Blessings and charms were introduced in the2024 Dungeon Master’s GuideforDungeons & Dragonsas a new kind of reward for DMs to give to their players. Each isa small but significant supernatural boonthat comes as payment from a celestial, fey, or some other sort of extraplanar being with great magical power. They provide stat boosts, extra spells, and other benefits that any player would be happy to have.
Of the two,blessings are generally more powerful, since they are permanent,while charms are typically temporary or have limited uses. No charm or blessing can really be considered “bad,” but among both categories, there are certainly some that are better than others. Despite their impermanence, some charms are so good that they might be preferable to the worst blessings. These are five of the best charms and blessings, alongside five of the worst or most niche to use.
10The Blessing of Valhalla Is Not As Neat As It Sounds
A Cool Power Held Back By A Long Cooldown Period
As far as blessings go, the blessing of Valhalla is pretty unique, which makes it a shame that the power itself is so lackluster. The blessing grants a creaturethe ability to summon spiritual warriors to their side during combat, emulating the effects of a magic item called the silver horn of Valhalla. The horn, also included in the2024 DMG, takes one action to use, and summons two spirits within 60 feet of the user, which each use the Berserker stat block, with the added stipulation that they cannot be frightened or charmed.
D&D: 10 Best New Magic Items In The 2024 DM’s Guide
The new Dungeon Master’s Guide for Dungeons & Dragons is filled with tons of cool magic items that you’ll want to use in your campaign.
One thing holding this blessing back right now is that the Berserker stat block is not set in stone. The stats exist within the 2014D&Drules, but updates are likely coming inthe new Monster Manual, meaning that the strength of these warriors may change. That being said, the current Berserker stat block is not super impressive, and summoning two will do little more than add some meat shields to the battlefield. Still,this would be a great ability if it didn’t have a seven-day cooldown period, making it difficult to actually use it consistently in many campaigns.
9The Charm of Animal Conjuring Makes A Lackluster Spell Worth Casting
Getting The Most Power Out Of A Single Charm
The spell “conjure animals” received a pretty massive and controversial change in the2024 Player’s Handbook. Essentially, it went froma spell that summoned beaststo a druid or ranger’s side, to an area-of-effect damage spell. Despite this change that caused a stir in the player base, this charm is not bad.It allows a creature to cast conjure animals three times before the charm is expended, without worrying about verbal or somatic components.
Most charms work like this, being single-use or having a specified number of uses before they wear off. As such, most blessings have an inherent advantage, but this one is strong enough to stand even among the permanent powers.
Of course, it will still cost a creature’s concentration and action to cast, but this is basically three free castings of a third-level spell.Of the charms, this one emulates the highest-level magic, and it allows non-druids and rangers access to this spellcasting option. And despite being very different from the old conjure animals, this new version can still deal quite a bit of damage over time. Players may not be taking this spell as often, but this charm is definitely worth using.
8The Charm of the Slayer Is A Bit Too Situational
This Charm Can Be Great, Or Just Average
Another charm, the charm of the slayer, is far too niche for most DMs to consider. While it does last longer than many other charms, withits effect lasting a whole 9 days, it is only useful against specific monsters. Creatures with this boon can turn one weapon in their possession into a certain magic item, either a Dragon Slayer or Giant Slayer. Against their intended foes, these weapons are devastating.
Some DMs may be running giant or dragon-heavy modules, in which case this is a great reward. While most other charms are more versatile than this one, none of them could be considered a detriment.
But giants and dragons are two of the rarest creature types for players to run across, at least in prewritten adventures, and the odds of randomly coming across them are low. While these weapons can be great in certain circumstances,against the majority of enemies, they are simply +1 magic weapons. That is still better than a basic weapon, so in the early game, this charm will be pretty cool. But once players have their own magic weapons, they are better off sticking with them when fighting most monsters.
7The Charm of Restoration Can Be A Literal Lifesaver
Crucial For Parties Without A Healing Caster
The charm of restoration is a great option for parties without a cleric or druid. It gives a creature access to two important support spells, greater and lesser restoration.Unlike other charms, this one starts with three charges, which can be used to cast its associated spells. Greater restoration consumes two charges, while lesser restoration just consumes one.
Dungeons & Dragons' Best Healing Spells For Support Characters
Healing magic can mean the difference between life and death for a Dungeons & Dragons party, so players should choose their spells carefully.
This charm grants access to second and fifth-level spells, allowing any class to cast them without a slot or verbal, somatic, or material components. That’s especially handy for greater restoration,which normally consumes a costly amount of diamond dust. When a party lacks these spells, certainconditions like petrificationcan be party-wrecking; this charm would provide a failsafe in case the worst comes to pass.
