I’ve been wanting to work with Bodie Hartley for some time now and finally got a chance to with this installment of BSM. The result of our collaboration is this awesome image of Franken’s Little Magic Shoppe in Rivertown with the hag Gvolg at the counter (see the “Quarantine” adventure for details).
Included are descriptions of some of the unique (and often cursed) magic items one can purchase at Franken’s.
1. Demon’s Bane
Weapon (dagger), uncommon
You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon.
When you are within 30 feet of a fiend or a creature possessed by a fiend, the blade glows a dull yellow color. Also, when you hit a fiend or a creature possessed by a fiend with this weapon, the fiend takes an extra 1d6 damage of the weapon’s type. For the purpose of this weapon, “fiend” refers to any creature with the fiend type, including devils, demons, and rakshasas.
2. Bodieh’s Brushes
Wondrous item (painter’s supplies), common
This magical brush set has the power to bring its creations to life. When you spend at least 1 hour creating a work of art on paper using these brushes then speak a command word, the creature leaps from the paper as if you had cast the find familiar spell, except that the familiar has the statistics of Bodieh’s Creation (see Appendix C).
Note to designer: I’ve included the statistics in this article for your convenience, but it should go in Appendix C with the other monsters.
[su_note note_color=”#fafafa”]
Bodieh’s Creation
Tiny construct, unaligned
Armor Class 11
Hit Points 2 (1d4)
Speed 20 ft.
Abilities Str 1 (-5), Dex 13 (+1), Con 10 (+0), Int 5 (-3), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 10 (+0)
Skills Perception +2, Stealth +5
Damage Vulnerabilities fire
Damage Immunities poison, psychic
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
Senses blindsight 30 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 12
Languages understands the languages of its creator but cannot speak
Challenge 0 (0 XP)
Antimagic Susceptibility. Bodieh’s creation is incapacitated while in the area of an antimagic field. If targeted by dispel magic, the creation must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against the caster’s spell save DC or fall unconscious for 1 minute.
False Appearance. While the creation remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary piece of paper with a drawing on it.
Magic Resistance. Bodieh’s creation has advantage on saving throws against spells and magical effects.
Paper Made. Bodieh’s creation has disadvantage on Strength ability checks and saving throws.
Bodieh’s creation has no effective attacks.
[/su_note]
3. Bag of Pure Salt
As an action, you can grab a handful of the bag’s contents and throw it at a creature within 20 feet of you. Make a ranged attack against the target creature, treating the salt as an improvised weapon. If the target is a fiend or incorporeal undead (like a ghost or specter), it takes 2d6 acid damage on a hit. In addition, incorporeal undead must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of the creature’s next turn. The bag contains enough salt to make 10 attacks like this.
Alternatively, the salt can be used as a substitute for the components for the spells dispel evil and good and protection from evil and good.
4. The Eye and Hand of Larry
Wondrous items, common (requires attunement)
Often confused for a similar-looking pair of artifacts, the Eye and Hand of Larry are both common magical items which only work when combined. As an action, you present the Eye and Hand of Larry and shout the phrase “Look, it’s Larry!” Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is charmed by you for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.
Curse. The creature that is attuned to the Eye and Hand of Larry is always mistaken for Larry Everson, a human commoner from a distant land, even if the creature looks, sounds, or acts nothing like Larry.
5. Gremlin Figurine
Wondrous item, uncommon
This statuette of a gremlin is small enough to fit in a pocket. If you use an action to speak the command word and throw the figurine to a point on the ground within 60 feet of you, the figurine becomes a living gremlin. If the space where the gremlin would appear is occupied by other creatures or objects, or if there isn’t enough space for the creature, the figurine doesn’t become a gremlin.
The gremlin is friendly to you and your companions. It understands your languages and obeys your spoken commands. If you issue no commands, the gremlin defends itself but takes no other actions. (See the gremlin’s statistics in Appendix C.0
The gremlin exists for up to 8 hours. It reverts to a figurine early if it drops to 0 hit points or if you use an action to speak the command word again while touching it. Once it has been used, it can’t be used again until 5 days have passed.
