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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesIn both the 2014 and 2024 D&D 5e rules covered here, attunement is a bond required for some magic items to grant their magical properties. You make that bond by focusing on one item during a Short Rest while physically touching it; the attempt fails if the rest is interrupted. A creature can be attuned to no more than three items at once. The procedure is broadly consistent between editions, but prerequisites and how attunement ends have some wording differences.
What attunement does
Attunement gates an item’s magical properties. If an item requires attunement and you are not attuned to it, you generally do not gain those properties. You can still receive its nonmagical benefits: for example, a shield that requires attunement still works as a normal shield while you are unattuned.
Not every magic item requires attunement. Check the item’s description: it states whether attunement is required and may specify who can attune to it.
How to attune to a magic item
- Check the item. Read its description for an attunement requirement and any prerequisite, such as membership in a class.
- Touch and focus on it. During a Short Rest, physically touch the item and focus on that item alone.
- Complete the rest without interruption. If the rest is interrupted, the attempt fails. In both the reviewed 2014 and 2024 texts, this cannot be the same Short Rest used to learn the item’s properties.
Once the procedure succeeds, the item’s magical properties become available to you, subject to its description and any other applicable rules.
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How many items can you attune to?
A creature can be attuned to no more than three magic items at a time. The 2024 System Reference Document 5.2.1 states, “You can be attuned to no more than three magic items at a time.” You also cannot attune to more than one copy of the same item. To attune to a fourth item, first end attunement to one of your current items.
How prerequisites differ between the editions
| Rules source | Prerequisite guidance |
|---|---|
| 2014 Basic Rules | The item can specify a prerequisite. The text says a monster qualifying through a spellcasting class must have spell slots and use that class’s spell list. |
| 2024 rules | A class prerequisite requires membership in that class. A spellcaster prerequisite requires that the creature cast at least one spell using its traits or features, not through a magic item. |
Use the wording for the edition your table is playing. In particular, the 2024 clarification about spellcasting does not mean that using a spellcasting magic item alone satisfies a spellcaster prerequisite.
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How attunement ends
Ending it voluntarily
Ordinarily, you can end attunement by spending another Short Rest focused on the item, while physically touching it. The 2014 rules say you cannot voluntarily end attunement to an item cursed by you. The 2024 SRD 5.2.1 says the curse must first be broken.
Other ways the bond ends
The 2014 Basic Rules list these additional circumstances: you cease to meet the item’s prerequisite; you are more than 100 feet from the item for at least 24 hours; you die; or another creature attunes to the item. These are the conditions stated in that edition’s text.
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Which 5e rules should you use?
The 2014 Basic Rules present attunement in the Magic Items chapter. The 2024 Basic Rules direct readers to Equipment for identifying, attuning to, and using magic items; the procedure is given in full in the 2024 SRD 5.2.1. The reviewed texts agree on the focused-rest process and three-item maximum, but use the applicable edition’s text for prerequisites and edge cases rather than combining their wording.
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- 2014 Basic Rules: Magic Items
- 2024 Basic Rules: Equipment
- Wizards of the Coast, System Reference Document 5.2.1
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