Special Equipment Details

There has been a lot of inquiry through PM about the costs of special items. After answering some of the same questions multiple times, I decided to dedicate a thread to this topic. I will update this list as we address certain questions. Restrictions on Availability: Before purchasing any item, be sure to check with your DM to be sure that the item is available. The item must be listed in the 5th edition DMG or other 5th edition source books that we are allowing for the campaign. There are only two exceptions to this. One is crafting magic items which allow you to use the crafting tables located in the Downtime Activities to create variants (these are subject to approval by a DM). The other are magic items created by a DM using the DMG and made available in an adventure. All magic items with a value over 1,400 gp must have a handout with the items market value and description (or book and page reference) and be labeled as "Approved by <DM's name>". Restrictions on Upgrading: You cannot upgrade and thus change the basic composition of an item. Therefore, you cannot upgrade a normal item to a masterwork item. A masterwork item must be initially created better than its counterpart. Likewise, the material composition of the item may also not be altered. A silver item must be created with silver; it cannot created with iron and then have silver added later. Only items of masterwork quality may be enhanced with permanent magic effects as these items must undergo a special process that allows them to contain the magic on a permanent basis. Masterwork Items:  All masterwork items are generally created better than their mundane counterparts. Masterwork items have 150% the durability than normal items. Masterwork items may also be enhanced as a magic item. There are no other special benefits from acquiring a masterwork item. Ammunition: +2 gp to the cost of a single piece. Armor/Shield: +150 gp to the cost. Weapon: +300 gp to the cost. Mithril Items: The cost for a mithril item is modified as shown below. Light armor: Light +1,000 gp Medium armor: +4,000 gp Heavy armor: +9,000 gp Shield: +1,000 gp Other items: +500 gp Benefits: Mithril armor weighs 1/2 as much as normal armor. Items created with mithril are considered masterwork, the cost of that is included above. An item gains any properties that the masterwork property would normally give. If the armor normally imposes a disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks or has a Strength requirement, the mithril version does not. Silvered Weapons:  You can silver a single weapon or ten pieces of ammunition for 100 gp. This cost represents not only the price o f the silver, but the time and expertise needed to add silver to the weapon without making it less effective. PHB 148. Dungeon Master's Workshop: New or variant items created by a DM that are made available to players (NOT DM characters) must have an associated handout for it that includes the item's name, attunement (required or not) item's type (ring, wondrous, potion, etc...), school of magic (for detect magic ), market value, and the details of all of it effects (put hidden effects in GM Info). Please be sure this information is clear and concise for other DMs. See the various crafts in the Downtime Activities folder located in the campaign journal for more details.

Mark S. said Armor: +150 gp to the cost Good to know. I over paid the last couple of items then and I have been mis-informing others. I was paying 750gp not 150gp. I think the +1 to the max dex is well worth the 150 price. That is like making it a +1 armor as long as you have the dex already to use it. 

Mike said: Mark S. said Armor: +150 gp to the cost Good to know. I over paid the last couple of items then and I have been mis-informing others. I was paying 750gp not 150gp. I think the +1 to the max dex is well worth the 150 price. That is like making it a +1 armor as long as you have the dex already to use it.  No problem. I am glad that the post helped out. Still in the works of thinking about what benefit light armor and heavy armor can gain through masterwork. I haven't been able to come up with anything that is not OP. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Here is one idea...  Heavy armor: Better weight distribution allows the PC to move better. May add Dex of a max of +1 when wearing masterwork heavy armor.  I am thinking this is reasonable since it Is costly enough that it could not be obtained until about 4th level or higher. 

Mark S. said: Here is one idea...  Heavy armor: Better weight distribution allows the PC to move better. May add Dex of a max of +1 when wearing masterwork heavy armor.  I am thinking this is reasonable since it Is costly enough that it could not be obtained until about 4th level or higher.  I was reading it as the +1 to max dex was to all armors. That is a worthless bonus to light armor since they have unlimited already, but good for heavy and Medium. That can basically equal a +1 to ac if they did not dump dex and have the stats for it.    The only other thing I can think of to use in place of that would be a weight reduction of some percentage. 

