
Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
Chapter 11: Crafting & Treasure

Investing Magic Items

Source Core Rulebook pg. 531 4.0
Certain magic items convey their magical benefits only when worn and invested using the Invest an Item activity, tying them to your inner potential. These items have the invested trait. Many invested items have constant abilities that function all the time or that always trigger when you use the item—but only when they're invested. If you don't have an item invested, these abilities don't work. If an invested item can be activated, you must have invested the item to activate it.

You can benefit from no more than 10 invested magic items each day. Because this limit is fairly high, and because it matters only for worn items, you probably won't need to worry about reaching the limit until higher levels, when you've acquired many useful magic items to wear.

You can still gain the mundane benefits of an item if you don't invest it. A suit of +1 resilient armor still gives you its item bonus to AC when not invested, but it doesn't give its magical bonus to saving throws, and winged boots still protect your feet even though you can't activate them to fly. Entirely non-magical items don't need to be invested.

Invest an Item

Source Core Rulebook pg. 531 4.0
You invest your energy in an item with the invested trait as you don it. This process requires 1 or more Interact actions, usually taking the same amount of time it takes to don the item. Once you’ve Invested the Item, you benefit from its constant magical abilities as long as you meet its other requirements (for most invested items, the only other requirement is that you must be wearing the item). This investiture lasts until you remove the item.

You can invest no more than 10 items per day. If you remove an invested item, it loses its investiture. The item still counts against your daily limit after it loses its investiture. You reset the limit during your daily preparations, at which point you Invest your Items anew. If you’re still wearing items you had invested the previous day, you can typically keep them invested on the new day, but they still count against your limit.