User:VthompUWO/Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons)

5th edition
The 5th edition Dungeon Master's Guide introduced the concept of Item Rarity, in which magic items are given a rating between Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, and Legendary to denote the frequency in which this item is expected to be found within the game. The only Common magic item to appear in the Dungeon Master's Guide is the Potion of Healing, with an additional list of Common items appearing in the supplementary book Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Artifacts act as a 6th Rarity category for items, such as the Hand of Vecna or the Wand of Orcus, in which there is only one of this item in existence. The categories of magic items in 5th edition is Armour, Potions, Rings, Rods, Scrolls, Staffs, Wands, Weapons, and Wondrous Items (Which acts as a miscellaneous category).

Other Fantasy Stories

 * The Hand and Eye of Vecna bear a similarity to items appearing within Michael Moorcock's Corum novels: A left hand and left eye which are able to grant whoever replaces their existing limbs with it unusual powers.
 * The Ioun Stones are taken directly from the Jack Vance series Dying Earth.
 * The Vorpal Sword is taken from Lewis Carrol's poem "Jabberwocky".

Folklore/Mythology

 * The Carpet of Flying is based upon Magic Carpets, which originate in Persian myths and were popularized in media through 1001 Arabian Nights.
 * Winged Boots bear a similarity to the Winged Sandals worn by Hermes.
 * The Broom of Flying is based upon Wiccan Rituals and artwork depicting Witches soaring through the air while riding Broomsticks.
 * The Mirror of Life Trapping, a mirror which can steal and trap the souls of living persons, has a similarity to various culture's mirror supersititons. During the Jewish mourning process of Shiva, mirrors in a house are to be covered in order to prevent the soul of the deceased from being trapped within them.
 * The Flametongue, a sword with a blade engulfed in flame, is similar to other flaming swords appearing in mythology. Some examples of these are Dyrnwyn of Welsh Medieval tradition, and in some writings the Sword of Surtr is described as being flaming.