Dungeons & Dragons is filled to the brim with countless magic items that adventurers can encounter on their journeys. While D&D is rife with fun mundane items that add plenty of charm to the game, there are plenty of powerful magical items that players can use both in and out of combat to help them in their adventures.
As more and more books are released for D&D’s fifth edition, the number of magic items in the game is ever-increasing. With the recent release of Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, a wide range of draconic-themed items is now available for DMs to include in their campaigns as potential treasure or rewards for completing key quests. So today, we’re going to see which of these new items offer the most power to their owners.
Updated May 11, 2022 by Paul DiSalvo: Magic items in D&D come in a wide variety of forms. While some offer impressive advantages in combat, others can offer useful utility out of combat, allowing characters to do things that they couldn't otherwise. Fizban's Treasury of Dragons contains several impressive magic items which are flavorfully tied to the game's different types of dragons. While the majority of these items don't have specified locations in which they can be found, they are the perfect rewards for DMs to give their players upon either vanquishing or assisting a dragon.
13 Emerald Pen
While far from the most devastating magic item within D&D, an Emerald Pen is a fun uncommon magic item that can allow for some interesting possibilities outside of combat. An inkless pen with an emerald tip, a creature holding this pen is capable of casting the Illusory Script spell at will without the need for material components. Essentially providing infinite access to a first level spell that normally requires inks worth ten gold to cast, Illusory Script allows its caster to imbue a written message with magic, causing it to appear either incomprehensible or as a different message entirely to creatures other than those who are designated when the spell is cast. This can allow for incredibly interesting possibilities to allow a party to trade-off secret information with the pen, fitting particularly well within a campaign rich in political intrigue.
12 Dragon Wing Bow
A bow crafted to appear in the shape of a dragon's wings, a Dragon Wing Bow can come in a wide variety of types, with forms available for each type of chromatic, gem, and metallic dragon. Using the same combat statistics of any type of bow (though most likely a longbow), whenever a creature is hit by this bow, in addition to taking the bow's normal damage, that creature also sustains 1d6 damage of a type reflective of the respective dragon's breath weapon! In addition to its ability to deal additional damage, if this bow is drawn without ammo, it's capable of manifesting its own magical ammo that disappears immediately after the ammo hits or misses. This means that if an adventurer gets their hands on a Dragon Wing Bow, they'll never need to buy ammo again!
11 Crystal Blade
Coming in the form of any type of sword, a Crystal Blade is made from a body part of a Crystal Dragon, often one of its horns or even its spine. In addition to having all the standard properties of the sword’s given type, a crystal blade deals an additional 1d8 radiant damage to a creature it hits. Additionally, this magic weapon has three charges, regaining 1d3 charges at dawn.
Whenever a Crystal Blade’s wielder hits a target, they may expend a charge to regain an amount of HP equal to the amount of radiant damage they dealt. This can make it a great option for a martial character like a Fighter or a Barbarian, as it not only allows them to improve their damage output but also better their self-sustainability as well.
10 Amethyst Lodestone
An Amethyst Lodestone is an incredibly potent chunk of amethyst which has been imbued with an Amethyst Dragon's ability to alter gravitational forces. A wondrous item of the very rare rarity, The Amethyst Lodestone is a multifarious and flexible item with six charges that may be spent to activate three different abilities. As a bonus action, the attuned creature is capable of spending a charge to provide themselves with a flying speed equal to their walking speed, with this flight lasting for ten minutes. In addition to offering mobility, as an action, a charge can be spent to force a creature to make a Strength saving throw, pushing that creature twenty feet in any direction if the save is failed. The last and most potent ability available requires three charges of the Lodestone to be spent, allowing the caster to cast the Reverse Gravity spell as an action. As this item provides a mobility option, spacial manipulation, and a seventh-level spell all within a single item, it's safe to say the Amethyst Lodestone can be a great asset to any party.
9 Sapphire Buckler
A shield made in part with a piece of a Sapphire Dragon, while a Sapphire Buckler provides the same AC bonus as a normal shield, it provides several other benefits that make it more than worth wielding.
Providing additional defenses in the form of resistance to psychic and thunder damage, this shield’s wielder gains a useful reaction reminiscent of a Warlock’s Hellish rebuke, allowing them to deal 2d6 thunder damage to an attacker within five feet of them. While the range of this reaction is much shorter than that of Hellish Rebuke, the creature targeted by this ability doesn’t roll a save to prevent any of this damage.
8 Dragonhide Belt
Throughout D&D Fifth Edition’s lifespan, the game has introduced several magic items that can only be attuned to by characters of certain classes. While classes like Wizard received many class-exclusive items, other classes have not been as lucky.
