Dungeons & Dragons has had half a century to refine its mechanics, and for the most part, the game has evolved into a smoother, more intuitive experience. But some rules have survived not because they’re perfect, but because they’ve been largely ignored by the larger design conversation. Attuning to artifacts, one of the most flavorful ideas in the game, is one of those mechanics.
On paper, it’s an excellent concept that connects with the mysticism of the setting: legendary magic items shouldn’t be casually picked up and wielded. They should push back, exacting a cost before letting a hero tap into their immense power. Only the most seasoned of adventurers should be able to wield them. That tension between reward and risk is a fundamental part of fantasy storytelling. Unfortunately, the execution in most editions of Dungeons & Dragons has failed to deliver a fair or engaging experience.
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Why Artifact Attunement Damage Has Always Been Lopsided in Dungeons & Dragons
The problem lies in how the “cost” is measured. Some of D&D’s 5e artifacts require a character to take damage upon attuning, often several rolls of a d10, anywhere from 4d10 to a massive 8d10 or more. For a low-level adventurer, that’s catastrophic. Attuning to a powerful relic early in a campaign can drop them to zero hit points instantly, making the mechanic feel like a cruel trap that a smart player would pass on.
Meanwhile, high-level characters barely blink at the same challenge. A level-20 barbarian with a mountain of hit points can shrug off 50 damage as if it were a papercut. In these cases, the risk is almost nonexistent, making the mechanic meaningless. What’s meant to be a tense, high-stakes moment becomes either a near-death experience or a speed bump, depending entirely on player level with no middle ground.
A Problem That’s Survived Multiple Editions
Earlier editions of Dungeons & Dragons used damage-heavy consequences, and 5e largely kept the tradition alive with minor tweaks. The result still leaves players with a binary system where low-level characters are punished absurdly. That’s not an interesting or justified design choice; it’s a gap in game balance.
Fixing the Artifact Attunement Dilemma in Dungeons & Dragons
If artifact attunement is going to stick around, the mechanic needs to actually scale and feel like an active part of the game, not a leftover relic from older editions. And it certainly should, because narratively, it's a fantastic tool for players and Dungeon Masters to use in their campaigns.
Artifacts should certainly keep their narrative weight and some of their penalties. Adventurers who have witnessed some of the most perilous corners of Faerun should be able to distinguish themselves by wielding something most in-universe mortals can’t. But for artifact attunement to be fair for the stars of a campaign, some of the following concepts could perhaps help:
- Level-Based Scaling: Instead of flat damage, make the damage proportional to the character’s level or hit point maximum. This keeps the stakes consistent throughout a campaign.
- Saving Throws for Consequences: Give players a Constitution or Wisdom save to mitigate or avoid damage, adding an element of agency. Failures could still carry serious risks, but they wouldn’t be automatic punishment.
- Narrative Penalties Instead of Pure Damage: Attunement could involve visions, curses, exhaustion levels, or temporary or permanent stat debuffs. These make the moment feel more memorable and story-driven.
- Skill Challenges: In place of a single damage roll, the process could involve a series of skill checks (Arcana, Religion, Insight) with outcomes that shape the artifact’s relationship with the wielder.
Why This Matters for the Game’s Future
D&D thrives when its mechanics support storytelling without creating unfun bottlenecks. Attuning to an artifact should be a moment players remember for the rest of the campaign in a test of will, a brush with death, or a strange and dangerous ritual. But right now, it’s often remembered for the wrong reasons: it’s either a nonsensical instant death trap or a formality to be skipped through. Some DMs even find themselves in the situation of making D&D homebrew rules and are content to go around this limitation.
Fifty years is a long time to let a mechanic stay broken. With Dungeons & Dragons continuing to push out yearly releases, evolving into new editions, and taking on a new life, it’s worth revisiting the systems that haven’t aged as gracefully as others. Attunement has the potential to be one of the most dramatic and rewarding parts of acquiring an artifact, but only if it’s given the balance and design attention it’s been missing for decades.
- Franchise
- Dungeons & Dragons
- Original Release Date
- 1974
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
- E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson