Magic Items

A magic item is a piece of adventuring equipment that has been enchanted to be better than a mundane version of that item. It is quite common for an adventurer to start their career without any magic items at all, because they are VERY expensive. Indeed, one powerful reason to go and slay monsters is to get their loot, turn it into money, and then buy better stuff (so you can slay monsters, get their loot, etc.).

Like all equipment and tools, magic items give your character more powers and abilities, making them more dangerous, tougher, and faster. While you don't precisely NEED magic items, the game is balanced with the assumption that you will get the proper amount of treasure, and then spend it to maintain your gear at the 'cutting edge'. If you neglect to buy better magic items, you will find that the game gets very, very difficult, quickly!

Pre-Made Vs. Custom-Made

It is possible for characters to gain the Creator (Feat), allowing them to make their own magic items, usually saving quite a bit of money in the process. However, most adventurers are too busy to spend the weeks and months it takes to make their own items. As a result, most characters will buy their magic items from vendors or makers, who specialize in the creation of these wondrous wares.

Some items will not be immediately available in a given city or town. Indeed, smaller settlements rarely have a diverse stock of the many magic items adventurers may find themselves wanting. The percentage chance that a settlement has a shop containing any given magic item is listed on the Money and Merchants page.

If an item is not available, that simply means that there isn't one in town. It doesn't mean that one couldn't be made by one of the skilled creators and makers in the town, or imported from another town for the character's convenience. The character could also just go somewhere else with a better stock of magical equipment, but again, an adventurer's time is precious — they need to get back to the killin' and lootin' as soon as possible!

The time required to craft a magic item is detailed on the Creator (Feat) page, but has a base time of 2 days + 1 day per creator level (CL) of the item. Makers will always demand payment up front for an item, and the player character won't get it until it's finished, often a week or more from the day the payment is made to have it built.

Some of the more upscale vendors of magic items offer loaner equipment during this waiting period, to ensure the adventurer doesn't have to walk around completely unprotected while that new suit of armor is made. Such loaner equipment usually requires a sizable deposit, only returned when the loaner is returned in good condition.

"Off-Menu" Magic Items

In general, you cannot buy, create, or otherwise acquire an item that isn't listed within the Epic Path rules. Allowing magic items from other games into your campaign is STRONGLY discouraged. It is so strongly discouraged, in fact, that we don't even have rules for it. Bringing in items from other game systems is nearly always going to harm your campaign.

Furthermore, you cannot take the effects or abilities of two or more items and merge them into a single item, nor can you take an item that isn't slotless and make it slotless. The idea is that each character has to make tough choices as to which cool things they want to equip at any given time. Allowing item merging or the en-slotless-ifying of items trivializes those choices. Keep your players wanting more. More. MORE!

GMs can, of course, create their own magic items, artifacts, and other MacGuffins for their campaigns, as they see fit, but they shouldn't really have a gold value. There are often occasions when the story calls for something unusual or special to fall into the players' hands, and there's nothing wrong with that. However, should the players decide to sell this MacGuffin or artifact, it is recommended that there be grave consequences for this greedy and selfish decision. For example, a bunch of low-level players who suddenly find themselves in possession of a million gold will almost certainly get mugged by the nearest party of epic-level adventurers (or the nearest evil church or cult. You can buy a LOT of goat's blood with a million gold...). Not only have they thrown away their artifact, now they have powerful new enemies! A win-win for the GM, and a solid lesson for the players.

Magic Item Slots

As listed below, there are no less than twenty different 'kinds' of magic items. The first thirteen of these are 'worn' items, meaning that they are like pieces of clothing. You can only wear so many different pieces of clothing, and so it is that you can only have one magic item in each of these thirteen slots. (Except for rings, of which you can wear two. There's always an exception....) As your character advances, you should strive to have at least some sort of a useful magic item in as many slots as you can. But don't worry if you don't manage this for a while! It is perfectly valid to concentrate on a few 'good' or 'essential' items for a while, or even for your entire adventuring career. Spending a LOT of money on a few powerful items can be just as effective as keeping every single magic item slot filled with a 'decent' item.