Appearing in three forms, one uncommon, one rare, and one very rare, a Dragonhide Belt is a special piece of equipment that can only be attuned to by a Monk. If a monk is attuned to such a belt, the DC of saving throws of that Monk’s ki abilities increases by +1, +2, or +3 based on the rarity of the belt, causing foes to fail such saves with more reliability. Additionally, while running out of ki is a frequent problem for Monk players, these belts allow monks to roll their Martial Arts die once per long rest to regain that many key points, making it a must-have for any Monk player.
7 Dragonlance
Appearing as both Lances and Pikes, a Dragonlance is a somewhat straightforward weapon, functioning as a +3 variant of the weapon at hand. A Dragonlance is the ideal weapon to use for martial characters looking to take down a dragon, causing dragons to sustain an additional 3d6 force damage.
Additionally, after hitting a dragon with this weapon, its wielder can cause a dragon within thirty feet of them to use their reaction to make a melee attack. While draconic allies are often rare, this weapon works in stellar fashion with the new Drakewarden Ranger subclass, allowing one’s Drake companion to make said attack, as it’s classified as a dragon.
6 Potion Of Dragon’s Majesty
The only consumable item on this list, a Potion of Dragon’s Majesty is now one of the most impressive potions in all of D&D, coming in fifteen variants — one for each type of chromatic, gem, and metallic dragon.
Upon consuming this potion, a creature is transformed into an adult dragon of the potion’s corresponding type for one hour, allowing them to benefit from the mobility and raw power that comes along with being a dragon.
5 Topaz Annihilator
We’re going to cut to the chase: a Topaz Annihilator is a magical gun capable of vaporizing whatever it kills. A magical musket imbued with the power of a Topaz Dragon, this gun doesn’t require ammunition, has an impressive range of 100 feet (and a long range of 300), and deals 2d6 necrotic damage to those it hits.
While this is already above average for an ammo-less weapon with such impressive range, if a creature is reduced to zero HP by this weapon, as previously mentioned, their body is vaporized, meaning the vast majority of resurrection spells will be unable to revive the target. As if this wasn’t useful enough already, as long as a creature is attuned to this gun, they are capable of casting the high-damaging Disintegrate spell once per day.
4 Platinum Scarf
A potent and multifarious item, the Platinum Scarf is a garment composed of several platinum dragon scales. These scales can be pulled out, providing various effects of the attuned creature’s choice, allowing for three scales to be used per day.
When pulling out a scale, a character can cause themselves or an ally they touch to regain 10d4 HP, they can produce a Shield +1 for one hour that provides the equipped creature with Radiant damage immunity, or temporarily produce a hammer that can deal severe radiant damage to chromatic dragons. This flexibility allows a creature attuned to this item to cover several bases while only taking up a single attunement slot.
3 Flail Of Tiamat
The Flail of Tiamat is an incredibly potent melee weapon made in the likeness of the Chromatic Dragon god, Tiamat. With a +3 bonus, not only does this flail’s wielder have the ability to choose what damage type it deals to targets out of the five types associated with Chromatic Dragons, but it deals an alarming 5d4 damage per hit.
As if this effect weren’t powerful enough, this Flail’s Wielder is capable of unleashing a breath attack from the flail in a 90-foot cone, potentially dealing 14d6 of the chromatic damage type of their choice to those who fail a DC 18 dexterity saving throw. This provides the flail’s wielder with not just a powerful attack option for single targets, but a means of easily dealing with crowds of weaker foes as well.
2 Gold Canary Figurine Of Wondrous Power
An unassuming figurine of a Golden Canary, when this item’s command word is spoken, it can be turned into a large-sized canary. While it lacks in the combat department, it has access to a 60-foot fly speed, making it a stellar mount.
However, when a party is really in a pinch, a different command word can be used to turn the figurine into an adult gold dragon for up to an hour. While this is incredibly useful, just know that this second ability can only be used once per year, so it should be treated as a last resort measure.
1 Ruby Weave Gem
It’s safe to say that the Ruby Weave Gem is now one of the most powerful items in D&D when in the hands of a mid to high-level spellcaster. With the three charges that it regains each day, when casting spells that require components with monetary costs, charges can instead be spent from the gem, with each charge functioning as a 500-gold replacement component. This means that unless a player is looking to cast several spells in a single day with high costs, they very well may never need to purchase or find spellcasting components again.
The kicker is that while this ability is stellar in its own right, it's not even the most impressive aspect of the Ruby Weave Gem. Upon finishing a long rest, a creature attuned to this spell can choose any spell from any class’s spell list as long as that spell is of a level that character can cast, gaining the ability to cast that spell until their next long rest. For those with an encyclopedic knowledge of the magic of D&D, this item opens up unparalleled possibilities and flexibility as long as a character has enough time to plan and take long rests.