What about damage reduction? Damage reduction 1 or 2 might not be too OP and it could apply to any weight of armor (light, medium, heavy). Just a thought for discussion. 

Or damage reduction only to non-magical bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage to be more specific and balanced. It wouldn't maybe make sense for MW armor to provide benefit to poison, sonic damage, etc...

Damage reduction could work. It would be really good at low level for the light armor. One thing to keep in mind however due to the numbers. Damage reduction has a diminishing return the higher your level.  But higher levels will want real magic armor. 10% reduction on non magic for slashing, blunt and piercing would be a good start. Less then 10% would be better but a pain to calculate every time. More then 10% would be OP.

All good ideas.  Allowing the additions of Dex (max +1) to the heavy armor would be the easiest solution. I like the idea of using DR, but could be tedious. A DR of 1 is about 12.5% less damage at lower levels (based on d8 being the average). A +1 AC (if you have the Dex for it) is about 5% less damage as a result of not being hit. The miss is because of your ability to move out of the way cause the armor is crafted better to move with the bearer. This seems to make more sense since that is what masterwork armor historically accomplished.  DR has been simplified to resistance in 5e. I would like to find a way to implement something cool that does not add or take away from the new system. Resistance is a bit OP for masterwork armor.  The idea of armor made to resist specific damage is appealing though. For example, I could see scale mail made of red dragon scales as masterwork quality giving resistance to fire. I would limit these to heavy armor only since they are the only ones that cover the entire body. Or what about a red dragon scale shield that gives a +2 to dexterity checks made against AOE fire effects. Anyways, there are definitely some cool things we can develop as we move forward.  I think I like the Dex (max +1) to heavy armor the most. It is the easiest, seems balanced, and fits the system. I think you said you were doing it that ways anyways, Mike. It seems kind of intuitive as well. As far as light armor goes, I am stumped. I think we should just leave it alone. It gets the 110% durability boost which is beneficial against things like Rust Monsters and similar equipment destroying effects. I don't think we need to rack our brains trying to find anything else. After all, it is just light armor. Having light armor that a rogue can enhance with magic is probably beneficial enough.  What do you guys think?

I'm good with the +1 max dex. That only helps if they have the dex for it so its not that OP plus it makes things easy to add up. 

Just a thought, instead of full resistance, a suit of light armor could be made to resist one type of melee damage. So the master armorer could put more padding in to resist bludgeoning, thin metal plates sewn into the lining to resist piercing, or thicker leather to resist slashing. Being able to do this without adding any encumbrance would qualify him as a master smith. If this is a DMs only thread, please forgive my intrusion.

Mix said: Just a thought, instead of full resistance, a suit of light armor could be made to resist one type of melee damage. So the master armorer could put more padding in to resist bludgeoning, thin metal plates sewn into the lining to resist piercing, or thicker leather to resist slashing. Being able to do this without adding any encumbrance would qualify him as a master smith. If this is a DMs only thread, please forgive my intrusion. I considered this but think it is too tedious to do outside of magical armor. Years ago I studied how armor was made and what it was created to withstand. Each type is different. For example, chain mail was originally created (and most effective) to stop arrows. So chain mail would give resistance to piercing damage based on that. Including this level of detail would require overhauling the system. I think we should just leave that kind of thing to magical properties for simplicity sake. I will be adding some of the Special Properties for magic armor and weapons at a later point when I have time.  Going to update the OP for heavy armor.

Mike said: I'm good with the +1 max dex. That only helps if they have the dex for it so its not that OP plus it makes things easy to add up.  Right. I don't know many fighters that want to give up a point of Str or Con for a point of Dex. 

What is the ruling on mithril chain mail? I know it's lighter than normal and doesn't impose the disadvantage to dexterity checks,  but how much, if any, of a character's dexterity bonus would be able to be added?

