, so you provoke an attack of opportunity when you make the ranged attack.

If the use of the item takes time before a magical effect occurs, then use activation is a standard action. If the item's activation is subsumed in its use and takes no extra time, use activation is not an action at all.

Use activation doesn't mean that you automatically know what an item can do if you use it. You must know (or at least guess) what the item can do and then use the item to activate it. Sometimes, the item activates automatically when you use it, such as when you drink a potion or swing a sword. In such cases, you can benefit from the item without even knowing it. Sometimes, you must attempt something specific to benefit from a use-activated item. For example, if you wear gloves of arrow snaring, you can snatch arrows twice a day. You don't use an action to snatch the arrows, but unless you actually try to snatch an arrow the gloves don't work.



The Use Magic Device skill allows you to activate magic items even when you could not normally do so. For example, you can use it to activate a spell trigger item even when you don't have the spell it stores on your class spell list. You also can use the skill to activate a command item when you don't know the command or decipher the writing on a scroll and then activate the scroll (or other spell completion item) even when you otherwise could not.

Some people think that you need the Use Magic Device skill to activate any item, but that's not so. The Use Magic Device skill merely provides a sort of last resort when you want to use an item that you otherwise cannot activate.

The DC for a Use Magic Device check depends on the kind of item you're trying to use, as noted in the skill description. Here are a few additional notes for using the skill:

Blind Activation: You can use the "activate blindly" option with any kind of item. You can even use it to activate a command item when you don't know the command (or even what the device does). If you succeed, you activate the item somehow. Successful activation does not necessarily reveal the command to you, but you do get a +2 bonus on further attempts to activate the item blindly.

As an unofficial rule, you might allow a character who has activated an item blindly an immediate Knowledge check (see the section on command activation) with a base DC of 25. Give the character a cumulative circumstance bonus of +2 for each for time the character has previously activated the item blindly. The character gets only one check for each blind activation. If the character doesn't have the appropriate Knowledge skill, the character makes an Intelligence check (with the previously noted circumstance bonus) instead.

The skill description doesn't say so, but there's no reason why you could not use blind activation when you don't know a spell trigger item's function. To use this unofficial rule, you must aim the item somewhere. If you aim at the wrong place, you might simply waste a charge from the item, or you might have a disaster on your hands (depending on what the item's effect is and exactly where you aimed). If the spell trigger item produces a visible effect, you probably can surmise what the spell is. Otherwise make a DC 25 Spellcraft check to determine what the spell is. If the effect is visible and your DM decides you might not know what it is, the check DC is only 20.

Decipher a Written Spell: This works just like deciphering a written spell with the Spellcraft skill, except that the DC is higher. Deciphering a written spell takes 1 minute. Remember that to use a scroll, you must first decipher the writing on it. Once you decipher the writing, you'll know what the spell is and what it does (at least as well as you know the spell if you had it in your spell book or in your personal spell repertoire).





Many items don't work all the time but instead work only a certain number of times or a certain number of times each day, week, or other time period.

Charged Items: Items such as wands and staffs hold only a specific number of charges. Once those charges are used up, the item becomes inert and non-magical. Most charged items are activated with a spell trigger or a command (see Part Two), and they usually can function only once a round because it takes a standard action to activate them. Some charged items work automatically, expending their power whenever needed (a brooch of shielding for example) and they work as often as needed so long as their charges haven't run out.

Uses Per Day: Other items work only a certain number of times each day; for example, most rods fall into this category. The rules don't bother defining a "day" for you, and most of us can figure that out on our own. If it ever becomes important, treat a "day" as any contiguous period of 24 hours. There is no set "recharge" time for a magic item. Instead, the item functions a set number of times in any given period of 24 hours. For example, a rod of enemy detection works three times a day. You cannot activate the rod three times starting at 11 PM one day, then activate it three more times starting 2 hours later (at 1 AM the next day). Instead, you can activate the rod up to three times during any period of 24 consecutive hours. If you activate the rod at 11 PM on a given day, you can activate it only twice more during the following 24 hours. Let's say you activate the rod again at 1 AM the next day and again at 7 AM that same day. You have exhausted your daily limit of activating the rod ability at 7 AM. The earliest you can activate the rod again is 11 PM on the second day, when you can activate the rod only once (because you already have activated the rod twice during the preceding 24 hours). If you don't use the rod at all after 7 AM the second day, the earliest that you will have three activations available again will be 7 AM on the third day.

Once you exhaust an item's daily use limit, the item remains magical, it just won't function for awhile.

Use Limits for Other Time Periods: The foregoing applies to other items that have use cycles longer than a day. For example, if an item works only a few times a week, the use limit applies to any contiguous period of seven days (even if your game world doesn't use 7-day weeks).

