Tasha's Cauldron of Everything Review

Review copy courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros

• Lots of full colour art (as we have come to expect of this edition). Really, keep this coming.

• The puzzle section is well done. Actually, can we get an addition Dungeon Master’s Guide with extra traps, maps, items, and puzzles like this?

• The patron section is also well done. What this does is provide more information for making quest givers and patrons for the party. This is particularly useful for new players, since more experienced ones would come up with this naturally.

• The idea of the sidekicks section is also nice. It’s a form of non player character that can join a party, and is specifically made to be easier to play than normal. I like this idea, and it provides some mechanics out of the box for giving your fighter that squire they always wanted. And how to level them up. It’s easy enough getting them a guard, but harder to find a balanced way to have them level up with the party. There is one caveat I’d add. See the cons section.

Could Go Either Way

• Class options in might not be well liked, by Dungeon Masters in particular. Some seem to make previous options look more useless, and don’t provide fixes to existing ones. Rangers in particular get the worst of this treatment.

• This book is rather short. At 192 pages long, I wish it was longer.

Cons

• The sidekicks made using the rules provided seem to be significantly weaker than a normal player class. This is in theory fine, since you might not want them to outshine the main characters. Well, except it also mentions some players could prefer playing the simplified character. In this case, the player could feel significantly weaker later in the campaign and may need to swap to a full character class later. Regardless, they are treated like a character for calculating encounter difficulty... which doesn’t seem right especially at higher levels. It’d probably be fine if there’s not many in the party, but if every player has one I imagine it’d throw off the calculation heavily.

• No PDF*

* Denotes nitpicking.

The standard cover for Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

The alternative cover for Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

Introduction

So, I’ve got a bit behind with these. To catch up I’m going to try to do a shorter format for some books. I may also bring this format back for books that I have less to say about. That said, I do expect to go back to normal some time in the future. The way I’d describe Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything is as part a Players Handbook Addition, and as part a Dungeon Master’s Guide addition. The new class options play to the players side of the screen along with the new spells, and the new items, sidekicks rules, help on social contracts and session 0, negotiating with creatures, magical phenomenon, natural hazards, and puzzles all play to the Dungeon Master’s side. So what do I think?

New Player Options

Just over 1/3rd of the book is dedicated to new sub classes for existing player classes and new player class (artificer). I generally think this is the weakest part of the book. Part of it is I don’t think they’ve balanced new options and even some of the old ones as well as they could have, or should have. Also for my own sanity I typically make players consult with me for any options outside the Player’s Handbook. However, there’s also another 12 pages of new spells, which I’m more happy to see. This is because they’re easily limited, and also give the Dungeon Master more options to play with. After all, our enemies don’t have to be perfectly balanced one on one to be part of an engaging encounter.

New Dungeon Master Options

This is where the book really excels. As previously mentioned it includes new items, sidekicks rules, help on social contracts and session 0, negotiating with creatures, magical phenomenon, natural hazards, and puzzles. Just over half the book is dedicated to these.

Of particular note is the sidekick rules. I love the idea, and I think we’ve all at one point or another given the players an NPC that will travel with them. I also like that it allows a new Dungeon Master to quickly have stats at the ready for a new ally. It also allows each player to have two characters, one less complex than the other as not to outshine their main character. What I don’t like is how this ties into encounter design. They’re treated as full player characters, but in terms of pure combat prowess they really don’t match up past level 1. This is seen most obviously at level 20, where they have a 5^th level spell at most. Yes, some classes follow a similar progression, but they get other abilities in return. That doesn’t really happen here. The more such characters are in an encounter, the worse the problem becomes. One probably won’t affect the balance too much unless the encounter is already balanced on a knife’s edge. However, if half the party is? I think they’d feel it.

The puzzles are also a nice touch. I also like how they take the time to mention ways to customize the puzzles. This helps with both fitting into the theme, and even though it may seem obvious such options can be easily missed. The ways to customize the puzzle also sometimes mention ways to increase the difficulty of the puzzle, which again is very helpful. Handouts are also provided to make them easier to run. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind if they had a book in the future that is just half full of puzzles.

The magic items are well illustrated, and interesting ones are included. Again I wish there were more. However, I also wish they stopped adding items that increases a spell’s DC. Spells can already target a creature’s weak stats, and there aren’t as many ways to raise DC resistance as armour class. Previously, very early in the edition, magic items would increase the to hit of spell attack rolls, but raising DC was not done.

The other options tend to be on the smaller side, but they’re also welcome. They also don’t overstay their welcome, but are interest reads and the sort of inspiration I hope to find in books targeting Dungeon Masters. The exception is that the social contracts and session 0 sections probably won’t have much for more experienced Dungeon Masters. Really, I do wish there was more.

The Art and Book Build Quality

The high quality and quantity of art remains. My complains about maps being black and white are also not present, as no maps are included. I still wish more of the art was in my preferred realistic style, but that’s also consistent from other books. The covers are still great, and the quality of my books was good as well. The quantity also there, with many of the items having their own illustration. However, as always, if you’re in the store make sure to check for damage and to ensure the book has a good binding. If you’re ordering online, you won’t have the same chance.