In addition to the base slots, there are seven other types of magic items. These are: weapons, armor, rods, staves, wands, slotless items, and consumable items. Don't be fooled into thinking that these items are any less important, though! Magic weapons and slotless magical bags are among two of the very most important items the well-equipped adventurer should get first!

There are many, many versions of all these items, because most items come in 'families'. This means that there is a low-level, relatively inexpensive item that does 'something'. As you level up and grow mighty, better versions of that item that become available, usually for a LOT more money, which serves as a built-in 'upgrade path' for you to follow, if you want to.

Upgrading to a higher-quality item in the same family as an item you already possess only costs the difference between the item you have and you want to upgrade into. Normally, when you sell something back, you only get half its value from the merchant; upgrading within a family of items lets you get the full value you paid for the item applied toward the cost of the upgrade. So efficient!

The high epic items are very, very expensive. But don't worry! If you keep playing and having fun with your friends, you can eventually reach the point where even those incredible items become available to you.

Worn Magic Item Slots

Many magic items have to be worn in order to gain their effects. However, you cannot wear two magic coats and expect to gain the benefit of both coats at the same time (although you'll certainly be warm). Therefore, worn magic items are broken out into thirteen "slots". You may wear a single item at any one time in each of these slots, and enjoy the benefits of each of them, with the exception of rings. The powerful magic of enchanted rings prevents the use of a ring on every finger, but you can have one ring on each hand, to a maximum of two rings at any given time.

Wearing two items in the same slot disrupts the magic of both items, meaning you get no benefit from either until one of the items is removed. Items not worn (such as those stowed in your backpack) provide no benefit.

Armor	Belt	Body	Chest	Eyes	Feet	Hands
Head	Headband	Neck	Rings	Shoulders	Wrists

Wielded Magic Items

Listed below are all of the various magic items which you must hold in,or manipulate with, your hands to gain benefits from them. While sheathed, stowed, or otherwise not being wielded, these items provide no benefits to their owner. You will immediately notice that while you only have two hands, you have access to five types of items that you have to use your hands to use. This makes the Combat rules for switching things around in your hands quite important.

Magic Weapons

Magic Rods

Magic Staves

Magic Wands

Magic Shields

Slotless Magic Items

Slotless items, as the name implies, do not have to be worn or wielded in a magic item slot in order to make use of their effects. This is very powerful, since you can, theoretically, have an infinite number of slotless items and enjoy the benefits of all of them at all times (assuming their benefits are distinct enough to avoid stacking issues with the bonus types). The most common class of slotless items are containers, such as handy haversacks and portable holes.

In most cases, you'll also need a free hand to interact with the slotless magic item (such as pulling something out of your handy haversack).

Slotless Magic Items

Consumable Magic Items

The final type of magic item is consumables. These are potions, scrolls, or items with limited uses, after which they become useless or mundane objects (or perhaps crumble to dust, as their magic essence fades away). While throwing gold into items that can only be used once (or a few times) may sound wasteful, the effects available can be quite powerful, while still being quite affordable, even at low levels.

While it may seem like a Light Caduceus Rod, which allows 50 castings of Cure Light Wounds before it has to be recharged with a Small Manastone is a much more efficient use of your money than a bunch of potions of cure light wounds, those potions are affordable after your very first battle with monsters, and there's no Use Magic Device check required to drink a potion (unlike that rod). You have to buy the rod all at once, and you'll likely find its cost to be prohibitive until at least level 2, if not later.

Consumable Magic Items

Bonus Types and Stacking

Most magic items which grant any sort of a numerical bonus (like +1) to some aspect of a character's abilities do so using an Enhancement Bonus. It is very rare for a magic item to provide a numerical bonus to any ability using a different bonus type than Enhancement. Since Enhancement Bonuses do not stack with themselves, two magic items providing an Enhancement Bonus to the same character element (for example, the character's Stealth skill) do not stack; instead, only the single highest available bonus is used.

However, a character can enjoy the benefits of multiple Enhancement Bonuses, as long as they each affect different things. For example, you can have a belt that grants you a +2 enhancement bonus to your Strength ability score, and a headband that gives you a +2 enhancement bonus to your Intelligence ability score, and these two items work perfectly fine together. If both items granted their bonus to Strength, the character would only get to use the bonus from one of the items.

