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CREDITS
The text is free to reuse under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Unported license.

Writing
David Guyll and Melissa Fisher

Cover
David Guyll

Special Thanks
Special thanks to the Dungeon World community for spurring my
magic-item-making creative juices (particularly James Chambers), to
Joachim Erdtman for asking if I was going to do something like this
in the first place, and Sebastian W and James Gibson for feedback.

Comments & Questions

When you want to bitch at David, choose one:
• Fire off an email to [email protected]
• Tag him on Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+DavidGuyll

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Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 4
Weapons ....................................................................... 5
Armor.......................................................................... 12
Rings ............................................................................ 15
Potions......................................................................... 16
Wondrous Items........................................................ 18
Making Magic ........................................................... 21

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 Introduction
“Magic items are for you to make for your game. Players can make
magic items through the wizard’s ritual and similar moves. The GM can
introduce magic items in the spoils of battle or the rewards for jobs and
quests. This list provides some ideas, but magic items are ultimately for
you to decide.”
—Dungeon World, page 332

I wrote this book after helping some people over at the Dungeon
World Tavern on G+ spice up some of their magic item pitches.
They got a lot of approval, someone asked if I was ever going to do a
compilation and, well, here it is.
It initially just started as a book of new magic items, but I figured
since some people might have trouble coming up with their own stuff
I could explain the process that I go through (while also throwing
out a lot of potential ideas that I will probably use in a second
compilation). Kind of like giving a man some fish, and then teaching
him how to fish, just with magic items.
The first part of this book features 31 new magic items. Most have
ways to tweak them if you want to make them more powerful, change
what an existing power does, or even add in a drawback, and some
have additional designer notes, uses, and miss effects.
The second part both walks you through some ideas on what
characters wanting to make their own magic items might have to do,
as well as my process to making a new magic item. In both cases I
include an example to help better illustrate my points (so I guess the
book is more like 32.5 magic items).
As with my adventures read it, keep what you like, and change
or discard the rest (I even provide suggestions how!). Hopefully my
advice helps inspire you to create something of your own, and if it
does I would love to see it.

—David Guyll

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Blasting Rod near, 3 charges, 1 weight
This engraved iron rod allows a spellcaster to focus arcane energy
into a lance of force. While holding the blasting rod you can
volley using INT instead of DEX, and you deal +1 damage. On a 7-9,
you cannot choose to reduce ammo, instead reducing its charge by
1.
To recharge the wand you must hold it and lose a prepared
spell: it regains 1 charge per level of the spell.

TWEAKS
• Change it into a staff, or even some other weapon. Make it a sword to
get a fighter/wizard, bladesinger, or spellsword effect.
• Add the Forceful and/or Ignore Armor tags, or add a knockback or
stun effect if the character rolls a 12+.
• Change what energy it unleashes: it could unleash bolts of lightning
(possibly with the Ignore Armor tag), or even a shard of ice that can
slow a target down or make the ground hard to walk on.

Weapons
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 Blade of the awkward, reach, two-handed, messy,
Frozen Jarl freezing, +1 damage, 5 weight
Forged from unmelting black ice, with a hilt wrapped in the scaly
hide of a linnorm, this knife was originally a gift to a frost giant
king by a master icesmith.
Despite its great size it can be wielded in two hands by anyone
of at least human size with some effort, and its blade is not only
perfectly suited for carving things apart—especially denizens of
flame—but its injuries chill to the bone.

FREEZING TAG
The item is unnaturally, likely uncomfortably cold, to the point where
frost or even ice might form on it. Creatures damaged by a freezing
weapon move slower and become numb for a few moments; on a 12+
a limb could be frozen and rendered useless. Freezing armor protects
the wearer from fire, though a freezing weapon could also potentially
“cut” through fire and disperse it.

TWEAKS
• Since it has the awkward tag, there is a good chance of the character
striking someone or something that they did not want to.
• The blade’s presence creates patches of ice on the ground, causing
someone to slip.
• You accidentally shatter someone or thing that you did not want to.

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Bloom near, far, 1 weight
Gnarled, vine-choked wood and a fibrous string, this bow looks
like it was grown, not made. When you loose an arrow from this
bow, on a 10+ you can choose to deal no damage and instead
bind the target—or at least part of it in the case of Large and Huge
targets—in entangling vines.
If the bow is exposed to sunlight and water, when you make
camp you do not need to mark off a ration: the bow provides
enough fruit to feed you.

USES
The entangling arrows could be used to save someone from falling
off a cliff, by having the vines grow into the cliff face or wrap around
something. They could also be used to keep something from falling
apart, like a crumbling pillar, bridge, or raft.

