D&D 5E 5th Edition and Cormyr: Flexing My Idea Muscle and Thinking Out Loud

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Spells and Wards Set Adrift. A Dragon That Collects Teeth. New Magic Items and Magic Item Rules.

No reposts to this thread tonight.

I resurrected the DMs Guild Online Tools thread instead.

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1. My imagination is stuck on wards and set-piece spells pried loose by the Spellplague.

2. There are a bunch of places in Cormyr that are properly warded by fixed spells that obfuscate, shield, prevent certain spell effects from going off, etc., in the ward's area, and I'm pretty sure the Spellplague ripped these wards right out of wherever they were anchored and set them loose like a plastic bag tumbling along in a breeze.

3. What I think would be cool is if some of these wards ended up attaching themselves to other buildings or wagons or living things "down wind" from where they were cut loose. Some of the wards probably dwindled away into nothingness wherever they settled. Some may have just fallen into the earth and drifted down into the Upperdark (or deeper) before fading away or anchoring to something. Others may yet remain--especially if they found an anchor in something old and alive, like any tree or landscaping a century or more old, or in a magic item of Uncommon or higher rarity, in which case the ward may be slowly draining the item even as it's being tugged along by the item (if the item is something worn or held, and not stationary).

4. Figuring out some interesting results is a topic for another day, however.

Onto the next topic.

5. So there are like a bazillion dragons lairing in the Thunder Peaks and the Stormhorns. You might not realize it at first, but if you dig deep enough you can find off-hand comments about it online by former Realms game designers. There's got to be a good number of these dragons that craft minor magic items that appear no more than simple trinkets (as in right out of the Player's Handbook, page 160-161).

6. What? The trinkets tables? Yes, Dear Reader. Those two pages are not nearly the waste of space you think they are. On the contrary, they are 100 excuses for the DM to drop an encounter on your head. For example: The bag containing 47 humanoid teeth (one of which is rotten) may just be 47 examples of humanoids that made good meals for a dragon lairing on the Cormyr side of the Thunder Peaks, as well as 47 examples of dragon-like patience, as the beast took the time to remove one tooth from each of its meals ahead of time.

7. Now those teeth are in a bag, each of them enspelled to act as a focus for the dragon's Scrying spell, that it might see where the teeth go and have 47 little windows on the world it can peer through.

8. Worse, if anyone thinks to use the tooth as a body part to help with their own reverse scrying attempt (to see where the tooth owner is, for example), they'll instead get a grand view of the dragon, right before it plunges into their minds to raid for spells, spell knowledge, and useful information. Think of it as a Legendary Action.

9. And that rotten tooth? That's the one a spellcaster used in a disastrous scrying attempt. It got burned a little. So he or she threw the tooth back in the bag and said good riddance. Now you own the bag.

Next topic.

10. I like the idea of magic item rarity governing the ability of one magic item to have an effect on another magic item. Not a hard and fast rule for all magic items, mind. Just for some items, like magical portals.

11. And for this item, too:

Glove of Gem Snaring
Wondrous item, very rare

While you wear this glove you may treat as immaterial a space equal to the size of your hand on any non-magical object that that is set with gemstones, as well as any magic item whose rarity is Rare or less. Within that space, only gemstones are solid. Such gemstones remain in place until you remove them. This glove has no effect on objects absent gemstones. This glove does not prevent magical catastrophes or backlashes that may result from gemstones being removed from a magic item. Your DM determines the side effects of removing gemstones from a magic item, if any.


12. Another rules concept/idea I am pondering is how to link Ritual Casting to magic items. It would be some kind of named descriptor that would be listed after the item type, rarity, and attunement requirement (if any). Maybe limit the Ritual aspect to certain spell levels, or just one spell level.

13. So, what to call it? Hrm...how about Ritual Tailoring? Bleh. Customizable? Doesn't mention the word Ritual in it. Shoot. I need the word "Ritual" plus another word that's a synonym for "adjust." What about just "fine tuned" and then explain the ritual aspect in the description? OK. Let's go with that.

14. Here's an example:

Ring of Wand Leeching
Wondrous item, uncommon (may be fine tuned)

While you wear this ring, you may drain one charge from any wand that you hold in the same hand. If you do so, you may cast the spell stored in the ring in the same action. If you do not cast the spell, the charge is lost.
The spell stored in the ring remains until replaced, regardless of the number of times the ring is used. If you fully drain a wand of charges then it immediately crumbles to dust. The ring only stores 1st level spells, and no more than one spell at a time. A spellcaster may fine tune the ring by substituting any 1st level spell they have prepared from their list of spells known for the spell currently stored in the ring. This process requires the ritual casting of a 1st level spell. While the spellcaster conducts this ritual, any 1st level spell prepared on the spellcater's spell list is considered to have the Ritual tag.


