Activating a Magic Item

Source: D&D 5.2 SRD Magic Items

It usually takes a Magic action to activate a magic item. The item's user might also need to do something special. The description of each item category or individual item details how an item is activated. Certain items use the following rules for their activation.

Command Word

A command word is a word or short phrase that must be spoken or signed for an item to work. Spoken command words must be audible and fail to work in areas where all sound is suppressed, as in the area of the Silence spell.

Consumable Items

Some items are consumed — used up, in other words — when they are activated. A Potion of Healing must be swallowed, for example, while the writing vanishes from a scroll when it is read. Once used, a consumable item loses its magic.

Spells Cast from Items

Some magic items allow the user to cast a spell from the item. The spell is cast at the lowest possible spell and caster level, doesn't expend any of the user's spell slots, and requires no components unless the item's description notes otherwise. The spell uses its normal casting time, range, and duration, and the user of the item must concentrate if the spell requires Concentration. Many items, such as Potions, bypass the casting of a spell and confer the spell's effects with its usual duration. Certain items make exceptions to these rules, changing the casting time, duration, or other parts of a spell.

A magic item may require the user to use their own spellcasting ability when casting a spell from the item. If the user has more than one spellcasting ability, the user chooses which one to use with the item. If the user doesn't have a spellcasting ability, their spellcasting ability modifier is +0 for the item, and the user's Proficiency Bonus applies.

Charges

Some magic items have charges that must be expended to activate their properties. The number of charges an item has remaining is revealed when the Identify spell is cast on it. A creature attuned to an item knows how many charges the item has and how many it regains.