TWEAKS
• The bow produces its own barbed arrows. It starts with an ammo of
1-3, and each day it is exposed to sunlight regains 1 ammo (up to a
max of 1-3). It could also produce poisoned arrows.
• The bow can fire arrows that are attached to it by a vine, potentially
allowing you to retrieve something or use it like a grappling hook.
• The bow produces healing herbs. If you combine this with the arrow
effect, you could spend a use of ammo (or give it a universal Bloom
currency) to use an herb instead.

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 Goblincutter close, precise, 1 weight
This elven long word bristles with a furious hatred of goblins that
was imparted by its maker. It was once an elegant, shining blade,
but it has become tarnished after centuries of slaughtering the
retched creatures.
It grows warm whenever goblins or their ilk are nearby, and
when wielded against them you deal +1d4 damage and the attack
gains the agonizing tag. All goblins know and fear the blade: you
can always use threat of harm as leverage to parley, and if you do
take +1 forward.

NEW TAG: AGONIZING

The wounds inflicted by this weapon are excruciatingly painful, and
the pain might linger even after it has healed.

Landshark Claws hand, +1 damage, 1 weight

These heavy, gruesome gloves are made from the hide and bones
of a bulette. When worn they are not only perfectly serviceable
weapons capable of tearing through flesh and bone, but are equally
suitable against earth and stone.
The only potential drawback is that you cannot use or hold
anything with your hands, not that stuff like doors or walls matter
much when you can just tunnel your way through.

TWEAKS
• They also have the Messy tag.
• When you deal damage to a creature made of stone, roll your
damage twice and take the better result.

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Mend And Sunder 4 weight
This large, blocky hammer is obviously of dwarven make. One
face is stamped with the rune mend, the other break. For most it is
simple a bulky, unwieldy tool, but in the hands of a dwarf it is both
perfectly serviceable and can be used to instantaneously repair or
destroy metallic objects depending on which side is used:
• Mend: If the object is usable by a man and all the pieces are in
place, it is instantly repaired. Larger objects take more strikes.
• Sunder: You deal your damage, +1d4, and it ignores the object’s
armor.

USES
• It is necessary to break an otherwise unbreakable item, like a ring of
power, or chains binding a god.
• A complex machine needs to be repaired and no one knows how to
do it. Like, say, the clockwork heart of a king. Maybe the characters
need to repair an army of Kaja’s soldiers in time for a major battle,
but lack the time and know-how to do it.

TWEAKS
It is important to note that all the pieces need to be present for it to
repair something, or they must be substituted with the appropriate
raw materials. I imagine it like alchemy from Full Metal Alchemist,
except that it only works on metals.

Sharktooth hand, 1 weight

Made from the tooth and spirit of a giant shark, this dagger
hungers for flesh and blood. Against living creatures the dagger
deals +1 damage and has the messy tag, and you can also smell
blood from a great distance.

TWEAKS
• The wielder hungers for raw meat, or becomes hostile when she
smells blood.
• The wielder can swim swiftly and/or breathe underwater.

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 Singing Sword close, noisy, 2 weight
If swordplay is an art, then this sword will help you make quite a
performance. Holes punched into the elaborately wrought sword’s
enchanted blade cause it to “sing” when swung, which can be
combined with a bard’s particular magical flair with impressive
results.
A bard wielding this sword can hack and slash using CHA
instead of STR, and on a 10+ she takes +1 forward to use arcane art.
In addition she gains the move metal hurlant.

Sundered Path close, +1 damage, 4 weight

The wide, jagged blades of this axe are etched with labyrinthine
patterns. Whether it was made by a minotaur or from one, it
possesses an unerring sense of direction.
When you are lost underground, take a mighty swing and
drive it into the ground, and the cracks that form will point you in
the direction you want to go. Brutish and noisy, but effective.

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Sunray 3 glory, close, two-handed, 0 weight
Made solely from solidified sunlight, this staff is a beacon of hope
and purity that brings light to the darkest corners of the world.
Only good creatures can touch Sunray: the hands of neutral
and evil creatures pass through it as if it were nothing but light.
As long as it holds any GLORY, Sunray shines as brightly as a torch,
and evil creatures within the light find themselves blinded and
wracked with agony. You can spend 1 GLORY to do the following:
• Deal your damage twice to a nearby evil creature. This damage
ignores armor. If you spend 2 GLORY, you deal your damage once
to every nearby evil creature.
• Restore 10 hit points or remove a debility from one creature
touched. If you spend 2 GLORY, every nearby creature you choose
regains 1d8 hit points.
• Consecrate an area, cleansing the stain of evil. Evil magic is
dispelled until it is recast, while evil creatures cannot enter the
area until the next sunset.
• Expel a possessing entity from someone. If you spend 2 GLORY,
you banish a demon touched back to its home plane.

