The Sharper Visage Catalog (PDF)
The Sharper Visage Catalog (PDF)
Magic items should be fun to use. Give your players new ways to solve problems, explore the world, and change what happens next.
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The Sharper Visage Catalog is a 108-page toolkit packed with 150+ magic items and oddities compatible with Fifth Edition, plus practical guidance for making magic items fun for players and Game Masters.
Give your players magic items they'll want to use:
- Stop a fleeing enemy from teleporting away with the Teleportation Trammel
- Detach your ear to overhear a secret conversation with the Whisper Ring
- Travel through mirrors with the Dandy Key
- Start and spread fires with the Firebug wand
- Grab objects with your tongue and pull them to you with the Ring of the Ribbeteer
150+ magic items and oddities
108-page PDF
5E compatible
Updated for the 2024 rules
Tired of magic items that never get used?
Every Game Master has handed out a magic item that looked good on paper but barely saw play. Maybe it provided a passive ability that the player forgot they had. Maybe it could only be used in a specific situation that never came up. Or maybe the player liked the item but didn’t think it was worth an Attunement slot. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: a promising reward becomes another forgotten entry in a character’s inventory.
Players want to use magic items that give them new choices worth making.
What can they do?
These items give players new ways to solve problems, explore the world, express who their characters are, and change what happens next. The best items make players think, "I know exactly what I want to do with this."
What makes them memorable?
An item worth remembering needs more than a useful effect or bonus. Distinctive names, strange abilities, playful humor, and a shopkeeper's anecdote give each item an identity that's hard to forget.
Will they fit my campaign?
Many items have open-ended plot hooks to help you connect new treasure to whatever is happening in your campaign right now. They leave room for the people, places, factions, and conflicts already in your game.
What readers are saying
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“As I was reading, I kept finding things that made me think, oh, this is going straight into my home game.”
Brandon
Five-Star DriveThruRPG review -
“I started reading and immediately was thinking about what my character would use."
Jeremy
D&D player for over 25 years -
“This book is almost more like a guide for how to be a better DM than just a collection of items to add to your game.”
Connor
DM for over 10 years
Give players ideas they'll want to try.
Every Game Master has watched a scene play out exactly as expected—not because the players lacked imagination, but because they didn’t realize there was another option. Even when players know they can attempt almost anything, it can be difficult to see beyond the obvious or familiar solution.
An unusual magic item changes that. It puts a new capability in the player’s hands and changes how they see the situation, leading to plans and decisions that might never have occurred otherwise.
The items in The Sharper Visage Catalog inspire creativity through play. The players make a choice, the Game Master responds, and together they discover what follows.
See what one item can change.
Zebulon: For months we’d been contending with a witch, thwarting scheme after scheme, yet she always managed to teleport away at the last moment. Whenever I tried to Counterspell her escape, she would laugh and disappear with a smirk.
I realized I needed a more comprehensive solution and created a Teleportation Trammel. As we approached the witch for the last time, weapons drawn, she cast her Teleport spell—but this time, the only thing that vanished was her smug smile.
Magic Items Worth Using
150+ magic items and oddities organized into themed collections, including:
- Pocket Wands for everyday magical utility
- Mischief Makers for theft, infiltration, and escape
- Friend Turners for interacting with PCs and NPCs
- Body Kit Effects that transform what a character can do
- Arcano Caboodle for unusual solutions to common obstacles
- 30 Minor Ioun Stones
- 50 Trinkets your players can actually use
- The Restricted Section for the catalog's biggest ideas
Tools for Game Masters
Practical guidance for making magic items fun for both players and GMs:
- magic item pricing
- browsing tables
- shopkeeper anecdotes
- techniques for memorable shopping scenes
- advice for unexpected item uses
- a reusable magic shop for almost any campaign
Adventures Waiting to Happen
- A secret room containing an evil artifact for players who can’t resist pushing the big red button
- 12 shopping encounters with rewards and open-ended plot hooks you can connect to your campaign
- Ready-to-run stat blocks and maps where needed
- Story tools for introducing NPCs, complications, side quests, and character development
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Find what you need
- Items organized by effect instead of type
- Searchable table of contents
- Bookmarks and internal links throughout
- Suggested prices and rarity included for every item
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No extra homework
- Supporting rules included where they are needed
- Ready-to-run encounters
- Rewards, maps, and references kept with each encounter
- Less time searching through other books
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Built for real game tables
- Updated for the 2024 rules and compatible with the 2014 rules
- Tablet-friendly and printable PDF
- Fits an existing campaign with minimal preparation
Welcome to the Sharper Visage
The Sharper Visage is more than a place to buy magic items. Characters can return throughout the campaign for supplies, information, or a welcome break from the dangers of adventuring. Thanks to a conveniently vague magical anomaly, the shop can appear almost anywhere the Game Master needs it.
