Friday, June 12, 2009

The Mt. Rushmore of D&D Magic Items


"Mt. Rushmore", in this blog's context, means the four most iconic or important items from a particular D&D topic. Today's topic is Magic Items. The previous topic was Spells and next will be Monsters.

What would your Mt. Rushmore of D&D Magic Items look like? You're only allowed four and for this exercise make the list without consulting any D&D books. After making your list, proceed to comments to see mine.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

21 comments:

Sham aka Dave said...

Here's mine: Potion of Healing, Vorpal Sword, Bag of Holding, Ring of Spell Storing.

Also considered: Ring of Regeneration, Ring of Three Wishes, Staff of Wizardry, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, Cloak of Displacement, Elven Cloak and Boots.

Michael Curtis said...

staff of the magi, deck of many things, potion of healing, elven cloak and boots

The_Myth said...

Ring of Protection +1, Potion of Healing, Sword +1, Plate Mail +1

The simplest, most crucial items for any party.

Santiago OrĂ­a said...

Potion of Healing, Potion of Strength, Wand of Magic Missiles, Wand of Fireballs.

Tomorrow, they might change!

JB said...

Heh-heh...not making the same mistake as with the last ones. ICONIC magic items would include:

Portable Hole, Vorpal Sword, Crystal Ball, and Hammer of Thunderbolts.

Potion of Healing, Cloak of Elvenkind, Bag of Holding, and Carpet of Flying all considered and dismissed.

Though I should probably have thrown BLACKRAZOR in there somewhere.
: )

tussock said...

Holy Avenger, Staff of Power, Helm of Brilliance, Wand of Fireball.

Bag of Holding and Portable Hole as a problematic pair. Maybe the Dwarven Thrower, but it's been diluted in latter editions.

Norman J. Harman Jr. said...

Sword +1
Wand of lighting
Potion of healing
Ring of regeneration

Hard choice between ring of inviso and ring of regen. The most iconic for me is the Hand of Vecna.

Chris said...

Sword +1
Wand of fireball
Potion of healing
Gauntlets of Ogre Power (the name itself is an exercise in applied *squeee!* inducing)

No love for the girdle of masculinity/femininity though? For shame!

Christopher B said...

Bag of holding, ring of protection (the higher the "+" the better), vorpal sword, and gauntlets of ogre power.

The first pair are adventuring must-haves, the second pair were the two most iconic D&D magic items of my teenage years.

Big McStrongmuscle said...

Bag of Holding
Intelligent swords
Staff of the Magi
Mace of Disruption

The mace is kind of an odd choice, but my longest-running character, a (1st-2nd ed) 16th-level specialty priest of Lathander, found a lion-headed +3 Mace of Disruption and used it as his signature weapon. They mean D&D to me.

Unknown said...

Bag of Holding
Holy Avenger
Staff of the Magi
Ring of Regeneration

Grim said...

Bag of Holding, Cloak of Invisibility, Potion of Healing, Deck of Many Things

Sham aka Dave said...

Potion of Healing and Bag of Holding are on a lot of lists. I can't believe I forgot Deck of Many Things and Holy Avenger. I struggled a bit with all three of the rings I listed and each is about of equal value in this context for me. If I had remembered the iconic Deck I think I'd have my perfect Mt. Rushmore there; the potion, the bag, the sword and the deck.

I've almost always considered the Deck more of an encounter than a magic item, perhaps that is why it eluded me. But an item it is, and one of my favorites.

Adam Thornton said...

Ring of Feather Falling
Potion of Super-Heroism
Deck of Many Things
Wand of Orcus

labsenpai said...

Selecting the items obtained from classic module victory:
Tentacle Rod (Drow series)
Blackrazor (S2)
Cube of Force (WG4)
Star Gem (Desert of Desolation series)

Sham aka Dave said...

Cube of Force popped into my head as well, it was a big deal in one of my longest running AD&D campaigns. Blackrazor and Wand of Orcus are great picks, but like Hand of Vecna are artifacts which I was purposefully leaving out of the equation. Mainly just to upset JB of B/X BLACKRAZOR notoriety (J/K JB!)

I don't remember the Star Gem at all, Lee. I like the theme of your list, though...and that Drow Tentacle Rod is a cool item.

Robo said...

Sword +1, Wand of Wonder, Potion of Healing, and Elven Cloak

Sham aka Dave said...

Robo: Wand of Wonder is an interesting pick. Along with Bag of Tricks my players had a lot of fun with those. Those two items helped me go nuts later with the Arduin inspired "Whimsey" tables back in the 80s.

Todd said...

Bracers of Defense
Healing Potion
+1 Sword
Portable Hole

Johan said...

Bracers of Defense
Holy Avenger
Cloak of Elvenkind
Gauntlets of Ogre Power

Anonymous said...

ring of invis
gauntlets of ogre power
dagger +5
ring of returning
(Give them to a rouge with 2+ att and a ridiculous dex... sniper deluxe... stfu.)