When Sunray has no GLORY it dims to the light of a candle. At

each sunrise set its GLORY to 3.

TWEAKS
• Adjust the amount of glory it can have, or have it only regain 1
glory at a time. If a cleric worships a sun deity, you can have them
roll+WIS or CHA to determine how much is regained (for example,
3 on a 10+, 2 on a 7-9, or 1 on a miss).
• Add or change its powers. Maybe in its light everything is revealed
for what it truly is, or everyone standing within its light is immune
to fear.
• If you want to give it a drawback, prevent it from having any
beneficial effect on evil characters, maybe even neutral ones.

DESIGNER’S NOTES
Like Argo-Thaan (Dungeon World, page 332) this is a pretty potent
item, though it is limited as to what it can do in a period of time.
Mostly it is intended to be an item that the characters gain access to
temporarily: I imagine that a god of the sun can giveth and taketh it
away whenever she damn well pleases.

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 Darkwood Armor worn, 1 armor, 0 weight
This armor is made of wood, but not just any wood: darkwood
is light-weight yet surprisingly durable. This armor also bears a
charm from a nature spirit that prevents whoever is wearing it
from being hindered or injured by woodland terrain, even when
moving at full speed. When you undertake a perilous journey
through a forest and are the trailblazer, you automatically
succeed as if you rolled a 10+.

TWEAKS
• Whoever wears the armor not only automatically succeeds as a
trailblazer, but can also pull double-duty with another job normally.
• Elves use darkwood to create barding for their horses, protecting
them while allowing them to move swiftly through the woods.
• If you want to give the armor a drawback, have it cause plantlife to
actually move away from the wearer, making it harder to hide.

Dragonscale Shield +1 armor, 1 weight

This shield is made from a single red dragon’s scale. Imagine how
terrifyingly massive and ancient it must have been. It can protect
you from any flame, and you take +1 forward against fire. When
you use the shield to defend yourself from flame, you can spend
1 hold to completely absorb the attack, preventing it from dealing
damage to you or anyone nearby.

TWEAKS
• An obvious change is to make the scale effective against another
element: a white dragon’s scale could work against cold, a black’s
against acid, etc.
• Instead of absorbing the attack, it can reflect it. This could either be
the result of a 10+ on defy danger, or if you spend 3 hold from the
defend move.

Armor
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Lion’s Crest 3 armor, worn, 2 weight
The chest plate of this resplendent plate mail is trimmed with gold,
and bears the roaring face of a lion. The armor does not hinder
your movement in any way, and when you charge headlong into
battle take +1 forward.

DESIGNER’S NOTE
The armor deliberately lacks the Clumsy tag: go ahead and slap it on a
wizard!

Shield of the First King +1 armor, 2 weight

The First King of Men was said to have rallied warring tribes and
city states against marauding hordes of gnolls, orcs, and worse. This
golden shield is a symbol of his authority, and it instills whoever
carries it with his presence. Any hirelings under your command
take +1 Loyalty, and when you lead by example take +1 forward.
Heavy is the burden of leadership, however: if you ever flee battle,
your hirelings take -2 Loyalty and the shield’s weight increases to 5
until you redeem yourself.

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 Soul Cage 3 armor, worn, clumsy, 4 weight
This suit of shining, argent plate mail not only protects your
body from physical harm, but shields your very soul, too. While
wearing this armor you cannot be harmed by ghosts or ghost-
like entities.

TWEAKS
• The armor reduces damage from necromantic magic.
• You take +1 ongoing when you take your last breath.

Spellwarding Scales 2 armor, worn, clumsy, 3 weight

The scales of this armor are made entirely from cold iron, making
it well-suited for protecting you from sword and spell alike. When
you defy danger against magic take +1 forward, and the armor
also always reduces any damage you take from spells.

TWEAKS
• The armor could be a suit of plate mail.
• The armor might also be effective against beneficial magic, like a
bard’s arcane art or a cleric’s healing magic.

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Chameleon’s Tail 0 weight
It looks just like a curled lizard’s tail, but if you wear it and stand
completely still for about a minute you can blend in with any
surface.

Shield Band 3 charges, worn, 0 weight

A loop of chain with small shields attached, this ring helps protect
its wearer from harm. When you use the defend move, you can
also spend CHARGES from the ring as hold. In order to recharge the
ring, you must concentrate and lose a prepared spell: each level
restores one CHARGE, up to 3.

TWEAKS
• Increase the number of charges the ring can hold.
• Spend 3 charges to create a temporary barrier of force that nothing
can pass through.

