I tend to come up with a lot of custom unique named magic items for my 5E campaigns, particularly magic weapons and armor.  I don’t like the idea of a generic +X sword without a history and background.  Thus all magic weapons and armor in my games have names and at least a few unique powers associated with them. Basically in my world magic cannot stick to something long-term without that thing having a unique name.  Names have power and can be used for and against those bearing a name.   Named magic items grow over time based on the deeds done with them if those deeds are reflected in their name, thus powerful items tend to have a litany of titles like a noble lord or royalty.   What follows is a selection of those items.  

Most of these items are effectively unique items, but the Teleport Lock and Switch Stick can exist in larger numbers

The All-Scroll

The First Record, Arbiter of the Universal Dawn, The Paper Ocean of Facts 

Unique Item requires attunement

This unique artifact was a tool of the gods used in the primordial days of the universe to keep the fledgling nature of reality ordered. The scroll itself is large, three feet wide and when rolled up and tied tight with its leather cord it is a foot thick.  The scroll itself is actually infinite, it unrolls from its blackwood rod and end caps without end, though it will immediately roll up and tie itself if taken more than five feet away from its attune owner.  

Everything that is known is recorded on the scroll somewhere. The position of every object, the name of every person, maps of every location, etc. Note that the scroll does not have information about the future, only the past, and present. The problem is that this information is overwhelming in its quantity and density, plus there are no good means to search the scroll aside from unrolling it and skimming the text.  The text always appears in a language that the readers can understand, even if that means appearing in different languages at the same time for different readers. Finding what you want to know can take hours if you can find it at all. The longer one is attuned to it the easier it becomes to search, but even in the best circumstances doing so is difficult and never 100% certain to get results. Using the scroll over longer periods is easier, giving you time to sift through it looking for what you need, but this can take hours if not longer.  Bending the scroll to your will so you can use it quickly is a draining process that leaves the user mentally drained.   

As part of a short or long rest, you can sift through the scroll to research a subject, giving you advantage on a single skill check to recall or learn information. You could use this to look up the history of a location you’re about to visit and get advantage on an Intelligence(History) check.  

You can cast spells from the list below as rituals.  You may do so a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. Each time you cast a ritual in this fashion you must make an Intelligence (Investigation) check DC 15 to find the information you seek.  If you fail this check you do not complete the ritual but still consume one use of this ability.  Your ability to cast these rituals resets with a long rest. Each time you cast one of these spells as a ritual past this limit, successfully or not,  you gain an exhaustion level. Available spells detect magic, Identify, find traps, locate animals or plants, locate object, clairvoyance, and locate creature.  

The All-Scroll can also serve as a spellcasting focus for wizards, granting a +2 bonus to spell attacks and their spell save DC.  

Boatbreaker

End of the ship Storm’s Respite, Slayer of the Dragon Turtle Oraerax

Unique Item, Requires attunement

This magic warhammer was forged in mithral and covered in nautical stylistic elements such as a  head that looks like a sperm whale’s head and a handle that looks to be a mass of octopus tentacles.  This weapon was created by the ancient dwarven weapon master Darren Foehammner for use by the dwarven heroine Ceria Silvercrack against a band of pirates that had been raiding their clans’ shipping lanes for many years, killing many and inflicting countless gold pieces in damage. Ceria was able to sink the pirate flagship the Counting House, but Boatbreaker was lost in the battle and carried away by the tide.  It has since passed from owner to wielder to wielder, usually among seafaring folk.

Boatbreaker is a +2 warhammer.  It floats and cannot be forced underwater no matter how much weight is placed on it, though this ability can be turned on or off by the attuned character as a bonus action.  It can be used as a personal flotation device indefinitely.  Boatbreaker grants its wielder a swim speed equal to their walking speed and the ability to breathe water.  

Boatbreaker does double damage against objects of all types, including boats.  Also, the wielder has advantage on any attack made against boats using Boatbreaker   

Once per long rest as a free action the wielder of Boatbreaker may curse a boat as part of making a successful melee attack against it using Boatbreaker.  The cursed boat will sink in 24 hours through some mixture of bad weather, bad luck, and incompetence. If the boat is in shallow enough water or at a dock the sinking may not destroy it and it may be repaired normally once the curse is over. Casting remove cures on the boat during that 24 hours window will save it from this fate.  