Note to designer: I’ve included the statistics in this article for your convenience, but it should go in Appendix C with the other monsters.
[su_note note_color=”#fafafa”]
Gremlin
Tiny humanoid (gremlin), chaotic neutral
Armor Class 13
Hit Points 2 (1d4)
Speed 30 ft.
Abilities Str 3 (-4), Dex 16 (+3), Con 10 (+0), Int 5 (-3), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 7 (-2)
Skills Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages understands Common but cannot speak
Challenge 0 (10 XP)
Aura of Clumsiness Each non-gremlin creature within 30 feet of the gremlin has disadvantage on Dexterity ability checks and saving throws.
Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the gremlin has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
Tiny Thief. The gremlin can take the Sleight of Hand or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns.
Actions
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +0 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 slashing damage.
[/su_note]
6. Gem of Throwing
Wondrous item, uncommon
This oversized prism is actually a dangerous magical weapon. You can use your Intelligence modifier in place of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for attack and damage rolls made with the gem. The gem can be thrown with a 20/60 foot range. On a hit, it deals 1d10 magical bludgeoning damage. The gem automatically returns to your hand regardless if it hit its intended target or not.
7. Wonk’s Curious Runes
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
As an action, you can throw these runes at a spot that you can see within 30 feet of you. Each creature within 5 feet of the runes that can see the runes must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by the runes for 1 minute. The charmed creature’s speed drops to 0, and it has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to notice anything other than the runes. The charmed effect ends on the creature if it or any of its allies take damage.
A charmed creature can use its action to make a DC 13 Intelligence check or another DC 13 Wisdom saving throw (the creature’s choice), ending the effect on itself with a success. A creature that passes its saving throw is immune to the effects of this magic item for 24 hours.
Curse. The runes are cursed. A creature attuned to the curse that loses the runes or has the runes stolen from it begins to overthink everything. Until the curse is removed or the runes return to the creature’s possession, the creature has disadvantage on Intelligence ability checks.
8. Granny Knucklebones’ Serving Platter
Wondrous item, uncommon
This magic item resembles a white porcelain serving platter decorated with red and blue flowers. When ordinary food is placed on the platter, the food becomes poisonous. Any creature that ingests food that has touched the platter must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. A creature that passes its saving throw becomes poisoned for 1 minute. At the end of each of the creature’s turns, it can reroll its saving throw, ending the effect on itself with a success.
If a creature fails its initial saving throw, it becomes poisoned for 1 hour. As long as the creature remains poisoned, it is unconscious. Only a remove curse or lesser restoration spell can wake the creature from its magical slumber.
9. Feather of Heaviness
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)
When you are attuned to this feather, you are nearly impossible to move. Your weight is multiplied by sixteen and you cannot be knocked prone or moved by any nonmagical means.
Curse. The feather is cursed. While attuned to the feather, a creature’s movement speed is reduced by half and it cannot take the Dash action.
10. Graveyard Dirt
As an action, you can toss a handful of the dirt onto a creature up to 20 feet from you. Make a ranged attack against the target creature, treating the dirt as an improvised weapon. If the target is a celestial or fey, it takes 2d6 necrotic damage. If the target is an undead whose challenge rating is 1 or lower, it must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or become incapacitated until the end of its next turn.
11. Rhubarb the Tinkler’s Random Incense Sticks
Wondrous item, uncommon
This small ceramic bowl holds 2d10 + 3 identical incense sticks when discovered. You can use an action to pull one of the incense sticks from the bowl and speak a command word, causing the incense stick to light. When the stick is lit, it creates a random effect determined by rolling a d8 and consulting the Incense Sticks table.
The effect lasts for 1 minute or until you use an action to extinguish the flame.
