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Blog Post: Leveling Up Attunement – Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Let’s be real—most of us have a bit of a love-hate relationship with attunement in Dungeons & Dragons. On the one hand, it keeps your party from going full loot goblin and carrying around 15 magic

Evil D&D magic sword

items each (because that would be a problem). But on the other hand, it feels like attuning is a simple checkbox most of the time: you sit down, take a short rest, and boom, you’re attuned. Done.

But what if it wasn’t so straightforward? What if attunement was an actual challenge—a process—and not just a short nap with a shiny sword?

That idea really hit me while watching Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Remember Simon’s struggle with the Helm of Disjunction? It wasn’t just a quick, “Oh cool, I’ll take a break and wear this thing now.” No, it was a journey of self-doubt, reflection, and proving he was worthy. It felt like attuning was a character-defining moment.

That got me thinking: why not do something similar at our tables? Here’s a way to take attunement from a simple mechanic to a meaningful experience, just like Simon’s journey.

Introducing: The Attunement Challenge

Instead of allowing attunement to always be guaranteed, let’s make it more of a challenge. In this system, attuning to certain magic items is uncertain, and it requires a combination of skill, willpower, and, well, a bit of luck.

1. Prerequisites for Attunement

We’ll start by adding some basic prerequisites for certain powerful items. Maybe they don’t work for just anyone. After all, if you’re trying to attune to an ancient staff once wielded by a lich, you should probably have some knowledge or experience with necromancy, right?

• Alignment or Background: An evil-aligned sword might require the character to have a history of malevolence, while a holy relic could be picky about purity.
• Character Level: Some items might be too powerful for lower-level characters. Attuning to that legendary artifact at level 5? Not happening. Maybe you need to hit level 10 before it even listens to you.

These prerequisites help set the tone—this item has standards, and not just anyone can bond with it.

2. Skill-Based Attunement

Next, let’s replace the simple short rest with a skill challenge. This system makes attunement feel like a personal trial—a journey where the character must prove their worth. Depending on the item’s nature, different skills come into play.

How It Works:

• Skill Checks: The character must make a series of skill checks related to the item they’re trying to attune to. If they’re working on a weapon forged by dragons, they might need to make an Intelligence (Arcana) check to understand its magic, a Wisdom (Insight) check to sense the dragon’s will within, and a Charisma (Persuasion) check to prove their strength to the weapon.
• DC and Success: Set a difficulty (DC) based on the rarity of the item. For rare items, maybe a DC 15 works; for something legendary, crank it up to DC 20+. The character needs to hit a certain number of successes before they fail too many times. Something like:
  • 3 successes before 2 failures for rare items.
  • 5 successes before 3 failures for legendary ones.

Example: Attuning to the Helm of Disjunction

Let’s take Simon’s attunement scene and break it into game mechanics:

• Prerequisite: The Helm of Disjunction can only be attuned by someone who has faced failure and grown from it (so, no first-level characters here).
• Skill Challenge: To attune, the character needs to succeed on three checks:
  1. Intelligence (Arcana) DC 18 to understand the helm’s disjunction magic.
  2. Wisdom (Insight) DC 18 to face the self-doubts the helm brings out.
  3. Charisma (Persuasion) DC 18 to prove they’re worthy to wield its power.

This could easily be adjusted based on the item. A cursed item might throw in saving throws against mental effects, while a holy weapon might require a display of purity or faith.

3. Failure Isn’t Just a Shrug

Now here’s where it gets spicy—failure matters. If a character fails the attunement challenge, it’s not just a “try again tomorrow” situation. There are real consequences.

• Attunement Failure: If you fail, you can’t try again until you meet certain conditions (like a personal quest, gaining a new level, or defeating a powerful foe). The item doesn’t just “let you off the hook.”
• Backlash: Failing might cause psychic damage, impose a curse, or even create a lingering effect (disadvantage on Intelligence checks, temporary madness, etc.). It’s not always safe to mess with powerful magic!
• Partial Attunement: In some cases, maybe you can partially attune. You get a few benefits, but the item still fights against you, and you suffer some drawbacks until full attunement is achieved.

4. Re-Attunement and Curses

For cursed items or items that can lose attunement (perhaps a sentient weapon gets offended?), the same challenge system applies. If you’re forced to re-attune, maybe the difficulty increases. After all, an item might not be so forgiving the second time around.

Wrapping It Up

Attunement should be more than just “Oh cool, I have a free slot.” It should feel like Simon’s struggle—something earned, something that shapes the character. By incorporating skill challenges, meaningful failures, and personal trials into attunement, you’re not just handing out magic items—you’re handing out stories.

So, the next time your players of your D&D game come across a powerful artifact, don’t let them just click “attune.” Make them prove they’re worthy. Because in the end, the real magic items are the challenges we faced along the way… and also that sweet legendary sword. After all adding a little extra challenge to the game is what we are here for as DMs right?

Thanks for reading. Until Next Time , Stay Nerdy!