Over 800 pages of magic items await players and Dungeon Masters in Vault of Magic
Fantasy stories are chock full of magical items. Whether a classic magic sword like Excalibur, a central story element like The One Ring from Lord of the Rings or a practical magic gadget like Harry Potter’s Invisibility Cloak, these items are a great way to let characters that aren’t powerful spellcasters have a bit of gear that reflects their magical settings. Dungeons & Dragons offers these items too, like the classic +1 longsword or bag of holding.
In Fifth Edition, these items have been scattered throughout different books, with Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything including a decent sample that tie to the various settings created by Wizards of the Coast. Now, the blacksmiths at Kobold Press are assembling Vault of Magic as a giant resource for magic weapons, armor and more for D&D players and Dungeon Masters.
Kobold Press is one of the most prolific third party publishers of award winning material for Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition. Jeff Lee, Phillip Larwood, Meagan Maricle and Marc Radle have worked on many of their other titles such as Tome of Beasts 2, Empire of the Ghouls, Deep Magic, Demon Cults & Secret Societies and more.
The book collects over 800 items from Kobold Press designers as well as big names from the game design world. Names attatched to the project so far include Adam Bradford, Celest Conowitch, Deborah Ann Woll, Luke Gygax, Daniel Kwan, Meagan Kenrick, Todd Kenrick, Professor Dungeonmaster, Victoria Rogers, Lauren Urban, Shanna Germain, Nerdarchist Ted, Mike Shea, Vee Mus’e, Patrick Rothfuss and more to be announced soon.
One interesting class of items are Fabled Items which actually grow with the character. Magic items in D&D tend to have one or two functions that serve a player well until the item is sold for a better version or ends up languishing in obscurity on a character sheet until it is needed in a very specific situation. Fabled items are built to unlock new abilities as the character discovers their history. What may look like a simple +1 dagger at first may have been the dagger a rogue used to slay a powerful necromancer, giving it better powers against the undead while also being a beacon to that evil wizards followers. Fabled Items looks to be a way to tie in some magic items to an ongoing narrative beyond being cool loot found in a dungeon.
Kobold Press provided a sample item that druid players will find useful. It gives a small fire damage bonus to all spells and 1d4 of fire damage if the druid expends a charge. It seems suitable for construction out of the ashes from a fire elemental or perhaps consecrated by creating it from the first sapling grown out of a forest decimated by a wildfire.
An exclusive magic item from Vault of Magic revealed for the first time!
Vault of Magic is currently on Kickstarter with an October 2021 release as the target for the main book release. Backing now expands the contents of the book but adventurers will find plenty of useful items for their D&D games.