Different bonus types stack with each other, even on the same character aspect. For example, a +2 Enhancement Bonus to Maneuver Defense would stack with a +2 Training Bonus to Maneuver Defense.

The only bonus types that actually stack with themselves are Dodge Bonuses and Circumstance Bonuses. All other bonus types behave like Enhancement Bonuses — they don't stack with themselves when applied to the same character element, but they will stack with different bonus types, or when applied to different character elements.

List of Magic Item Families

Descriptions on this page do not provide all the details of the items described -- they are just summaries, and are often incomplete. Click on the item's link for complete details. In any case where the summary contradicts an item's full description, the full description should be considered correct (barring GM exception).

Magic Item Name	Slot	Description
Amulet of Natural Armor	Neck	Adds Enhancement Bonus to Natural Armor.
Amulet of Mighty Fists	Neck	Adds Melee Magic Weapon Enhancement bonuses and Magic Properties to your unarmed attacks.
Armatura Protectica	Hands	Grants the wearer a Shield Bonus to AC.
Arsenal Gloves	Hands	Store and sort an arsenal of handheld items quickly and easily.
Auric Enhancer	Armor	Grants +1 additional target to spells or True Dweomers that are either rays or have a limited number of targets greater than one.
Bag of Holding	Slotless	Humble bags that hold much more than they appear to.
Bandeau of Grace	Belt	Grants the wearer a bonus to their Dexterity score.
Belt of Physical Perfection	Belt	Grants the wearer a bonus to their Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength scores.
Belt of the Powerful Form	Belt	Grants an enhancement bonus to two of the wearer's physical stats (STR, DEX, or CON)
Boots of Bounding	Feet	Sleek footwear that grants a Hover move.
Boots of Speed	Feet	Aggressively styled boots that add to your movement speed.
Boots of the Daredevil	Feet	Adds bonuses to reckless movement.
Bracelets of Resistance	Wrists	A Bracelet of Resistance adds a Resistance bonus to all saving throws made by an attuned wearer.
Bracers of Armor	Wrists	Grant an Armor Enhancement Bonus to the attuned wearer's Armor Class.
Chronicler's Coronet	Headband	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Charisma score.
Cloak of Displacement	Shoulders	Causes the wearer to fade and blur, granting them defenses and movement powers.
Cloak of Elvenkind	Shoulders	Well-made cloaks that allow the wearer to be stylishly unobtrusive.
Cloak of Resistance	Shoulders	A Cloak of Resistance adds a Resistance bonus to all saving throws made by an attuned wearer.
Component Pouch	Slotless	A small leather pouch that can magically produce any spell component worth 1 gp or less in value.
Coronet of Eloquence	Headband	Teaches the wearer languages instantly.
Crown of Swords	Head	Strike at foes who attack you.
Deadhead Headband	Headband	Changes the wearers appearance to that of a skull and affiliates them with Death.
Deathwatch Monocle	Eyes	Grants the wearer an intuitive knowledge of the health of nearby creatures.
Diadem of Deep Design	Headband	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.
Facade of Winsomeness	Head	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Charisma score.
Facade of Facility	Head	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores.
Facade of Perspicacity	Head	Grants an enhancement bonus to two mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).
Facade of Wisdom	Head	Grants an enhancement bonus to the Wisdom score.
Facade of Wits	Head	Grants an enhancement bonus to the Intelligence score.
Farstrike Bracers	Wrists	Adds reach and new damage types to melee attacks.
Finemail Smallclothes	Armor	Grants wearer the effects of a dweomermetal, without the hassle of wearing armor.
Fugue Potion	Consumable	Grants imbiber a full-night's rest in 1 minute
Gifting Mantle	Shoulders	Gift spells to yourself or your allies.
Gloves of the Designer	Hands	Grants an enhancement bonus to five different skills.
Gloves of the Maker	Hands	Grants an enhancement bonus to eight different skills.
Gloves of the Tradesman	Hands	Grants an enhancement bonus to three different skills.
Gloves of the Worker	Hands	Grants an enhancement bonus to a single skill.
Glowing Gloves	Hands	Handgear with many marking, debuffing, and movement abilities.
Goggles of Night	Eyes	Grants Darkvision.
Hardened Cassock	Body	A Hardened Cassock adds an Armor Enhancement Bonus to the wearer's Armor Class.
Hat of Disguise	Head	Allows the user to Disguise themselves very quickly and skillfully.