TROLL’S EYE worn, 0 weight

This fleshy loop is warm to the touch, and sometimes wriggles.
When you wear it while resting for the night, you regain +1d8 hit
points or remove one debility of your choice. If you lose any part of
your body while wearing it—even your head—as long as you keep
wearing it the part will eventually grow back.

TWEAKS
Though the item’s name says eye, it is in fact a ring (eye was a word
that came up while I was looking for a more interesting name than
ring of regeneration, troll’s ring, or troll’s finger, which sounds oddly
sexual). However, what if it was an eye, and the only way to get it to
work was to remove your eye and plop it in the socket?

Rings
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 Barkskin Potion 1 use, 0 weight
When you drink this potion, you transform into a wolf for a few
hours. If you drink it during the night of a full moon, it lasts until
sunrise.

TWEAKS
• Yeah, yeah, this is a play on words that can also mess with player
expectations. If you want to go with something more “classic” and
actually change your skin to bark, you can have it give +1 armor, but
also have you take -1 ongoing against fire and/or take +1d4 damage
from fire.
• Check out the stoneskin potion on page 15 for an easily applicable
way to force a move in order for whoever drinks this potion to resist
turning into a tree for awhile. Or forever if you want to channel
some Troll 2.

Fireshield Oil slow, applied, 3 uses, 0 weight

When you apply this oil to your skin mark off a use, and the
next time you would take fire damage ignore it. The oil only works
against a single attack, and must be reapplied after use.

Floating Flask 1 use, 0 weight

This potion is less liquid and more humid, misty air. It has to be
kept in a container that is made of metal or otherwise weighed
down lest it drift away. Inhaling the contents allows you to slowly
float about. Best give yourself a jumping start.

TWEAKS
• Give the flask multiple uses, like two or three.
• You can greatly increase your flying speed when you exhale. Of
course, it will not last long, but it might just be what you need.

Potions
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Giant’s Blood 1 use, 1 weight
When you choke down this smelly, filthy viscious fluid, roll+CON.
✴On a 10+, for a few minutes take +1 ongoing when performing
feats of strength, and attacks you make with melee and thrown
weapons gain the Forceful tag. ✴On a 7-9, as a 10+, but your
wits and reflexes are dulled: take -1 ongoing to tasks requiring
precision, grace, or thought.

ON A MISS...
• You do not know your own strength, and end up breaking more than
you intended, or smack an enemy into an ally.
• You vomit up most of the potion, gaining the benefits only for a few
moments.

TWEAKS
The imbiber actually increaes in size. In this case on a 7-9 not all of
your muscles are affected, giving you the awkward tag for the potion’s
duration.

Snakeskin Oil slow, applied, 1 use, 1 weight

When you apply this oil to your skin, it becomes covered in scales
that give you +1 armor. When you take a minute to shed your
skin, you lose the armor bonus and regain 1d8 hit points.

Stoneskin Potion 1 use, 0 weight

When you drink this thick, chalky potion, roll+CON. ✴On a 10+,
gain +1 armor for around an hour. ✴On a 7-9, gain +2 armor, but
take -1 ongoing when you try to move with speed or grace. ✴On
a miss, gain +3 armor but you are turned to stone until the potion
wears off.

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 Bottled Fireball dangerous, thrown, 0 weight
This rune-engraved glass sphere contains the destructive force of
arcane fire, just waiting to be released. So, you know, be careful
how you handle it. When you throw this sphere, everything near
ground zero takes 2d6 damage.

TWEAKS
Increase the damage, change the element (bottled ice storm or blast of
lightning), or if you want it to be truly explosive add the Forceful tag.

Clockwork Heart 1 weight

The secret of these intricate mechanical devices has been lost to
time, as is how to properly attach them. If you manage to find one
and figure out how to get it to work, the recipient will benefit from
greatly improved health and vigor. When you undertake any task
in which you exert yourself, take +1 forward and a miss counts as
a 7. You are also immune to the effects of poison.

TWEAKS
• You could also model the improved health by increasing the
recipient’s Constitution by 1. The downside of this is that it will not
always result in an increased modifier, and it is also not nearly as
effective as having a miss become a 7-9.
• The recipient regains additional hit points after resting. This could
make a great “upgrade” for the normal version.
• As a side effect the recipient takes -1 forward to social situations
(or even just a -1 to Charisma) to represent the heart making them
emotionally cold.

Wondrous Items
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Earthshakers awkward, worn, 2 weight
These oversized stone boots are carved into the shape of hooves,
and they feel as uncomfortable as they look. While wearing them
the ground noisily trembles with each step you take, and you
cannot run or be picked up or pushed around unless you want to.
When you stomp on the ground, roll+STR. ✴On a 10+,
nearby structures are damaged and creatures are knocked over.
✴On a 7-9, buildings and people still fall, but there are unforseen
consequences: the GM will tell you what.

