I've always had respect for the Roguelike genre. Videogames where you move a character around a grid, delving deeper and deeper into a procedurally generated dungeon, picking up new items, potions, and scrolls, and slowly figuring out what they do and using them to your advantage. You don't start out knowing what each potion or scroll or magic item does, and drinking/reading/equipping them to find out will sometimes have you use an item that is actually harmful (ranging from scrolls you're meant to use in niche situations to cursed items with negative enchantments and can't be removed without a curse-removing scroll).
Recently, though, I started playing a game called Unexplored. It's very heavily based on classic grid-based Roguelikes, but while it keeps almost all the same trappings, it's a top down action game instead. I've developed a minor addiction to it. The gameplay is fun, but not amazing, bu that's fine because it's mostly there to facilitate the slow, methodical exploration that I want to enjoy from normal Roguelikes but haven't been able to really get without more engaging systems on top of them.
Anyway, it got me into the idea of writing magic items. Most of the items in Unexplored just deal more damage or have a chance to bleed/stun/etc an enemy, but the number of combinations is still impressive. And in RPGs, where problem-solving is not always a matter of figuring out how to best defeat an enemy, there's a lot more room for interesting items.
I took inspiration from Unexplored's system of enchanting, where you can find magic runes as treasure and take them to the anvils that generate every now and then to turn a normal item into a magic item. Rather than write a hundred magic items off the top of my head, I took the nine sigils from Unexplored, added one to round it out, then came up with ten item varieties. I could just roll a D100, find the element and item it corresponded with, and use that as a base for the item.
It wasn't until I was halfway through the list when I had a realization. Because the tens digit says what element it is and the ones digit says which item, you can roll a D10 instead of a D100 and get a specific item or element. If you want, say, an item associated with ice, you can roll a D10 and add it to the end of 70. If you want a melee weapon, roll a D10 and put it in front of 5 (so a 1 becomes 15, 6 becomes 65, etc).
Items Grouped by Theme and Type
|
ITEMS
BY THEME (Number + D10)
00
Life
10
Metal
20
Water
30
Fire
40
Magic
50
Death
60
Earth
70
Ice
80
Air
90
Storm |
ITEMS
BY TYPE (D10 + Number)
0
Armour
1
Helmet
2
Clothing
3
Ring
4
Amulet
5
Melee Weapon
6
Ranged Weapon
7
Shield
8
Trinket
9
Staff |
A Few Notes On Compatibility
I've tried to make these as system-agnostic as possible, but:
I assume a system where D6s are the "average" damage die. In my homebrew almost damage is rolled on a D6, with stronger/weaker weapons adding/subtracting from the result, so that's why a lot these have damage values of "D4 or D6-1" or "D8 or D6+1". If your system has different damage averages you might want to adjust the values.
If you don't already know, Advantage/Disadvantage means you roll a D20 twice and take the better or worse result, respectively.
I've used notional distances - Melee, Reach, Close, Near, Far, etc. If you want specific distances, Melee is 5 feet/1 square, reach 10 feet/two squares, Close is 30/6, Near is 100/20, and Far is 250/50.
Some items have "STR" or "DEX" or the like attached to them. That just means the modifier of a specific stat - STR being Strength, INT being Intelligence, you can figure it out.
D100 Magic Items
00 Rose Knight's Armour
A
beautiful suit of light armour which looks like plate but counts as
chainmail. Rose-like embellishments and leafy designs cover it from
head to toe. If the wearer is in a duel with someone – any
(ostensibly) honourable fight between two lone combatants – they
have Advantage on all attack rolls against their foe.
01 Crown
of Thorns
A
tiara made of green, thorny vines that provides no defense bonuses,
but projects all harm the wearer suffers onto whoever caused it. When
the wearer takes damage from an attack, their attacker takes 1 magic
damage in return.
02 Elven
Cloak
A
green cloak that imbues the wearer with Elven grace. Living plants
can never impede their movement – while this means they could run
through a bush unharmed, it also means they can climb or even run up
trees and vines safely and at their normal movement rate.
