World Builder Blog

I’ve created more than a few original magic items in various blog posts on this site. Starting today and over the course of the next few updates I’ll be bringing the finalized versions into the fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. So if you’ve been following the blog some of these will be familiar and others will be entirely new! Once I’m finished with these magic items, I’ll post them on the Free Game Resources section of this site as a PDF so you’ll always know where to find them.

But First A Word About Magic Items in Exploration Age

Some of you may already know this, but permanent magic items in Exploration Age require gems to hold the item’s magic. The more expensive the gem, the more magic it can hold.

Variant Exploration Age Magic Item Creation

If a DM allows players to craft permanent magic items in their down time, at least half the cost of creating the item must be paid in gems, which are incorporated into final form of the item.

Now onto that good stuff!

The Good Stuff

Since I love wondrous items I thought I’d share a few of those with all of you now. Some are original and others are taken from my Magic Items, I Made These For You, and A Few (Magic) Things posts. Apparently I really love magic belts.

Belt of Hidden Knives

Wondrous item, rare

This appears to be a simple, unassuming black leather belt when wrapped around the user’s waist. When removed, a small diamond can be seen stitched into the belt’s underside. Each time this belt is buckled, it sounds like a sword being drawn from a sheath. As part of an attack, you can draw a hidden +1 dagger from the belt of hidden knives. If the dagger leaves your hands it ceases to exist at the end of your turn. The belt does not run out of daggers. You must be wearing the belt to use this property.

Belt of the Monkey

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

This metal belt is made of silver monkeys locked arm in arm with tiny pieces of jade for each primate’s eyes. While wearing it, you feel the tickling urge to treat the world as a playground and swing on objects and climb trees and buildings. While wearing this belt you add double your proficiency to Strength (Athletics) checks to climb.

In addition as an action any tail you have becomes prehensile for an hour. If you do not have a tail, you grow a 3-foot prehensile tail out of your posterior for an hour. You can hang from your tail, provided it has something to hold onto. Your tail also acts as a third arm and hand, allowing you to manipulate and wield objects which weighs 5 lbs. or less. In this state you could hold three weapons at once, but you can still only fight with two at a time. You cannot use this ability again until you have completed a long rest.

Belt of the Scorpion

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

The belt of the scorpion is a piece of mithral chain held together by a padlock with a single, large emerald at its center. When the belt is within 10 feet of an arachnid, a faint light flickers within the emerald. While wearing this belt you have resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws against poison. While wearing the belt of the scorpion, you can make a scorpion-like mithral tail grow from the back of the belt. The tail is a light, finesse, martial weapon which deals 1d6 piercing damage and has a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls. Once per day, when you deal damage to a target with this attack, you may choose to inject it with venom. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become paralyzed for one minute.

Boots of the Wild

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

These are special boots of animal skin, each dotted with a tiny gem on the sole. The boots usually lace up to the knee, and are found in several varieties of animal skin – from deer to lizard. While wearing the boots add 5 feet to your speed. In addition, use the chart below to determine the type of difficult terrain you can ignore while wearing the boots of the wild.

Skin	Ignored Difficult Terrain(s)
Lizard	Swamp, Marsh, Jungle
Deer	Forest
Ram	Mountains
Reindeer	Snowfields, Frozen Ocean

Box of Shrinking

Wondrous item, rarity varies

These plain boxes are carved with Dwarvish runes, surprisingly light, and roughly the size of a loaf of bread. Inside, the box is much more extravagant, lined with crushed velvet and studded with gems. An old dwarf nursery rhyme plays when the box is open – “The Legend of Calibra Daliq,” a dwarf wizard thief, who shrunk herself to sneak past guards and locked doors in order to get her riches.

The DM either rolls to determine the box’s type or chooses one from the options available.

d100	Type	Original Object Space	Rarity
01 – 50	Iron	No larger than 5-foot cube	Rare
51 – 80	Steel	No larger than a 10-foot cube	Very Rare
81 – 95	Mithral	No larger than a 15-foot cube	Legendary
96 – 00	Adamantine	No larger than a 20-foot cube	Artifact

You can use the box of shrinking’s Grow and Shrink abilities once per day each. You must be holding the box to use either ability.

Grow: As an action, any item previously shrunken by a box of shrinking of equal or lesser rarity and power may be grown. The item must be placed in the box of shrinking and its original size must be within the parameters on the table above. Once the command word is spoken the object appears in an unoccupied space adjacent to the box of shrinking. You must be holding the box of shrinking to use this ability.