15. Looks like what I've done here is figure out a way for spellcasters to have the limited means of tweaking magic items. That might make magic items more useful, and take the pressure off the DM to produce items better suited to the PCs as they level up.

16. That, and I now have an avenue to take a second look at every magic item in the DMG to see if there could be a fine tuned version of it. In fact, this might make an interesting class feature. Yet another topic for another day.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Brainstorming the Sundered Tomb

As you may or may not know, Dyson Logos provides a bunch of dungeon and other maps for free (as in, free for commercial use, not just for your own use at the gaming table).

One map that caught my eye is "The Sundered Tomb".



So, pretty straightforward. You've got some rooms-in-all-directions going on in the main chamber, plenty of doors to check, some kind of cave in or earthquake-caused fissure, and good spots from which to add on more dungeon. I took the liberty of adding numbers to the rooms and defining the area of a square on the map at 10'.

Let's play with this.

1. OK, location: Somewhere in the King's Forest, in Cormyr. There are plenty of deep ravines in the King's Forest, and any one of them could house a moss and vine covered entryway in its side easily enough.

2. Let's assume the top of the map is North. Each square is 10' on a side. Seems big, but I learned a long time ago that players have more fun when they have room to maneuver their characters.

3. The fissure running through the dungeon from the top left to the bottom right of the dungeon could have been caused by any number of things: earthquake, earthquake by spell, divine wrath, spell battle gone wrong, backlash from a defensive magic on one of the entryway doors--perhaps caused by whomever forced their way in the first time around.

4. Let's assume the last of that list is the case. Let's also assume that the backlash "woke things up" inside the tomb, and that maybe one of the adventurers or hired plunderers was slain when the left hand door (as viewed from outside the tomb) went off.

5. Perhaps the backlash was meant to be something more: A magic designed to obliterate the tomb in its entirety if the main doors were ever breached. But time, and the efforts of the plunderers--bah, let's call them hired adventurers--mitigated the effect. And too bad for them, because that which woke up in the tomb made killing the hired adventurers its business, and business was good that day.

6. The hired adventurers were no novices, and they came with extra help in the form of extra swords carried by mercenaries that were employed by the same person/group that hired the adventurers. This may seem unusual at first glance, but if all they had to do was guide the mercenaries to the location of the tomb entrance, and then work their magic (literally, I suppose) on the entryway doors before stepping aside to let the mercs through, it makes sense (and provides more corpses, which is always good).

7. Hrm...if all that was needed was magic to breach the doors and constrain/prevent the tomb-destroying self-destruction magic built into them, then let's reduce the hired adventurers to one hiremage. Better yet, a free mage and her apprentices. That allows for the mercenaries to have been hired by the free mage. (Note: I use terms like "hiremage" and "free mage" to distinguish between arcane spellcasters who make their coins on fees paid for services rendered by means of their spell casting talents, and spellcasters who wouldn't dream of working for anyone--even in the cold months and low on coin--but instead delegate tasks to apprentices and/or hire others to do things for them.)

8. Let's assume the debacle at the door slew at least two apprentices, and that the free mage brought along all her apprentices (the better to keep an eye on them). How many left? Two. As for the mercenaries, they weren't touched by the magical blast/recoil. And let's assume the mercs were once adventurers but have now turned to mercenary work with an eye on growing their numbers (and a hope that this expedition to the King's Forest provides the sort of coin necessary to feed, clothe and arm a mercenary band, plus pay Crown fees for the year). They are led by one battle commander/leader, and her two lieutenants. These are the only three of the original adventuring band to have survived a past disaster that slew the rest of their number. So that's three leaders, and each commands a banner of four mercenaries. That's fifteen mercenaries total. Note: in the Realms a "banner" is a sub-unit of a larger military organization.

9. The debacle at the door happened anywhere from 2 to 10 years prior to the PCs showing up. Between then and now there has been plenty of rainfall, snow, ice, and earth and rock slowly pried lose by the slow, persistent grip of the seasons. Now the fissure running through the dungeon is half-filled by water that flows from a stream long ago diverted by the builders of the tomb, that has since found its way back over the side of the ravine where the earth and rock collapsed inward a few years after the door went off. Thanks to that water flow, the right-most side of the cave space at the bottom of the map is filled with water. That's where most of the destroying magic of the door went off, thus hollowing out the rock and leaving a trailing line towards the corner of the map where the magic ended. Water seeps through lesser cracks in the rock that extend into the lightless depths of the Upperdark.