03 Ring
of Life Detection
A
gold ring with a small emerald. Whoever wears it can spend a moment
concentrating on it to become aware of the presence and health of all
living creatures within Close distance.
04 Amulet
of the Snake
A
jade amulet fashioned in the shape of a snake. Whoever wears it is
rendered immune to any and all poisons, be they lethal or merely
hindering.
05 Blade
of Grass
A
slightly curved one-handed sword made of a pale green metal. The edge
is razor-sharp, causing attacks made with it to deal critical damage
on a roll of 2 as well as 1.
06 Poison
Flower Star
A
flower-shaped throwing star with serrated edges designed to hold and
easily inject poison into struck targets. If used to apply poison to
a creature, the creature gains no Save vs Poison – however, the
poison is always depleted after a hit (if it wouldn't be already).
07 Regenerating
Shield
A
wooden shield that was grown, not built. If the wielder sunders it to
ignore all damage from an attack, it will regrow after eight hours.
If destroyed by fire it is broken permanently.
08 Healing
Moss
A
patch of green, almost glowing moss. When rubbed on an injury it
grows to replace the lost functionality, healing the injury and
consuming the moss.
09 Staff
of Healing
A
staff made of two intertwined branches. If the wielder has a free
hand, they can channel their own life-force through the staff or
hand, giving their HP 1-for-1 to any living creature within Close
distance. Undead creatures are harmed instead.
10 Adamantine
Armour
A
light and thin suit of plate armour made of a pale blue metal. It
counts as plate armour for the purposes of defense and as chain
armour for the purposes of encumbrance.
11 Magnetic
Helm
A
metal helmet of a peculiar purple-and-red alloy that draws metal
towards it. In addition to being a helmet, all attacks with metal
weapons that deal damage to the wearer have the damage rolled reduced
by 1, as some momentum and control is lost to the magnet's pull.
12 Armourer's
Cloak
A
grey cloak that shines like metal. When worn, the wearer treats all
armour they wear as one step lighter for the purposes of encumbrance.
13 Ring
of Ferrokinesis
An
unremarkable iron ring. It allows its wielder to manipulate metal
they can see up to Close distance away, with as much strength as the
free hand they must use to do so.
14 Amulet
of Hardening
A
metal amulet in the shape of a fist. Whoever wears it has their
equipment protected from non-magical hindrances – the things they
carry cannot be taken from them or destroyed.
15 Adamantine
Sword
A
super-sharp, super-light one-handed sword of a pale blue metal. It
counts as a masterwork sword, and the sharp metal allows it to ignore
the physical armour of enemies.
16 Cable
Bow
This
bow's string and limbs are made of metal, not wood and fibre. The
tensile cables can deal extra damage, but are harder to pull – it
deals D6 + STR damage.
17 Shield
of Rust
A
rusty metal shield which rusts metal that comes in contact with it.
Prolonged contact rusts for sure, but minimum damage rolls against
whoever is wielding it rusts the weapon being used, giving it -1 to
hit and -1 damage.
18 Dowsing
Ball
An
iron ball on the end of a chain. When held out in front of the wearer
it will drift slightly towards the nearest source of valuable metal
not already in their possession.
19 Rod
of Magnetism
An
iron staff. If the wielder has a free hand, they can channel
magnetism into the staff or hand, pulling or pushing metal within
Close distance, up to the weight of plate armour.
20 Atlantean
Plate
A
suit of plate armour made of a dark blue metal that's impossibly
light. It doesn't hinder swimming or climbing at all – it does
hinder sneaking, running, etc as normal.
21 Diver's
Helm
A
large brass helmet that allows the wearer to breathe water and ignore
water pressure. It does not stop water from entering the helmet,
however, or the wearer from getting wet.
22 Boots
of Water Walking
A
pair of blue leather boots which allow their wearer to walk on any
and all liquids. Water, but also acid, lava, and stranger things.
Anything other than their boots can still sink.
23 Ring
of Blood Draining
A
silver ring with an inlaid ruby, which allows its wearer to draw
blood within Close distance towards them if they have a free hand.
