Three Low-Level Magic Items Inspired by Baldur's Gate 3

I've been playing through Baldur's Gate 3 the past few months and loving it. As someone who played the first two titles in the series over 20 years ago, I'm loving the similarities, and the way that choices affect the story is something that's never been better done in an RPG. In terms of a strictly D&D perspective, I can see it incorporating many mechanics which are only coming into use with the new 2024 Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, such as weapon-specific special attacks brought by weapon mastery. I've also appreciated the new mechanics such as reverberation, bleeding, and arcane synergy. Of course, adding all that to your D&D game would be a fairly large homebrew.

The thing I've focused most on are the creative magic items available in the game. Many of them have incredibly creative item-specific rules, and it's made me want to branch out with the types of items available in my own games. 

For tier 1 magic items specifically, there seems to be a lot that can be done with magic that has only a single use each day. Baldur's Gate 3 includes lots of items that cast a spell daily or have abilities that recharge at a long rest. 

At first level, many DMs will be reluctant to hand out magic items, and rightfully so. If you want magic items to feel truly special, then handing out even a +1 sword at first level can very much detract from that. And so I bring you the first of today's three magic items, the Lunar Blade. This silver sword will do extra radiant damage, but only once daily. To regain this ability, it must be charged in moonlight, which means no more camping out overnight inside the dungeon. In addition, since the sword is silver, it has some extra utility when battling lycanthropes and other enemies who are vulnerable to silver weapons.

Today's second item has a once-per-day spell which it can cast. It was inspired by Frost Fingers, a spell from the Icewind Dale - Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign I'm currently playing in.

The Winter Gloves will allow a 3d8 cone-shaped ice blast once per day, like a miniature cone of cold. For a group of second or third level adventurers, this should be useful, but not overly powerful. And while at first a party might rely on it, saving its effects for their bigger fights, they'll use it less and less as they level up, and may drop the item entirely once they get short on attunement slots. 

The last item I have to share today is likely the most interesting of the three. The Luminous Spear has an effect which no one would claim is overpowered, as the first level spell it's based on, Faerie Fire, affects multiple targets in an area of effect. Furthermore, a player wielding this weapon doesn't have the choice of holding off on applying the effect - it simply happens the first time each day a target fails to save.

The spear glows as if affected by a light spell until such time as a target fails the save, at which time the glow transfers from the spear to the target. This means that if the spear was the party's only light source, they may be in trouble.

The only advantage the spear's effect has over the Faerie Fire spell is that no concentration is required for its effect to remain in place for a full minute. Advantage in attacking a foe is always useful, so at higher levels if the party has discovered traditional magical weapons, they may choose to throw this spear while approaching an enemy, in hopes that the faerie fire will aid their attack.

That's it for today, but it certainly isn't the last of the items I've thought up after being inspired by the innovative mechanics of Baldur's Gate 3. Soon, I'll be publishing some Tier 2 magical items which have more than just a single use each day.