D&D: Five Magic Belts That Do More Than Hold Your Pants Up
When it comes to magic items, belts are oft overlooked. But here are five that will make your character shine.
Dungeons & Dragons is a game as much about collecting items as it is about having adventures. After all, you go on the adventure so that you can have the treasure. And there’s something for just about everyone. Including stylish accessories. Rings. Amulets. And those most foundational of accessories, belts. A good belt can make an outfit.
A good magic belt can transform your character. Here are some of our favorite magic belts.
Belt of Dwarvenkind
A belt of Dwarvenkind is a many-splendored belt. It grants you the legendary resilience of a dwarf. Anyone wearing it gains 2 points of Constitution, up to a maximum of 20, and gains advantage on Persuasion checks on dwarves.
Nondwarves who wear it gain advantage and resistance when it comes to poisons, darkvision, the ability to speak, read, and write Dwarvish, and a 50 percent chance each day of growing a full beard.
Dragonhide Belt
A Dragonhide Belt is a newer magic item. Introduced in Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, this belt gives you a variable bonus (+1 – +3) to the saving throw DCs of any feature you have that uses Ki. It is a magic item specifically for Monks! There are precious few of those.
In addition to increasing your save DC, the belt also lets you use an action to regain ki points equal to whatever you roll on your Martial Arts die once per day. This is an extremely handy item for any Monk.
Rope of Mending
What’s that you say? Rope isn’t belt? Well, not normally. But a Rope of Mending is a peculiar magical rope, in that you can cut the 50-foot coil of hempen rope into any number of smaller pieces, and then with an action you can speak a command word and cause the pieces to knit back together.
Wear a long loop or two around your waist, and have the other pieces either hidden or adorning other parts of your body and you’ll always have a rope nearby. Even if you’re captured.
Stormgirdle
Stormgirdle is a legendary magic item from Wildemount. As a Vestige of Divergence, Stormgirdle actually has three different forms: Dormant, Awakened, and Exalted.
The Dormant form is all about gaining the powers of storms. Your Strength score becomes 21, you gain resistance to lightning and thunder damage, and you can use an action to transform (see, told you) into a Storm Avatar for a full minute. As an Avatar, you have immunity to lightning and thunder damage, and deal thunder or lightning damage instead of the normal type, and you can call down little lightning bolts as a bonus action.
Awakening and Exalting Stormgirdle gives it even more power, enhancing the base abilities while layering on flight and weather-controlling powers.
Belt of Giant Strength
Finally the iconic magic belt in D&D. The Belt of Giant Strength. These belts just straight-up set your Strength score to a certain marker. They start at Strength 21 with Hill Giant and go all the way up to 29 for a Belt of Storm Giant Strength. And every odd number in between.
These have been around since the days of D&D’s dawn. They’re the quintessential magic item for Fighters. And in 5th Edition, they’re one of the few ways you can break the “stats get capped at 20” rule.
Happy adventuring!