This causes creatures to Save vs Magic or get dragged towards the PC,
or instead causes D6 damage to creatures that are bleeding.
24 Anchor
Amulet
An
iron amulet in the shape of an anchor. It causes the wearer to sink
to the bottom of water as if it were air, ignoring pressure but
drowning and being wet as normal.
25 Tidal
Blade
A
one-handed sword that has a straight edge and an edge curved in a
wavy pattern. If an attack made with it misses, and the wielder makes
another attack on the next round, that attack is made at Advantage.
26 Bolas
of the Saint of Fishers
A
three-part chain bolas. Regular bolas have Close range and cause a
Save vs Stun on a hit, lest the target be entangled – this one has
Near range and always entangles on a hit.
27 Surging
Shield
A
brass shield with small spikes all across the front. If the bearer
charges at an enemy, they may make an attack with both another weapon
and the shield, which deals +1 damage over the normal damage of a shield, but only when charging
enemies.
28 Bottle
of Holding
A
glass bottle that can hold up to a hundred times the expected amount
of liquid, but only the normal amount of anything else. If shattered,
the liquid explodes outwards all at once.
29 Driftwood
Staff
A
staff made of a single piece of ancient driftwood. If the wielder has
a free hand, they can control water at a distance through a
combination of the staff and hand, moving up to person's worth of a
visible liquid (be it water, acid, blood, etc) at a time.
30 Dragonleather
Armour
Leather
armour made from a dragon's hide. It counts as chainmail for the
purposes of defense, and leather for the purposes of encumbrance. The
leather itself is immune to fire, but not heat or lava or explosions,
and only covers the arms, torso, chest, and legs.
31 Molten
Crown
A
crown of molten gold that keeps its form, casts no light, and does
not burn those who touch it. If you wear the crown, you are immune to
fire and heat (but not explosions).
32 Striking
Boots
Red
leather boots with spiked soles. The boots allow their wearers to
make unarmed attacks with +1 damage with only their feet, but cannot
move and then attack with them.
33 Ember
Ring
A
unremarkable copper ring. It allows its wearer to shoot embers from
the hand its on, starting small fires instantaneously.
34 Dragonslayer's
Amulet
A
small gold amulet in the shape of a dragon's skull. Whoever wears it
has Advantage on all attacks against creatures that are twice as
large or more than them.
35 Unfinished
Blade
A
one-handed sword that glows like an untempered blade. It casts light
like a torch, and sets anything it strikes on fire. It only lights
things hit while swinging it, so it can be sheathed or held without
igniting the wielder.
36 Hellbore
Crossbow/Musket
A
crossbow (or musket in early-modern games) made of dark red, charred
wood. It fires bolts/bullets that glow white with heat. They deal no
extra damage, but melt through wood and metal with ease, allowing
attacks made with them to ignore armour.
37 Shimmer
Shield
A
shield of a reflective, strong, and light metal. While it does not
project light itself it reflects even the dimmest ones brilliantly,
making it hard to see the wielder at a distance. Ranged attacks made
against them by creatures that see (IE not undead) are at
Disadvantage.
38 Orb
of Flame
A
small metal orb that can be easily held in one hand, which glows
orange with warmth. It casts light and heat like a lantern, though it
is comfortable to hold, and will never go out. If its tough exterior
is broken, it will explode with the force of a bomb.
39 Firebolt
Staff
A
bronze staff that ends in a pale red crystal. If the wielder has a
free hand, they can channel flame through the staff or hand, igniting
things at a distance. They must make a ranged attack to hit
creatures.
40 Chainmail
of the Sorceror
A
suit of pale purple chainmail. It does not interfere with a spell
caster's ability to cast magic, and can be worn by spell casters who
wouldn't normally be able to wear chainmail.
41 Hood
of Starry Eyes
A
purple hood with a yellow eye drawn on the front. When worn to
obscure the wearer's vision, they gain the ability to see out of it
in every direction up to Close distance away, and through darkness
and opaque but not impassable things (curtains, smoke clouds, etc).