Coat of Knives

Unique item requires attunement

The Coat of Knives is the form taken by a nascent god, dying planar prince, or similar creature, but its exact origin is unknown.  This being, whatever its nature, is powerful but limited, and it needs sacrifices of mortal lives for its power to grow.  The being is hungry for deaths committed with the tools it provides as it harvests those spirits in the hope of one day ascending (or maybe returning) to a greater state of being.  Those who wear the Coat of Knives often speak of how it hungers for murder and has driven more than one weak-minded individual to commit terrible deeds to quiet the hunger.  The Coat is not sentient as mortals are and does not communicate apart from basic emotional urges like hunger, anger, or joy.    

The appearance of the Coat of Knives is a black long coat of thick cotton with large silver buttons.  It will minorly adjust its appearance to fit local customs and weather but the basic theme remains. Any damage to the Coat quickly repairs itself after the next murder committed by its host using its weapons. 

If someone puts on the Coat of Knives while it is not attuned to anyone it will immediately attune to the character that put it on, even removing an attunement to a currently attuned item of the character’s in the process if needed (choosing the item most recently attuned to).  If it is not put on but just picked up it can be attuned to normally.  Once attuned the wearer cannot go more than five feet from the coat without it somehow appearing in their belongings or on their person when no one is looking.  To remove attunement to the coat first requires the attuned character to receive a remove curse spell. 

When worn by its attuned wearer the coat grants them Armor Class 14 and requires no armor proficiency to wear.  While worn, the Coat of Knives makes the wearer immune to the effects of cold or hot weather. The wearer of the Coat gains advantage on any saving throw to end an ongoing effect.

As a bonus action, the wearer can draw a weapon from within the coat.  This weapon can be a normal, silver, iron, or +1 dagger, rapier, or short sword as the wearer wishes.  The weapon disappears if it leaves a five-foot radius of the attuned wearer for more than one hour.  If the wearer of the coat has killed a sentient being with one of these weapons since their last long rest they may create a single +2 weapon. A creature killed with the weapons of the Coat Of Knives cannot be returned to life without a True Resurrection spell.  

When first attuned to, the Coat of Knives requires the wearer to kill at least one sentient creature a month. After a year this becomes two per month.  Every year after that the Coat will increase the number of murders of sentient creatures per month by one. Each month where a sufficient number of murders are not carried out, the wearer gains a level of exhaustion that cannot be recovered until the wearer fulfills a month’s murder quota to feed the Coat.  

There is no known way to destroy the Coat of Knives. It recovers from any damage inflicted upon it.  Some have tried to starve it, but it has a habit of when buried or hidden finding its way back into the hands of those who will fall sway to it.  Some scholars believe that it is possible to go into the Coat to the space where its weapons come from and face the being that empowers the Coat there.  

Coat of The Ne’er do Well

Doublet of the Bandit King, Finery for Assassination

Unique Item requires attunement

A fashionable doublet with a half cloak attached, this garment is always at the height of fashion and can change colors and details of its tailoring so it never looks like the same outfit twice.  It is said to have been made in the land of Melanae by the great wizard tailor Kartar of Pitala for a Kunwar of Rani’s court.  That Kunwar, Haryath traveled far in her duties including to the lands of Theria, Vortland, and Bataas, serving as diplomat, spy, and provocateur as needed. During one of these journeys, she met her end during her involvement in the assassination of a Therian Consul. After her death, the Coat of the Ne’er Do Well was lost and showed up next in the histories in the hands of the bandit king William the Black on the border between Bataas and Theria.  That is where the Coat earned its most commonly used name as Wiliam the Black was a well-known rogue and scoundrel. When William the Black was finally killed the Coat again passed into the shadows of history, passing from courtier to bard to criminal as is the way of the criminal underworld.  

The Coat of the Ne’er Do Well allows the wearer to focus their personality and force of will on their enemies, distracting them and causing them difficulty when attacking the wearer.  This allows the attuned wearer to determine their Armor Class by using 13 + their Charisma bonus.  The wearer also can cast sanctuary on themselves once per long rest, with a save DC equal to 8 + the wearer’s proficiency bonus + the wearer’s Charisma bonus.

The Coat grants the wearer resistance to thunder damage and advantage on saving throws against any spells or effects that require you to hear the caster’s voice.   

The Cost grants the wearer advantage on any Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide in plain sight or blend into a crowd.  