USES
The boots could be used to knock down sealed doors, or collapse
cavernous passages.

TWEAKS
• The boots count as weapons with the Near tag, maybe Forceful, too.
• When you stomp on the ground, on a 12+ the boots cause fiery
fissures to open up in the ground.

Kaja’s Soldier slow, 10 weight

Crafted by dwarven smiths long ago to help them beat back the
giant armies, these wagon-sized iron spheres are each linked to
a specially crafted amulet. If you have the right amulet you can
activate the sphere, causing it to unfold into a powerful warrior.
Treat it as a hireling with the 3 points in both the Warrior and
Protector skills, and Cost: repair as necessary. It has no Loyalty, but
always obeys the orders of whoever carries its control amulet.

MAINTAINING THE SOLDIER

When the soldier helps a character, on a 7-9 or a miss you could
represent the soldier becoming damaged by reducing one of its skills.
With the necessary tools and parts, you could restore a lost point
when you make camp, or have the character roll+INT to see if they fix
it up (or even make things worse).

TWEAKS
• Adjust the skills. An ancient, damaged soldier could have fewer skills,
while other models might have different skills, like Tracker or even
Adept.
• With the right knowledge and materials the soldier can be upgraded,
either by increasing a skill, adding a new one, or even giving it a
special attack (like the ability to fire lightning bolts).

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 Sexton’s Shovel close, 1 weight
This weathered, seemingly fragile shovel is said to have been given
to a particularly devoted and respectful sexton by Death itself.
Each time the shovel is driven into the ground, it creates a
pit deep and wide enough to easily accommodate a coffin, and a
corpse buried with it will never rise to plague the living. While you
carry it you gain +1 armor against undead. and it can harm any
undead, even ghosts.

Skeleton Key 1 use, hand, thrown, 0 weight

Jam this unassuming, notched dagger into the keyhole of a lock
and give it a twist. Though you are left with a useless hilt, at least
the lock opens instantly, silently, and leaves no sign of tampering.

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“When it comes to making your own magic items keep in mind that
these items are magical. Simple modifiers, like +1 damage, are the
realm of the mundane-magic item should provide more interesting
bonuses.”
Still Dungeon World, still page 332

Whether they are gifts from gods (or “gifts” from demons), born
through circumstance or calamity, or deliberately wrought by the
hands of mortals, magic items have to come from somewhere.
Dungeon World has an entire section of examples, but sooner or
later you or your players are going to want—or even need—to make
something new. That is where this section comes into play.
The first is more geared towards the players. It shows the kind of
hoops that I might have their characters jump through in order to
get what they want, though is still useful for GMs who want to think
about who made an item and how they went about it.
The second part gives you a look at how I as a GM take a magic
item from concept to completion. In terms of actual steps it is a pretty
simple process, and we will even create a new magic item along the
way to help illustrate my point.
Something to keep in mind is that like classes, moves, monsters,
and adventures in general, that making a good magic item is more art
than science.
You will make some good ones and some bad ones (heck, the
people I had look at this really seemed to dislike the earthshakers,
and more than a few others saw some modifications), but everything
here is what I go through when I start brainstorming. If you like the
items in this book, then you will probably find this advice useful, too.

Making Magic
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 Who Can Do It?
Obviously as a GM you can make whatever you want, but what about
the characters? This is something you should probably figure out
early on, especially if someone is playing a wizard.
In most cases I am guessing the answer is yes, because the book
specifically mentions the wizard’s ritual move, but nothing says you
have to allow that: maybe only gods or god-like beings can weave
magic into objects, or they come from other worlds, only certain
races like elves or dwarves can make them, they occur through
magical mishaps, or mortals used to be able to make them, but lost
that knowledge a long time ago.
If you do allow the characters to make their own magic items,
I see no reason why to limit item enchantment to just the wizard. I
would not even limit it to magical classes like the bard, cleric, and
druid: anyone with the right skills, materials, and/or circumstances
should be able to do it, even fighters and thieves.
I would normally not default this to a move, at least not one that
the characters need to take up a level up, especially if they need to
spend time gathering the necessary materials. To me that sounds like
enough work and sacrifice.
What I would recommend is a custom move to make a more
powerful version, or advanced moves or compendium classes that
make the process easier and/or faster, or to generally make more
powerful items.

So, assuming you allow the players to make their own magic items,
what do you do when they pitch something to you? Personally I
prefer to ask myself the following questions (not necessarily in this
order):

• What is it made of?