Incense Sticks
| d8 | Effect |
| 1 | Protection from Fiends and Undead. While the stick is lit, each non-fiend and non-undead creature within 20 feet of the burning stick is protected against fiends and undead. The benefits offered are the same as those provided by the protection from evil and good spell. |
| 2 | Sleep. When you light this stick, it creates an effect similar to the sleep spell. As normal, creatures remain unconscious until the sleeper takes damage or someone uses an action to shake or the slap the sleeper awake, or the stick stops burning. |
| 3 | Darkness. When this stick is lit, it creates magical darkness that fills a 15-foot sphere centered on the stick that lasts as long as the stick is lit. This property otherwise works like the darkness spell. |
| 4 | Absorb Elements. While the stick is lit, all creatures within 20-feet of it gain resistance to cold, fire, and lightning damage. |
| 5 | Cause Fear. When this stick is lit, all creatures within 20-feet of you become frightened of you. A creature can use its action on its turn to make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw to end the frightened effect on itself. |
| 6 | Regeneration. While this stick is lit, each creature within 20 feet of the stick regains 1 hit point at the start of each of its turns. |
| 7 | Fog Cloud. When this stick is lit, it creates a 20-foot radius sphere of magical fog centered on the stick. This property otherwise works like the fog cloud spell. |
| 8 | Hex. Each creature within 20 feet of the stick when it is first lit or comes within 20 feet of it while it is burning becomes cursed as long as the stick is burning. Creatures deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage to a cursed target whenever it hits the cursed target with an attack. A remove curse spell cast on the target ends this effect early. |
12. Potion of Combustion
Potion, uncommon
When you drink this potion, there is no immediate effect. For up to 1 hour, if you or another creature within 60 feet of you speaks the command word “immobolatique” the liquid inside you combusts. You must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 6d8 fire damage on a failed saving throw or half as much damage on a successful one.
If damage from this potion kills you, you explode. Each creature within 15 feet of you when you explode must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d6 fire damage on a failed saving throw or half as much damage on a successful one. The fire from the explosion ignites any flammable objects in the area that aren’t being worn or carried.
This crimson liquid sizzles when shaken.
13. Big Key and Little Key
Wondrous items, very rare (the set requires attunement)
This pair of mundane looking keys are bound to a simple, steel ring. Little key looks like a small, brass key, whereas big key is a crudely, cut 3-inch long iron key.
When little key is placed and turned in a keyhole of a closed door, gate, chest, manacles, or another object that can be locked with a key, the object acts as if the arcane lock spell was cast upon it.
When the big key is placed into the keyhole of an object such as a door, box, chest, set of manacles, padlock, or another object that contains a mundane or magical means that prevents access, it opens it as if the knock spell was cast upon it. In addition, it can open any object locked with little key.
Both keys fit into any keyhole, regardless of the comparative sizes. If the keys are ever separated from their key chain, both keys permanently lose their magical properties and become mundane keys.
Once either key is used three times, neither key can be used again until the next dawn.
Curse. The keys are cursed. A creature attuned to the set of keys has disadvantage on any ability check made to notice traps and hazards.
14. Scepter of Many Broken Things
Weapon (club), rare
This scepter can be wielded as a magical club that grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it.
When you hit a construct with this weapon, the construct takes an extra 3d6 damage of the weapon’s type.
The scepter has 10 charges for the following properties. It regains 1d6 + 4 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the scepter loses its properties and becomes a nonmagical mace.
Spells. You can use an action to expend 2 or more of the scepter’s charges to cast one of the following spells from it, using your spell save DC: animate objects (5 charges), fabricate (5 charges), heat metal (2 charges), or knock (2 charges).
Dismantle. As an action, you can spend 3 charges and touch a Large or smaller nonmagical constructed object with the end of this scepter. The object dismantles into its individual parts. For example, a wooden barrel touched with the scepter would collapse into the staves, hoops, and nails that hold the barrel together; the barrel’s contents would also spill onto the ground. This property does not work on magical items.
15. Chief Oubut’s Talisman of Big Power
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)
This talisman is made of a small animal skull bound by a leather tether. Your Strength and Constitution scores are 16 while you wear the talisman. The talisman has no effect on you if your Strength or Constitution is 16 or higher without it.
Curse. The talisman is cursed. A creature attuned to the talisman becomes indefinitely insane and gains the following flaw: “I am the strongest person I know.” A greater restoration spell is required to rid the creature of this indefinite madness.