Lying Blade

Unique item requires attunement

This rapier forged of Therian steel looks normal at first glance.  It is of unremarkable design, size, and material.  Close inspection reveals incredibly small thieves cant text and symbols that run across the surface of the blade proclaiming false deeds about the attuned wielder that change over time. The Lying Blade was forged in the city of Red River by the Robber-Wizard  Arastaeus using only materials stolen from Red River’s richest citizens.  The weapon was first given to Haxa Blackfeatrher, the leader of the Red River thieves guild, the Raven Company.  It has remained in the Raven Company since, being passed to or taken by trickery by each guildmaster in turn.  Anyone carrying it has a claim to the leadership of the Raven Company.,   

The Lying blade is a +1 rapier.   The attuned wielder of the Lying Blade has advantage on saving throws against Zone of Truth or any other magical effect that would compel them to tell the truth.  Also if the attuned wearer succeeds on a saving throw against Zone of truth they can decide if the caster of the spell is aware they succeeded or not.  

The attuned wielder of the Lying blade gains one superiority die, a d8, that can only be used with the Feinting Attack maneuver. When the attuned wielder of the Lying Blade uses Feinting Attack maneuver, with the superiority die provided by the Lying blade or their own, they may roll the superiority die twice and take the higher result. 

Mantle of the Lord of the Hunt

Unique Item requires attunement

This gray-furred mantle is large and thick, almost more a half cloak than a mantle. Originally worn by the Unseelie arch fey the Lord of the Hunt, he has been known to gift it to mortals who have earned his favor.  This usually occurs by performing well after being pulled into the Wild Hunt, helping wolves in need, or just showing the Lord of the Hunt particular honor and respect.     The Mantle always returns to its true owner eventually, usually after the death of the mortal it was given to, though on occasion wearers of the  Mantle have offended the Lord of the Hunt4 and become targets of the Wild Hunt until it is returned.  

The attuned wearer of the Mantle is able to cast speak with animals and animal friendship at will, but may only communicate with or befriend wolves, dogs, and similar canine creatures. The attuned wearer also gains resistance to cold damage, 60-foot darkvision,  and gains advantage on any Wisdom (Survival) checks to track a creature.  

Teleport Lock

Uncommon item requires attunement

This magical device usually has an appearance similar to a spike or piton, but the design varies from artificer to artificer.  Once attuned to, this device can aid in the casting of teleport spells. The attuned wearers can use it as a destination teleport circle when casting that spell, or as a destination when casting teleport or any spell that has teleport movement as long as the teleport lock is in range.  The chance of successfully teleporting to the teleport lock is 100%. This allows the caster to teleport through dimensional barriers and avoid any limitations about knowing or seeing the destination.   

Warring wizards often try to sneak teleport locks into the strongholds of their enemies, especially if they are shielded with dimensional barriers.  Some teleport locks have been fashioned into throw weapons or bolts, allowing them to be thrown or fired into hard-to-reach places. Its original creator is unknown, but it has become very common among magicians who make use of teleport readily.  

Switch Stick

Uncommon item

This device was first crafted by the Fifth Archmage of Tikerors, Mage King of that island nation four hundred years ago. Though if you believe in their reincarnation cycle that the same archmage rules still today.  Over the centuries switch sticks have been widely copied and considered by many to be the test of a journeyman artificer.

 A switch stick usually looks like a short rod or wand with several notches carved in it.  The switch stick is used by breaking it in half, then attaching the two halves to two objects of roughly similar size (both small, bot medium, etc).    One of these objects is usually a person.  If either half of the stick is broken using one of the remaining notches while both are in contact with a similar-sized object, the two objects sitch places via teleport.  This occurs regardless of distance or dimensional barriers, but will not occur if the two objects are not on the same plane.   Each switch stick can only be used once.    

Switch sticks are commonly used as a method of escape, such as attaching one to a hostile creature so if you are attacked you can escape and bring a hostile creature to attack your assailants.  Some alchemists have attached switch sticks to explosive barrels for a dramatic exit.   

Webcutter

Spiderbane, Chainbreaker

Unique Item, requires Attunement

This blackened steel and eog longsword was made by the artificer Benlox the Mad, Savior of Saleigh, as a gift for Princess Jenette Calbien IV of Baroux after a harrowing encounter with the spiders of Valley of the Bound. It was carried by Princess Jeanette until her death when it was passed to her daughter.  Unfortunately for the Principality of Baroux Webuctter was stolen not long after by the well-known villain Wilhelm Ark-Traser during a daring heist within the castle at Cordeaux. Ark-Traser carried the blade until his death at the hands of Lord Marshal Ezekial of Bataas.  Its current whereabouts are unknown.   

Webcutter is a +1 longsword that grants the attuned wielder advantage on any saving throws against being restrained or grappled.  The wielder also gains advantage on any ability checks to resist or break out of a grapple, including assisting allies in breaking free of being grappled or restrained. Webutter inflicts double damage on any attacks against rope, webbing, or similar materials.