Diana T. said: What is the ruling on mithril chain mail? I know it's lighter than normal and doesn't impose the disadvantage to dexterity checks,  but how much, if any, of a character's dexterity bonus would be able to be added? per the DMG mithril it is the same cost value of a +1 enchantment witch really sucks in my option. But it does cut the weight by half. The weight and size is reduced by one level,. As in Heavy becomes Medium, Medium becomes light and light is considered mundane so you can wear it under your clothing.   If we could house rule some cost value's for special metals and may be add a few from 3.5 or 4.0 that would be cool in my book. The +1 equal cost just to make it mithril, adamantine, or what ever is a bit steep in my book. 

Here is the merger from 3.5 to 5e on mithril armor: Light armor: Light +1,000 gp Medium armor: +4,000 gp Heavy armor: +9,000 gp Shield: +1,000 gp  Other items: +500 gp Mithril armor weighs 1/2 as much as normal armor.  Items created with mithril are considered masterwork, the cost of that is included above. The max Dexterity modifier increases by 1 more than masterwork, thus increases by 2 on medium and heavy armor. If the armor normally imposes a disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks or has a Strength requirement, the mithril version does not.  The cost seems steep until you consider all of the benefits. You are essentially paying the same cost as magic armor to be able to use more of your Dexterity modifier, carry half the weight, have 110% the durability, and have the ability to use Stealth in it. Nothing magic about it (despite its appearance in the list of magic items) but is a really rare and awesome alloy.  Updated above.

Just a note.  I realize that the mithril armor is not reflected as above in the DMG. However, it does say it is light and flexible without going into detail. 

Mark S. said: All good ideas.  Allowing the additions of Dex (max +1) to the heavy armor would be the easiest solution. I like the idea of using DR, but could be tedious. A DR of 1 is about 12.5% less damage at lower levels (based on d8 being the average). A +1 AC (if you have the Dex for it) is about 5% less damage as a result of not being hit. The miss is because of your ability to move out of the way cause the armor is crafted better to move with the bearer. This seems to make more sense since that is what masterwork armor historically accomplished.  DR has been simplified to resistance in 5e. I would like to find a way to implement something cool that does not add or take away from the new system. Resistance is a bit OP for masterwork armor.  The idea of armor made to resist specific damage is appealing though. For example, I could see scale mail made of red dragon scales as masterwork quality giving resistance to fire. I would limit these to heavy armor only since they are the only ones that cover the entire body. Or what about a red dragon scale shield that gives a +2 to dexterity checks made against AOE fire effects. Anyways, there are definitely some cool things we can develop as we move forward.  I think I like the Dex (max +1) to heavy armor the most. It is the easiest, seems balanced, and fits the system. I think you said you were doing it that ways anyways, Mike. It seems kind of intuitive as well. As far as light armor goes, I am stumped. I think we should just leave it alone. It gets the 110% durability boost which is beneficial against things like Rust Monsters and similar equipment destroying effects. I don't think we need to rack our brains trying to find anything else. After all, it is just light armor. Having light armor that a rogue can enhance with magic is probably beneficial enough.  What do you guys think? Damage reduction does exist in 5e; check out the Heavy Armor Master feat.  I agree that Resistance would be too OP.  Also, doing it the way you suggest I think is a little OP because it is almost the same benefit as the Medium Armor Master Feat and unless you are a human using the variant rule, the first time you should be able to get this benefit is 4th level.  Also, I don't like the fact that I can have a masterwork dagger, but I can't have a masterwork leather armor.  But I'll defer to the consensus of the group. I ran some statistics:  If you assume a character with a normal AC of 16, fighting an enemy with +4 attack bonus using a weapon that does d8+2 damage, you get the following results:  The chance that the enemy will roll a 16 or higher (hit his armor class) is 45% and the average damage the enemy would do per hit is 6.5 (4.5 for the d8 plus 2 with modifier).  This results in an average of 2.925 damage per attack.  If you give that character a +1 to his AC, the average damage he would take per attack goes down to 2.6 damage, a difference of 0.325 damage.  If you use the rule I suggested with Damage Reduction 1, that same character's average damage per attack goes down to 2.475 damage, a difference of 0.45 damage from the baseline char with AC 16 and no other benefit.  I didn't have time to find out how many standard deviations different this is (basically a measure of how statistically significant the difference is between using DR or +1 AC).  But, I do like the idea of using something that could apply to any armor.  Also, do I dare ask the question about are we considering masterwork shields?  You could possibly use the DR rule for shields too.  What about Masterwork tools?  You could say, +1 or +2 bonus when using a MW tools. This is all just my humble opinion.  Like I said before, I defer to the consensus.