Price

As usual the price is $49.95 in the States. You can check the MRSP here, or your local game store. They could have a deal. I do think this one is on the short side unfortunately. I wish they went back to the length of the core books.

What I felt was Missing

Some sort of new maps would’ve been nice. I always appreciate them as a Dungeon Master. The part about customizing spells should really be added to the basic rules, and/or new editions of the Player’s Handbook. It’s short enough to fit, but powerful enough that I think new players and Dungeon Masters could benefit.

Free Stuff

Nothing to see here.

Summary

In general what’s here for the Dungeon Master’s side of the screen is solid. I like what there is. And even if I won’t use the tables for natural hazards, I can still use the rules provided for events such as avalanches. Really, I just wish there were more events, more puzzles, more magical phenomenon, and more in general. That probably speaks to how much I liked that section. It’s almost like a light addition to the Dungeon Master’s Guide. I say light as that was a 300+ page tome. That said, I’m less wowed by the new class options. Though this remains consistent with my previous opinion of new class and subclass options in other books. If you liked additional options provided in previous books, you might like this too. It's a bit more extreme in the power department than some of the earlier ones in my opinion. Other than that, it’ll come down to the price vs. the page count and content.

Dungeon Master: Magic Item Drawbacks Examples

Magic items are an incredibly iconic part of a campaign. Over the course of one, each player character will typically have at least one item that is associated to them. While it isn't always the most useful of items, it can be hard not to think of the item when thinking about the character even years after the end of a campaign. In my experience, one of the things that makes an item memorable is an element of risk. It could be a risk to try and get a more powerful outcome to happen, or it could be the threat of a bad outcome. I'll begin by looking at some properties that can be added to a magic item for this particular purpose.

When Does the Drawback Happen?

In the games I took part in a player typically has to perform a roll similar to a death saving throw when making use of an item like this. If they beat it (roll 10 or higher), everything is fine. If they don't, a drawback occurs. We nicknamed this a “drawback roll” and it only applied to specific magic items. You can of course scale the difficulty as you'd like. Some items may have a very rare chance as low as 1 out of 20. You can also make it specific to the item, however it can get hard to remember a whole slew of different DCs. However, such a problem is easily avoided if magic items are carefully handed out. You can also include a skill or attribute modifier on the roll as you would any other check. The circumstance can also modify things, especially if the item is sentient. The short version is there are a lot of ways to have fun with this idea and I saw these rolls played with a lot.

Format For Properties

I've been trying to mostly keep things system neutral and use D&D 5^th edition for examples. For this reason, the first paragraph after italics will be an explanation of the intended draw back. After that, I'll provide a sample implementation for D&D 5^th edition. In the case of multiple version, I provide alternates below. Naturally, damage can be adjusted. I won't bother to list those as alternates.

Draining

Your arrow quickly leaves your bow and hits the target square in the chest. He falls over with a twist and lies motionless on the ground. You feel slightly weaker compared to before your shot.

The idea behind this item is that there is a chance to take some damage after an attack. The idea is that there is added risk with such an item. It's usually intended for a weapon, but also works well with a staff or other magical item. The damage taken typically should reflect the strength of the effect caused by the item.

Example Implementation: After an option is chosen, perform the drawback roll. In the event of a failure, roll 1d6 multiplied by the strength of the effect. The damage can be high to make it risky to use or low to allow repeated use by high level characters but also careful use by low-level characters.

Alt 1: Instead of taking damage, the user gains a level of exhaustion.

Alt 2: Instead of taking damage, the user can only take an action or move action until the end of their next turn (can be moved to 1d4 instead for more punishment).

Necromantic

Your arcane power is focused through your staff. Released in the form of a pitch black sphere, it flies ahead and explodes on impact. Shadows, acting like black fire, engulf all that are caught in it's blast.

The idea behind this trait is linked to a magic item I saw in use. The item was a staff that allowed the necromancer that was attuned to it to channel any spell through it. Doing so allowed them to change the type of damage dealt by the spell to necrotic. It also let them try to enhance its power.

Example Implementation: The object has 10 charges. 1-5 can be used at a time. Each charge adds 1d6 damage to the spell channeled through the staff. After an option is chosen, perform the drawback roll. In the event of a failure, the user of the object takes damage equal to the bonus damage.

Distracting

As you try to activate its ability, the snakes engraved on the item seem to come alive!

The idea behind this item is that using it has a chance of failure. This unreliability makes using it a risk. Here is also an alternate version where later actions take a penalty. In game wise it can also be described as a defect in the item itself.

Example Implementation: When attempting to use the object, perform a drawback roll. In the event of a failure, nothing happens.

Alt 1: Enemies have advantage against the user and the character using the item has disadvantage on saves.

Alt 2: The user has disadvantage on checks/attacks and enemies have advantage on saves imposed by the character using the item until the end of their next turn.

Blinding

The item erupts in brilliant bright light and warmth. You still see glowing white even after the warmth subsides.

This drawback was originally belonging to a sword that could erupt in bright like, sort of like a sun blade. However, it also blinded people for some length of time. The user and their allies were also not immune to this effect. There was also another sword but instead it blinded the user when trying to use it's power.