Hauberk of the Magus	Armor	The Hauberk of the Magus provides the finest magical enhancement a wizard (or divine caster!) can secretly wear.
Headband of Gracious Wit	Headband	Grants an enhancement bonus to two of the wearer's mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).
Headband of the Logician	Headband	Grants an enhancement bonus to five different skills.
Headband of the Philosopher	Headband	Grants an enhancement bonus to three different skills.
Headband of the Savant	Headband	Grants an enhancement bonus to eight different skills.
Headband of the Theorist	Headband	Grants an enhancement bonus to a single skill.
Helm of Protection	Head	Grants the wearer a Shield Bonus to AC.
Honcho Helmet	Head	Grant a bonus move action to your summoned monster, familiar, or animal companion a limited number of times per day.
Hornet Wing Cloak	Shoulders	Typically sporty cloaks that manifest wasp wings and allow extended periods of flight.
Jangle Bangles	Wrists	Add shocking goads to all successful melee attacks.
Jaunt Boots	Feet	Allows the wearer to move more freely in battle.
Limitless Quiver	Slotless	Creates an unending supply of non-magical ammunition.
Magic Haversack	Slotless	A backpack which holds more than its size suggests, without increasing in weight.
Mantle of Armoring	Body	Adds an Enhancement Bonus to Natural Armor.
Manual of Bodily Health	Consumable	One-use magical books to increase Constitution.
Manual of Gainful Exercise	Consumable	One-use magical books to increase Strength.
Manual of Quickness of Action	Consumable	One-use magical books to increase Dexterity.
Mask of a Thousand Tomes	Head	Acts as a magical Library.
Mechanists Lappet	Headband	Adds bonuses to all DC's of one or more other items attuned to the wearer.
Meridian Belt	Belt	Allows the attuned wearer to wear and use more than two Ring items.
Monkey Belt	Belt	Grants the wearer amazing powers to move and bounce.
Mortal Coil	Belt	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to Constitution.
Muleback Cords	Shoulders	Adds the ability to carry heavy weights and break things in your way.
Necklace of Adaptation	Neck	Grants many benefits against environmental and gaseous effects.
Necklace of Fire	Neck	Grants scaling fire powers to the attuned wearer.
Pearl of Power	Neck	Adds one spell slot per spell level its level and below.
Pirate's Eyepatch	Eyes	Adds many piratical benefits to the wearer.
Poisoners Gloves	Hands	Stores and enhances a few doses of Poisons.
Portable Hole	Slotless	Pieces of cloth or small boxes, oddly weighty for their size, that open into large storage spaces.
Quickrunner Surcoat	Chest	This elegant surcoat lends the wearer speed and the ability to escape obstacles.
Reinforced Waistcoat	Chest	Adds an Enhancement Bonus to Natural Armor.
Ring of Alacrity	Rings	Grants the attuned wearer bonus Action Points after a time interval has passed.
Ring of Caring	Rings	Adds bonuses to all healing bestowed in any way by the attuned owner.
Ring of Devotion	Rings	Doubles the number of Divine Spell Slots of a given level or levels.
Ring of Expertise	Rings	Grants an enhancement bonus to eight skills.
Ring of Ferocious Action	Rings	Grants many martial and teamwork bonuses to the wearer and their allies.
Ring of Invisibility	Rings	Boring bands of metal that have nothing to distinguish them.
Ring of Practice	Rings	Grants an enhancement bonus to a single skill.
Ring of Protection	Rings	Grants the wearer a Shield Bonus to AC.
Ring of Savvy	Rings	Grants an enhancement bonus to five skills.
Ring of Talent	Rings	Grants an enhancement bonus to three skills.
Ring of the Weaponeer	Rings	Transfers the wearer's skill and investment with a chosen weapon to one or more mundane weapons as well.
Ring of Wizardry	Rings	Doubles the number of Arcane spell slots the wearer gains of certain spell levels.
Sage's Circlet	Headband	Grants the wearer an enhancement bonus to their Wisdom.
Scholar's Laurel	Headband	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Intelligence score.
Seafoam Foundation	Armor	Seafoam fills the armor slot and adds many benefits to the attuned wearer.
Shifting Wraps	Body	Adds bonuses only while Transmogrified.
Shroud of the Unterwelt	Body	Grants many earthen powers of protection, concealment, and even movement.
Sipping Jacket	Chest	Can store and apply the effects of magical potions.
Spectacles of Winsomeness	Eyes	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Charisma score.
Spectacles of Facility	Eyes	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom score.
Spectacles of Perspicacity	Eyes	Grants an enhancement bonus to two of the wearer's mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma).
