Chapter 7: Treasure - Dungeon Master's Guide (2024)

Armor

An item in the Armor category is typically a magical version of armor from the Player's Handbook. Unless an armor's description notes otherwise, the armor must be worn for its magic to function.

Some suits of magic armor specify the type of armor they are, such as Chain Mail or Plate Armor. If no type is specified, choose the type or determine it randomly.

Potions

An item in the Potion category might be a magical brew that must be imbibed or an oil that must be applied to a creature or an object. A typical potion consists of 1 ounce of liquid in a vial.

Rings

For its magic to function, an item in the Ring category must be worn on a finger or a similar digit unless its description notes otherwise.

Rods

An item in the Rod category is a scepter usually made of metal, wood, or bone. A typical rod weighs 2 to 5 pounds.

Unless its description notes otherwise, a rod can be used as an Arcane Focus.

Scrolls

An item in the Scroll category is a roll of paper or parchment, sometimes attached to wooden rods and typically kept safe in a tube of ivory, jade, leather, metal, or wood. The most prevalent scroll is the Spell Scroll, a spell stored in written form. However, some scrolls, like the Scroll of Protection, bear an incantation that isn't a spell.

Staffs

Items in the Staff category vary widely in appearance: some are of nearly equal diameter throughout and smooth, others are gnarled and twisted, some are made of wood, and others are composed of polished metal or crystal. A staff weighs between 2 and 7 pounds and serves well as a walking stick or cane.

Unless its description notes otherwise, a staff can be used as a nonmagical Quarterstaff and an Arcane Focus.

Wands

An item in the Wand category is typically 12 to 15 inches long and crafted of metal, bone, or wood. It is tipped with metal, crystal, stone, or some other material.

Unless its description notes otherwise, a wand can be used as an Arcane Focus.

Weapons

A magic weapon is typically a magical version of a weapon from the Player's Handbook. Some magic weapons specify the type of weapon they are in their descriptions, such as a Longsword or Longbow. If no weapon type is specified, you may choose the type or determine it randomly.

Wondrous Items

Wondrous Items include wearable items such as boots, belts, capes, amulets, brooches, and circlets. Bags, carpets, figurines, horns, musical instruments, and more also fall into this category.

Magic Item Values by Rarity

Common magic items can often be bought in a town or city. Uncommon and Rare magic items are usually found only in cities, and rarer magic items might be sold only in wondrous locations, such as the City of Brass or Sigil, City of Doors. If you allow characters to buy and sell magic items in your campaign, rarity can help you set prices for those items. Gold Piece values are provided in the Magic Item Rarities and Values table, though a seller might ask for a service rather than coin as payment.

If a magic item incorporates an item that has a purchase cost in the Player's Handbook (such as a weapon or a suit of armor), add that item's cost to the magic item's value. For example, +1 Armor (Plate Armor) has a value of 5,500 GP, which is the sum of a Rare magic item's value (4,000 GP) and the cost of Plate Armor (1,500 GP).

Magic Items Awarded by Level

The Magic Items Awarded by Level table shows the number of magic items a D&D party typically gains during a campaign, totaling one hundred magic items by level 20. The table shows how many items of each rarity are meant to be handed out during each of the four tiers of play.

Artifacts are omitted from the table because they are most often used as plot devices in high-level adventures, and characters rarely have them for long (either because the Artifacts are meant to be destroyed or because the campaign is nearing its end).

Overstocking an Adventure

When creating or modifying an adventure, assume that the characters won't find all the magic items you place in it. An adventure usually can include a number of items that's 25 percent higher than the number in the Magic Items Awarded by Level table (round up). For example, an adventure designed to take characters from level 1 to 4 might include fourteen items rather than eleven, in the expectation that three items won't be found.

Magic Items Awarded by Level

Character Level (Tier of Play)	Common Items	Uncommon Items	Rare Items	Very Rare Items	Legendary Items	All Items
1–4 (tier 1)	6	4	1	0	0	11
5–10 (tier 2)	10	17	6	1	0	34
11–16 (tier 3)	3	7	11	7	2	30
17–20 (tier 4)	0	0	5	11	9	25
Total	19	28	23	19	11	100

Magic Item Tracker

You can use the Magic Item Tracker sheet to track how many magic items the characters have acquired. Each time the characters get a magic item, put a check mark in one of the empty circles corresponding to the item's rarity and the current level range of the characters. If the characters gain a magic item of a rarity that has no unchecked circles at the current level range, check off an empty circle from a lower tier. If all lower level ranges also have no circles left, check off an empty circle from a higher level range.

Random Magic Item Rarity

When you decide that a treasure contains magic items, there are two ways to determine the rarity of those items. You can choose an appropriate rarity based on the items you've given out already (using the Magic Item Tracker sheet to keep track), or you can roll on the Magic Item Rarities table.