You will need to set a DC for enemies to resist the effect. Typically the user did a drawback roll instead in order to give them a better chance to resist. Characters who knew it was coming could try to cover their eyes.It's up to you if you want the item to affect party members or if the wielder has some level of control as long as they succeeded on their drawback roll. 

Example Implementation: When attempting to use the the property, perform a drawback roll. In the event of a failure, you are blinded until the end of your next turn.

Alt 1: When attempting to use a property, perform a drawback roll. In the event of a failure, you are blinded for 1d4 turns.

Deafening

All sound, ins a single moment, fades away.

The point of this drawback was to decrease perception and increase chances of walking into ambushed but also served to force the user to depend on their party members.

Example Implementation: When attempting to use a property, perform a drawback roll. In the event of a failure, you are deafened for one hour. Think of interesting ways this would effect role-playing. 

Alt 1: You are deafened for 1 turn instead.  

Silencing

A single moment later, you can no longer hear your friend speaking. The chirping of crickets can still be heard in the distance.

Legend has it that it belonged to a thief and a mage hunter over the years. Who it was originally meant for is a mystery lost to time.

Having an easy way to cast silence is a useful thing for anyone who wants to sneak around or fight wizards. However, it can also be a downside to your own in close quarters. This item originally had 2 properties. One was to use silence as normal, or a slightly modified version of the silence spell. The other had a chance to activate it unintentionally as well. This works best on a player who has a conscience and feels bad for making their party spellcasters suffer. Also if they cast spells. The other time I saw it was on a magic staff. Made things rather tough.

Example Implementation: When attempting to use a property, perform a drawback roll. In the event of a failure, silence is cast centred on the item until the end of your next turn.

Shadow Realm

You feel a cold chill run down your spine as the world fades away. Darkness surrounds you from every direction.

The intention of this item was shadow magic. The drawback could also be an advantage in certain situations and the player used it to survive blasts that otherwise would have killed them. In this case, they could never use the property directly.

Example Implementation: When attempting to use the the property, perform a drawback roll. In the event of a failure, they are trapped in a shadow realm until the end of their next turn (similar to a forced ethereal form).

Dungeons & Dragons: Xanathar's Guide to Everything Review

Review copies (standard and limited edition) courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Pros:

• New player options in the form of class paths.
• New rules for Dungeon Masters. Some of them, such as how to determine area of effect shapes, would have been very welcome in the original books since they are so vital. At this point though, I think we've got a hang of it but multiple methods are provided. The new encounter guidelines are also nice and allow us to see how levels map to challenge rating.
• Random encounter tables for just about every location.
• A bunch of low powered magic items.
• New downtime activities. And they are good! And they provide role-play and campaign growth opportunity through the new idea of rivals!
• Lots more full colour art. It's no different than other books in this edition but lots of art should always be commended.
• The page design is nice. The page outline and numbering are visually pleasing and fit into the style we've come to expect of this edition.
• Binding on both of my books were perfect.

Could Go Either Way:

• I'm not sure if I got unlucky but there were some odd artifacts on a couple of pages in my standard edition of the book. My limited edition was perfect though. If you are picking one out at the store, and are a perfectionist, you may want to keep an eye out.
• 17 pages of tables for possible NPC names. I'm never against tables in my books but some people will definitely consider this padding, especially when the book is already on the shorter side.

Cons:

• It's a bit on the short side. It's 192 pages long but it's a full price book. It's even shorter if you remove the tables of character names. This makes it hard to recommend over say the Monster Manual if you don't have it, which is a 300+ page tome.
• Few options that weren't well received by me or my players. The 3 that stood out most at my table were the Samurai archetype, and the spells Invulnerability and Mental Prison.
• No PDF, though electronic versions are going to be provided. This is almost there, but I think that if such a version was included as a bundle with the physical book it would be far better value. I also not needing to depend on the internet. One day.*

* Denotes nitpicking.

The Covers for the books. I'm quite a fan of these.

Introduction

It's already been a bit more than 3 years since the release of D&D 5^th edition (if counting from the release of the starter set), and in that time we've had a few new options for players here and there. We had some in the earlier adventures like Princes of the Apocalypse, as well as The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide but so far it's been pretty restrained this edition. Instead we got adventures that also functioned as introductions to settings. Curse of Strahd and Out of the Abyss, I mean you. In Xanathar's Guide to Everything, we get a whole slew of new class options and spells for players to choose from, but also a bunch of new options for Dungeon Masters to sprinkle through their world. We also get some new downtime activities and rules which appeal to both. Okay, Dungeon Masters can also use the new spells and re-engineer the new class options, but if you lock a clever Dungeon Master in a room with nothing but elastics and toothpicks they'd still come up with a rule system by the time you let them out. With that overview out of the way, let's jump into the meat of Xanathar's Guide to Everything, which is kind of like The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide with less fluff about the Sword Coast.

One of the spells I've already employed in one of my games. It's the kind of thing that makes for a good entrance for a necromancer. Dance, puppets, dance. It's also a good example of the kind of art to expect in the book.