6The Charm of Feather Falling Is A Bit Of A Let-Down
Useful, But Not Especially Powerful
A number of charms and blessings replicate the effects of spells, but most do so for higher-level options. The charm of feather falling instead sticks with a first-level choice,the spell feather fall, which the creature gains the effects of for ten days. Ten days is a long time, and the ability to negate fall damage isn’t nothing. But characters rarely plan to take fall damage, and feather fall is a reaction for a reason.
Falling is not even an option on many maps, andonce players reach higher levels, the damage from short or medium drops is no longer a big deal. And since many casters can learn feather fall, it’s possible that a party member has this anyway. Unlike the spell version, this charmonly affects the creature who has it, meaning it can’t be used to help allies.All in all, while this may come in handy, it relies on heights being a significant threat within ten days of gaining the charm, which will not always be the case.
5The Blessing of Understanding Makes A Wise Character Wiser
Certain Classes Will Love This Boon
This is one of the simplest blessings, replicating an ability score improvement for a specific stat.The blessing of understanding increases a creature’s wisdom score by two points. Unlike with a traditional ability score increase, however, this boon can get a player’s wisdom up to 22. For certain classes, that can allow them to maximize their spellcasting potential.
Specifically, clerics, druids, monks, and rangers all benefit from getting their wisdom as high as possible. It can be a somewhat niche stat outside those classes, but since they make up a third of players' options, that’s not much of a detriment. It may be simple,but getting a permanent boost to wisdom is a pretty great reward.
4The Charm of Heroism Is Very Limited In Its Use
Effectively The Same As Drinking A Potion
Two of the charms offered in thisDM’s Guideemulate the effects of potions, and of them, the charm of heroism is definitely the worst. And that’s not to say potions of heroism are bad; in fact,getting ten temporary hit points and the effects of Bless for an hour is pretty good. But that’s for a potion. When it comes to these charms and blessings, the abilities need to feel more impactful, and one use of a potion of heroism doesn’t quite cut it.
After using an action to activate this charm, it dissipates and is gone after an hour. It can certainly be useful during a tough fight or while going through a small dungeon, but past the first few levels, it will hardly be a game changer. Especially withthe new rulesaround creating potions,getting a whole charm just to replicate the effects of one seems underwhelming.
3The Blessing of Health Is Good For Any Character
More Health Is Something Everyone Wants
Much like the blessing of understanding, the blessing of health is effectively an ability score improvement. This one, however,affects a much more universally-important stat: constitution.Everyone wants a high constitution, since it’s the stat that determines hit point totals, the ability to concentrate, and a key kind of saving throw. That makes this blessing a reward the whole party can vie for.
Regardless of a player’s build or class, more health is always a good thing. Simple as it may be,this is probably the supernatural boon that most players would take if given the chance.And since it can get a creature’s constitution stat past 20 and up to 22, it can even help tank builds to optimize their ability scores at higher levels.
2The Blessing of Weapon Enhancement Falls Off Quickly
A Boon That Will Quickly Become Underwhelming
The blessing of weapon enhancement looks powerful at first glance. It allows players toturn one nonmagical weapon on their person into a +1 version of that weapon, with a better chance to hit and higher damage. And at early levels, before the party has found a ton of magical items, this actually could be a useful boon for martial characters.
The issue is that this boon does not scale whatsoever, and will become completely useless the second its user getsa magic weapon. Despite how it sounds, this blessing does not make weapons magical to overcome physical resistance, meaning it can’t help to deal with the many monsters that resist nonmagical damage. It can’t even be used to buff an ally’s weapons, sincethe weapon only stays +1 while the user is wielding it. This blessing will start to feel more like a curse as the party gains power and equipment.
1The Blessing of Magical Resistance Provides A Rare And Useful Feature
Especially Powerful Against Enemy Mages
Finally, there is the blessing of magic resistance, a boon which lets its user emulate a powerful feature possessed by many monsters. This feature gives creaturesadvantage on all saving throws against spells and other magical effects, and in the world ofDungeons & Dragons, there are a lot of magical effects. Even if a party isn’t fighting mages or warlocks, tons of creatures have harmful abilities that count as magical.
After 25 Years Of Playing D&D, I Finally Understand How Its Magic Works
The wizard class of Dungeons & Dragons is unlike wizards from typical fantasy genre fiction. The Dying Earth books illuminate the game’s magic-users.
This blessing increases the survivability of players who have it immensely, and unlike some other blessings, it cannot easily be replicated with spells or level-ups. Besides the blessing of health, this boon is the most universally-useful power on the list, and will come in handy in almost any module or dungeon.Dungeons & Dragonsplayers should be on the lookout for it, andDMs might want to give this one out sparingly, since magic resistance can really change the balance of combat.