Elapsed Time Limits: A few items work only for a certain total amount of time each day. For example, boots of speed work a maximum of 10 rounds each day. In most cases, the time you use such an item need not be continuous. For example, you can activate or deactivate boots of speed as many times as you like in a day, so long as the boots aren't activated for more than 10 rounds during one day (see the notes under Uses Per Day for a definition of a day). Such items are almost always command activated and it takes a standard action to activate or deactivate them (unless you simply allow the time limit on the item to run out).



As noted in Parts One and Two, some magic items must be worn on the body before they can function. Most such items work only when they're worn on a specific part of the body (sometimes called an item "slot") as noted on page 214 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. For example, you cannot wear a magic cloak or shirt on your head and expect the item to work. That said, it pays to remember that the game includes item slots mostly as a matter of convenience. The item slot rules, for example, help you decide if it's possible to wear magic gloves under magic gauntlets (if the gauntlets are roomy enough, there's no reason you can't wear gloves under them, but in the D&D game, you can wear only one pair of the two pairs of items.

The item slot rules also serves to keep characters from becoming overpowered (by wearing 10 rings, for example) and gives players an important resource to manage.

It's worth noting that the item location rules in the Dungeon Master's Guide assume a humanoid body. Non-humanoid bodies have the same set of 12 item locations noted in the Dungeon Master's Guide, though perhaps in slightly different forms. You can find examples in the Draconomicon and in Wild Life, Part Two. It's also worth noting here that a campaign can get along without using item slots at all, provided that the DM carefully controls the wealth the PCs have. For most campaigns, the wealth guidelines on page 135 in the Dungeon Master's Guide will suffice. If you follow those guidelines and you're careful to make sure that no single character has significantly more wealth than the all the others, you don't need to worry too much about overpowered characters. Of course, you'll still face arguments over how many items a character can wear on one part of the body.

When your campaign uses the item slot rules (as most do) you always can carry more items than you can wear in a particular slot. If you wear more items in a slot than will fit, only the first one (or the first two, in the case of rings) that you put on functions. As a rule of thumb, it takes two move actions to switch around items that you wear -- one to shed a functioning item and put it away, and one to get out the replacement item and put it on. That assumes that you keep the replacement item in some handy location, such as a belt pouch, and that you store the original item somewhere equally handy. Note that you can just drop an item as a free action, but that's for things you hold in your hand. Most items you wear are made to stay in place once you don them and it takes a little fiddling to get them off. Armor and shields have their own rules for donning and shedding (see Chapter 7 in the Player's Handbook).



Some magic item descriptions include saving throw DCs for the effects they produce; however, they usually do so only when the item does something that doesn't correspond to a spell.

Most magic items produce spells or spell-like effects. For a saving throw against a spell or spell-like effect from a magic item, the Dungeon Master's Guide gives the following formula: the save DC is 10 + the level of the spell or effect + the ability modifier of the minimum ability score needed to cast that level of spell. As it happens, that formula works out to a DC 10 plus 1-1/2 times the spell level, as shown on the following table:




It's important to remember that the item, not the user, sets the save DCs for the item's spells or spell-like effects. In most cases, this means that the save DC for a spell from an item is almost always lower than it would be from a spellcaster.

Staffs are an exception to the rule. Calculate the saving throw DC just as if the wielder had cast the spell. If a staff user has an ability score lower than necessary to cast a spell stored in the staff, the character can still use the spell (provided that the character meets the requirements for using a spell trigger item; see Part Two), but the character still must use the lower ability modifier. As a house rule, you might want to allow a staff user to use his own ability modifier or the minimum modifier for the stored spell, whichever is higher.

If a staff user has a feat, item, or special ability that improves his spell save DCs, those also apply to spell the character uses from a staff. For example, if a character has the Spell Focus (evocation) feat, the save DC bonus from that feat applies to evocation spells the character uses from staffs.



When an item stores or duplicates a spell effect, the item user's metamagic feats (if any) don't apply to the spell. An item could produce a spell effect that has been modified with a metamagic feat, but only when the item was made that way in the first place. Such items are more expensive than items that store regular spells. You can see the effect of metamagic on item prices by looking at the prices of the wands shown in the Dungeon Master's Guide.

Likewise, other feats the item user has (such as the Spell Focus feat) do not affect spells produced from items. Staffs are an exception (see the previous section), but even a staff does not allow the user to apply metamagic feats to spell effects from the staff.





Any magic item has a magical aura unless some other magical effect, such as Nystul's magic aura, masks it, or something suppresses the item's magic, such as a dispel magic spell or an antimagic field.

A magic item's aura depends on the school of magic involved in its creation or function, as noted on page 213 in the Dungeon Master's Guide. The aura's strength depends on its caster level, as noted in the detect magic spell description. A magic item's description contains an aura entry so you don't have to figure out the details yourself.

When a magic item has a use limit and has become non-functional because its use limit has been reached, the item still has a magical aura. When a magic item has charges and its charges are exhausted, it is no longer magical and has no magical aura (except for a dim aura that lingers for a short time after the last charge is expended).



