Magic items are gleaned from the hoards of conquered monsters or discovered in long-lost vaults. Such items grant capabilities a character could rarely have otherwise, or they complement their owner's capabilities in wondrous ways.
Attunement
Some magic items require a
creature to form a bond with them before their magical properties can be used. This bond is called
Attunement, and certain items have a prerequisite for it.
Wearing and Wielding Items
Using a magic item's properties might mean wearing or wielding it. A magic item meant to be worn must be donned in the intended fashion: boots go on the feet, gloves on the hands, hats and helmets on the head, and rings on the finger. Magic armor must be donned, a shield strapped to the arm, a cloak fastened about the shoulders. A weapon must be held.
In most cases, a magic item that's meant to be worn can fit a creature regardless of size or build. Many magic garments are made to be easily adjustable, or they magically adjust themselves to the wearer. Rare exceptions exist. If the story suggests a good reason for an item to fit only creatures of a certain size or shape, you can rule that it doesn't adjust.
When a nonhumanoid tries to wear an item, use your discretion as to whether the item functions as intended. A ring placed on a tentacle might work, but a creature with a snakelike tail instead of legs can't wear boots.
Multiple Items of the Same Kind
Use common sense to determine whether more than one of a given kind of magic item can be worn. A character can't normally wear more than one pair of footwear, one pair of gloves or gauntlets, one pair of bracers, one suit of armor, one item of headwear, and one cloak. You can make exceptions; a character might be able to wear a circlet under a helmet, for example, or to layer two cloaks.
Paired Items
Items that come in pairs -- such as boots, bracers, gauntlets, and gloves -- impart their benefits only if both items of the pair are worn. For example, a character wearing a
Boot of Striding and Springing on one foot and a
Boot of Soft Stepping on the other foot gains no benefit from either.
Activating an Item
Activating some magic items requires a user to do something special, such as holding the item and uttering a command word. The description of each item category or individual item details how an item is activated. Certain items use the following rules for their activation.
If an item requires an
Action to activate, that action isn't a function of the
Use an Item action.
Command Word
A command word is a word or phrase that must be spoken for an item to work. A magic item that requires a command word can't be activated in an area where sound is prevented, as in the area of a
Silence Spell.
Consumables
Some items are used up when they are activated. A potion or an elixir must be swallowed, or an oil applied to the body. The writing vanishes from a scroll when it is read. Once used, a consumable item loses its magic.
Spells
Some magic items allow the user to
cast a spell from the item. The spell is cast at the lowest possible spell level, doesn't expend any of the user's
spell points, and requires no components, unless the item's description says 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 their usual duration. Certain items make exceptions to these rules, changing the casting time, duration, or other parts of a spell.
A magic item, such as certain staffs, may require you to use your own
Spellcasting ability when you cast a spell from the item. If you have more than one spellcasting ability, you choose which one to use with the item. If you don't have a spellcasting ability -- perhaps you're a rogue with the Use Magic Device feature -- your spellcasting ability modifier is +0 for the item, and your
Proficiency Bonus does apply.
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 an
Identify Spell is cast on it. Additionally, when an item regains charges, the creature
Attuned to it learns how many charges it regained.
Once spent, charges are not restored automatically. They must be recharged through a
special crafting process.
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