New Player Options

Just about every class gets some love in some shape or form. New class options and new spells are probably the biggest highlight for players. The section on spells takes up 25 pages while the new class options take up over 50. As well, we get a small number of new racial feats. The suggestions for coming up with character stories are also nice to see. Characters are more than a bunch of class levels after all. These take up around 10 pages.

If you'd hope to love every option, I have to say that I did not. There were quite a few that I'm really looking forward to see at the table. I've got a player really wanting to try out the War Magic option. I also based an encounter around an Oath of Conquest paladin in last week's game. Spells are always a fun resource for Dungeon Masters and I'd be lying if I didn't sprinkle a few of them through my NPCs as well.

There were also a few features and spells that my players didn't want to see. My player who loves his fighters and other physical damage dealing characters had a beef with the Samurai option for fighters. He didn't feel the math quite worked out due to the ability to regain a use of their main ability every start of combat, leaving the Battle Master outmatched one on one when fully prepared. I tend to flip flop on this point because the Battle Master has some incredible tricks up their sleeve. Invulnerability and Mental Prison were more universally disliked. In the case of invulnerability it was due to the massive advantage while still being able to cast out damaging spells while for mental prison it was the lack of save attempt after the spell succeeded. At this point in my RPG playing career I've come to realize that there will probably never be a book of rules/player options where I'm happy with everything. A few such issues can still make an otherwise flawless book or rule system frustrating. We'll see how they go over during play. I did steal some parts of the Samurai class option for an NPC, so there is always that.

New Magic Items

The magic items included here cover a couple of changes and are a welcome addition. They aren't the earth shattering objects of power that will slay liches in a single turn. Instead, they are mostly common items that provide roleplay opportunities. I'm happy to see more of these kinds of items but if you were expecting a healthy range, from small and insignificant outside of role-play opportunities to earth shattering, you'll be disappointed. I have already thrown a couple of items from this book into one of my campaigns and they went over well. I'm confident there will be more to come. Just know what you are getting into.

New Rules

Similarly, we Dungeon Masters get some attention too. Of the total 192 pages (~174 if we don't include the character names), just under 70 of them are dedicated to Dungeon Master stuff such as new rules and guidelines. Some parts are more useful than others, such as the new downtime activities being far more useful than the rules for determining area of effect (seems like something that should've been in the 3 core books), but they were still nice to see. For me, the downtime activities and the emphasis on rivals as well as complications within them was one of my favourite parts. It takes it from a simple thing to do between sessions to something that contributes to the collaborative stories being told.

The new trap rules were nice to see. As well as outlining the same "simple" traps like in the Dungeon Master's Guide, they also brought up the idea of complex traps. These act kind of like a restricted legendary creature as they have an initiative score, and even give experience. Personally though, I was really happy to see the alternate guidelines for encounter design present. We've seen them in Unearthed Arcana before, but I personally feel that having an easy mapping between level and challenge rating was long overdue. The table is found on page 91 and roughly mirrors mine from the Unearthed Arcana. It's still not terribly consistent so I'd recommend using it as a reference and not bothering to memorize it. Generally taking the player level, dividing by 2, rounding down, and subtracting one will get you to within 1 challenge rating. It's not perfect, and will tend to either get the number right or underestimate, but it can be useful as a quick estimation tool. It's also nice knowing how many low level creatures you can throw at a certain leveled player at a glance.

One of my favourites from this book. It may be my bias showing though, since some of my favourite painting are by Aivazovsky. What? I like seascapes and boats.

The Art and Book Build Quality

The book is what we've come to expect from this edition of D&D. It's got good quality pages and a good hard cover backing. My bindings were perfect and my only real complaint in this section is the artifacts present in my standard edition version of the book. One thing I feel should be noted is that along with the smaller page count, the book's spine was made thinner. I quite like how the pages fit in the closed book since it helps combat the wavy page issue that can happen.

The art is also in the style we've come to expect and also plentiful throughout. From diagrams helping to explain the rules for determining area of effects to the illustrations of class options, it's well done. I would have liked to see more in the style I prefer (more realistic) but it's without a doubt well done. With how consistent these books have been this edition, I feel like I can almost copy paste this section. I do have to say though that some sections don't lend themselves as easily to art as others.

Price

The suggested price is the same 50 USD that most books cost in this edition. It's not quite as short as the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide but it's about 30 pages away. I'm sure you'll be able to find it for cheaper but I can see this as being one of the bigger issues with this book. If you are missing the Monster Manual, and Curse of Strahd, it may be hard to justify getting this book over those two unless your players are starved for new options. My person bias aside, the value calculation is influenced by the length factor.

What I felt was Missing

I would have liked to see more ranger spells here, especially since it's the class that probably needed the most help in this area. The melee focused ranger in particular doesn't have too much to choose from if they want to try to use their magic to enhance their melee attacks, while the ranged version has a lot more to choose from. This was a perfect chance to address this issue.

It would have also been nice to have a few more commonly useful map templates at the end of the book. Call me spoiled but I would have liked a map or two out of a guide to everything. It's a bit nitpicky since we already have quite a few maps provided in other books, but it would have been a nice to have.

