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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
GM Core / Chapter 5: Treasure Trove

Reading Items

Source GM Core pg. 221 2.0
Hundreds of items lie ahead. Each item is presented in a stat block, much like spells or feats. The example below shows the structure of an item stat block and gives a brief description of each entry. Entries appear only when applicable, so not all items will have every entry described here. Detailed rules governing aspects of the stat block specific to items appear after the stat block.

Item Name Item [Level]

Traits
Price This entry lists the item's Price. An item that has multiple types includes Price for each type in its entry.
Ammunition Magic ammunition lists the types of ammunition available for that kind of item.
Usage This entry describes whether the item is held, worn, or etched or affixed onto another item; Bulk The item's Bulk is listed here (the rules for Bulk appear on here). Runes don't have a Bulk entry.
Activate The number of actions needed to Activate the Item appear here, followed by any traits of the activation and effect in parentheses. You can find activation rules here. This entry appears here for consumables and lower in the stat block for permanent items that can be activated. This section might also have Frequency, Trigger, or Requirements entries as necessary.
Onset This entry appears if the item's effect is delayed, which most often occurs with alchemical poisons. The onset is the amount of time that elapses between when a character Activates an Item and any effect occurs.
The section after the line describes the item and its constant abilities. If the item can be activated and doesn't have an Activate entry above, that entry appears here in a paragraph beginning with “Activate.”
Type If multiple types of the item exist, entries here indicate the name of each type, its level, its Price, and any other relevant details or alterations from the above description.
Craft Requirements An item that has special requirements to be Crafted details those requirements here.

Notable Item Traits

The following traits apply to items. Some specific categories of item have special traits—such as elixir or scroll—described in their sections.

Alchemical: Alchemical items are powered by the reactions of alchemical reagents. Alchemical items aren't magical, and they don't radiate a magical aura. Characters can Craft these items only if they have the Alchemical Crafting feat.

Consumable: An item with this trait can be used only once. Unless stated otherwise, it's destroyed after activation, though part of it might be recoverable for other purposes. For instance, while a potion is consumable, the vial it comes in is not destroyed when you drink it. Consumable items include most alchemical items as well as ammunition, oils, potions, scrolls, talismans, and other magical consumables.

When a character creates consumable items, they can make them in batches of four, as described in the Craft activity.

Focused: An item with this trait can give you an additional Focus Point. This focus point is separate from your focus pool and doesn't count toward the cap on your focus pool. You can gain this benefit only if you have a focus pool, and there might be restrictions on how the point can be used. You can't gain more than 1 Focus Point per day from focused items, no matter how many focused items you have.

Invested: A character can wear only 10 magical items that have the invested trait. None of the magical effects of the item apply if the character hasn't invested it, though the character still gains any normal benefits from wearing the physical item (like a hat keeping rain off a character's head).

Magical: Items with this trait are imbued with magical energies. A character can craft these items only if they have the Magical Crafting feat. Some items are closely tied to a particular tradition of magic. In these cases, the item has the arcane, divine, occult, or primal trait instead of the magical trait. Any of these traits indicates that the item is magical.

Level

Source GM Core pg. 221 2.0
An item’s level indicates what level of adventurer the item is best suited for, but there’s no limit to the items a character can use based on level. A 3rd-level character who finds an item of 4th level or higher while adventuring can use it normally, and they can purchase the item if they can find it for sale and can afford it. When making items, a character can Craft only items whose level is equal to or lower than their own.

Multiple Types

Source GM Core pg. 221 2.0
If multiple types of an item exist, the title line gives the minimum level followed by a plus symbol (“+”). The description includes information on the base version of the item, and the Type entries at the bottom of the stat block lists the specifics for each version, including the level, Price, and any modified or added abilities of the different types. For some items, the types listed are upgrades to the base item. For other items, such as aeon stones, each type is distinct from the others.

Price

Source GM Core pg. 222 2.0
If an item is available for purchase, a character can typically buy it for the listed Price, and the character uses this Price when they use the Craft activity to make the item. If a character wants to sell an item, they can sell it for half its Price (or full Price, if they made the item for someone else on commission), assuming they’re able to find a buyer. The GM determines whether a buyer is available.

Usage

Source GM Core pg. 222 2.0
An item’s stat block includes a Usage entry that indicates whether a character must be holding or wearing the item in order to use it, or whether they instead must have it etched or affixed onto another item.

Affixed

Source GM Core pg. 222 2.0
Talismans function only if affixed to other items. They have a Usage entry indicating the type or types of items to which a character can attach them, such as “affixed to armor.” Rules for affixing a talisman are here.

Etched

Source GM Core pg. 222 2.0
Runes must be etched onto permanent items, such as armor, shields, weapons, or runestones to grant their benefit. Adding or transferring a rune takes downtime to accomplish. The Usage entry indicates the type or types of items a rune can be etched into, such as “etched onto a weapon.” More information about etching runes is found here.

Held

Source GM Core pg. 222 2.0
If a character must wield the item to use it, this entry in the item’s stat block lists the word “held” along with the number of hands the character must use when wielding the item, such as “held in 1 hand.” The rules for carrying and using items are provided here.

Worn

Source GM Core pg. 222 2.0
An item that needs to be worn to function lists “worn” as its usage. This is followed by another word if the character is limited to only one of that type of item. For instance, a character can wear any number of rings, so the entry for a ring would list only “worn.” However, if the Usage entry were “worn cloak,” then a character couldn’t wear another cloak on top of that one. It’s assumed that items are meant to be worn by humanoids; any item that can or must be worn by a different type of creature either states this in its description or has the companion trait. Most magic items a character must wear have the invested trait.

Craft Requirements

Source GM Core pg. 223 2.0
An item might require the crafter to provide specific raw materials, supply spells, or meet other special requirements to Craft it. These appear in the Craft Requirements entry of the stat block. Any of these Craft Requirements are in addition to the normal requirements for crafting the item.