At its heart is the archmage Zebulon, a retired adventurer turned shopkeeper with a story for nearly every item on his shelves. He helps characters find magical solutions, identifies and crafts unusual items, brokers information, and connects adventurers with useful contacts. Although immensely powerful, he is bound to the shop, so he can support the characters without taking over their adventure.
Every item includes one of Zebulon’s anecdotes, maxims, or bits of hard-earned advice that the Game Master can share with the characters.
Turn shopping into story.
Shopping doesn’t have to pause the adventure. A visit to the Sharper Visage gives Game Masters new ways to introduce complications, expand the world, set character development in motion, and change what happens next.
The Sharper Visage includes twelve shopping encounters with rewards, open-ended plot hooks, and the support Game Masters need to run them. Each encounter is intentionally designed to inspire an immediate connection to the characters, factions, and conflicts already in your game.
They can deliver exposition, introduce recurring NPCs, begin side quests, complicate existing goals, or give the characters a reason to return.
Every visit can send the campaign in a new direction.
Frequently asked questions
Will these magic items break my game?
The catalog emphasizes Common, Uncommon, and Rare items that encourage creative problem-solving instead of simply increasing power. Items with especially powerful effects include meaningful limitations, costs, or consequences that the Game Master can use as part of play. The book also includes practical guidance for responding when players use magic items in unexpected ways.
Do I have to use the Sharper Visage shop?
No. Every magic item can be introduced independently in your existing campaign. The shop, Zebulon, and the shopping encounters are optional tools that make introducing the items easier and more memorable.
How difficult is this to add to an existing campaign?
Very little preparation is required. The magic items, shop, and encounters are intentionally written to fit alongside the campaign you’re already running, so you can introduce as much or as little of the material as you like. The open-ended hooks leave room for your own characters, factions, conflicts, and lore, whether your campaign is lighthearted, serious, or somewhere in between.
Is this compatible with both the 2024 and 2014 rules?
Yes. The Sharper Visage Catalog is 5E compatible. This revised and expanded edition has been updated for the 2024 rules while remaining compatible with the 2014 rules.
Is this mostly weapons and armor?
No. The catalog focuses on strange tools, utility items, bodily transformations, social magic, exploration, and creative problem-solving. Characters can still use many of these items during combat, but usually by changing the situation rather than simply increasing damage.
Do the items require Attunement?
Many do not. Attunement is used selectively when it supports balance or creates a meaningful decision rather than being applied by default.
Can characters of any class use these items?
Most can. The catalog focuses on broadly useful magical tools and oddities rather than equipment restricted to a particular class or character build.
Do the magic items include suggested prices?
Yes. Every item includes a suggested price range based on its rarity to help you introduce it naturally into your campaign’s economy.
Is the book illustrated?
The Sharper Visage Catalog includes an illustrated introduction to Zebulon, the shopkeeper. The rest of the book emphasizes clean layouts, typography, and color-coded organization to make information easy to find at the table. Its pages prioritize practical game tools and original content you’ll use during play rather than individual item illustrations.
Is this book AI-generated?
No. Every page of The Sharper Visage Catalog was written, designed, illustrated, and edited by people. No AI-generated writing or artwork was used in its creation.
What do I receive?
You’ll receive one 108-page, full-color PDF with bookmarks and internal links for every section and item. The file is delivered by email and available for download immediately after checkout. This is a digital product; no physical book is included.
Give your players magic items they’ll want to use.
Give them magic items that inspire clever solutions, mischievous schemes, character-defining choices, and moments no one planned in advance.
150+ magic items and oddities
108-page PDF
5E compatible
Updated for the 2024 rules
The Sharper Visage Catalog (PDF)