Any vetted D&D player knows how great is the joy of unearthing the magical items that are scattered all over the campaign world. It is considered to be one of the more exciting parts of the game for both Dungeon Masters and the players as well.
Since magic items are considered to be valuable and very desirable loot players can stumble upon during their journeys, they are considered to be a crucial component of Dungeons & Dragons. As they are versatile in many ways, for starters they come with unique utilities, and unique potentials to help out players with their respective capabilities, be that on offense or defense. They also come in various shapes and sizes.
But, one of the most frequent traits of magic items is that they may need to be attuned. When it comes to places where players can find magic items, they can be found in long-lost vaults, or they can be looted from Monster hoards.
A bit on attunement
When it comes to attunement in D&D 5e, you can think of it as unleashing the magical abilities of magic items in the game. In order for your creature to use magic items successfully, first you need to get them to create a bond with the items itself.
Now, some magic items may have a prerequisite for it. This means that, if a prerequisite for your creature to use a magic item is let’s say to be a Spellcaster, it would be able to use it if it is able to cast a spell simply by using its Traits or features. On the other side, there are also items such as the Boots of Elvenkind, to which anyone can attune to.
However, this doesn’t apply to everyone, as Thief Rogues, from level 13 and above, just like the Artificers of levels 14 and above, because of their respective class abilities can ignore the requirements.
Of course, you can always check out the Dungeon Master’s Guide, that is if your campaign does not exclude magical items. Not only does the DMG contain a large number of magical items, but also the attunement requirements. Plus, all of the details of the effects of magical items are explained.
If, for some reason, a creature of yours does not become attuned to a magic item that requires attunement, it can only gain the nonmagical benefits of that item. Of course, if the description of the item doesn’t state otherwise. For instance, if your creature obtains a magic Shield, that requires attunement, the creature can enjoy its normal benefits, but none of the Magical Properties. The latter ones it can gain only with attunement.
The mechanics of attunement
In order for your creature to get attuned to an item, it has to spend a Short Rest with a focus only on that item, all while being in physical contact with it. That rest is not to be confused with the one creatures use to study the properties of an item.
You can turn the focus in question to meditation, weapon practice, or even other suitable activities. However, should the Short Rest get interrupted, the attempt of attunement fails instantly. And, if that’s not the case, the creature obtains an instinctual understanding of how it can activate the Magical Properties of the item in question, with all of its possible Command words.
Now, it is not able for a creature of yours to be attuned to more than three items at once. Plus, any item you get, you can attune to no more than one creature at a time. And if you want to have your creature attuned to another item, after already being attuned to three, you have to end its attunement to one of those three items first.
This is because they have only three slots for the attunement of magic items. It is also worth mentioning that a creature can only be attuned to one item of its kind, it cannot be attuned to two same ones at the same time. Let’s take the ring of Protection, for instance, a creature cannot be attuned to two such rings at the same time.
How players can lose attunement to magic items
There are several ways you can end a creature’s attunement to a magic item. One is if the creature stops satisfying the Prerequisites for attunement. This can be the case if the creature dies for instance, or if another creature in the game gets attuned to the same item.
Moreover, it can also happen if the creature is more than 100 feet away from the item, for a minimum of 24 hours. And, barring the magic item being Cursed, a creature can voluntarily end its attunement to a magic item by spending one more Short Rest which is focused on the item.
Homebrewing magic items
One of the more enjoyable things when it comes to making your D&D custom world, is that you get to be creative with homebrewing magic items. Personally, when I’m a Dungeon Master, I like to mull over how the items I make will influence the outcome of the game. Anticipating how players will react to the magic items I come up with, and seeing how they react when they get to use them always turns out to be even more exciting than I imagined it would be.
However, there are several things you need to keep in your mind when coming up with homebrew items. Firstly, you must never forget that the items have to be both mechanically and thematically balanced. This means that besides the rules, you need to come up with the effects the items will have, all of which help to keep your players grounded, and make the gameplay more challenging and fun.
Then, you need to master the item rarity levels, how much time it takes to craft any of them, how many gold pieces it would cost to make the items, and at which level a player needs to be in order to be able to obtain an item.
Further on, you need to make sure clarity is on point. Meaning, when making homebrew Magic items, the descriptions of them must be concise, clear, and with little to no room for interpretation. Your players must clearly understand at any time how your magic items work.
To have your magic items all easily understandable, I find that you need to make sure you provide answers to the following questions.
- What is the rarity of an item?
- Does an item need to be attuned?
- Is there anything negative, like resistance or antimagic fields that would stop an item from working?
- Does an item require a save?
- What’s the attack type of an item?
- Does an item have to be charged?
Making sure you fully get how attunement works can only improve your game
Even if you’re not well-versed in the whole attunement process, it’s not something you should worry about. However, it is something that can improve your playing experience, as you would know better how to move, you’d be able to plan your moves better, and, as a result, you’d instantly be better at D&D. Hope this article helps you with understanding the importance of attunement of Magic items. Thanks for reading!
