Stone of Good Luck 5e: The Luckstone's +1 and Everything It Touches

The Stone of Good Luck 5e, also called a Luckstone, is an uncommon wondrous item that gives you a +1 bonus to ability checks and saving throws while it's on your person. It requires attunement. It doesn't need to be worn or held: in a pocket or a pouch counts. The text is word-for-word the same in the 2014 and 2024 SRDs. The verdict: a small bonus spread over a very large number of rolls, and a good fit for the attunement slot of a skill-heavy character.

Table of Contents

• •Stone of Good Luck Rules Text
• •How the Stone of Good Luck Works
• •Stone of Good Luck: 2014 vs 2024
• •Is the Stone of Good Luck Worth It?
• •Stone of Good Luck for DMs
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Stone of Good Luck Rules Text

How the Stone of Good Luck Works

What counts as an ability check or a saving throw

The +1 applies to more rolls than people expect:

• •Every skill check: Stealth, Perception, Athletics, Persuasion, all of them.
• •Initiative. Both SRDs define the Initiative roll as a Dexterity check, so it gets the +1.
• •Tool checks, such as picking a lock with Thieves' Tools.
• •Escaping a grapple, which is an Athletics or Acrobatics check in both editions.
• •Every saving throw, including Constitution saves to keep Concentration.
• •Death saving throws. Both SRDs call them saving throws, just not tied to an ability, so the +1 applies. A 9 becomes a success, which moves the chance of success on each roll from 55% to 60%.
• •Spell-based checks: the ability check for Dispel Magic against higher-level spells, and the 2014 Counterspell check against spells of 4th level or higher. In 2024, Counterspell forces a Constitution save on the caster instead, so the stone protects the person being countered.

It does nothing for attack rolls, damage or AC.

What +1 is worth

On a d20, +1 adds 5 percentage points to your chance of success on any roll where the number you need is between 2 and 20. It's never more than that, but it's on every check and save you make. Over a session, a character makes dozens of these rolls, and a handful will land exactly one short.

"On your person"

The stone works as long as you carry it. It doesn't take a hand, a ring finger, a cloak slot or a headwear slot. Someone can steal it or you can drop it, and while it's in someone else's hand it isn't on your person. Neither SRD defines "on your person," and the Bag of Holding's text doesn't address items stored inside it. DM ruling: a pack you're wearing counts; a Bag of Holding, whose interior is far larger than the bag and holds its contents apart from you, does not.

Stacking

Bonuses from different magic items add together. The stone stacks with a Cloak of Protection or Ring of Protection, which both give +1 to saving throws: wearing all three gives +3 to saves and +1 to checks. It also stacks with Bless and Guidance, which add dice rather than a flat bonus. Two Luckstones don't stack: both SRDs say you can't attune to more than one copy of an item.

Stone of Good Luck: 2014 vs 2024

The item itself didn't change. Two rules around it did: in 2024, Counterspell became a Constitution save for the caster (so the stone helps you resist it rather than cast it), and every ability check and save now falls under the 2024 term "D20 Test" along with attack rolls. The stone still covers only checks and saves, not attacks.

Is the Stone of Good Luck Worth It?

It's worth an attunement slot when your character makes a lot of checks and doesn't have a stronger item competing for the slot. It does best on:

• •Rogues, bards and other skill characters, who make the most ability checks.
• •Concentration casters, who get +1 on every Constitution save to keep a spell running.
• •Characters with weak saves. A wizard with poor Strength and Dexterity saves gains the same 5% the fighter gains, on rolls that matter more.

Compared with the other uncommon defensive options: the Cloak of Protection gives +1 AC and +1 to saves but no checks, and takes your cloak slot. The Luckstone takes no slot and covers checks too, and the two stack.

When it's a trap: on a character whose attunement slots are already full of rare and very rare items. A flat +1 is a small bonus, and by mid-level a third attunement slot can often hold something stronger.

Stone of Good Luck for DMs

Where it turns up. As an uncommon item it fits an early or mid-level hoard. A polished agate is easy to miss in a pile of coins; put it somewhere a careful character finds it.

What it changes. Very little, which is the point. The +1 never trivializes an encounter or a puzzle. It's a safe item to hand out when a player wants something and you don't want to change the game's balance.

Pricing. The 2024 SRD values uncommon items at 400 GP, usually for sale only in cities. The 2014 SRD gives no magic item prices. The magic item rarity calculator and magic item generator help if you need a few more low-power items like this.

Hooks.

• •A gambler swears his lucky stone is magic. It is, and the casino that banned him wants it more than they want him.
• •An agate in a dead adventurer's boot turns out to be a Luckstone. Her party is still alive and wants it back.
• •A shrine keeps a Luckstone as an offering. Anyone may borrow it for a single dangerous errand, as long as they return it.

Small items like this drift between characters over a campaign. Loreify records each session so you can see who had it last.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Stone of Good Luck require attunement?

Yes. It's an uncommon wondrous item that requires attunement in both the 2014 and 2024 rules.

Does the Stone of Good Luck add to initiative?

Yes. Initiative is a Dexterity check in both SRDs, and the stone adds +1 to all ability checks.

Does the Stone of Good Luck stack with a Cloak of Protection?

Yes. They're different items, so their bonuses add together: +2 to saving throws with both, plus the cloak's +1 AC and the stone's +1 to checks.

Does the Luckstone apply to death saving throws?

Yes. A death saving throw is a saving throw in both SRDs, so the +1 applies. Rolling a 9 or higher becomes a success.

How much is a Stone of Good Luck worth?

400 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of an uncommon magic item. The 2014 SRD doesn't list magic item prices.

Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.