10. The southernmost room off of the main chamber ought to be where another map connects. I figure "The Tomb of Eight" (also by Dyson Logos) will work. This will be where the actual tomb is located. It also looks like the southern wall of the main chamber has some kind of face sculpted in high relief. Not sure if I like that yet. The rectangular chamber and the L-shaped chamber along the top of the map look like they could house connections to other maps, depending on how big I want this dungeon to be--which might be necessary. After all, I have 3 wizards, 3 ex-adventurers and 12 mercenaries to kill. It would be no fun to pile all the bodies in one room.

11. EDIT: I need to place this dungeon near one of the main settlements in the King's Forest (Waymoot, Dhedluk, Knightswood, Mouth O' Gargoyles). Shoot...let's say Waymoot. That settlement is the biggest and most well provisioned, it's near Aloushe (a region ruled by Dryads), and has a recurring troll problem which may be of use to me.

12. EDIT: Let's put the low end of this dungeon's level range at 2 to start. I'm one of those DMs who likes to have players level up in the first session, and saying right off the bat that, "You're now level 2, and you already know each other, and you've had some very minor adventuring success already in the King's Forest so the people around Waymoot where you are based have taken note of your presence, and please add a few more coins to your character sheets," is the easiest way to do that.

That's all for now. Hit this again tomorrow.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

The Sundered Tomb Continued

So, what's the area around the Sundered Tomb like?

In the last post we determined it's near Waymoot, which is the busiest and most populated of Cormyr's settlements in the King's Forest. Waymoot has had recurring troubles with trolls over the centuries, and is not far from an independent realm of Dryads (Aloushe) that owes no fealty to the Crown of Cormyr.

I have attached a map slice of the Waymoot area. The black bar on the left is 15 miles long.



This image is taken from a rough draft copy for a map of Cormyr I commissioned for my Cormyr sourcebook. I'm excited for it to be finished, and to get a hex overlay on it.

1. Waymoot itself is all about horses. The area around the settlement has been cleared sufficiently that horse ranches abound. Waymoot still produces wagons of excellent quality, and from its populace are drawn some of the best foresters, woodsmen and huntsmen to walk the King's Forest. The temples to Tymora and Lliira still stand, as do the handful of inns, taverns and shops. Waymoot is still a travelers town; a necessary place to stop, but never to stay unless you already live there. The place is ruled by a King's Lord (a person appointed by the King of all Cormyr to rule in his name, and to dispense the King's justice and so on) from his or her sturdy keep, though I don't know who the King's Lord is in the year 1479 DR. Will have to make that one up.

2. Maybe someone like Myrmeen Lhal--herself a tough as nails ex-adventurer who came to rule over Arabel with an iron fist in the name of King Azoun IV after Gondegal the Usurper tried to turn Arabel into the capital of his own kingdom, and was driven out. (He ended up being transformed into so much worm food for a lich somewhere beneath the ruins of Myth Drannor, if I recall correctly.)

3. And then their are the trolls. Not just a problem for the internet, mind, but for all of Waymoot and the surrounding woods for as long as anyone can remember. The trolls came and went every few decades, but when the Spellplague re-wrote the rules of reality the trolls who'd largely abandoned the Prime for their ancestral home in the Feywild returned en masse. Besides, horseflesh tastes good--almost as good as human.

4. The trolls want to punish the fey-traitor dryads and their allies in Aloushe. The trolls had always tried to regain the dryad's favor after the elves of the Wolf Woods won it away, and were doubly offended when the humans of Esparin (a self-declared human kingdom within the nominal borders of the Forest Kingdom that was conquered and absorbed centuries ago by Cormyrean forces) won the dryad's favor after the departure of the elves.

5. The defeat of the last great Troll King by a human King's Lord of Waymoot (Lord Filifar Woodbrand) some 150 years past seemed to seal the deal for the trolls. The King's Lord won away the magical strength of the Troll King (and he used it to lift a wagon into the air and dump out the thieves hiding in it, in one instance), and the surviving trolls slunked back into the woods and through the few remaining gates that led to their fey home. But a few remained. These trolls dared try and slay Lord Woodbrand in his advanced age--and they succeeded, taking the Troll King's strength with them.

5. Anyway, the trolls who've returned to the King's Forest are smart. The trolls plan long term, just like old Thauglorimorgorus the Black Doom did (this black dragon ruled the Wolf Woods before the elves came and ruined everything all those years ago) and they've a new Troll King who's won the strength to lead its fellow trolls.