Generally, I think 30+ pages more would have made the book a far easier value proposition for a lot of people. It is a bit short page wise and while I'll definitely be using things from it, it cuts a bit too close for me to be overjoyed with the price. At this point in this edition's life new books will face competition from already released books that people haven't had the chance to buy yet, which further complicates the value calculation. Opportunity cost, our good old friend, makes his appearance once again. Obviously a good sale or deal will take this complaint away though.

Free Stuff

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Summary

I began this review comparing Xanathar's Guide To Everything to The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide because I think it gives the best idea about what this book is. It's similar in that it attempts to provide new options for players but also things that would be interesting to Dungeon Masters. Where it differs is that instead of providing fluff on the Sword Coast, something that would be of interest to a Dungeon Master wanting to set their game in the Sword Coast, it provides new mechanical options such as downtime activities. If you really wanted new player options, this is probably the closest the edition has so far to a Player's Handbook II. However, due to its shorter length, lack of brand new classes, and a desire to appeal to Dungeon Masters as well, it isn't quite there. It's more like part of a Player's Handbook II mixed with part of a Dungeon Master's Guide II, though probably leaning more towards a Player's Handbook. What you need to do is ask yourself if you want something that will give you a setting with an adventure, help flesh one out, provide new mechanics to throw into your game, or new options for your players to create their character's with. If it's player options, this is the first book outside the core books that you'd want to get. There are also some mechanics and options for Dungeon Masters, but the choice isn't as clear cut since we have other books to choose from as well. This of course will be tempered by the price, which could make other books in this edition that you haven't had a chance to enjoy all the more tempting. 

Update
This is a picture of the artifact I mentioned. 

Dungeon Master: Necklace of Random Spells

Continuing with randomness, I thought it would make sense to post an item that came up a few times over the course of the games I run and play. It tends to be an interesting item, since whenever I've seen it used in my games and others it appears to be another item. I hope someone finds use for it in their games.

Appearance

Generally, this item looks like another item. The most common way I've seen it, informally called the “Necklace of Random Spells” by my players (even though it's not 100% accurate, since a Necklace of Random Spells could include the entire spell list and would be awesome in its own right), is that it looks exactly the same as a Necklace of Fireballs. The surprises that occur after one of the other effects are usually well remembers and entertaining. The other way is without the necklace itself. Giving just the beads in a bag makes it less obvious and also lets you mix in some other necklace beads.

Magic Effects

Spell Effects	D20 Roll
Heal to full health	1-5
Nothing	6-10
11-15/td>	10D10 necrotic damage (DC 15 dexterity save for half damage)
16-20/td>	10D10 fire damage (DC 15 dexterity save for half damage)

The table below covers the effects that occur when the bead hits a target. If the bead does not hit its target, it still goes off and creates a visual effect similar to the intended effect. If a throw is attempted, treat it as an improvised weapon attack (a clever player might load it into a sling but don't tell them this option).

Variant 1: Add “within 20ft” to every spell effect (in this case, throwing it would no longer use improvised weapon rules).

Variant 2: Remove the ability to save against the bead (the balance is maintained by need to hit the target with the bead).

Variant 3: Change the save DCs.

Variant 4: Double damage on a 20.

Variant 5: On a roll of 1, the target that is hit gains a level (if not possible, other benefit such as bonus damage and full health + temp hit points).

Variant 6: Change the damage.

Extension

Feel free to add other beads that have different effects, mix in other necklace beads into the bag of beads the characters finds (for more surprises) or change the rules on throwing the beads. The variants above can help make it more or less useful for the players.

When to Use

I'd recommend using this item at lower levels of play but not too low (level 5ish or lower if they may face extreme challenges). The damage is quite high but the ability to miss by default and the presence of the save helps even things out. The damage is also offset by the chance to get an undesired effect (such as the enemy gaining levels). The variant rule involving gaining a level on a roll of 1 is particularly bad for the party since it makes their enemy significantly stronger (though this has led to some pretty amazing combat encounters and story situations).  

Dungeon Master: Orb of Foresight

The surface of the orb, beautifully white and seemingly polished, seems to fill with smoke as it is held. The blackness takes different shapes and forms as it is held until finally, it seems to hold a form. Three people seem to stand in front of a building. The building is unmistakable. The stained glass and shape gives it away. The party easily recognizes one of the people too...

Orb of Foresight

A perfectly white orb that easily fits into the hand of a grown person, an orb of foresight is a rather interesting item. It remains perfectly white and clean until activated. Sometimes I've seen this happen by asking questions out loud but I have also seen how it can be used by mere thought. When activated, a question about the future is answered by the form that black swirling, almost like smoke, takes. Sometimes this answer is in the form of a still form. Sometimes, though more rarely, the form moves and acts out a soundless scene. The clarity and quality of the image can greatly range based seemingly on the question asked but also based on the orb. In my studies, some orbs were mentioned to have very crude representations where others more commonly displayed clearer images, even when asking the same question. They are very rare; so much of my work was based on old manuscripts mentioning these artifacts.

The orb also has some other odd properties. If dropped or thrown, the orb does not roll or bounce. Instead, it falls straight down after hitting an object and it stays where it landed until picked up. It also does not seem to transfer heat or cold through it. Even if held in a flame or ice, it keeps it's temperature constant.