Most charged items in the D&D game cannot be recharged, which is why some people complain that they can't find the recharging rules.

A handful of items can be used again once the spells stored in them have been expended, such as the ring of spell storing and the ring of counterspells, but these items aren't really charged, they're really long-term spell storage devices. A ring of spell storing or ring of counterspells still has a magical aura when it doesn't hold a spell (see the ring descriptions).

The game dispenses with rules for recharging items mostly as a matter of play balance. That's because most players expect that recharging something like a wand should be a little cheaper than making one from scratch. A fireball from a wand of fireballs, however, has the same impact on play no matter how many charges happen to be in the wand at the time or how many times the wand has been used before. Magic item costs in the D&D game reflect their game utility, not just the value of magic as commodity.

If you'd like to experiment with recharging, simply use the rules for making magic items. To determine the cost for recharging, just divide the full market price for the item by its maximum number of charges. For example, a wand of fireballs that has a caster level of 5th holds 50 charges and costs 11,250 gp. That means a single charge costs 225 gp. To recharge the wand, one needs access to a fireball spell and the Craft Wand feat. Adding a single charge costs 112 gp, 5 sp and 9 XP.

Adding charges takes a minimum of one day.

If you use this rule, assume that an item depleted of charges still has a dim magical aura (see the detect magic spell description) of the same school that the item had before being depleted. For example, a depleted wand of fireballs would have a dim aura of evocation.

Before trying out this strictly optional rule in your campaign, consider its impact on play. Under the game's published rules, charged items, particularly wands and staffs, are fairly rare because player characters have to spend quite a bit of money (or money and experience) to obtain a fully charged item. Even if the PCs are lucky enough to find a partly expended item, they must replace it with a fully charged item once its charges run out. If you allow recharging, player characters can keep their charged items "topped off" fairly cheaply and that makes them more powerful characters.



Any magic item has a caster level that was set when the item is created (see page 215 in the Dungeon Master's Guide). An item's caster level determines all the level-based variables that apply to any spell or spell-like effects that the item can produce, such as range and duration. An item caster level also determines the item's own saving throw bonuses (see the next section).

Magic staffs have fixed caster levels, just as other magic items do; however, a staff user can use her own caster level for spells she uses from the staff if her caster level is higher than the staff's. When a staff wielder uses her caster level for a spell from a staff, also apply any caster level increases that would apply to the user's spells. For example, a staff of fire has a caster level of 8. If a character who can cast spells as a 16th-level wizard uses the staff, she can trigger spell effects from the staff as a 16th-level caster. If that user also has the archmage's spell power ability (which increases caster level by +1), the character casts spells from the staff as a 17th-level caster, just as she would cast her own spells.



When a magic item is subjected to a magical attack, it can make a saving throw just as a creature can (though it is still just an object unless it is intelligent). A magic item's saving throw bonus equals 2 + one-half its caster level (round down). Use the same bonus for all the item's saves (Fortitude, Reflex, or Will). The only exceptions to this are intelligent magic items, which make Will saves based on their own Wisdom scores.

A magic item is "subjected" to a magical attack when it is unattended when the attack strikes (that is unless no creature holds or carries the item at the time of the attack), when the attack specifically targets the item, or when the wielder rolls a natural 1 on his save. This rule applies even when the wielder doesn't survive the attack.

Even if the wielder rolls a natural 1 on his save, only one exposed item is subjected to the attack (see page 177 in the Player's Handbook).

A magic item has basically the same hit points and an Armor Class as a non-magical item of the same kind. Tables 9-8 through 9-12 in the Player's Handbook cover Armor Class and hit points for objects. A magic weapon, shield, or suit of armor gains +2 hardness and +10 hit points per point of enhancement bonus it has. (This doesn't quite match the text in the Dungeon Master's Guide, but the D&D FAQ and the errata for the Dungeon Master's Guide both contain corrections.) The item gains extra hardness and hit points only for its actual enhancement bonus, not for the effective enhancement bonus used to determine its price. For example, a +2 flaming longsword costs as much as +3 longsword, but it has only 4 points of extra hardness and 20 extra hit points.

Items that don't have enhancement bonuses don't gain any extra hardness or hit points. If you'd like to make magic items in your game a little more durable, consider giving magic rings, rods, staffs, wands, and wondrous items an extra point of hardness and an extra 5 hit points.



Skip Williams keeps busy with freelance projects for several different game companies and was the Sage of Dragon Magazine for 18 years. Skip is a co-designer of the D&D 3rd Edition game and the chief architect of the Monster Manual. When not devising swift and cruel deaths for player characters, Skip putters in his kitchen or garden (rabbits and deer are not Skip's friends) or works on repairing and improving the century-old farmhouse that he shares with his wife, Penny, and a growing menagerie of pets.

Based on the original Dungeons & Dragons® game by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and on the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.

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