42 Cloak
of the Enchanter
A
rugged black cloak with a red velvet inside. It allows the wearer to
teleport to a location within Far range that they can see, at the
cost of taking D6+1 damage and making a loud and impressive explosion
both where they leave and where they reappear.
43 Ring
of Dispelling
A
silver ring with an inlaid amethyst. It allows its wearer to raise
the hand its on and hold it open to project a translucent purple
shield in front of them – it does nothing to physical things, but
all but the strongest spells and magic abilities are completely
blocked.
44 Wizard's
Amulet
A
silver amulet that contains a blue, faintly glowing crystal. When
worn by a magician it gives them the spell-casting ability of an
extra level (1 or 2 casts/day, 1 magic die, etc).
45 Drakara,
the Thinking Blade
A
well-made one-handed sword with a mind of its own. It can speak, and
knows a lot about metalsmithing and magical research (having been
built by a tinkering magician). It adds the CHA of its wielder to its
damage rolls.
46 Starbow
A
bow of pale purple wood. Arrows fired from it glow with magical
energy, counting as magical for the purposes of damage and dealing +1
damage.
47 Sorceror's
Shield
A
shield of a pale purple wood. If worn by a spell caster, they can
treat the hand they hold it in as an open hand for the purposes of
casting spells.
48 Orb
of True Sight
A
crystal ball which, when looked through, dispels magical illusions,
disguises, and invisible things. Any image created by magic is not
seen through its glass.
49 Staff
of Blasting
A
wooden staff inscribed with purple runes. If the wielder has a free
hand, they can channel energy through the staff or hand to make
ranged attacks against foes up to Near distance away. They deal D6 +
INT damage on a successful hit.
50 Black
Knight's Plate
A
suit of knightly plate armour, as black as a starless sky. When worn,
it makes the wearer completely immune to the effects of fear and
pain, even if their limbs are chopped off.
51 Crown
of the Bloodletting Queen
A
silver tiara with an inlaid ruby. Whenever its wearer suffers an
injury, they may choose to reroll the injury, but must suffer the
newly rolled one if they do so.
52 Shroud
of Death
A
discarded part of Death's cloak. When worn over the body, it makes
the wearer count as dead for the purposes of magic – the undead
ignore them until harmed, healing spells harm them, and necrotic harm
heals them.
53 Leech's
Ring
An
obsidian ring that resembles a leech biting its tail. It allows the
wearer to drain the life force from a creature within Reach distance,
dealing 1 damage and healing 1 in turn. This attack always hits, does
not effect mechanical creatures, and does effect undead ones.
54 Amulet
of the Lich
A
black metal amulet with a large purple opal. If the wearer fails a
Save vs Death, they pass it instead but the opal cracks and becomes
black, the amulet drained of its power.
55 Sacrificial
Dagger
An
ornate dagger made to resemble a fang. When used to kill any creature
the size of a chicken or larger, it stores the energy of the death.
The next attack with it that lands deals double damage. Only one such
charge can be stored at a time.
56 Black
Arrow
An
arrow of pure black metal. It breaks when it strikes a target, but
immediately kills them – if a creature could at all be killed by an
arrow, it is killed by this arrow.
57 Necrotic
Shield
A
black wooden shield that projects necrotic energy when the face is
touched. If a melee attack made against its wielder fails, the
attacker takes 1 magic damage.
58 Ferryman's
Obol
A
coin of silver, used to pay one's way into the afterlife. Whoever
possesses this obol (or any other like it) has +1 on all Saves vs
Death.
59 Staff
of Harming
A
black wood staff with an amethyst at the end. If the wielder has a
free hand, they can channel energy through the staff or hand to harm
living creatures within Close distance at the cost of losing the same
amount of HP, 1-for-1. Undead creatures are healed instead.
60 Stone
Armour
A
set of armour made of stone, that counts as plate armour in all
respects. Whoever wears it cannot be moved against their will by
another creature, but can still fall, slip, etc.
61 Helmet
of Clarity
A
stone helmet that fortifies the wearer's mind against negative
effects. They have Advantage on Saves vs mind-altering things such as
stuns, sleep spells, quest spells, etc.
