Bards are jacks of all trades Dungeons and Dragonscapable of martial dexterity and powerful spell casting, as well as proficient in a number of skills. But they can become even more versatile with the use of magical items. THE Dungeon Master Guide 2024 includes a ton of new itemsincluding some that are exclusive to the bard.
But which ones are best for bards to use? There are a number of items that synergize with their existing skills and help them better perform their roles within the group. Since bards are often the face of the group and can also act as support and battlefield controlThese items focus primarily on improving your ability to perform successfully in these positions. These 10 items are the best in the 2024 ruleset for bards, and players who use the class should definitely try them out.
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Illusion instruments can offer low-level bards a fun and creative option
Creating images from your music
It can be difficult to balance powerful magic items with lower level groups, but Common magical items like the Instrument of Illusions can give players some low-risk equipment to try out. Mechanically, the instrument works as a way to launch an effect similar to minor illusionalbeit with a limited scope. The creature playing the instrument can make harmless visual illusions appear within five feet of itself, or within 15 feet if it is a bard.
The illusions are obviously magical to the viewer and cannot have any auditory effects (other than the music that plays to create them). But they give some creative options for bards who want to improve performance or inspire your allies with an especially impressive display.
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Glamorous studded leather is practical and fashionable
Beautiful armor for any bard to show off their style
Bards are limited to light armor unless they take the College of Valor subclass, and do not have access to spells like wizard armor or shield. It's up to them to look for high-quality options to protect themselves, and Glamored Studded Leather is a great choice. Grants an AC of 13 plus the user's Dexterity modifierone of the highest scores light armor can give. Additionally, it has a magical effect that pairs well with a bard's trickery and stage presence.
The armor can take on the appearance of any clothing the user desires.transforming to better match the desired aesthetic. This can be used to hide the fact that someone is wearing armor or can act as a disguise to get the player behind enemy lines. Bards tend to focus on illusion and enchantment spells, and this armor synergizes well with the powers on their spell list.
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The dancing sword fits thematically and leaves your hands free
Perfect for a bard with a two-handed instrument
The Dancing Sword is great for bards, and not just because of its name. Often bards will want to combine their spellcasting with some sort of weapon attack, but this can pose some problems in terms of what the bard is actually carrying in their hands. Most instruments take two hands to play, and unless the bard is of the Valor subclass or has the Warcaster featthis hinders your ability to mix weapons and magic.
The Dancing Sword is good because it works completely hands-free. The user can throw it into the air and make it make attacks similar to a spiritual weapon.floating around them and hitting enemies while the user is free to use their action on other things. This works well for a bard who wants to switch from focusing on melee to casting spells mid-fight, or vice versa.
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Wraps of Unarmed Power are great for dancing bards
Helping this new subclass increase its unarmed strength
The Faculty of Dance is a new subclass in 2024 Player Handbookand gives bards the ability to act as unarmed fighterskicking and punching through crowds of enemies. This gives players who want to create an unarmed character an alternative to playing as a monk or tavern fighter. This also means that the bard can benefit from some magic items that would traditionally be better suited to monks, including Wraps of Unarmed Power.
These wraps not only provide a bonus to attack and damage rolls with unarmed strikes, but also allow the user to deal force damage instead of bludgeoning. It's a great option for any character that uses melee combat, and especially for the Dance subclass, which uses little of its characteristics to improve damage.
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Sewer pipes can bring rodent allies
Useful in certain settings more than others
Sewer Pipes are an oddly specific item that varies greatly in its usefulness depending on where the campaign is located. These pipes only really work if the area they are used in has a sizable rat population.one big enough to make a difference in combat when summoned. Otherwise, playing this instrument will turn the party off, to say the least.
First, charging the pipes produces rats, a low-level classic D&D monster, indifferent to a creature, which is, at best, niche. They start with three charges, and a creature can use a magical action to play them and expend one to three of those charges. If there are enough rats in the area, a number of rat swarms equal to the charges used will appear in the area. They will move towards the pipes, but will not become allies yet.
To get these rodents on your side, the swarm must fail a DC15 wisdom saving throw while within 30 feet of the pipes. This will make the swarm friendly and obey the player's orders as long as they continue to use their action to play the flute and stay within 30 feet of the rats. It's an unnecessarily complicated item, but it has the potential for greatness in very specific circumstances.
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The thunderous lute can be a powerful melee weapon
Painfully loud music
For bards who want to combine their martial prowess with their talent for creating noise, the Lute of the Thunderbeat will be perfect. It works like a club mechanically, but with one blow, deals an extra 2d8 thunder damage, a high amount, even in the middle of the game.
It's even better in the hands of bards, who can use their Charisma modifier instead of their Strength for attacks and damage rolls (as long as they sing or hum while they swing). This means that bards, who typically don't invest much in strength value, will still be able to fight effectively with this strength-equipped weapon.
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Perfume of Bewitching can improve a bard's social skills
The ultimate tool for communication
For a common consumable, the Perfume of Bewitching is much better than players realize. Applying the scent gives the creature advantage on all Persuasion and Deception checks it makes for the next hour.as long as they remain within six feet of the person they are speaking to.
This is great for any socially-focused campaign, but works especially well on characters who already have high charisma. The amount of advantage that actually increases a character's ability to succeed on a roll increases when the success bar is higher, as does the character's proficiency in that statistic. As charismatic spellcasters, most bards will score high marks in both deception and persuasion, meaning they can use this scent to its fullest extent.
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Haunt pipes can scare your enemies
Put fear into the heartstrings of your enemies
The condition of fear is powerful in D&Dand being able to inflict this consistently gives characters a good deal of strength in combat. Pipes of Haunting are the perfect tool for a bard who wants access to this type of power, without having to spend slots to achieve it. The tubes have three charges, each of which can be used to start playing spooky music, potentially scary creatures within 30 feet of them.
The pipes player can choose which creatures in the area will be affected, and if the save is failed, the creatures will remain frightened for up to a minute. The pipes recover all charges every day, meaning a bard could use them pretty consistently in almost every fight they were in. For an uncommon item, the Pipes of Haunting are surprisingly strong.
Control the conversation with this magical item
The Staff of Enchantment plays to the bard's social strengths of controlling conversation and turning enemies into allies. Specifically, the staff grants the bearer the ability to cast three powerful spells from the bard's list: charm person, commandand understand languages. All of this is great for a facial character in any party, as charisma-based spellcasting bards tend to be, but that's not all the party does.
The staff has several other abilities that you can use in conjunction with these spells. One allows them to return an enchantment spell to its caster, and another basically grants a legendary resistance once per day against enchantment magic. The team starts with 10 charges and recovers three to nine per day. There aren't many better staffs for characters looking to fully harness the power of enchantment magic.
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Bard instruments possess powerful magic
Several different variants to support all types of bardic characters
Finally, Bardic Instruments are some of the best items for bardic characters to acquire in D&D. And it makes sense; These items are tailor-made to suit a bard's skills and spells. There are several rarities and types of Bard's Instruments, all of which grant access to a different set of spells.
All instruments include some basic options, including invisibility, to flyand protection from evil and good. Then there are specific versions of the instruments that allow the player to launch fire wall and wind wallor confusion and fire storm. The list goes on and on many of these spells are not available to bards by default. This is a great way for bards to expand their spellcasting horizons in Dungeons and Dragonsand reflect the themes of their art through the unique magic they have access to.
Source: Dungeons & Dragons/YouTube (1, 2, 3)