My colleague Mollie’s review of Ravenloft: The Horrors Within found it to be quite whelming, an update to Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft that brings it in line with the latest Dungeons and Dragons rules, but doesn’t push things forward very much. If you want to delve deeper into Barovia, here are five original magic items dripping with gothic flare and full of powerful options and interesting choices for the players.
Ravenloft is a great D&D campaign setting for reasons that go beyond having such a great antagonist. Barovia has wilderness and civilization, high society balls and low society uprisings, monsters in the forests and monsters in your midst, and it allows for many different kinds of adventure. These original magic items are designed to offer interesting choices and great roleplaying opportunities that can bridge the gap between adventuring, roleplaying, and combat.
Pushkin’s Brand
The end of this smoke-charred branding iron continually smoulders, casting dull light out to five feet. In combat it can be used as a mace that deals +D4 fire damage. If you attune to the brand, then once per full moon you may use it to magically brand another creature, binding them to your will. When you do, you cast Geas upon the target as a fifth level spell. The creature must be willing or physically restrained when they are branded for the effect to work, and the Geas automatically expires when next full moon rises.
Equinox gown / Equinox tuxedo
Thousands of mother of pearl sequins are stitched into this shimmering and iridescent white eveningwear. While a character is wearing it, sentient enemies that can see them have disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws to resist their spells and abilities. Once per day, as a bonus action the wearer may reverse the direction of the sequins, revealing their dark side. When this happens they have advantage on stealth checks and cannot be detected by supernatural senses or magic, and the item loses all other abilities. The effect resets at midnight.
The gown or tuxedo don’t require attunement to use, but the wearer must spend at least one hour making themselves look as beautiful as possible after donning it for the magic to take effect. The magic also doesn’t work when combined with armor – that includes mithril undershirts, which completely spoil how the clothing hangs.
Martyr’s Ring
This tarnished brass ring is set with a jewel that resembles a sheep’s eye, and is heavily chipped and dented. It provides the benefits of a Ring of Protection, but it is in fact cursed. Whenever an ally within 60 feet would be brought to zero or fewer hit points by an attack, all of the damage from that attack is transferred to the wearer. Other effects of the attack are not transferred.
The Martyr’s Ring can be removed via the Remove Curse spell. Alternatively, the wearer may remove the ring by willingly sacrificing an ally at the altar of a dark god, devil, demon, or similar patron. If this method is used, the ring shrinks until it bites off the player’s finger, which will inflict D4 damage every turn that cannot be healed magically; the wound must be cauterized with fire. If the player survives, the dark patron will grant them one Wish, though they are likely to twist it to best suit their own ends.
Wolfpad Cloak
This ragged wolf-skin cloak requires attunement, and when worn grants the wearer wolfish attributes. They gain advantage on Wisdon (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell, and advantage on melee attack rolls against creatures within five feet of at least one ally. They can also communicate with wolves as if under the effects of Speak with Animals.
While a character is attuned to this cloak, dogs and other guardian animals are aggressive towards them, and farmyard animals, beasts of burden, and horses Fear them.
Diadem of Regrets
This silver diadem looks like it was woven from a bouquet of rose stems, crowned with bursts of purple amethyst hyacinths. It requires attunement to use. While attuned, the wearer is haunted by their regrets. If they are presented with an opportunity to correct a past mistake, pursue someone who has spurned them, atone for a failure, or similarly dig up the past, they can only turn it down if they first pass a DC12 Charisma saving throw.
While wearing the Diadem of Regrets, characters can telepathically sense the regrets of any being that they can see. If they can interact socially with a target for a full hour – such as at a banquet or ball – they gain an intimate knowledge of those regrets. Thereafter, they have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks against that target, and if they can exploit that knowledge they also have advantage on Influence actions to Persuade, Intimidate, or Deceive them.
The wearer may spend ten minutes meditating on what they have learned while holding a personal item belonging to their target. They and any willing creatures of their choice within thirty feet are transported to the Demiplane of Nightmares, arriving in an area that is generated by the target’s regrets. If the target is asleep, they may also be present – they will act out their part in the nightmare, but may realize that they are dreaming if the visitors break character. Assuming the dream visitors don’t find another way to exit the Demiplane, they will return to their original location after one hour.
The Sorceress who created the Diadem originally used it to learn titbits about her rivals, as nightmares often included important details that extend well beyond the target’s regrets – the location of a treasure, the codes to a safe, the correct passcode to bypass a magical trap. Like all things in the Dream Dimension the information isn’t 100% accurate, which was the cause of the Sorceress’ untimely death. Other adventurers have used the Diadem as a simple entry point to the Demiplane of Nightmares, many of them searching for a route out of Ravenloft.
More than one assassin has ambushed Strahd in his nightmares using the Diadem – someone shows up to dinner wearing it at least once a century. If he suspects they’re going to attack him in his dreams, he lets them carry on with their plan: he’s really not worried about a few adventurers.
If he suspects they only intend to observe his nightmares, he considers that a violation of his privacy; he will hint that he’s seen the Diadem before, and that the last person to wear it met a particularly gruesome end. Strahd is so utterly consumed by his regrets that even if he’s expecting company in his dreams, he has no choice but to play along with the logic of his nightmares, and an intruder who doesn’t break that illusion won’t alert him.
If you like these items – or better yet, have a way to use them in your campaign – let us know in the Wargamer Discord community!
Source: Wargamer
