D&D: Five of the Cheapest Items That Will Change Your Game
Past a certain point, money is no object in D&D. But when every single gold piece matters, here are some items that won’t break your bank.
As adventurers grow in power, so too, do they grow in wealth. It’s one of the biggest power fantasies D&D has to offer: that your efforts will be commensurately rewarded again and again, and you even get to keep most, if not all of it.
But at some point, you end up with so much money that you have to really work to try and spend it all. And so much power that the DM doesn’t know how to handle it. Of course, that all comes after getting through the grueling lower levels. There, every hit point matters, and every gold piece doubly so.
One need only look at the first few episodes of a Critical Role campaign to see adventurers scrounging to try and turn up even ten gold pieces. When every gold piece matters, here are some of the best-starting items money can buy.
Ball Bearings
An individual ball bearing will run you 1/10th of a copper piece. You can get a bag of a thousand for a single gold piece, which comes with a free bag for your troubles. And for a single action, you can spread them over an area. These can potentially knock down opponents if they fail a DC 10 saving throw, or slow them down if they want to avoid it—even a giant, four-legged creature runs the risk of being knocked over.
Now, there’s no rule that specifically says how many ball bearings you need to use to knock someone over. But even if you buy the bag of a thousand of them, or half a bag, you’re spending no more than a single gold piece.
Chicken
Have you ever seen a chicken? They are basically dinosaurs parading around today as little six-piece nuggets to-be. And you can get one for a mere 2 copper pieces. Or a grand total of 50 for a single gold piece. These are the ultimate helpers. Sure, one chicken might not have more than a couple of hit points. But 50 of them? Especially if you have a spell like Speak with Animals or Animal Friendship or even Animal Messenger to better communicate what you need them to do.
If you want to see an example of what kind of mischief birds can get up to, just take a look at the end of Home Alone 2, where a bunch of birdseed is all it takes to defeat the Wet Bandits, thanks to the indomitable might of pigeons.
And then recall that chickens are bigger, and carry the genetic memory of T. Rexes, probably.
Torch
Fire solves many problems. It sheds light, ignites flammable objects, and you can even cook with it if you need to. And the humble torch is one of the best ways to carry around fire where you need it. This 2 copper piece item grants vision in the dark: up to 20 feet of bright light, and 20 more of dim light, so it benefits even creatures with darkvision.
And that’s before you light something on fire and swing it at your foes like a burning club.
Ink Pen
Is a pen truly mightier than the sword? Well, they’re certainly cheaper, coming in at 2 copper pieces, the humble ink pen is one of the most important pieces of gear a Wizard can own. Because for 2 copper pieces (plus the cost of rare inks and materials), you’ll be able to scribe spells into your spellbook or onto a scroll where they can be used without the need of a spell slot.
That’s why they’re everywhere in Baldur’s Gate 3.
10-foot Pole
And finally, the humble 10-foot pole. This item has been a part of D&D since the beginning because it gives you a way to open doors without having to be right in front of them. Or to push open latches or chests, or even to press on the floor to try and see if a square is trapped. All this, for just 5 copper pieces.
Of course, for those times when you wouldn’t even touch things with a ten-foot pole, you’ll need to upgrade with 50 feet of rope, but that takes a bit more money.