Mechanics

Viewings can only be done through the orb after attuning to the item. Pick a dice. Another viewing can only be made that many days later (I suggest a D10 or D20).

The result of the viewing is displayed by a black smoke or liquid shape that takes from on the orb. It disappears when desired by attuned creature or when it is out of reach of the attuned creature.

Since the future is influenced by the actions of creatures and can have wide reaching effects, the visions of the orb are not guaranteed to come to be (though your players may not be aware of this at first). Choose a DC and roll a D20. On a success the correct events will be shown and on a failure an alternate course of events is shown instead (on some failure, not less than 5 for example, nothing may be shown instead).

Variant

Instead of a time delay, roll a dice (I suggest a D10, D6 or D4). This is how many questions will be answered by the orb. After the last question is answered, the black smoke doesn't fully retreat from the white surface of the orb. Where the smoke stays, cracks form and the orb falls apart in the hands of the user.

Variant 2

This orb, a cursed version, only shows incorrect versions of the future no matter how many times asked. A creature may remove curse of similar magic cast to be free of the cursed orb. While it is cursed in this way, nightmares alternate futures fill its dreams. When performing a saving throw, roll a D20. On a 16 or higher, the creature has disadvantage on the saving throw. This curse only occurs once per long rest.

Variant 3

This defective orb either shows nothing or shows the complete opposite of what is really true.

Notes of Caution

Putting this kind of item in the hands of your players or NPCs will obviously have a great effect on the campaign. Before putting this item into your game, make sure you understand how big an effect knowledge of the future will have. As the Dungeon Master, you control the knowledge obtained by the orb so it is not necessarily game breaking but it may also be needed for plot reasons (to provide information of the villains plans, where to find the villain and how to stop them).  

Dungeon Master: Host's Poison

There are many different tools available to assassins. One particularly noteworthy tool is a strange necklace I was able to study from an undisclosed source. The necklace in particular didn't seem to be that unique in terms of appearance except for a small valve like feature that released water, despite no water ever being poured into the necklace. I was warned to be very careful about not ingesting it. A slow death would follow if I did.

Description

The design of the item doesn't matter. Any item can be used for this purpose, though jeweler and other non-suspicious items are most common. Regardless, there is some kind of hidden compartment in the item. This hidden compartment is filled either with water or a powder (nicknamed host poison though it is magical in nature). A wearer of the amulet is immune to all effects of the contents of the item of equal strength or weaker. When ingested, it acts as a curse that will kill that creature within 24 hours (the strength of the creature of the amulet determines the level of spell needed to remove the curse). Slight symptoms appear after 2d4 hours of being ingested. Such an item is typically used to treat someone with poisoned food while the assassin also eats the same food in order to try and deflect suspicion.

D&D 5^th Edition Rules

The strength of the item ranges from 1-9, corresponding to the level of spell used in the construction (3 is most common). The powder or water is only created from the item once a day but can be stored for a week (it evaporates, is corrupted from the humidity, or the magic wears off after 2 weeks). After 2d4, any creature that was not wearing a “host's poison” item of equal strength starts to feel slightly off. The effect tends to be minimum until the target finally drops dead after 24 hours.

Variant: Instead of acting as a curse, a poisonous powder or liquid seeps from the hidden compartment (it is created magically, but not magical itself). Someone with experience in poisons will be able to make an antidote (acts like applying a dispel magic spell but requires 50GP * level of the item to create).

False Legends?

Some have expressed the idea that such items don't really exist and instead came about from the legend of other items. Items that allow immunity to poison and containing a secret compartment for poison would allow the same strategies to be used. In order to match the legend perfectly, the poison used would need to be slow acting.

In-game: Grants immunity to poison and contains space to store 1 dose of poison inside a secret compartment (other liquids or powders can also be stored).

Dungeon Master: Bloodlust Weapon

A weapon craving the blood of a target is quite a popular archetype. However, to make such a thing a reality in table top role-playing games, we need to use fluff and mechanics. What I will do today is put forward several different ways to make such a weapon a reality. I also want to mention that I would usually avoid giving this kind of weapon to a player in most forms. Taking away options from the players usually makes things less fun, not more. I will also focus on the kind of weapon that will want to focus on a single target after it tastes it's blood and not the kind of weapon that likes to target one kind of enemy (Dungeons & Dragons 5^th edition has enough of that).

When the weapon tastes the blood of a creature, it will have an overwhelming urge to finish the job. Until that creature lies dead or the craving subsides, the wielding of the weapon will feel the push towards that one target.

The Carrot

One way to make such a weapon is by giving an incentive for the character to attack the target. By giving a static bonus to hit and attack or a dice roll for extra damage against the creature the weapon has targeted, you don't take away the characters options but give an incentive to go after a certain target. This is probably the only type that I would consider giving a player as an actual beneficial magic item (the rest are more like cursed items).

Variant 1: After a character hits a creature using this weapon (addition restriction could be that it needs to bleed), any subsequent attack against this target gives a bonus +2 to hit and damage. The target must die or be out of visual range before a new target can be chosen.

