Summary
Artifacts inDungeons & Dragonsare magic items so unique and special that the means to creating them is either beyond mortal comprehension or forgotten long ago. Typically, there are only a finite number of certain artifacts, with that number usually being just one.
On top of that, the magic that binds artifacts together can only be undone by incredibly specific means. For example, heating the item with the breath of an ancient red dragon before submerging it in the deepest depths of the Elemental Plane of Water and feeding it to a Kraken. Needless to say, there’s a lot to unpack here.
Updated June 05, 2025 by Jack Filsinger:With the release of the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, more artifacts have been added Dungeons & Dragons. We’ve updated this list to include two new artifact options to bring to your table, as well as added information on item attunement, Minor and Major Beneficial or Detrimental Properites, and some updated rules so that you have what you need to pick the best magic artifacts for your table in DND.
Every artifact in Dungeons & Dragons is ascribed a set number of Minor and Major Beneficial and Detrimental Properties. These are randomly determined by rolling a d100 after attuning to the item. Refer to the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide for more information.
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Major Detrimental
This orb comes fromthe Dragonlance settingof Dungeons & Dragons, forged by the wizards of the Towers of High Sorcery. When attuned to the orb, you can take the Magic action to peer into the depths of the orb, after which you must then make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, you are charmed by the orb until you unattune.
If you succeed, however, you can cast a variety of spells, including a ninth-level Cure Wounds or Scrying by expending charges. The orb has seven charges and regains 1d4 + 3 each new day. You can alsosummon chromatic dragonsby using the orb.
The Sword of Kas originally belonged to a faithful servant of Vecna. Now, the spirit of the sword thirsts for blood. Each day you are attuned to this sword, if the sword doesn’t have blood on its blade, you must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a successful save, you take 3d6 psychic damage, and on a failed save, you are dominated by the sword.
Beyond those saves, the Sword of Kas has many excellent properties, including a +3 to attack and damage rolls, the ability to cast spells like Finger of Death, and bonuses to initiative rolls. You also gain resistance to necrotic damage. Just be warned, destroying this sword is harder than it looks.
Annam is the All-Father of the Faerun pantheon: the progenitor of all the gods. It is said this Adze, or great axe, was used by him to shape the Material Planes. The Adze requires attunement and comes with random properties from the Dungeon Master’s Guide, as do most artifacts.
The Adze is a +3 great axe that deals an additional 3d12 force damage to any creature it hits, as well as double damage to objects and structures. you may use an action to cast the Move Earth or Fabricate spell once per day. This artifact may have the largest attack damage increase, but that’s far from the best thing artifacts can do.
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Thought to have originally beencreated by Vecna, this book has had a grand number of despicable authors throughout the centuries. Your character could be the next one. Upon attuning to the book, you must make a DC 17 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, you are transformed into a Larva under the DM’s control. The book also magically disappears from your side if you don’t perform evil every ten days or ever perform an act of good.
After spending 80 hours reading the book, you can edit its contents and gain a +2 to an ability score of your choice at the expense of a -2 to another ability score of your choice. You also become immune to Exhaustion and can cast Animated Dead, Circle of Death, Dominate Monster, and Finger of Death once per day.
Mother Luba was a kind leader of the traveling Vistani found inCurse of Strahd. This tarokka deck is all that remains of her. While attuned to the deck, you can cast Comprehend Languages, Detect Evil and Good, Detect Magic, Detect Poison and Disease, Locate Object, and Scrying once per day.
You also automatically succeed on concentration checks for any divination spell and can use an action to twist the fortune of a creature within 15 feet. When you twist their fortune, choose weal or woe. Weal gives the creature advantage on all rolls for the next hour, while woe gives the creature disadvantage. You can use this property twice per day.
The pristine longsword of the former angel Zariel only attunes to a creature that it deems worthy. Such a creature enjoys many benefits, including learning Celestial, and gaining resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, a 20 Charisma score, a flying speed of 90 feet, plus truesight to a range of 60 feet.
The sword sheds light that causes fiends nearby to have disadvantage on their attack rolls. It also gives you advantage on all insight checks and deals an additional 2d8 radiant damage if wielded with one hand or 3d10 radiant damage if wielded with two hands. All of that being said, attuning to the weapon does transform you into something new: an angelic form of your former self.
It’s admittedly difficult to rank this item as it can be very hit or miss. As an action, you randomly draw one of 20 teeth from a pouch and can either sow the tooth in the ground or implant it in your mouth. Implanting it gives your character a benefit such as access to a spell, a bonus to AC, or a new reaction, while sowing it will summon a creature or creatures friendly to you.
The creatures you can summon range in power, from nine cats to an ancient red dragon. Depending on how much information your DM shares with you about this item, it can be either exceedingly strong or completely useless.
While these are technically two different artifacts, they are placed together here as we are specifically talking about the abilities unlocked by a creature that wields both. Each of these artifacts comes with powerful spellcasting and passive buffs on their own. However, when a creature attunes to both, it gains even more fantastic powers.
These benefits include immunity to poison, truesight, regeneration of 1d10 hit points every turn as long as you have at least one hit point and a melee attack that requires a target to make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or take 7d6 necrotic damage. On top of all of that, you also gain the ability to cast Wish once every 30 days.
This attunement-required wand is so large that it functions as a +3 mace that deals an extra 2d12 necrotic damage on a hit. The wand, formerlybelonging to Orcus, gives you +3 to your Armor Class (AC) and has seven charges. you’re able to expend charges as an action to cast Animate Dead, Blight, Circle of Death, Finger of Death, Power Word Kill, or Speak with Dead.
Most importantly though, you can also use the wand to summon skeletons and zombies. By using the Magic action, you can conjure 15 skeletons and 15 zombies, which rise from the ground beneath your feat. They obey your commands until they are destroyed the following dawn.
To even use this throne, you must first acquire one of the ten Ruling Scepters of Shanatar. Otherwise, it will paralyze you and trap you inside a force field with no save as soon as you sit in it. If you do manage to acquire a Scepter and take this throne though, the benefits are grand. The throne has a hover speed of 30 feet and obeys the commands of its master.
The throne has nine charges. you’re able to use an action and expend one charge to cast a 9th-level Lightning Bolt, two charges to cast Globe of Invulnerability on the throne, and three charges to summon a spectral ancient blue dragon.
