Do the magic item attunement rules and limits make D&D 5E a better game or just add a layer of frustration? When we started playing 5E, we actually ignored attunement. Now, we’ve started using it across all of our campaigns to understand how the game is meant to be played. … And we have some concerns.

What role do magic items play in your game? Are they rewards? Character development tools? Just items that help optimize PC builds? We’ve found that attunement, while it helps keep PC power in check, can be an obstacle to playing how we want to play. It changes PC motivations and reward mechanisms in ways that aren’t always in line with our goals. So, what should we do about it?

In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about attunement, magic items in older editions, and the role these tools play in their games.

1:00 What is attunement and why does it matter?

5:00 A quick history of magic items’ role in D&D from Basic to 5E

12:00 How attunement can get your PC killed (and make higher-level play more boring)

20:00 Does attunement make treasure rewards less interesting?

29:00 How magic item limits impact PC motivations

34:00 Does breaking the attunement rule make D&D 5E any worse?

38:00 What role do you want magic items to play in your games?

43:00 Character-defining magic items

52:00 Final thoughts