I see the thing about damage reduction. I was not familiar with that. I wonder why they did not include this for adamantine armor then. Medium armor master also gets rid of the stealth penalty AND you don't have to pay an extra 150 gp for each suit of armor. It is a feat most beneficial to rogues and rangers. Most PCs won't be able to afford masterwork armor until 3-4th level. I don't want something that replaces a feat's usefulness. In this case though, I can still see a benefit in both seeing how the feat gives an extra benefit and saves you the money for masterwork armor. I'm not sure what you mean by not having masterwork leather armor. You can have masterwork leather armor but its only benefits are the increased durability. Improving leather has no other real benefit. It is like gold-plating iron. It's prettier. costs more, and might even prevent the iron from rusting a bit, but that is about it. The issue that I mainly have with DR is that it acts as if the substance is harder. As far as adamantine goes, I would like to upgrade that (like we did mithril) to a merger with 3.5 and 5e to emulate the toughness thus giving it DR. Masterwork armor has always been created to fit the wearer and have the weight distributed better. The custom armor I wore was not any tougher than any of the other suits, but I sure could move much better in it. Thus the reason you could use more of your Dex in 3.5. It seems to just make more sense. Maybe we could implement DR into special materials. Something like this would seems cool to me. White dragon scales: Light armor DR 1/cold, medium armor DR 3/cold, heavy armor = resistance to cold.  Would have to analyze the system to get some real numbers to it, but you get the general idea. I have also thought about masterwork shields. A bit more complex but very interesting idea would be to choose a property when the shield is created as masterwork: Buckler: Hands free shield that requires a reaction to use. Curved shield: +2 to Dexterity checks against area damage.  Hooked shield: Can be equipped or unequipped as a bonus action. Tower shield: Two-handed shield gives full cover.  Just some neat ideas I've been thinking about. I do favor the idea of masterwork tools having a bonus. Adding a bonus equal to your proficiency modifier would work great. A 3rd level rogue with expertise in thieve's tools using masterwork thieve's tools would have a +6. I use the 5e mishap for tools though. If you fail, you roll again and if you do not get 10+ (or roll a natural 1), the tools break. That last part is just an option I use to make failure mean something. Otherwise, there is no penalty for failing unless you are pressed for time. Just keep trying over and over until you get it is kind of stupid to me. More thoughts?

I was looking into making a buckler and found this online. Is this what you were thinking? Cost Armor Class (AC) Strength Stealth Weight 5 gp +1 — — 2 lb. A buckler is a small metal shield held in a fist grip. As it is not strapped, it can be donned or doffed in tandem with your movement and action. Wielding a buckler increases your Armor Class by 1. You can benefit from only one shield at a time. proficiency with a rapier grants proficiency with the buckler Variant Rule: Against melee weapon attacks, a buckler increases your Armor Class by 2 instead of 1. Variant Rule (Fantasy Buckler): A buckler can be strapped to the forearm, allowing the hand to hold an item. When making an attack with a weapon held in that hand, you have disadvantage unless you choose to forfeit the buckler's increase to Armor Class until the start of your next turn. This is a nonhistorical use of the term and is derived from the fantasy genre. Variant Rule (Parrying Buckler): A buckler does not increase your Armor Class against ranged or magic attacks, but against melee weapon attacks, it increases your Armor Class by an amount equal to half your Dexterity modifier, rounded up, instead of 1.

trying to see a way to use one while using a 2h weapon basically

If I were to pick one, it would be the Fantasy Buckler. Otherwise it would be OP.

Ok I was thinking of expending a 1 time reaction as well so its not a passive bonus just a 1 time reaction use to shield yourself. That or a reaction that can only be used on ranged attacks. Anyone else have thoughts?

