Today’s issue of EN5ider is full of clever alliterative spells you won’t soon forget! Rise above your enemies atop a barbed bastion, cackle as they struggle against your entropic embrace, gamble away your future with a perilous prediction, or make a flashy escape with the author’s own Zyxwigg’s zigzag!
Sometimes, not where they’re supposed to…
The unquiet souls of mortals haunt the Material Plane as ghosts, but what happens when elementals die? After a particularly traumatic death, an elemental might fail to return to the plane from which it spawned, instead transforming into an undead creature known as an elemental geist. Whether the result of an environmental catastrophe, a botched summoning, or some other tragedy, an elemental geist haunts the site of its demise until its spirit is put to rest.
The natures of elemental geists are as varied as those of elementals themselves. The four types of geists most commonly encountered by adventurers are breathless stalkers (an invisible stalker that perished underwater), exxorns (a xorn that served for lack of gemstones), heat sinks (a fire elemental frozen in arctic lands), and mirages (a weird baked by the desert sun). Any of these geists might serve as the antagonist of an unconventional ghost story, or as an unexpected foe in a more traditional adventure.
If you want to know more, check out the latest issue of EN World’s EN5ider!
My article Planar Trinkets dropped today on EN World’s EN5ider. If you’re looking for a magic fishbowl once owned by the queen of the Elemental Plane of Water…well, look no further?
Most magic items work properly wherever they are used, but others are intextricably tied to the planes on which they were created. A medallion forged in the City of Brass might function only on the Plane of Fire, while a set of bone pipes might lose their magic if played anywhere but on the Ethereal Plane.
Every planar trinket grants its owner a minor magical benefit, but the true power of such items manifests only on their associated plane. Activating a planar trinket elsewhere either reduces the item’s effect or drains its magic entirely, although at the GM’s discredtion a trinket might eventually regain its power if returned to its plane of origin.
Wondrous item, uncommon (150 gold)
Crystal clear water fills this spherical glass fishbowl. Through the glass you see figurines depicting a drowned sailor, a grinning octopus, a merfolk princess, and a treasure chest. A sealable lid allows you to transport the fishbowl without spilling its contents.
As an action, you can withdraw a figurine and place it in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of you. The figurine then grows to become a life-sized object or creature. Unless otherwise noted, a creature created this way is friendly to you and your companions and takes its turn immediately after yours. The creature obeys your verbal commands. Without such commands, it only defends itself. The creature disappears if it drops to 0 hit points.
The plane on which the figurine is activated determines its new form.
Sea Queen’s Blessing (1/Day). The merfolk chooses up to 10 willing creatures it can see within 30 feet of it. For the next hour, each creature gains a swim speed of 40 feet and the ability to breathe air and water.
Unless otherwise noted, objects and creatures removed from the fishbowl remain for 1 minute before disappearing forever. Water evaporates as soon as it leaves the bowl, although shattering the fishbowl releases a sudden torrent of water, enough to fill a 10-foot-square cube. Creatures within 5 feet of the fishbowl when it shatters must make a successful DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. Figurines in the fishbowl when it shatters lose their magic and become mundane objects.
Looking to mix a little science with your fantasy? My article Zap! Science Fantasy Trinkets releases today on EN5ider!
Roleplaying games have a grand tradition of genre blending, and even the most traditional fantasy campaign might feature the occassional crashed starship or visitor from the distant future. Technology commonplace in a sci-fi setting might seem magical to adventurers who stumble upon such gadgets in a fantasy world. While the trinkets presented in this article can be operated on a basic level by characters in a low-tech setting, they inevitably malfunction when pushed beyond their normal limits.
Wondrous item, uncommon (cost 150 gp)
This gadget weighs 25 pounds and is roughly the size of an explorer’s backback. When activated, the pack discharges a jet of supercharged anti-graviton particles, allowing you to briefly escape the bonds of earth.
As an action, you can activate the antigravity pack and fly up to 90 feet, so long as the total weight of you and anything you carry does not exceed 400 pounds. You fall if you do not end this movement on solid ground. Once you have activated the antigravity pack, you must wait 24 hours for the pack to reconstitute its supply of anti-gravitons before you can do so again.
In desperate circumstances, you can push the pack beyond its normal carrying capacity. The total weight the antigravity pack can transport increases to 800 pounds, but at the end of your flight the pack sputters out and ceases to function.
And in case you haven’t heard, EN Publishing’s Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition also launches today on Kickstarter. It’s already funded and is smashing through stretch goals like Godzilla on a bender. Check it out!
My article, Haunted Keepsakes, dropped today on EN World’s EN5ider!
Art by Gui Sommer
An object is often what bars the way when a living creature dies but is denied its eternal rest. These haunted keepsakes represent some unfinished business the creature had in life, such as a work of art left incomplete or an arrow that never found its mark. When a new owner acquires the keepsake, the spirit that haunts the item urges them to complete the task it left unfinished. Should the owner do so, they may receive a supernatural boon as a reward for helping the spirit find peace.
Each of the keepsakes presented in this article are of particular interest to one of the classes found in the core rules. All the keepsakes confer upon their owner a minor magical benefit; when the spirit’s unfinished business is resolved, it grants the owner a more powerful boon before passing on.
Here’s sneak peak at one of the haunted keepsakes, the patron’s missive. To see the other eleven keepsakes (and a bunch of other great 5E content), sign up for EN5ider!
Wondrous item, common (requires attunement by a warlock; cost 85 gp)
The messenger who carried this unopened letter died before they could deliver it for their otherworldly patron. The GM determines the nature of the missive: it might be a love letter, an infernal contract, or a collection of cryptic symbols.
While you are attuned to the missive, the warlock’s tormented spirit haunts you, manifesting as whispered curses, cold breezes, and an undefinable sense of dread. When you would make a Charisma (Intimidation) check, you can choose to gain advantage. Once you use this property, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
If you deliver the missive, the warlock’s patron rewards you with the soul of the servant failed it. Once afterward, you can use a bonus action to destroy the soul and regain hit points equal to 1d8 + your warlock level.
NIZNOC SPEAKS!