Attunement

Revision as of 17:31, 19 March 2017

!!! These rules are obsolete.

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See also: Strain

All magic items require attunement before use (DMG 136). Attunement requires a short rest (1+ hours) exclusively focused on and in continuous contact with the item. "An item can be attuned to only one creature at a time, and a creature can be attuned to no more than three magic items at a time." (DMG 137)

Attunement to a magic item creates long-term Strain that can't be purged. The being can no longer purge SP to 0 Instead, the being's baseline SP is increased proportional to the item, either its level or rarity, whichever is greater. The effects from multiple items stack:

1 or Common: 2 SP
2-3 or Uncommon: 4 SP
4-5 or Rare: 6 SP
6-7 or Very Rare: 8 SP
8-9 or Legendary: 10 SP

Strain Effects won't reduce SP below the new baseline.

When a being tries to attune, if the sum of all long-term Strain would exceed the being's Strain Limit, the attunement is impossible. However, a being with temporary Strain can attune and exceed their Strain Limit.

A being can lose attunement with an item several ways, including spending a short rest intentionally ending the attunement, being separated by more than 100 feet for at least 24 hours, another being attuning to the item, and the item's destruction. The SP becomes "normal" Strain and can be purged through the usual means.

However, the Law of Contagion applies to attunement with a magic item. There will always be a latent link between an item and its creator. Furthermore, once a being has attuned to an item, there will always be an additional latent link. The potential of the link to an item's owner is weakly dependent on the item's level/rarity and strongly dependent on the duration of the attunement. Hence, the strongest link is a legendary item attuned for decades or longer. An old magic item may have had many owners, hence many links.

The most obvious use of a latent link is using it to target a lethal spell. However, the link can be used for any magic, such as Clairvoyance, Detect Thoughts, or rendering the target infertile.

The latent link from attunement is only one of many possible Contagion effects. For example, even a mundane murder weapon will usually have a Contagion link with the victim.