Shrink: As an action you may speak a command word and one non-living object within 50 feet of the box of shrinking has its size reduced to a 1-inch cube, weighs half a pound, and is teleported into the box. The item stays this size until it is grown by a box of shrinking. The shrunken item may be no larger than specified on the table above.

Bracelet of Seduction

Wondrous item, rare

Some merchants have these charm bracelets specially made, so they might avoid trouble during their travels. The bracelet is well made, a silver chain with small silver heart charms hanging off each link. A single one of these charms is carved from a rose zircon, which gives off a small amount of heat when the bracelet’s magic is activated. While wearing the bracelet, three times per day you may use charm person (save DC 15). You must be touching the target in order to use this magic.

Cheater’s Gloves

Wondrous item, uncommon

These fine white gloves of a gentlemen or elbow length gloves of a lady were invented by the classiest of thieves. Each glove fastens with a single, diamond studded button. While wearing them, you have an itching urge to palm small, unattended objects. When you use these gloves you have advantage when making a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check to steal an item and when your character plays a game with cards or dice.

Fishscale Flippers

Wondrous item, rare

The flippers are crafted from green fish scales and feature small sapphires on their heels. While wearing these flippers, you can breathe underwater and gain a swim speed equal to your current speed.

Hands of the Craftsman

Wondrous item, uncommon

Hags invented these sturdy leather work gloves with a cat’s eye on the back. They gave the hands of the craftsman to artisans in exchange for the lives of their children. Every time one puts on the gloves, they experience the memory of a loved one they have lost. When you wear the hands of the craftsman the time it takes to create a nonmagical object is cut in half and you need only pay a third of the material costs to do so.

Pain Doll

Wondrous item, very rare

Upon first glance this item appears to be no more than a simple burlap doll with no hair or clothes in the shape of humanoid. The doll’s wicked grin and black sapphire eyes tell keen observers a different tale. You can use the doll in a ritual which targets one humanoid creature whose name you know on the same plane as you. The ritual requires 10 minutes and a piece of hair, nail, or skin from the creature you target which is consumed in the ritual. At the end of the ritual the target must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or suffer a level of exhaustion from experiencing excruciating internal pain. You may use the pain doll to complete this ritual once every 12 hours.

Shoes of the Party Lord

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

These fine green, silver, and blue silk slippers are crafted with emeralds on the heel and made by mages for the more clumsy members of the royal court. The pleasant jingling of tiny bells can be heard when you dance in these shoes in front of an audience. While wearing these shoes you add double your proficiency to Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks to dance or tumble and opportunity attacks made against you are at a disadvantage.

Spy Fly

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

This small fly is carved of black pearl and no bigger than the real thing. The small fly is hard to spot and requires a DC 17 Wisdom (Perception) check to detect. If you use an action to speak the item’s command word the fly comes alive. While it is activated you control the fly’s 30 feet of movement and see and hear through the item for up to one hour. During this time you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses. You can deactivate the fly by speaking the command word again with an action. Once the fly has been activated it cannot be reactivated for another 24 hours.

Tracking Compass

Wondrous item, uncommon

This brass-encased compass with a moonstone tipped needle points in the direction of the name of the object spoken aloud to it by whomever holds the compass. The name of the object must be specific. You cannot simply ask to be pointed toward the closest magic sword, but asking the compass to point you toward the Sword of Kas would activate its magic. How specific you must get is up the DM.

Trailblazer Beetles

Wondrous item, rare

This fist sized, copper orb is dotted with tiny obsidians and constantly appears to have moment just underneath its shiny surface. The cardinal directions are carved into the sphere. When you throw the orb it turns into 500 tiny, copper scarab beetles who eat vegetation and snow, making forests, jungles, and snow fields making 5-foot wide path that is no longer difficult terrain. These paths are easily followed and cannot be made through solid rock or large trees. The beetles move in a path and pace defined by you (or the person who threw the orb). They travel at a typical slow, normal, or fast travel pace for 10 hours and then revert back to orb status. They can be deactivated before that with an action. They eat only plants and snow. They cannot be used again until a long rest has been completed.

How’d I Do?

What do you think of these items? Would you use any of them in your game? What might you modify? Sound off in the comments below!

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