There is a feat called Defensive Duelist that does a similar thing for finesse weapons. It might be able to be tweaked to use a buckler rather than a finesse weapon.

OK... so I think I made a mistake on the approval of a magic item that was purchased.  I may have allowed an item called Gloves of Dexterity thinking they were listed in the DMG. They are not and therefore should not have been approved.  There are no spells that apply modifiers to ability scores, so it would even be impossible for a PC to craft these. I will rectify this but just so everyone knows... Updated in the OP: Restrictions on Availability: Before purchasing any item, be sure to check with your DM to be sure that the item is available. The item must be listed in the DMG or other sourcebooks that we are allowing for the campaign. The only exception to this are crafting magic items which allow you to use the crafting tables located in the Downtime Activities to create variants (these are subject to approval by a DM).

Hey look at what I found, pathfinder gear guide and it's one of their player books.&nbsp;<a href="http://zaffudo.com/sebe/Pathfinder%20Roleplaying%20Game/PZO1123%20Ultimate%20Equipment.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://zaffudo.com/sebe/Pathfinder%20Roleplaying%20Game/PZO1123%20Ultimate%20Equipment.pdf</a> &nbsp;I thought this was helpful for new players to see what's out there and how much things cost and cost to get them made. Are there things in here we don't use?

Kerri Everwood said: Hey look at what I found, pathfinder gear guide and it's one of their player books.&nbsp; <a href="http://zaffudo.com/sebe/Pathfinder%20Roleplaying%20Game/PZO1123%20Ultimate%20Equipment.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://zaffudo.com/sebe/Pathfinder%20Roleplaying%20Game/PZO1123%20Ultimate%20Equipment.pdf</a> &nbsp;I thought this was helpful for new players to see what's out there and how much things cost and cost to get them made. Are there things in here we don't use? Pathfinder is a more developed version of 3.5. There might be items in there that we do use, but the benefits as described in the 5th ed DMG will be different. One of the biggest differences I have noticed is that 5e no longer has items that give ability bonuses. So a DM could use the books for price references (since there is a lack of that detail in 5e), but all of the other information is useless.&nbsp; The only items available are what are listed in the books we are using. The only exception would be special items that a DM might make available in his/her adventure or items crafted using the crafting tables. I feel that I may have been one of the sources of confusion on what we are using since I made references to 3.5. I apologize for that but let me clarify. The only thing I am using 3.5 are these things because they are already developed... Special processes for creating magic items as described in the 5e DMG.&nbsp; Market values for magic items listed in the 5e DMG.&nbsp; Both of these things take YEARS to develop, so we are using 3.5 since that time has already been developed. However, everything is kept up to 5e standards so it is actually a merger between the two which is a bit of a tedious task. Not nearly as tedious as developing completely new systems for it though. The only things being added are details that are not included in the source books and are left up to the DMs to create. So everyone please stick to the magic items listed in the 5e DMG for the description. (OP updated)

Think I may have found a cool item although its wayyyyy more money than i have. Animated shield looks really cool but have trouble getting a price on it. Anyone know a good site to price things on.

Daniel S. said: Think I may have found a cool item although its wayyyyy more money than i have. Animated shield looks really cool but have trouble getting a price on it. Anyone know a good site to price things on. According to the DMG, it is generally not available until 11th level or so. I haven't priced anything that far beyond current character levels. I imagine it would be over 20k gp.

Oh sorry, I assumed that pathfinder meant 5e. Yeah I noticed that 3.5 has a lot of details that arent in 5e. &nbsp; I had been researching ways to make some kind of flares or a flash bomb since Kerri will fight drow when they come up. With alchemy skills is it possible to make something like the alchemy cartridges on page 32 of the guide and deliver them via slingshot/ sling. Or add them to a cross bow bolt? We also have genades that come in little clay pots, can they be modified to make a flash bomb with alchemy skills?&nbsp;

Kerri Everwood said: Oh sorry, I assumed that pathfinder meant 5e. Yeah I noticed that 3.5 has a lot of details that arent in 5e. &nbsp; I had been researching ways to make some kind of flares or a flash bomb since Kerri will fight drow when they come up. With alchemy skills is it possible to make something like the alchemy cartridges on page 32 of the guide and deliver them via slingshot/ sling. Or add them to a cross bow bolt? We also have genades that come in little clay pots, can they be modified to make a flash bomb with alchemy skills?&nbsp; If there is nothing in the 5e books, then probably not. Being able to produce Daylight is a 5th level ability for some classes.