62 Clatter
Cloak
A
set of tiny ceramic plates linked to each other. It provides no
armour, but the plates reduce all slashing damage to 1 – piercing
goes between the plates, and crushing simply ignores the plates,
which do nothing to slow the impact of an attack.
63 Stonehand
Ring
A
ring which transforms the hand it's on into living stone. It counts
as a shield and is extremely resistant to damage – you can reach
into acid, pick up burning objects, etc.
64 Amulet
of Unweight
A
heavy stone amulet that is lighter when worn, and on top of taking up
no inventory slots if worn, actually makes it easier for its wearer
to lift things, giving them +2 inventory slots.
65 Stunning
Mace
A
one-handed mace carved from a single stone. When its wielder make a
successful attack, they can choose to forgo dealing damage to instead
stun the enemy for a round.
66 Giant's
Shortbow
An
impossibly large bow, that cannot be fired by anyone without a STR of
+1 or higher. It can be "charged" by drawing the bow
further each round, each round spent charging multiplying the damage
to a maximum of three times the damaged rolled.
67 Giant's
Buckler
An
impossibly large shield, that cannot be lifted by anyone without a
STR of +1 or higher. If held, it allows the wearer to effectively
ignore all attacks from a single target, as the shield blocks any
approach they can make – but renders the bearer unable to attack
them either.
68 Humming
Hammer
An
otherwise unremarkable hammer that hums with uncontrolled energy.
When struck against stone, it will shatter it into dust, enough to
destroy a small wall. It has no effect on metal, flesh, wood, dirt,
and anything else other than stone. It recharges in an hour.
69 Staff
of Crushing
A
thin staff made of red stone. If the wielder has a free hand, they
can channel crushing strength through the staff or hand, dealing
damage to a creature within Close distance based on their armour –
1 for no armour, 2 for leather, 3 for chain, and 4 for plate.
70 Hyperborean
Parka
As
long as this dark blue parka (which counts as leather armour) is
worn, the wearer will never get cold. They could walk through
absolute zero conditions unscathed.
71 Berserker's
Helm
A
blood-stained metal helmet with ceremonial horns. When worn, it
empowers the wearer by overtaxing their muscles, granting them
Advantage on all melee attacks and Strength tests, but dealing 1
damage to them each time they benefit from it.
72 Good
King's Boots
A
pair of warm, well-made boots. Whoever wears them will not tire from
movement, no matter how difficult or long the journey is. They could
run for a full day and feel nothing.
73 Stasis
Ring
Once
per day, this light blue, translucent ring allows you to freeze
yourself or another creature within Close distance for a round. They
can take no actions, but cannot be affected by anything either, until
the round ends.
74 Snowflake
Amulet
A
silver amulet in the shape of a snowflake. Whoever wears it is immune
to both the negative effects of cold – even absolute zero won't
harm them – and the negative effects of cold weather and terrain
such as falling snow, snow drifts, slippery ice, and blizzards.
75 Chilling
Axe
A
one-handed axe made of hardened ice. When it deals damage to a foe,
it slows down their actions. Their next action, on that round or the
next, is made after every other character acts, regardless of their
initiative.
76 Bow
of Frost
A
bow of pale white wood, with a blue string. Arrows fired from it glow
blue, and freeze up to a cubic metre of water when they land in it.
Enemies that are weak to frost, including those that aren't but are
wet, take double damage from attacks made with it.
77 Crystal
Shield
A
shield of crystalline ice, slightly translucent. When a melee damage
roll made against its bearer rolls maximum damage, crystal shards
explode from it and deal D6 damage back.
78 Vapour
Orb
A
blue orb that can be held in one hand. At a thought, someone touching
it can turn on and off its ability, which is to chill the air around
it to its freezing point, filling a room-sized area with murky vapour
that leaves a layer of frost on everything it touches.
79 Winter's
Rod
A
white wood staff that ends in a blue crystal. If the wielder has a
free hand, they can project frost from the staff or hand to chill
objects within Close distance at will – they can put out small
fires, freeze cold or temperate water, etc.