6. I don't know anything about Aloushe. But I figure that the close, overlapping presence of the Feywild with the King's Forest in the wake of the Spellplague has turned lose plenty of Feywild-based creatures into the King's Forest, and that the Dryads of Aloushe and their allies are probably as much interested in keeping things calm and peaceful between the two worlds as Cormyr is. After all, the King's Forest is the "tame" forest in Cormyr (as apposed to the far wilder and dangerous Hullack), and the Dryads are probably not interested in hunters, adventurers and greedy nobles using the excuse of Feywild beasts in need of slaying to cover their attempts to invade Aloushe and plunder its supposed "riches beyond imagining" (this according to one wild-eyed adventurer leader, who was never seen again after departing Waymoot for the "fairy land" to the east). I don't know who rules Aloushe. Not worried about it yet.

7. There's the legend of the Sleeping Kings, too: The idea that somewhere under or near Waymoot lies the sleeping ghosts of all the former Kings of Cormyr. They rest until a time of great need, when the danger to the Forest Kingdom will draw them like moths to a flame so they can hack and slay whatever doom imperils the land they once ruled.

8. This legend pervades daily life in Waymoot, inasmuch as everyone knows some version of the legend, and all the many travelers who pass through Waymoot hear the differing versions and pass them on further up the road and throughout the rest of Cormyr.

9. And wouldn't you know, you picked a map with tombs in it. That works. So, it's not much of a stretch to suppose the free mage who's put together an expedition of mages and mercenaries (heh...another name for D&D, that) could be looking for the Sleeping Kings. Maybe she's heard more of the old song:

Bring me the key from dungeons deep,
Where undead knights a-rusting sleep,
That doth unlock the dragon's door
And we'll swim in gold forevermore!

(Volo's Guid to Cormyr. Page 174)

...and she put two and two together, and it was enough for her to find the (now) Sundered Tomb.

10. Of course those lines of song refer to very real catacombs beneath Waymoot--these catacombs were used by the occupants of a long since torn down castle that once stood where Waymoot is now, and later by a dragon that hid itself in human guise--but sometimes verses get added and subtracted to songs, so who's to say the free mage is wrong?

11. Anyway, I think the Sundered Tomb is just what the free mage and her allies assumed it to be: A tomb housing persons of royal blood--but of the line of Esparin, or possibly nobles of the vanished land of Espar, and the mages and mercenaries hoped to plunder wealth enough for each of their causes (greater power for the mage and her apprentices, and for the mercenary captain coin enough to build a true mercenary company).

Too bad for them.

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Well, that's all for now. Back at it tomorrow.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Passwords and Passphrases

Pancake batter powered by nitrous oxide.

Yeah, I did a double take when I read that line too. It's from an article in the New York Times: "A Trickier Stage for Alton Brown", Wednesday, September 28, 2016, the Food section (section D), with "The Cookbook Issue" for a header on each page, page D1, continued on page D11.

What does this have to do with 5th Edition D&D and Cormyr? Not much I'm afraid, save to remind you that when you're not gaming you should be cooking. Like all the time. And if you don't know how, then you should be learning how to cook.

You can thank me later.

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1. So, passwords and passphrases. Not as in a line of characters, or even a string of text with spaces, that are keyed in to gain access to a locked computer. I'm talking the mundane spoken kind, as in your character is challenged by a guard who says something like, "Who goes there?" And your character better say the correct response the guard is expecting to hear (aka the password or passphrase). If not it's swords out and slay your character time.

2. This is the sort of thing where if PCs aren't prepared they can either try to boldly act official and roleplay their way through the encounter--which is a good thing--or they can be silly and mocking and just attack the guard. And so far as killing the guy who does not in fact have a key to the door the PCs want to get through is concerned, this isn't much help to the continuance of an adventure. (The door is opened by someone else on the other side, who's waiting to hear the correct sequence of knocks, for example, by the just-now-stabbed-and-bleeding-to-death-on-the-ground door guard).

3. Thus, prepare your PCs, Dear Reader/DM. However you do it, make sure you show your PCs that people in power use passwords and phrases to limit access to important places, to gain access to such themselves, and to grant access to others.

4. Knowing the right words can get the PCs into all kinds of places in Cormyr, and the wider Realms. In some cases merely knowing the right words allows one to unlock vaults filled with magic items of terrible power, and so marks someone as being important and not to be messed with in the eyes of guards who stand watch.