• What tools are needed?
• Where can I make it? (Related: When can I make it?)
• Who can make it?

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What Is It Made Of?
Once the player pitches the item, you can get a better handle as to
what it is made of. While you can get away with mundane fare like
generic wood or steel, depending on what the item does you can get
pretty crazy with this.
For example gold is normally pretty lousy for something like
armor, but as a magic item it can be just as good, if not better. Pretty
much anything is fair game when it comes to magic: quartz, wood,
bone, blood, ice, wind, light, etc.
When thinking about what an item is made of you can use
symbolism to establish a theme, like rubies and fire (for a crown that
lets you command fire), or gold and perfection/purity (like a ring that
makes you immune to disease or poison). You can also use monster
weaknesses, like silver and were-critters, cold iron and fey, and
certain types of wood against certain types of demons.
Race can also play a part: most of the time I see elves using wood
or animal hides, dwarves favoring stone and heavy metal, lizardfolk
cobbling stuff from bone and shell, and gnomes using obnoxite.
These materials can also have certain requirements, like wood
from a tree that was struck by lightning, the bones of a saint, or stone
that has never seen the light of day or been exposed to wind.
Monsters are great for thematic material fodder: the blood of a
dragon, the eye of a basilisk, the bottled breath of an elemental, or
a knife made by a goblin. For example sharktooth is made from the
tooth of a shark, the dragonscale shield is mostly just a dragon’s scale,
and the troll’s eye is made from the flesh of a troll.

Let us use a flaming sword as an example. I would say

that the characters need a ruby made from the crystallized
essence of a fire elemental, and some blood and a tooth
from a dragon.

Once you have all the necessary components, you need to assemble
them. That brings us to...

23
 What Tools Are Needed?
Depending on the item you are trying to make, you may not need any
tools at all: any branch taken from the World Tree allows the wielder
to grow and command plants, water taken from a special pool allows
who drinks from it to breathe underwater, and dipping a spear in
the bleeding eye socket of the bound orc god makes it hunger for the
flesh of elves.
Of course things are rarely that easy, so in the likely situation
where tools are necessary you need to determine if just any old
hammer will do the trick, or if something specific and/or fantastic is
required.
This could mean that the hammer has to be made of gold, cold
iron, or even something more exotic like adamantine or stone (which
might mean that it has to also be magical, which might in turn
require an entire quest on its own). Maybe handling a fragment of
condensed necrotic energy needs tongs made of bone or even light.
If you want to go this route take a look at the previous section for
some inspiration on materials and themes.
Alternatively you might need a specific tool, like the hammer
used by a forge god, which may or may not only be usable only with
permission, or holy water to cool a sword’s blade.

Continuing with the flaming sword example, I decide that

they need a hammer made from the ever-burning heart of
a fire giant, and a brass anvil from a djinn city.

24
Where Can I Make It?
Okay, you got your tools and the parts. Time to get to work, right?
Not so fast.
An item might only be craftable in a specific location. This could
be due to thematic association, like a beach for shoes that let you walk
on water, deep within a forest for a cairn stone that when partially
buried in the ground will rejuvenate plants for miles around, or the
ruins of a city devastated by war for a stone that, when mortared into
a wall, makes it virtually impervious to destruction.
The location might also be important due to latent or lingering
power (similar to the requirements for using the wizard’s ritual
move), like an intersection of ley lines, a faerie ring, dryad’s tree, the
haunted site of a massacre that is rife with necromantic energies, or
a patch of ground where a dragon, saint, god, or something else was
slain, and so on.
Another kind-of related requirement could be time. Maybe
you have to wait until the moon is full or empty, a holy day
commemorating the destruction of a demon lord, for Fireday, when
vortices linked to the Plane of Fire flare to life, when the planets align,
or the components age for a length of time (which I could commonly
see for potions).

That flaming sword I keep bringing up? That has to be

made in an active volcano, a church dedicated to a god
of fire, or village that was scorched by a dragon’s flame
centuries ago. Alternatively, when completed it could also
rest in the stomach of a fire giant for a year and a day.

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 Who Can Make It?
In a lot of cases I would expect the characters to be able to make thier
own items, but one last potential monkey wrench you can throw in
their plans is to make it so that only a specific person can build it, or
the characters at least need their help.
This can be a simple matter of race: only an elf can weave a cloak
that allows them to blend in with the forest, only a dwarf can make
gloves allow her to manipulate metal as if it were clay, and only a
halfling can cobble shoes that cause them to leave behind misleading
tracks.
The requirement might be more...specific: the swordsmith you
need must be from a certain bloodline, worship a specific god,
have been born under a specific sign, or even meet some other
requirement like never having eaten meat or lied, or has sold their
soul to a devil in exchange for legendary (if infernal) skill. Maybe,
just maybe, you have to travel beyond the Black Gate to bring back his
soul.
This person does not have to help create it, but could still be a
necessary factor. A holy sword needs the blessing of a high priest,
a scroll that when unfurled reveals a portent needs a prophet’s
whispers, an axe that only renders those stricken by it unconscious
needs an orc’s mercy, the sword must be cooled by the breath of a
frost giant, and a dragon must etch words of power into it using its
own claws.

