Summary
One of the great joys ofDungeon & Dragonsisgetting a new magical item, but it can be a tricky thing for Dungeon Masters to balance. Which items are going to make your players happy without tilting the balance of the game too far in their favor, and which are too weak to put a smile on their faces?
It can be one of the hardest things for a DM to figure out and can often lead to frustration later on as they realize a mistake has been made. To help ease the stress, we’ve put together a list of the perfect magic items for low-level players. Whether your focus is balance or plot, there’s something here for you.
9Ring Of Invisibility
It’s A Classic
Sometimes balance needs to take a back seat so that your players can enjoy the classics, and what could be more classic than giving a low-level character a Ring of Invisibility so they vanish whenever they want? It was good enough for Bilbo and Frodo, after all.
This is an item that any Rogue player will love, making them instantly much more stealthy than they otherwise might have been. Yes, it’s a strong item for low-level characters, but the joy it will bring Tolkien fans at your table is worth the risk.
8Bag Of Holding
Every Party Needs One
Most tables and DMs handwave how much a single person is able to carry, discarding the encumbrance rules entirely. The Bag of Holding is the perfect explanation for why your party can haul around several dungeons' worth of loot at once, plus whatever oddities they hoard along the way.
As a bag of essentially infinite storage, it’s designed for the convenience of your players. Just ensure they don’t abuse it, especially inventive players have been known to put them on the end of a stick and try to capture enemies with it like a butterfly net.
The Handy Haversack item is an alternative to the Bag of Holding. The items have a few differences, but they’re rarely enforced by DMs. It’s entirely up to you how you choose to use any magic item at your table, so check both out and use your discretion.
7Alchemy Jug
Throw A Fantasy Kegger
The Alchemy Jug is a fun utility item capable of producing large quantities of several different kinds of liquid. Although it can be used to make fresh drinking water, slick oil, or corrosive acid, any DM will tell you that players only use it for one thing. Making mayonnaise.
Why D&D players are so obsessed with making massive quantities of mayonnaise is one of the great mysteries of the game. Whatever the reason, the Alchemy Jug is a great item for lower-level characters tojoke around with.
6Boots Of Striding And Springing
Hop, Skip And Jump
These boots are a great early find for any party member, but especially the heavily armored among your adventuring trope. They eliminate any movement penalty for wearing heavy armor, meaning you won’t have to sacrifice mobility for protection.
They also triple the jumping distance of the wearer, which applies both horizontally and vertically. That can make all the difference when you need to leap across a pool of lava or jump up to a ledge to use as a vantage point.
5Chime Of Opening
No Rogue, No Problem
Not every party has someone adept at picking locks, but that doesn’t mean they should have to try and break down every door they find barring their path. The Chime of Opening is the perfect item for that sort of party.
It can open any lock but comes with multiple drawbacks. It creates a chiming sound, so it isn’t great for stealth, and it has limited uses. After ten uses, it breaks, making it a great way to introduce resource management to your players.
4Eyes Of The Eagle
The Eyes Have It
These stylish goggles grant advantage on Perception checks that rely on sight. In clear conditions, it can allow a character to spot even small objects at a great distance. This will help ensure your players don’t miss out on clues or plot points.
The real reason to gift these out to a low-level character, though, is for the fashion. They look great and could really help tie a character’s look together by giving them a fantasy-flavored superhero flair.
3Hellfire Weapon
Proceed Directly To Hell, Do Not Pass Go
Many monsters in D&D can only be harmed by magical weapons, or are at least resistant to normal ones. If you know your party might be facing such a foe, you could always give them a Hellfire Weapon to get around the problem.
It’s a magical weapon with only one effect: anyone slain by it is immediately damned to the Hells and transformed into a Devil. Let your players and their characters grapple with that morality, or consider only revealing it after they’ve been using the weapon for a while.
Make sure that your players are interested in this kind of moral dilemma for themselves and their characters, it isn’t what everyone is looking for from their game. This is best covered in a Session Zero, but regular check-ins are always a good idea.
2Cubic Gate
For Planar Campaigns
Giving your low-level adventurers a wondrous, legendary item might seem like a fast track to a derailed campaign, but there are exceptions. Consider the Cubic Gate, an item primarily used for travel from one plane to another.
The Cubic Gate allows a party otherwise confined to one plane to hop around but is keyed to specific planes. That way, you can expand the scope of your campaign without the fear of your players going to a plane you haven’t prepared for.
1Vestiges Of Divergence
Items That Level With You
Whether or not you’re a diehard fan ofCritical Role and its cast, it’s well worth checking out their published books for the Vestiges of Divergence items, if nothing else. They’re powerful magical artifacts of various kinds, letting you fill your setting with ready-made relics.
What is especially good about them is that they have multiple stages of power, meaning you’re able to hand them out earlier in a campaign, and they will remain relevant, growing in strength along with the players. A magic item is great, but a magic item that is distinctly yours and useful for a full campaign is even better.
Whether you’re using these items in their original setting of Exandria or not, they’re undeniably powerful and singular items. They would be coveted by all sorts of villains, or even other heroes, putting a target on the back of whoever owns one. That’s a fantastic magic item and plot hook all in one: the DM dream.