To use the table, find the level of the characters in the top row. Roll 1d100, and read down that column to find your roll. Then read across to the right column to find the rarity of the item.

Command Word

A command word is a word or short phrase that must be spoken or signed for an item to work. Spoken command words must be audible and fail to work in areas where all sound is suppressed, as in the area of the Silence spell.

Consumable Items

Some items are consumed—used up, in other words—when they are activated. A Potion of Healing must be swallowed, for example, while the writing vanishes from a scroll when it is read. Once used, a consumable item loses its magic.

Spells Cast from Items

Some magic items allow the user to cast a spell from the item. The spell is cast at the lowest possible spell and caster level, doesn't expend any of the user's spell slots, and requires no components unless the item's description notes otherwise. The spell uses its normal casting time, range, and duration, and the user of the item must concentrate if the spell requires Concentration. Many items, such as Potions, bypass the casting of a spell and confer the spell's effects with its usual duration. Certain items make exceptions to these rules, changing the casting time, duration, or other parts of a spell.

A magic item may require the user to use their own spellcasting ability when casting a spell from the item. If the user has more than one spellcasting ability, the user chooses which one to use with the item. If the user doesn't have a spellcasting ability, their spellcasting ability modifier is +0 for the item, and the user's Proficiency Bonus applies.

Charges

Some magic items have charges that must be expended to activate their properties. The number of charges an item has remaining is revealed when the Identify spell is cast on it. A creature attuned to an item knows how many charges the item has and how many it regains.

Arcana Proficiency

To craft a magic item, you and any assistants must have proficiency in the Arcana skill.

Tools

The Magic Item Tools table lists which tool is required to make a magic item of each category. You must use the required tool to make an item and have proficiency with that tool. Any assistants must also have proficiency with it. For more Tools, see the Player's Handbook.

Spells

If a magic item allows its user to cast any spells from it, you must have all those spells prepared every day you spend crafting the item.

Time and Cost

Crafting a magic item takes an amount of time and money based on the item's rarity as shown in the Magic Item Crafting Time and Cost table.

Raw Materials

The cost in the table represents the raw materials needed to make a magic item. The DM determines whether appropriate raw materials are available. In a city, there is a 75 percent chance that the materials are available, and in any other settlement, that chance is 25 percent. If materials aren't available, you must wait at least 7 days before checking on the availability again.

If a magic item incorporates an item that has a purchase cost (such as a weapon or a suit of armor), you must also pay that entire cost or craft that item Crafting Equipment in the Player's Handbook. For example, to make +1 Armor (Plate Armor), you must pay 3,500 GP or pay 2,000 GP and craft the armor.

Magic Item Crafting Time and Cost

Item Rarity	Time*	Cost*
Common	5 days	50 GP
Uncommon	10 days	200 GP
Rare	50 days	2,000 GP
Very Rare	125 days	20,000 GP
Legendary	250 days	100,000 GP

Artifact Properties

In addition to its defined properties, an Artifact might have other properties that are either beneficial or detrimental. You can choose such properties from the tables in this section or determine them randomly. You can also invent new beneficial and detrimental properties. These properties typically change each time an Artifact appears in the world.

An Artifact can have as many as four minor beneficial properties and two major beneficial properties. It can have as many as four minor detrimental properties and two major detrimental properties.

Sentient Magic Item Traits

When you make a sentient magic item, you create the item's persona much as you would create an NPC (as described in the "Nonplayer Characters" section of chapter 3), with these exceptions.

Conflict

When the bearer of a sentient item acts in a manner opposed to the item's alignment or purpose, conflict can arise. When such a conflict occurs, the item's bearer makes a Charisma saving throw (DC 12 plus the item's Charisma modifier). On a failed save, the item makes one or more of the following demands:

• Chase My Dreams. The item demands that its bearer pursue the item's goals to the exclusion of all other goals.
• Get Rid of It. The item demands that its bearer dispose of anything the item finds repugnant.
• It's Time for a Change. The item demands to be given to someone else.
• Keep Me Close. The item insists on being carried or worn at all times.

If its bearer refuses to comply with the item's demands, the item can do any of the following:

• Make it impossible for its bearer to attune to it.
• Suppress one or more of its activated properties.
• Attempt to take control of its bearer, whereupon the bearer makes a Charisma saving throw (DC 12 plus the item's Charisma modifier). On a failed save, the bearer has the Charmed condition for 1d12 hours. While Charmed in this way, the bearer must try to follow the item's commands. If the bearer takes damage, it repeats the save, ending the effect on a success. Whether or not the attempt to control its bearer succeeds, the item can't use this power again until the next dawn.