Monday 26 December 2022

1d20 Bargain Bin items

For boxing day, here are 1d20 magic items you might want to return to the store, or maybe you could find in the discount pile at the Goblin Market.


1: -1 sword. This sword is magic, overcomes relevant damage reduction as magic... But the magic isn't that good, and interferes with wielding. Either that or the materials are very suboptimal and the magic just can't quite make up for it, like a paper sword enchanted to be *almost* but not quite as hard as steel

2: Mysterious Cloak. Does this cloak give the wearer an air of strangeness? Do people who interact with the wearer find themselves unable to describe the wearer except in the vaguest terms or via questions? Is it clear they know more than they can say, but "there just isn't time!"? Could it be... Even the wearer becomes ensnared thusly, speaking in such a way at all times? To dwell on such thoughts will do us no good!

3: Clouded marble. When you hold it or have in on your person, you feel like you've forgotten something important, buy you can't remember what.

4: Moveable rod. Like an immovable rod, but can be moved with a bit of effort by anyone with even an average strength score, and will only hold about 15 lbs of weight.

5: Growing Pole. Starts at one foot long, at the command word grows out to 10 ft, with a couple small leaves

6: Hat of Names. When you reach inside you can pull out a slip of paper with a random name written on it. The names of the people present has no bearing on the names drawn, and adding more names to the hat just causes the extra slips of paper to vanish while a random slip is drawn

7: Wand of Dave Detection. Works similar to Detect Magic, but only detects people named Dave. Glows ominously as it works.

8: Star Map. A map that shows the night sky, stars and planets, and updates as the sky shifts overhead. However, it is hundreds of years out of date, and many of the stars have moved somewhat.

9: Amulet of Cat Indifference. When worn, housecats will not really care about you one way or the other. Since this is the default state of most housecats, this might be hard to spot. Doesn't work with lions, tigers etc (except possibly for very domesticated ones).

10: Bullseye Darts. This is a set of three magic darts. Each dart has advantage in attacks made against a bullseye, whether constructed, painted on, etc

11: Towel of Convenience. Always dry and fluffy, just have to shake it out and drop it off

12: Pills of Delay Hangover. The hangover still hits just as hard, just 1d6 hours later

13: Indescribable Item. A small wooden box--inside is an item that is totally indescribable by anyone who views it. The best they can do is describe what it's definitely not: for example, it's definitely small enough to fit inside the box, but it may or may not be red. The item cannot be removed from the box.

14: Gloves of Knock. When worn these allow the wearer to knock very loudly (particularly on doors, but also potentially works on other sturdy objects). This knock does not do any extra damage to the door and it is not loud enough to deafen anyone, although creatures very close by may have their hearing overwhelmed while the knocking continues and for a few moments afterwards.

15: Book of Blankness. Whatever anyone writes in this book is erased when the book is closed. The pages are restored to a pristine creamy white. Minor rips and tears and mended, but large chunks or missing pages stay damaged.

16: Book of Copying. If this magic tome is touching another book for 30 seconds, it will become a copy of the second book. The copy includes pictures (if any), although some detail may be lost. The Book of Copying has 500 pages--any excess pages are left blank.

16: Paper of Concealing. This 5x3 ft. sheet of brown paper blocks divination magic in the same manner as a sheet of gold or lead.

17: Lenses of Bird Identification. these horn-rimmed spectacles magically allow the wearer to determine whether or not something is a bird with 100% accuracy.

18: Wand of Illusory Frogs. This wand lets the wielder cast Silent Image 3 times per day. The only thing that they can create in this manner are types of frogs.

19: Compass of Self. this magic compass always points towards the person who is attuned to it.

20: Personal Raincloud. It's a raincloud that follows you around! Hovers 5-10 ft above your head, rain varies from drizzle to pouring (sometimes based on your mood--little lightning bolts might zap you or others if you get really mad!)



1d100 Oblique place names

Back in November, the redoubtable noisms of Monsters and Manuals posted about "oblique" place names. I thought the examples liste...