Spectacles of Wisdom	Eyes	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Wisdom score.
Spectacles of Wits	Eyes	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Intelligence score.
Spellguard Bracers	Wrists	Automatically succeed on a defensive casting check and gain dodge bonuses for doing so.
Stampede Stompers	Feet	Heavy footwear that provides many martial benefits.
Stockings of Agility	Feet	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Dexterity score.
Stockings of Physicality	Feet	Grants the wearer a bonus to their Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength scores.
Stockings of Robustness	Feet	Grants the wearer an enhancement bonus to two physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution).
Stockings of Vigor	Feet	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Constitution score.
Stockings of Might	Feet	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Strength score.
Summoners Medallion	Headband	Summoned monsters are much stronger when summoned with this item.
Tinker's Tunic	Body	Allows wearer to buy one item from the tunic each day as if it were a merchant.
Tome of Clear Thought	Consumable	One-use magical books to increase Intelligence.
Tome of Leadership and Influence	Consumable	One-use magical books to increase Charisma.
Tome of Understanding	Consumable	One-use magical books to increase Wisdom.
Torques of Agility	Wrists	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Dexterity score.
Torques of Physicality	Wrists	Grants the wearer a bonus to their Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength scores.
Torques of Robustness	Wrists	Grants the wearer an enhancement bonus to two physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution).
Torques of Power	Wrists	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Strength score.
Torques of Vigor	Wrists	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to their Constitution score.
Truss of Might	Belt	Grants wearer an enhancement bonus to Strength.
Tunic of Deadly Might	Chest	Add the results of a Might check to one or more attacks.
Vest of Escape	Chest	Allows the wearer to teleport, both defensively and offensively.
Victory Laurel	Headband	After defeating an enemy in open combat, grows blood-red berries which sustain and heal.
Wand of Accessioning	Wand	Grants +1 additional target for spells or spell-like abilities with a limited number of targets.
Wand of Burning	Wand	Apply your Burning Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Coaxing	Wand	Apply your Coaxing Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Destruction	Wand	Apply your Collateral Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Empowerment	Wand	Apply your Empower Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Enhancement	Wand	Apply your Enhance Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Fussiness	Wand	Exclude additional targets with your Selective (Feat) a limited number of times per day.
Wand of Hemorrhaging	Wand	Apply your Cutting Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Infinity	Wand	Apply your Absolute Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Joined Fates	Wand	Apply your Linked Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Maximization	Wand	Apply your Maximize Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Occluded Casting	Wand	Apply your Unseen Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Perfection	Wand	Apply your Perfect Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Piercing	Wand	Assists the wielder in overcoming a target's spell resistance.
Wand of Reaching	Wand	Apply your Reach Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Silence	Wand	Apply your Silent Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Stealthy Casting	Wand	Apply your Stealth Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Stillness	Wand	Apply your Still Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Quickening	Wand	Apply your Quicken Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of the Elements	Wand	Apply your Element Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of the Fundaments	Wand	Apply your Fundament Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of the Rudiments	Wand	Apply your Rudiment Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Toppling	Wand	Allows the wielder's force-based spells to also knock an opponent down.
Wand of Vastness	Wand	Apply your Vast Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Wand of Widening	Wand	Apply your Widen Spell (Feat) to a spell without increasing its level.
Warrior Harness	Body	Reduces armor check penalty and dex penalty to AC of worn armor, and grants temporary hit points.