Kerri Everwood said: Oh sorry, I assumed that pathfinder meant 5e. Yeah I noticed that 3.5 has a lot of details that arent in 5e. &nbsp; I had been researching ways to make some kind of flares or a flash bomb since Kerri will fight drow when they come up. With alchemy skills is it possible to make something like the alchemy cartridges on page 32 of the guide and deliver them via slingshot/ sling. Or add them to a cross bow bolt? We also have genades that come in little clay pots, can they be modified to make a flash bomb with alchemy skills?&nbsp; Also refer to the Alchemy crafting in the Downtime Activities to see if there is anything.

Yeah i figured it wouldnt be there until way later or be to expensive to get until that time lol. But its something to save for !

hmmm well I got some gold from finishing this quest chain can I get a ruling on how a buckler would work? If not imma pick up some armor i think

Daniel S. said: hmmm well I got some gold from finishing this quest chain can I get a ruling on how a buckler would work? If not imma pick up some armor i think I would recommend going with armor. There are no solid rules for bucklers that I know of. I was just conceptualizing earlier.

I think the buckler thing could work, but it needs a bit more research. I think since it mirrors some aspects of a feat, using a buckler with a two handed weapon should be written up as a feat. Even at that I would limit it to a melee weapon. I agree with Mark, I'd just get the armor.

OP updated in accordance to the new standards described in the Gamers for Christ 2.0 Disclaimer. Making this thread sticky because of the overwhelming request for special items.

are we able to create our own magical items? If so can we create custom ones that would have to be screened by GMs of course, but it would be cool to have custom magic items that fit character themes later on.

Ryan C. said: are we able to create our own magical items? If so can we create custom ones that would have to be screened by GMs of course, but it would be cool to have custom magic items that fit character themes later on. See the Crafting handouts in the Downtime Activities folder. All of the available details are there.

Thank you

How much to add spikes to a shield? (I know it's shield cost plus modifier) And can I add a pointed lead weight to a whip to give it piercing damage as well as slashing damage and greater accuracy?&nbsp;

Is the spiked shield a 5e item? if so could you list your sourced material please and thank you

I'm using my phone again and don't have my books, so I can't give you a page number but spiked armor is a vRule (yellow box) in the sword coast guide. Dwarven battlerager's use it a lot. If you are going to use spiked armor or shield you are still better off getting the improvised feat &nbsp;first since all the spikes do is let you deal 1d6 damage in place of the normal 1d4 improvised weapon damage. &nbsp;I don't know the cost off the top of my head. &nbsp; If no one else finds it I'll look it up tonite and post it.

Spiked armor in 'Swords of the Coast' pg 121

Spiked shields are commonly used by lizardfolk via Monster Manual.&nbsp;

Would it not benefit you more to save the gold? Unless you want it for RP purposes, the shield master feat (do they work together?), or you have a whole lot of enemies charging into your shield? (lol not trying to be rude)

No, I have a character that likes to gear up. Why not give the enemy 1d6 dmg extra. :)

Kerri Everwood said: No, I have a character that likes to gear up. Why not give the enemy 1d6 dmg extra. :) It deals 1d6 in place of 1d4 not extra. It would still be your attack or standard action. You can't use it as a bonus attack with a normal attack&nbsp;unless you are using it with two weapon attacks some how. If you are dual-fighting some how then you could use it as one of the attacks. Say you use the shield as your main attack and use a dagger or other light weapon in the off hand. Else you also need to get the two weopon feat to really use it.

would the shield master feat inflict the damage with a spiked shield when shoved?