Summary

  • Some magic items in D&D are uniquely beneficial for villains, adding specific effects to enhance their abilities against parties.
  • The Deck of Many More Things is a risky magic item for players, but perfect for villains to add chaos and unpredictability to fights.
  • Villains can use unique magic items like the Talisman Of Ultimate Evil or Lord's Ensemble to increase their power and threat level.

While most magic items in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons are designed with the player in mind, there are plenty of unique items that can be used against the party. Most villains in your D&D campaigns will likely use more than j🍌ust their raw power to exert control, and giving them access to magic items is one way to enhance their abilities.

Related
Dungeons & Dragons: The 12 Be♐st Adventures Fo🔯r Long Campaigns

Ready for some exciting and lengthy adventures in D&D? Here's our ✃selection of the best adventures for your campaign.

While this can just be a +3 longsword or arcane focus, some magic items are uniquely beneficial to NPCs who are working to undermine the party, rather than just kill them. While you can justify most random trinkets that make their way into a villain's treasure hoard, the best magic items add specific effects that make them stand out.

10 The Deck Of Many More T🐽hings

Controlled Or Uncontrolled Chaos

D&D Deck Of Many Things

Source

The Book of Many Things

Type

Wondrous Item

Rarity

Legendary

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:An updated version of the Deck of Many Things with over 40 additional cards,♌ The Deck of Many More Things is probably one of the riskiest magic items you can give to your players, but when given to a villain, theܫ waters are murkier.

Let the dice decide your villain's fate and be prepared for anything to happen in the upcoming fight. Alternatively, if you don't mind a little DM fate tweaking, you can decide exactly what cards are in the deck and which ones they will pull to avoid messy or unsatisfying outcomes.

The deck can also help flavor mages to play into the theme chaos, as many of the car☂ds can lead to wildly different results.

9 🌞 𝐆 Talisman Of Ultimate Evil

Cinematic Instant Kill Effect

Talisman of Ultimate Evil from D&D
Talisman of Ultimate Evil via Wizards of the Coast

Source

Dungeon Master's Guide

Type

Wondrous Item

Rarity

Legendary

Given to a devout villain who worships a being of pure evil, the Talisman Of Ultimate Evil can act as a symbol of their devotion while giving them access to powerful effects. Any creature of a non-evil alignment automatically takes damage just from tou♕ching it, making it unusable for most adventuring parties.

Those who can wield it can use its charges to open a rift beneath any creature and immediately snuff them ouཧt of existence if they fail a high DC Dexterity saving throw. While this can be extra punishing for players, you can use this effect to allow your villain to demonstrate their power on a beloved NPC.

8 Lord's Ensemble

The Perfect Disguise

Noble Heritage by Dallas Williams
Noble Heritage by Dallas Williams

Source

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Type

Wondrous Item

Rarity

Very Rare

Actually being three connected items, the Lord's Ensemble together allows any character wearing them to become completely anonymous and disguise their appearance perfectly. This is especially important for villains whose mere identity can put them at risk.

With these items, you can have your villain hiding in plain sight, and even be an infiltrating NPC known to your players. You could use this to drop hints during encounters while they're in the ensemble and make discovering who this person might be the primary thread of the adventure.

7 Docent

Personal Advisor And Nurse

glowing warforged in robes standing menacingly
Warforged via Wizards Of The Coast

Source

Eberron: Rising From The Last War

Type

Wondrous Item

Rarity

Rare

A small metal sphere that must be installed somewhere on your body, a docent is es෴sentially a secondary operating system meant for a warforged. However, any creature can use this to gain access to a sentient being that both advises and assists them while also being able to keep them from dying after reaching zero hit points.

Related
Dungeons &🍸amp; Dragons: 7 DM Tips For D🅠escribing Combat

Because "you deal seven damage" doesn't have much 💛flair.

In role play, your villain could be seen talking to themself, and using the spells accessible to the docent to be warned of 🐭an approaching party. Since the docent can also stabilize whoever iꦫt is attuned to, this can mean your villain is able to get away from deadly fights should they be dragged away by loyal minions.

6 Blodꦡ Stone

Family Tracking Device

Red gem necklace
Slaad Control gem via Wizards of the Coast

Source

Storm King's Thunder

Type

Wondrous Item

Rarity

Rare

A Blod Stone is a diamond that contains the blood of a specific creature. Anyone attuned to the Blod Stone can sense the location of the nearest blood relative or owner of the blood in the stone. An especially vengeful villain can use this 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:to hunt down every member of one of the party's family.