I think that our flaming sword has enough going on in

terms of required legwork, but if I wanted to have the
characters enlist help I could go with either a priest that
worships a god of fire, an actual fire giant, or that it needs
to be “jump-started” by getting a dragon to breathe on it.

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The High Concept
First things first, modifiers can do a lot to convey what a magic item
is doing in terms of the fiction. +1 damage is not bad, it is just bad
when that is all the item is about: anyone can slap a numerical bonus
on something and call it a day. Hell, Dungeons & Dragons has been
doing it for decades. So let us go the extra mile.
Take a magic sword. They do not all have to be super sharp, but
you want this one to be sharp. Before we get into adding modifiers,
tags, and writing moves, ask yourself why is it so sharp? Who made
it? Also, how sharp is it? Answering these questions will not only help
inform bonuses and moves in the next step, but it might lead to other
questions, which can take you in an unexpected direction.
Why is it so sharp? It could be made from a special material
like adamantine, a gift from a war god, or even inhabited by a
particularly destructive demon. Me? I am going with a tangible shard
of a dimension of nothingness, kind of like a piece of a black hole or
sphere of annihilation: anything that it cuts is utterly consumed. Not
the entire object, just whatever the “blade” touches.
Who made it? Normally I would say that declaring a wizard
did it is kind of lazy, but that actually makes a lot of sense: a wizard
researching dimensional magic managed to stabilize a fragment, and
decided that it would serve as a potent weapon. As a precaution she
created a scabbard that is really a modified bag of holding, so that
when sheathed the blade is always safely shunted into non-space.
How sharp is it? Since it is a shard of a magical black hole, it is not
so much sharp as it is all-consuming. The sword can “cut” through
anything, from flesh to stone, even planes of force. Nothing is safe!
This actually leads to another question: black holes are kind
of heavy, right? So how heavy is this sword? You could make it
two-handed, and give it a weight of 3-5 and the Awkward tag to
emphasize that this is not the kind of weapon you are going to be
easily flourishing about: no, you gotta take some time working up a
swing, but woe to whatever it is in your way.

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 Magical Moves
Okay, so now I have a pretty solid concept: a “sword” made from a
piece of solidified annihilation. But what does that mean in-game?
I guess I could say +1 damage, or even +1d4 damage: either
mechanically reinforces the fiction behind the fact that the blade
is more damaging than a normal blade, but I think it is not nearly
evocative enough, and really quite boring.
This blade is supposed to be able to slice through anything, so I
am going to start by giving it the Ignore Armor and Messy tags: if it
cuts you, you are going to be losing limbs, armor, really anything that
gets in the way.
A much better start, but when I mean that the sword slices
through anything, I mean anything: flesh, bone, wood, stone, I would
even go so far as to say magical force, like that from a Cage spell.
Already it is looking a lot more interesting and evocative: a
character can go to town on a monster, but also use it to hack through
a door or wall. Try doing that with a piddly +1 sword.
Plus, this also gives me ideas for other moves and miss effects.
Like, what if the character wants to try hacking through a support
beam or pillar in order to bring it down on a bad guy? That sounds
pretty awesome. You could use a similar idea for a miss effect: while
swinging it around you hit something you did not want to like, oh, a
wall, or support structure, or something valuable.
In addition to unexpected collateral damage, you could even hit
another character or inadvertently damage yourself. The sword would
also make a prime target for drawing unwanted attention to yourself:
if people notice that your sword seems capable of hacking through
anything, that can quickly make you a priority target.
Actually, that brings up the question of what happens if you
defend yourself with it? I imagine it being difficult to utilize in such
a fashion due to its weight, but it has the added benefit of potentially
damaging or destroying whatever is being used against you.

With all of that in mind, turn the page to see the final result.

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 Blackstar close, two-handed, ignores amor, messy,
Blade awkward, 4 weight
The black blade of this massive sword features scattered pin points
of light, as if you were gazing into a clear night sky. It is heavy and
unwieldy, but nothing can stand before this all-consuming blade.
The sword can cut through anything, even creatures and objects
normally immune to physical weapons.
When you defend yourself with the blade, take -1 forward,
and you can spend 1 hold to negate an attack’s effects or damage.
If the attack was made by a melee weapon, you can spend an
additional 1 hold to destroy it.

