Using Magic Items

Magic items may work in many different ways. Some wearable items are activated just by putting them on. The effect of such items may not be known until an appropriate situation arises. For example, the benefits of magic armor only become clear when the wearer is attacked. Many items are activated by using them in an obvious fashion. For instance, a character has to drink a potion, swing a sword, or interpose a shield to deflect a blow in combat. Activation of these items is generally straightforward and self-explanatory. This doesn't mean that if you use such an item, you automatically know what it can do; many times, the only way to know what an item does is to use it. If no activation method is suggested either in the magic item description or by the nature of the item, assume that a command word is needed to activate it. Command word activation means that a character speaks the word and the item activates. No other special knowledge is usually needed. A command word can be a real word, but when this is the case, the holder of the item runs the risk of activating the item accidentally by speaking the word in normal conversation. More often, the command word is some seemingly nonsensical word, or a word or phrase from an ancient language no longer in common use. Note that many magic items must be held in the hand (or otherwise specially handled or worn) to be used; the risk of accidental activation is less significant for such items. Learning the command word for an item may be easy (sometimes the word is actually inscribed on the item) or it may be difficult, requiring the services of a powerful wizard or sage, or some other means of discovery. Only the character holding or wearing a magic item may activate it. A character who has been gagged or silenced may not activate a magic item which requires a command word. When an article of magic armor, clothing or jewelry (including a ring) is discovered, size is not usually an issue. Such items magically adjust themselves for wearers from as small as Halflings to as large as Humans. This effect is called accommodation. The GM may create "primitive" items lacking this power if they wish. Generally only one magical item of a given type may be worn at the same time. For example, a character can normally only wear one suit of armor, wear one necklace and carry one shield at a time. In the case of rings, a character may wear one magical ring per hand. If a character wears more items of a given type than would normally be practical, the items will usually fail to function due to interference with one another; for instance, wearing two rings on the same hand normally results in both rings failing to operate. Note, however, that this limitation cannot be used to disable cursed magic items. For example, wearing a cursed ring would prevent another magic ring from being worn and used on that hand, but the curse would not be lifted by donning a second magic ring.