Magic Items Overview

Adventures hold the promise—but not a guarantee—of finding magic items. Hundreds of magic items are detailed in the Magic Items section later in this document. Here's what you need to know about using magic items.

Identifying a Magic Item

Some magic items are indistinguishable from their nonmagical counterparts, while others are conspicuously magical. Handling a magic item is enough to give you a sense that it is extraordinary, but learning a magic item's properties isn't automatic.

The Identify spell is the fastest way to reveal an item's properties. Alternatively, you can focus on one magic item during a Short Rest while being in physical contact with the item. At the end of the rest, you learn its properties and how to use them (but not any curse the item might bear).

Sometimes a magic item carries a clue to its properties. The command word to activate a ring might be etched inside the band, or a feathered design might hint that it's a Ring of Feather Falling.

Wearing or experimenting with an item can also offer hints about its properties. In the specific case of Potions, a little taste is enough to tell the taster what a potion does.

Attunement

Some magic items require a creature to form a bond—called Attunement—with them before the creature can use an item's magical properties. Without becoming attuned to an item that requires Attunement, you gain only its nonmagical benefits unless its description states otherwise.

• Attune during a Short Rest. Spend a Short Rest focused on only that item while in physical contact with it.
• No More Than Three Items. You can be attuned to no more than three magic items at a time.
• Ending Attunement. Ends if you no longer satisfy prerequisites, if the item has been more than 100 feet away for 24+ hours, if you die, or if another creature attunes to it. You can also voluntarily end it with another Short Rest.