Chapter 5: Treasures

Those who are bold or cunning enough can find treasures aplenty to reward their exploits in Ravnica. Coins change hands in back alleys, chests of riches are laden onto beasts of burden, and fine objects of art stand on display in museums and galleries. Obscene wealth lies secreted away in Orzhov vaults, the Azorius Senate’s payroll is a bureaucratic tangle, and House Dimir greases countless palms with an apparently endless fortune. And items of magic lure adventurers and thieves with the promise of greater power.

Coins in Treasure

When you use the treasure tables in chapter 7 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide, you can change the type of coinage found if you’d like to associate the coins with a particular guild. For more information about coinage in Ravnica, see the “Currency: Zibs and Zinos” section in this source’s introduction.

Copper pieces encountered in treasure are either standard Azorius zibs or Orzhov alms-coins. A pouch of alms-coins might belong to someone who has been impoverished—or someone who makes a habit of robbing from the poor. A chest full of alms-coins could be an Orzhov lockbox used to hold the coins before they are distributed to the poor.

Silver coins minted by the Azorius Senate are worth 25 cp, so they might be found in smaller numbers than the standard silver pieces mentioned on the treasure tables. They are common currency, so they’re found in the coin purses of virtually everyone in Ravnica. A hoard of silver coins might be amassed by a miser or stored in a bank vault (or stolen from such places).

Electrum pieces found in treasure are Azorius 50-zib coins. These coins are more common than electrum pieces are on most other D&D worlds, and they serve a function very similar to the silver 25-zib coins. You might reflect this fact by turning some silver pieces found as treasure into electrum pieces.

Gold coins in treasure translate directly to 1-zino coins, which could be the standard coins of Azorius mint or Boros coins (which might have been used as the weekly pay of a soldier in the Legion). A treasure might include Boros 5-zino coins, representing the salary of an officer or a payment made from the Legion to another guild.

Platinum pieces found in treasure are Orzhov 10-zino coins. They might have originally belonged to an Orzhov pontiff. Perhaps they were withdrawn from an account in an Orzhov bank—which suggests someone wealthy and powerful, possibly with criminal connections. A significant treasure find might include a stash of Orzhov 100-zino coins (one-tenth the number of platinum pieces found on the treasure table), which almost certainly belongs to a powerful Orzhov scion who wants it back.

Guild Charms

A guild charm is a magical effect placed on an otherwise mundane item. Charms are often given to favored members of the guild—those whose renown scores with their guilds have reached 10 or higher—or those entrusted with important missions. A charm typically manifests as the guild’s symbol emblazoned on an item that is worn or carried by the chosen creature.

A guild charm can be used only a certain number of times before it vanishes, and only by the creature upon which it was bestowed. If you use a charm to cast a spell, you can do so without expending a spell slot or providing any components. The spell’s save DC is 15, its attack bonus is +7, and the spellcasting ability modifier for any spell effects is +4.

A charm can’t be used in the area created by an antimagic field spell or a similar effect. The guildmaster of the charm’s guild can revoke the charm as an action, but otherwise the charm can’t be removed from the object on which it was placed by anything short of divine intervention or a wish spell.

The charms associated with each guild are described below.

• Azorius Charm
• Boros Charm
• Dimir Charm
• Golgari Charm
• Gruul Charm
• Izzet Charm
• Orzhov Charm
• Rakdos Charm
• Selesnya Charm
• Simic Charm

Magic Items

Magic items are abundant on Ravnica. Izzet workshops and foundries create a plethora of wild and often dangerous items, and spellcasters from every guild craft items for their own use and that of their guild mates. More powerful items are created in grand experiments or by angelic blessings, or they find their way out of hidden vaults and ancient underground ruins.

Guilds and Magic Items

Each of Ravnica’s guilds has an affinity for certain magic items. This section identifies the magic items most likely to be created, used, or valued by each guild. The lists include the magic items in this source (referred to as GGR) and in the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG) that are particularly appropriate for the guilds.

The guild lists are by no means comprehensive; the guilds are happy to use whatever resources become available to them, magical or otherwise. But the items shown here are particularly prized and even coveted by the guilds. Word of the discovery of a holy avenger, for example, can mobilize a whole Boros garrison to search for it and claim it for the legion’s use. And if such an item is stolen from the Boros, the legion will go to equal lengths to reclaim it and punish the thieves.

Some items created on Ravnica are prized by all the guilds; they are listed on the General Items table.

General Items

Azorius Items

The members of the Azorius Senate use, and sometimes craft, magic items that help them subdue and dominate wrongdoers. Items that heighten the user’s vigilance are also highly valued among the guild’s arresters.

Azorius Items

Boros Items

Weapons of war and items imbued with the holiness of the angels are the favored magic items of the Boros Legion. Some of these items are created by the blessing of Aurelia herself, while others are relics dating back to the legion’s founder, Razia, or other venerated figures of the past.

Boros Items

Dimir Items

Anything that enhances stealth or facilitates spying is precious to House Dimir. Agents of the guild disguise themselves, turn invisible, and shield their own minds while they pry into the minds of others.

Dimir Items

Golgari Items

The members of the Golgari Swarm are scavengers who retrieve lost items from the undercity, which means that Golgari agents could conceivably end up in possession of any magic item of any origin. The items the Golgari prefer often involve stealth, insects, or poison.

Golgari Items

Gruul Items

The members of the Gruul Clans are as likely to destroy magic items as they are to use them, but certain weapons and strength-enhancing items are well suited to their tastes.

Gruul Items

Izzet Items

The Izzet League is the most prolific creator of magic items in Ravnica. Its inventions can be unpredictable and downright dangerous, but they can also be useful tools, weapons, and implements of magical manipulation. Izzet researchers are prone to giving their magic items special names, so what one person might call a staff of thunder and lightning might be an electrosonic field manipulator to its Izzet wielder.

Izzet Items

Orzhov Items

The oligarchs and pontiffs of the Orzhov Syndicate view possession of magic items as a mark of status, whether those items are ostentatiously on display or hidden away in a vault. Items that the guild creates are often extremely ornate; Orzhov-made wings of flying, for example, might have the appearance of bird wings where every feather looks like colorful stained glass. Items that magically increase the wearer’s imposing presence and authority are especially coveted in the syndicate.

Orzhov Items

Rakdos Items

Fire, pain, spectacle, and just enough random destruction to make life enjoyable—that’s all Rakdos cultists want out of their magic items. Items that magically create fire, leave lingering wounds, instill fear, or randomly devour objects put inside them are all sources of delight for members of the Cult of Rakdos.

Rakdos Items

Selesnya Items

Members of the Selesnya Conclave cherish magic items that heal and protect, items that call on the forces of nature (and the will of Mat’Selesnya), and weapons of fine elven elegance. Such items are often made from natural materials such as wood and leather and might incorporate leaves and vines.

Selesnya Items

Simic Items

The Simic Combine spends more of its time altering the biological processes of living creatures than it does working on magic items. Its preferred items either facilitate physical transformation or are creatures themselves—symbiotic life forms engineered to provide Simic researchers and soldiers with new capabilities.

Simic Items

Magic Item Descriptions

This section presents an assortment of magic items in alphabetical order. See the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the rules on magic items.

• Guild Keyrune

• 

• Guild Signet
• Illusionist’s Bracers
• Mizzium Apparatus

• 

• Mizzium Armor
• Mizzium Mortar
• Moodmark Paint

• 

• Pariah’s Shield
• Peregrine Mask
• Pyroconverger
• Rakdos Riteknife
• Skyblinder Staff

• 

• Spies' Murmur
• Sunforger
• Sword of the Paruns
• Voyager Staff