16. Tooth of Skeleton Creation
Wondrous item, uncommon
As an action, you can place this magical tooth into dirt or sand. At the start of your next turn, a Medium skeleton pulls itself out of the ground where you planted the tooth.
On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command each skeleton that you made with the teeth if the skeleton is within 60 feet of you (if you control multiple skeletons through the planting of teeth of skeleton creation, you can command any or all of them at the same time, issuing the same command to each one).
You decide what action the skeleton will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the skeleton only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the skeleton continues to follow it until its task is complete.
The skeleton is under your control as long as you maintain concentration (as if concentrating on a spell), up to 24 hours. The DC of your Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration increases by +1 for each skeleton under your control. If your concentration is broken, the skeleton stops obeying you and instead becomes hostile toward you. The skeleton must use its action before moving on each of its turns to make a melee attack against you until it is destroyed or it has been in existence for 24 hours. Once a skeleton created via a tooth of skeleton creation has been in existence for 24 hours, it collapses and turns to dust. You can use your action to make another Constitution saving throw with a DC of 10 + the number of skeletons that you created to regain control of the skeletons.
Once a tooth is used to create a skeleton, it turns to dust and cannot be used again.
17. Zirpal’s Ring of Hubba-Hubba
Ring, common (requires attunement)
While wearing this ring, you can use an action to speak its command word. When you do, all nonmagical clothing that you can see appears invisible to you for 1 minute. To you, clothing within that radius appears transparent and doesn’t prevent light from passing through them. This vision can’t penetrate armor or any fabric with a thickness greater than 1 inch.
Curse. Whenever a creature uses the ring and its duration ends, the creature goes crosseyed for 24 hours. While crosseyed, the creature has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight. The crosseyed effect ends early if a lesser restoration or remove curse spell is cast upon the creature.
18. Wand of Goblin Snot
Wand, common (requires attunement)
This wand has 7 charges. While holding it, you can use an action to expend 1 of its charges to cause a wavy, yellow ray to streak from the tip toward a creature you can see within 60 feet of you. The target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or the target contracts the goblin snot disease. Instantly, the creature’s nose and mouth begin to unceasingly spew putrid, green snot. A diseased creature has disadvantage on all Charisma ability checks against any creature that can see the snot. At the end of each long rest, an infected creature can make another DC 10 Constitution saving throw, recovering from the disease with a success.
The wand regains 1d6 + 1 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the wand’s last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the wand dissolves into snot and is destroyed.
Curse. While a creature is attuned to the wand, the creature contracts the goblin snot disease detailed above except that it cannot recover from the disease after a long rest. Furthermore, a spell or effect that removes disease such as lesser restoration only removes the disease for 1 hour. Only a remove curse spell removes the disease.
19. Uncle Skeleton’s Chest
Wondrous item, rare
This object appears to be a small, wooden chest with brass hoops and a large brass skull that works as its clasp. As an action, you can open the chest. When you do, the upper torso of an illusory skeleton wearing a top hat emerges and remains until the end of your next turn. (The other half of the skeleton remains in the interdimensional space contained within the chest.)
Before the end of your next turn, you can use your bonus action to mentally command the skeleton to perform one of the following actions. Once the skeleton performs one of the actions or the duration ends, the skeleton returns to the box and the box cannot be opened again until the next dawn. The skeleton is an illusion; any spells and attacks targeting it pass directly through it.
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) psychic damage.
Answer. As part of the same bonus action, you ask the skeleton a single question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity that will occur within 7 days as if you had cast the divination spell. The skeleton offers a truthful reply to the best of its ability.
Spell. The skeleton is a 5th-level spellcaster. Charisma is its spellcasting ability (spell save DC is 14, +6 to hit with spell attacks). It casts one of the following bard spells, requiring no material components: bestow curse, crown of madness, dispel magic, dissonant whispers, fear, or shatter.
BroadSword is Coming!
The first issue of BroadSword Monthly will be out in just a few weeks. Be sure to grab a copy if you haven’t already. Currently, pre-orders get a 10% discount on the cover price.
The book will include 4 new adventures, new campaign settings, new monsters, new magic items, and more!
Get BroadSword #1 now for 10% off the cover price!
Art by Bodie Hartley.