What do you think? That is a lot of tags. We started with a +1 sword,

and ended up with a blade capable of inflicting untold destruction if
wielded improperly. Yeah, it is way more potent, but will also likely be
way more interesting and memorable.
You can further tweak it by giving it a damage bonus, having
it get heavier the more it is used (and absorbs matter), or cause a
planar breach if the magic used to contain it is unraveled. Maybe it
serves as a key to a kind of dimensional non-space that allows for
instantaneous travel. Maybe it contains another plane inside?
Anyway, that is the kind of stuff my mind mulls through when
making a new item. I ask questions, answer them, think of more,
answer them, possibly revise previous questions and answers, then
start getting to the crunchy bits, and possibly run through the whole
process again.
It can take awhile, but I think the results speak for themselves.

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 Looking For More?
If you want even more magic items or thematically suited classes, check out
the following:

This second collection contains 30 magic items to tantalize

your players, stock your dungeons, and—along with some
extensive advice—inspire you to create your own. If you
liked 10+ Treasures, then you’re going to love this one (and
not just because it is better organized).
Inside you’ll find strange and sometimes disturbing
creations, such as the soul of an intelligent sword, a shield
that can spawn zombies, a living ring that turns your body
into a verminous nest, another ring that makes you virtually
unkillable (just don’t ever take it off ), and a chunk of stone
that doubles as both insanity-inducing encylopedia and
mutating weapon.
Like I said, you’re going to love this one. Your players?
Well...given the side effects of some of these things, maybe
not so much.

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Our third volume of magic items is the first to stick with a

theme: the forest and its denizens.
It’s also the largest compilation we’ve ever produced,
weighing it at nearly 40 magic items for adventurers to
discover, like a staff that infects people you strike with
fungus, which can gradually kill them (and you if you aren’t
careful), a night-powered “moon-saber” that becomes
progressively more powerful as the moon becomes full, and
fungal spores that you can sprinkle on a corpse, causing
it to sprout mushrooms that allow you to experience the
deceased’s memories when eaten.

• URL: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/142392/10-Treasures-
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Stories and songs can do more than entertain.
Properly told stories can unite a community, allow you to
share experiences, and convey lessons and wisdom. Likewise,
songs can uplift one’s soul and inspire others to perform great
deeds, or they can fill one’s heart with despair or dread.
Whether by book or word you’ve learned your share of
both over the years, like the difference between a puca and a
kelpie, The Three Songs of Erui, how sunlight affects the trolls
of the Hagswood, The Barghest of Ulfstir, dwarven smith-
chants, and the bleak poetry of the Silverbough elves.
But you know there’s more out there, much forgotten or
yet to be told, and you yearn to find or write them yourself.
Just think what you could learn, what they could teach, and
who they could inspire?

This isn’t your exactly your “normal” bard. Yeah, you know
a lot of songs and stories, but you aren’t going to be capering
about combat strumming a lute, instantly singing wounds
closed, or shouting people to death.
Your songs have power to be sure—draw in everyone’s
attention, put people to sleep (intentionally, mind you),
cause animals to let you by unhindered (or possibly befriend
you), and eventually instill entire crowds with hope or
fear—it’s just that they aren’t going to be handy once swords
are drawn.
Thankfully you don’t have to rely on your music to get
by: you can bolster your allies with encouraging words, try
talking your way out of a fight, pick up on clues that others
would overlook, or just charge screaming into the fray, axe
swinging. It all depends on the story you want to write.

• URL: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/137211/The-Bard--A-
Dungeon-World-Playbook
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 It is a little known secret that there is magic in everything,
from plants to stones, to metals and animals. Names carry
power, and in certain times and places it swells and coils
upon itself, forming a wellspring of raw, untapped magical
energy. Some learn these secrets after ceremonial induction,
others through extensive instruction and trial, while the more
desperate or greedy find that there is no shortage of dark
entities willing to help them shortcut the process.
For a price, of course.
The how matters less than the results: through your work,
words, and will you gather, bind, and temper magical forces
in accordance to your desires, good or ill. You can brew a
concoction to heal someone just as easily as one to alter a
man’s shape or desires. You can forge a talisman either to
shield someone from harm, or draw ill fortune to them like a
moth to a flame.
Of course you are not helpless without time and safety:
with a few words you can make someone’s eyes bleed, cause
even the most faithful and tame of beasts to turn on them,
prevent them from speaking, or vermin to crawl forth from
their screaming mouths.
There is a reason others regard you with equal measure of
fear and respect.

• URL: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/132299/The-Witch--A-
Dungeon-World-Playbook
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