D&D 5E magic dragon scale amulet

[pukunui]

Hi all,

My wife is playing a dwarf wizard in my Hoard of the Dragon Queen campaign. She chose the dragon scholar optional background feature, and as part of her PC's background, she decided that her character's best friend is a silver dragon. Her PC also has the apocalyptic visions bond, and so before he departed for Greenest, his dragon friend gave him a special amulet made from one of its scales.

My wife says she'd like it to be magical and offer her some protection. She was thinking it would protect her from dragon attacks. I suppose maybe it could grant advantage on saves against the breath weapons of dragons (and maybe also half-dragons)?

I was thinking the most likely thing it would do is grant resistance to cold damage, since it's a scale from a silver dragon. I feel like it ought to allow for some kind of limited communication between the dwarf and the dragon as well - maybe it just lets them sense that the other is still alive or something?

I was also thinking it would be cool for it to grow in power as the PC does. So maybe it eventually lets the two communicate telepathically through the amulet. Or maybe it eventually grants the dwarf the ability to cast a spell or two. Maybe rather than being just resistant to cold, it could function like the absorb elements spell (which would work out well for the PC, since he is as likely to smack an enemy on the head with his warhammer as he is to cast a spell at it).

I'm also wondering if maybe the dwarf could use it as an arcane focus. I know the PHB has amulets down as holy symbols, and things like rods, crystals, orbs, wands, etc as arcane focuses, but it doesn't actually say you *can't* use something else like a weapon or an amulet as an arcane focus, right?


And yes, I am conscious of the fact that I could be seen to be playing favorites with my wife here, so I intend to come up with some cool items for the other PCs too. The fighter PC, for instance, has her family heirloom greataxe. Perhaps it has magical powers that she can unlock - or perhaps it becomes imbued with magic when she defeats a powerful enemy.


Any constructive advice or suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Cheers,
Jonathan

 

[transtemporal]

I like the idea of an item that changes with the user. I would be a bit careful giving a continuous use item specifically designed to negate the powers of every major bad guy in my adventure though.

Or... I would make it very powerful... like it absorbs all damage from a dragon attack but can only do it 3 times before crumbling to dust and never more than once per day. And the silver dragon doesn't tell the dwarf (because he's super-selfless and best buds and such) but the silver dragon takes any damage absorbed by the amulet....

And it does a bunch of ancillary stuff like communication, protects the dwarf from non-magical cold, makes his gear shiney etc.

 

[pukunui]

Our 9 year old daughter suggested that it could glow when she comes near dragons like Bilbo's sword does when orcs are near. That is, of course, an option in the rules (the sentinel minor property).

 

[Ed_Laprade]

As I'm sure others will point out, its your game, so do with it what you will. I, for one, like the idea that it could be used as a spell focus. That adds some nice flavor without being anywhere near game breaking. Having it grow in power would also be nice, but not really necessary if it can be used as a focus.

 

[pukunui]

Anyone got any more ideas? I'm still leaning towards making it usable as an arcane focus - the PC would still have to hold it in hand, though, so wearing it around the neck like a holy symbol won't work. He'll have to stow his shield or warhammer when he wants to use the amulet.

And then maybe I'll give it the sentinel minor property, keyed to dragons, and maybe have it grant her resistance to cold. And it'll be an attunement item.

That seems fair, right?

 

[jrowland]

other powers you could do instead or have it grow into

It could function like a shield spell once per long rest.

It could negate ANY attack 5 times. That's it. After each use, the scale tarnishes and after the 5th use it turns to dust.

It could conjure a silver wyrmling that lasts for 10 rounds

It could gain resistance to acid at some point as well

It could grant use of the alter self/change self spell 1 per long rest (whatever its called) but only into a dragonborn

It could grant FLY 1 per long rest

 

[Ed_Laprade]

Anyone got any more ideas? I'm still leaning towards making it usable as an arcane focus - the PC would still have to hold it in hand, though, so wearing it around the neck like a holy symbol won't work. He'll have to stow his shield or warhammer when he wants to use the amulet.

And then maybe I'll give it the sentinel minor property, keyed to dragons, and maybe have it grant her resistance to cold. And it'll be an attunement item.

That seems fair, right?

It seems fair enough to me. But why can't he wear it on a longish chain around his neck? Put the warhammer in the hand holding the shield, and grab the 'necklace' to use the focus. (I hate rules that disallow doing things that anyone can do in real life!)

 

[pukunui]

It seems fair enough to me. But why can't he wear it on a longish chain around his neck? Put the warhammer in the hand holding the shield, and grab the 'necklace' to use the focus. (I hate rules that disallow doing things that anyone can do in real life!)

How can you hold both the shield and the warhammer in the same hand? I'd say you could maybe do that, but you wouldn't be able to gain the AC bonus from the shield because you wouldn't be holding on to it properly.