In the new Player’s Handbook, there are plenty of surprisingly useful mundane items. Here are five you’ll want to keep handy.
Adventuring is a dangerous business. That’s way adventurers often bristle with magic items and deadly weapons.
Having the right tool for the job can mean the difference between success or failur. Or even life and death. Well, it’s 5E, so it’s more like life and then having to make a death save or two before someone gives you a healing potion or a healing word and picks you back up. But having the right gear can be very helpful. And here are five pieces of gear that are surprisingly useful.
Book
They say that knowledge is power. And in D&D that power is reflected mechanically. But, it’s important to note, only some types of knowledge are power.
In 5.5E, the humble book may well be a sleeper hit of an item. Books come in two flavors: fiction and nonfiction. Fiction is utterly useless, all that can do is inspire the imagination and expand your horizons and fill you with wonder. Boring. Gross. Who wants that?
But nonfiction books, on the other hand, if they’re accurate, give you a +5 bonus to most Intelligence skill checks: Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion can all benefit from the right kind of book. And at 25 gold pieces for a +5 bonus, that’s only 100gp to be one of the greatest sages of the era.
Costume
Clothes make thead venturer. And Costumes, apparently, can make you into anything. This humble 5 gold piece item grants you Advantage on all ability checks made to impersonate “the person or type of person it represents.”
That feels like something straight out of the Hitman series. But, get yourself a king costume and you can impersonate a king pretty well. Just pair this with a disguise kit and you’ll be infiltrating your way to the upper echelons of society in no time flat.
Net
A net is no longer a weird weapon in 5.5E. It’s just a throwable item that you happen to use when you take the Attack action. There is a difference, but not much of one. The way nets work now is that you pick a target within 15 feet, and they make a Dexterity save against a DC of 8 + Dex + Proficiency Bonus, and if they fail, they are Restrained until they take an action and make a DC 10 Strength check to bust out.
But, having a way to reliably restrain someone can be quite helpful, considering the next item on the list.
Chain
Chains aren’t just for rattling at misers in need of a little Christmas cheer and basic human empathy any more. in D&D 5.5E, chains can be an effective way to take an opponent out of the fight without killing them.
As a Utilize action, you can wrap a chain around a Grappled, Incapacitated, or Restrained creature with a successful DC 13 Athletics check. Do that, and it takes a DC 20 Strength or DC 18 Acrobatics check to escape. That way you can use your Net or Grappling friend for another target.
Perfume
Finally, there’s something to be said for smelling nice. A spritz of perfume can liven up your character. Not only will you smell good, you’ll be more confident. At least that seems to be the rationale behind perfume’s effects.
For one hour after applying perfume, you have Advantage on Persuasion checks made to influence Indifferent humanoids within 5 feet. So all you Bards out there might want to invest in a bottle or two the next time you want to roll to seduce. Maybe talk to your Alchemist friend about brewing up one that works on Dragons.
Keep these items handy and you’ll go far!
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