80 Floating
Mail
A
suit of chainmail made from gravity resistant material. It counts as
chain for the purposes of armour and leather for the purposes of
encumbrance. When someone wearing it falls, they count as having
fallen half as far for the purposes of damage.
81 Wafer
Helm
A
simple helmet made of a paper thin metal that is even stronger than
the metal used in most helmets. It counts as a helmet but takes up no
inventory slots.
82 Cloak
of Invisibility
A
cloak that, when worn, turns it and all beneath it invisible. If not
worn by a living being, it has no effect, but can easily cover a
large person in heavy armour, or a few small people.
83 Breeze
Ring
An
iron ring with a tiny sapphire embedded in it. It allows the wearer
to perform weak acts of telekinesis up to Close distance away so long
as they move the hand in question, such as turning pages, slowly
moving keys and coins, and disturbing water and dust.
84 Amulet
of Silence
A
silver amulet that, when worn, renders the user completely silent.
Any noise made by them or an item they carry is completely nullified,
with the sole exception of their voice.
85 Sky
God's Spear
A
brass two-handed spear that seems longer than it looks. It can be
used to make melee attacks up to Far distance away, rather than just
Reach.
86 Swapping
Handbow/Pistol
A
one-handed crossbow (or pistol in early modern games) which swaps
whoever fired it with living creatures they hit. If an attack lands,
the attacker and defender swap places.
87 Returning
Shield
A
light metal shield which can be easily thrown. In addition to dealing
+1 damage when thrown, its wielder can immediately draw the shield
back to their hand after a throw. This takes almost no effort but if
they don't do so right away they are unable to later.
88 Umbrella
of Falling
A
collapsible black umbrella. If held by someone while falling, they
will float slowly instead of fall, reaching the ground in a quarter
of the time and taking no damage when they do.
89 Staff
of Blinking
A
thin staff of silver. If pointed with both hands at a nearby
location, the wielder can instantaneously teleport up to Close
distance away.
90 Charged
Mail
A
set of chainmail armour which causes static shocks each time it is
touched. When worn it keeps the wearer's mind on edge, making them
impossible to surprise.
91 Helmet
of the Storm
A
brass helmet with an iron cloud and brass lightning bolts above it.
In addition to counting as a helmet, once per day, it allows the
wearer to fire a bolt of lightning at a creature within Close
distance. It always hits and deals D6 damage, 2D6 if the target is
wet or wearing metal armour, 3D6 if the target is both wet and
wearing metal armour.
92 Boots
of Speed
A
pair of leather boots with small silver wings on each side. Whoever
wears them can run twice as fast as they normally would, and for the
same amount of effort.
93 Zap
Ring
A
gold, jagged ring. It allows the wearer to zap things with
electricity up to Reach distance away, dealing 1 guaranteed damage, 2
if the target is wet/wearing metal, 3 if they're both.
94 Wanderer's
Amulet
A
wooden amulet in the shape of a man with a staff and wide-brimmed
hat. Whoever wears it is immune to the effects of the weather, be it
heat, cold, rain, or stranger things, but not non-weather sources of
these (such as the heat of fire or wetness of a river).
95 Flurry
Sword
A
towering two-handed sword. When the blade kills a foe, energy
crackles and it fills it wielder with vigour, allowing them to make
another attack in the same round.
96 Electric
Whip
A
metal rod that cracks lightning through the air when swung. It acts
as a whip (D4/D6-1 damage, 1 hand, Reach), except instead of Reach,
the lightning has Close distance range.
97 Lightningrod
Shield
A
thin metal shield that can draw attacks made against creatures
adjacent to the wearer to the wearer instead, once per round. They
must decide to draw the attack before it is rolled.
98 Rain
Idol
A
small stone idol of an ancient god of rain. Once per day, someone can
pray in front of it for a minute to move the local weather one step
up or down this chain: Clear, Cloudy, Raining, Thundering, Storming.
99 Staff
of Forked Lightning
A
staff made of lightning-charred wood. If the wielder has a free hand,
they can channel energy through the staff and
hand to make two ranged attacks in a round against two separate
creatures within Near distance, dealing D4 or D6-1 shock damage on a
hit.