The trick is to find a way for your villain to get the ൩blood in the stone in the first place, which can also be used to warn them if the party is encroaching on their territory. If or when the party catches onto why and how their family members are dying, it can lead to a race t🥂o see who reaches the next NPC first.

5 Arcane Grimoire 🐈

More Spells And Secrets

An angelic figure from D&D holding up a golden book
The Book of Exalted Deeds by Daniel Ljunggren

Source

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

Type

Wondrous Item

Rarities

Uncommon, Rare, Very rare

Anytime you can give your villain a journal or diary to write down their most heinous secrets and juicy gossip is a great way for your players to ꦛengage in the adventure with more information. An Arcane Grimoire is a way for a wizard villain to both buff their class abilities aꦫnd to impart dark lore.

You can use any of the arcane tomes in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything if you want to access specific spells or unique abilities of the tome itself. In contrast, an arcane grimoire can be especially useful for other wizards in the party to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:learn unique spells only the villain had access to.

4 Staff Of Power 📖

Spellcasting Buff And Self Destruct

D&D A druid holding a staff and standing in front of a wild forest
Circle of the Moon Druid MtG Art from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms by Nicholas Elias

Source

Dungeon Master's Guide

Type

Quarterstaff

Rarity

Very Rare

The Staff of Power is an exceptionally powerful staff that in most ways gives your villain a number of buffs and spells that bring them from formidable to deadly. This is best for spellcasting characters who need a recognizable prop 🏅that is a symbol of their power and threat to the world.

An interesting ability of the Staff of Power is that its wielder can break it, releasing the remaining energy, and causing a massive explosion centered on the staff. A villain on the verge of defeat might use this action as a last ditch effort to defeat the party, and even has a 50 per🌺cent chance of being whisked away to another plane.

3 🃏 Armor Of Invulnerability ღ

Very Protective Armor

Dwarf female warrior with axe using shield
Dwarfhold Champion by Miguel Mercado 

Source

Dungeon Master's Guide

Type

Armor (plate)

Rarity

Legendary

Although typically in plate armor form, you can choose any form of the Armor of Invulnerability that best suits your villain's style and proficiency. Simply put, the armor makes its wearer resistant to non-magical damage and immune for ten minutes when activated.

Related
Dunge🐈ons & Dragons: 10 Best Monsters To Use In Forests

A lot can hide behind those old growth trees.

During low lev𝔉el adventures when your party has yet to obtain a handful of magic weapons, this can allow you to safely introduce your villain and establish them as a nearly unbeatable threat. Then, the party has to prepare and obtain ♚powerful items themselves over the course of an adventure before they are ready.

2 Kyrzin's Ooze

Ooze Form And Second Stage

Black ooze engulfing an ogre
Black Pudding via Wizards of the Coast

Source

Eberron: Rising From The Last War

Type

Wondrous Item

Rarity

Very Rare

A fairly unique item in D&D, Kyrzin's Ooze is a symbiotic goop that, when drunk, transforms the imbiber into an ooze-like being. This includes being resistant to poison and acid damage, the ability to squeeze through narrow spaces, and a powerful acid breath attack.

Although dying while infested with the ooze doesn't save the villain, it instead transforms their corpse into a Black Pudding, which essentially gives them a second boss stage. The only issue with Kyrizin's Ooze is it's controllingly thematic, and will make your villain more or less "the ooze guy" when introduced to your players.

1 Weapon Of Throne's Command

Magical Control Over People

tiefling hovering and summoning a dove
Eccentric Apprentice by Campbell White

Source

The Book of Many Things

Type

Weapon (any)

Rarity

Very Rare

Flavored as any weapon likely to be wielded by your villain, the Weapon of Throne's Command has a number of spells that are useful for controlling the party for their own whims. In addition, it also gives the wielder proficiency with intimidation and persuasion, which can be used on NPCs to show off their enhanced authority.

Both in and out of combat, a number of the spells can force party members to turn against each other or completely remove them from combat, which is thematic for a villain whose motivation is control. This weapon can also be the focus for a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:political intrigue campaign, where advisors backstab each ot♕her to get one step closer to it.

Next
Dungeons & Drago♉ns: All Bosses From Vecna Eve Of Ruin, Ranked

Which Vecna: Eve of Ruin boss is the best? Let's find ouꦓ🦂t.