Variant 2: After a character hits a creature using this weapon (addition restriction could be that it needs to bleed), any subsequent attack against this target gives a bonus 1d6 to damage. The target must die or be out of visual range before a new target can be chosen.

The Stick

Of course, we can try to punish a character for not attacking the correct target instead. There are multiple ways to do so including a penalty to hit, damage taken for attacking the wrong target or even not giving a choice in the matter. If given to players, they will act more like cursed items.

Variant 1: After a character hits a creature using this weapon (addition restriction could be that it needs to bleed), the creature that was hit becomes the target. An attack against anyone but the target will have disadvantage. Killing the target or being out of visual range makes the creature that was hit no longer the target.

Variant 2: After a character hits a creature using this weapon (addition restriction could be that it needs to bleed), the creature that was hit becomes the target. An attack against anyone but the target will result in 1d6 damage to the character wielding the weapon. The target must die or be out of visual range before a new target can be chosen.

Variant 3: After a character hits a creature using this weapon (addition restriction could be that it needs to bleed), the creature that was hit becomes the target. The character wielding the weapon is overcome with an intense blood lust and cannot willingly move farther away from the target. They can also not attack anyone but their target.

Note: I'd be hesitant of even using this as a cursed item but it works well in the hands of an NPC.

Dungeon Master: Arrows of Randomness

Part of the fun of magic items comes from wackiness and wonder. There is something particularly interesting about a magic item that the wielder can't trust. Naturally, fostering this kind of un-trust between magic weapons and players can take a few different forms. I, however, will focus on the use of randomness to create such an item. I will do so by putting forward an example that is aimed at 5^th edition D&D but the general concept is not restricted to just one rules system. It can also be used on any kind of weapon, but I will focus purely on arrows.

Magic Arrows of Randomness

Feel free to chance the name to something more epic and setting appropriate, but I feel this name does a perfect job of explaining exactly what the item is.

Roll	Effect
1	1d6 fire damage
2	1d6 cold damage
3	1d6 lightning damage
4	1d6 necrotic damage
5	1d6 acid damage
6	Arrow does no damage and heals 1d8 hit points

There we have it. Since there is a much greater chance to do extra damage it is unlikely that the player will notice the possibly of healing their enemy until after using the arrows for some time. However, when they finally do notice that their arrow actually healed their opponent it creates the correct conditions for distrust between the user and the arrows. If your players are risk takers, it also allows your players to try to heal each other by shooting each other in the face with an arrow (this was an unintentional side effect that came up during play).

The World

From my experience, this kind of magic item works best when used sparingly or when the entire world is made in such a way as to create distrust between the people of the world and magic. If it is used sparingly, the surprise is still kept. If the entire world is built around making magic an inherently risky and wacky thing, having items that embrace randomness in this way fit perfectly into that style of setting.  

Dungeon Master: Soul Bounded Sword

Part of the challenge of running a table top role-playing game is coming up with ideas that make the campaign memorable. One way that seems to work for my group is through quirky rewards. I can't remember when I first saw the item I'm going to be talking about today, but it left an impression on me and I hope that others can find it. I am also going to go over a few different variations of a soul bounded sword. It will be aimed at 5^th edition D&D but should be easy to convert to other systems. The general ideas are easy to apply to other weapons as well. As always, feel free to change the DCs.

General Idea

The basic idea behind this weapon is a very simple one and can be seen throughout D&D history with monsters like the lich and the death knight. Through magic, a character's soul is connected to the weapon and as a result there are certain bonuses they receive. This kind of weapon is typically given to non-player characters but with care can also be given players as well.

The Soul Bounded Sword

“The weapon, seemingly of good quality and make, chips easily with every swing you make. To make matters worse, you feel pain flare with ever chip as scratches appear on your body.”

Every time a character attacks with this sword and deals damage, the bound character loses the same amount of hit points (if they attack a creature with 2 hit points left and roll 6 damage, the bound character takes 2 necrotic damage). Casting remove curse on the sword frees the character and also removes the curse on the item, making it a non-cursed magic item. Casting remove curse just on the bound character severs the link with the weapon but the item remains cursed. Destroying the weapon kills the character bound to it. If the character bound to the sword is killed, the next character to touch the sword is bound (there are ways around this, such as tongs or magic gloves). While not bound to a soul, it has no bonuses.

Note: As written above, if a player wrestles away the soul bounded sword from a character and proceeds to attack the bound character with their soul bounded sword, they will do double damage. They can also wrestle it away and destroy it, thereby killing the character bound to the sword.

Addition 1: You can allow the bound character to sense where the item is and if it has been moved. This way, they at least have some benefit from the curse.

Addition 2: You can allow the bound character to call the weapon to themselves by using their bonus action or their one interaction with the environment as part of an action as decided by the character.

Addition 3: Through the connection, the sword can subtly influence the character's actions. Roll a Wisdom saving throw when the bound character is attempting to draw a weapon (DC 15) and the soul bounded soul is within reach. Upon failure the character, unconsciously and without noticing, grabs the cursed weapon. (The saving throw can be changed to charisma to be more like resisting the charm spell or the player can choose between the two).

Addition 4: Wearing gloves while touching the sword does not cause it to be bound to you.

Addition 4: The curse is quite powerful. Roll an Intelligence (Arcana) check (DC 20) when an identify spell is cast on the weapon. On a success, the curse is identified.

Alternate 1: If more incentive to use the cursed weapon is desired, change the damage that the bound character receives from the sword to 1/2 that they dealt.

Alternate 2: In the hands of the character that is bound to the sword, it functions like a normal sword. However, it becomes weakened when separated from its owner and at that point begins to chip.

Alternate 3: Roll a Wisdom saving throw (DC 15) when a character first touches a bounded soul sword that is currently bound to no soul. On a success, they start to feel something is wrong and can choose to drop the sword. Afterwards, the sword tries to bind itself to the character holding it. The character cannot mistake the sword's attempts to bind them now (describing the swords attempts and attack should be left to the Dungeon Master and vary case by case). Roll a Charisma saving throw (this is meant to be like a charm spell) (DC 15) on a success, they resisted it long enough to try to drop it. If they do not drop it, they have to make the saving throw again at the start of every round or after every 5 seconds.

The above options can all be combined and used together in order to create many different kinds of items based on the same concept. An addition is something brand new where an alternate will change something originally written.

In the World

To provide incentive for players to buy these weapons, the sword can be made 1/2 the price of a sword with the same bonus. It should also cost 1/2 the cost to make compared to the item with the same bonus, if you can bound the characters soul during the construction process (this is easy to do if they are willingly part of the process because they think they are getting a magic weapon or when they actually want the item as is). In the magic black market, such cursed items could be regularly pushed on unsuspecting customers at full price. If this is part of your desired world, addition 4 should probably be used.

Whether the weapon should cost the same to make compared to the item with the same stats should be decided on a game by game basis (this is when the original bound soul is not part of the process). In general, if it costs

Also of note, this kind of weapon can actually be desirable with alternate 1, alternate 2, addition 1, addition 2 and if offered for half price. They do come with the drawback when separated from their owner.

This kind of sword can be used as the first step of creating a lich or death knight, if so desired. The next step could be a series of rituals that prevent the character from aging when bound to the sword and the last could be the rituals that allow a character to gain their undead powers.

Dungeon Master: Crafting Magic Items

Giving out better items is part of the D&D experience. As players risk their lives they expect some kind of return on their investment. However, there is more than one way to reward a player and likewise many different ways to include magic items. I list some of the most common and some of my favourite methods to design magic items below.

Types of Magic Items

• The most common type of magic item is the one that simply gives a flat bonus (+1 sword, anyone?). These kinds of items don't really have any drawbacks and in their simplest form also don't help outside of combat. However, when weapons have a special characteristic or reputation, these kinds of weapons start being useful even in non-combat encounters as NPC's recognize the weapons.
• The cursed magic item goes hand in hand with the simple magic item. Of course, players can trigger some curses simply by equipping the item and are forced to try to find someone to remove the curse or go on a quest to do so. I was never really happy with these kinds of cursed items. As a result I ended up having the cursed item give an actual bonus and tempt them with some kind of process (ritual or attunement) to increase its power when really, the curse gets triggered instead. I also generally prefer that cursed items give some kind of benefit to the player but at a large enough cost that they start to question its worth. This kind of cursed item starts to get into the territory of the next type.
• We have cursed items. We have regular magic items. Then there is what I call the “hybrid” magic item. These kinds of items have some kind of nice flat bonus that tempts players but at the same time some kind of drawback or unreliability. Maybe the sword plays with the wielders sanity, giving hints that seem to be correct sometimes and other times have them walking off cliffs. You could consider the kind of cursed item I talked about before being here as well, as you could have an item that is more cost than benefit, or greatly more benefit than cost. An example is an item called The Gauntlet of Chance. I ran across this item during my 2e days. When you try to put it on it causes a lot of damage, tries to kill you and causes you to lose use of your right hand for a day (due to burning. Even with healing, the burning sensation remains for a day, preventing use of the hand. Without healing, it seems to unnaturally quickly heal away), but in return it grants whatever you wished for before you donned it.
• Then there is the “fake” magic item. These kinds of items aren't really magic and don't have any bonus in combat bonus (outside of morale effects), but their social or sentimental effects are real (for example, everyone thinks the sword is magic because it belonged to some famous warrior, but really he was just that good). One of my favourites types, it is sometimes nice to see a player carry two sword, a simple sword that they use for combat and their ceremonial sword that is really three older swords put together and that they don't dare risk in combat (and since it has no combat bonus, they have no need to unless their main sword is lost somehow).
• All of the above are constant. You can also have limited use items. The obvious ones are things like potions or exploding arrows or something. However, you can be more creative if you try. The current staffs and wands in 5^th edition D&D have a certain number of uses that can replenish after some time, with the possibility of the item itself being destroyed if it runs out. One of my favourite items I ever had as a player was a sword that seemed perfectly normal. It had a bonus to damage and attack, but every hit with it would cause it to get damaged (notches on the blade, etc.). It could, however, regenerate itself to pristine quality in a short time when not in use.

The above types can also be combined together. I'm on the lookout for other ways to make interesting magic items, both from a story and mechanics perspective. If there are any I missed, feel free to comment.