5. If you haven't given the Rogue PC in the party a chance to skulk around, then this is a good reason to get him to hide, lurk, and listen in important places like the Royal Court in Suzail, and the Royal Palace just next door. Same goes for the spellcaster PC if she has eavesdropping spells she hasn't used.

6. War Wizards, important courtiers, Highknights, Purple Dragon officers and more all use spoken passwords and passphrases in Cormyr, and every last noble house and established guild has their own set of passwords and phrases they use, so smart PCs can have a lot of fun figuring out how to successfully overhear such and use it to their advantage or gain.

7. This is one of those things where a DM doesn't have to throw it in the PC's faces. Simply mentioning it on the side during downtime--a throwaway line like, "On your way back to the inn, as you pass around the back of the temple to Tymora after buying potions for the party, you overhear a temple priest standing in the lee of a rear entrance to the temple. He is admonishing a lay member of the temple for failing to remember the words of entrance."

8. If the PC keeps on walking, cool. Sally forth to adventure and all that. If not, or if they at least state they try to listen to what's being said, then the PCs have a chance to hear the priest say,

• "As you know, the challenge phrase is, 'In darkness I cannot see.'"
• Then the priest says, "Next time you must reply as follows to gain entrance to the temple at night, 'The moon and the stars in the water.'"*

...and at some point in the future if the PCs have a pressing need to gain access to this particular temple of Tymora (of which there are three in Cormyr, FYI), then they have a way in. Maybe something bad is about to go down inside the temple that only the PCs know about and can stop. Or maybe a PC is in dire need of healing that the PCs can't cast themselves--happens all the time.

9. At some point a group of PCs in Cormyr will have to go to the Royal Court in Suzail to pay the fee for an adventuring charter. This was something I ignored to the maximum in my campaigns until it hit me like a brick that one of the design intentions behind adventuring charters (which all PCs in an adventuring party active in Cormyr must acquire ASAP once they start gaining levels, on pain of other chartered adventurers being free to arrest the PCs for a reward if they don't comply with Crown law) is to put curious, greedy, and brave to the point of foolishness PCs right in the middle of the labyrinthine expanse of the Royal Court, with all its attendants and functionaries, schemes and plots, lurking dangers (the Dread Door Warden is a trip), secret doors, back passageways, walls behind walls behind walls, magical portals and more. It's a baked in excuse to visit.

10. Anyway, once PCs are in the Royal Court, they stand a good chance of hearing passwords and pass phrases because they're being used everywhere. For example, an old phrase and counter phrase out of Volo's Guide to Cormyr goes:

• The challenge phrase: "Black Sword."
• The reply: "Meets green shield."
• The counter reply, so you know that the person you're dealing with (in this case a Wizard of War) is legit too: "To make red war."

* I modified a line from Lee Child's short story "High Heat" to make this passphrase up. After all, this stuff doesn't appear in my mind whole cloth and ready to be written down. If you want to write good, then you have to read good.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

The Sundered Tomb Continued: Determining What Happened to the Mages and Mercenaries

Let's take what was established about the Waymoot region in the my last Sundered Tomb post and use it to inform a brainstorming session to figure out the fates of the mages and mercenaries that invaded the Sundered Tomb.

Here's the trusty map again:View attachment 77104

On to the sequence of events. (The numbers that follow correspond to new events, not to the numbers in the map above.)

1. The first rule of this dungeon: Nothing boring monster-wise, as per the following quoted text from a post by l0lzero (that was lost in the recent database crash):

More low CR monsters. Everyone wants to run a game where you start out at level one, and you end up fighting a couple animals, a couple undead, and then it's back to goblins, kobolds, and orcs for another few levels, and then you're off to the actual show. Low levels are just so freakin' boring. (snip) Give me some quality freak monsters of 1 cr and less so that people aren't afraid to throw them at 1st level characters.

Emphasis mine.

2. The blast report from the door ward going off (at area 1) could be heard for a few miles, and the bleeding-eared mages and mercs didn't waste any time marching inside, the better to be first before anyone else came along. So that's 2 apprentices dead, and 2 still alive.

3. The backlash shorted out a magical gate leading from the Sundered Tomb to the Waymoot Castle Catacombs (not sure where the gate on the Sundered Tomb side is located just yet).

4. This cut off the troll expedition.

5. The troll expedition was part of a larger force that entered the Waymoot Catacombs by means of another gate. (The trolls from the Feywild are seriously out to do harm in Waymoot, and that's a possible future campaign plot point for the PCs to explore.)

6. This second gate led from the Waymoot Catacombs to another, smaller excavation-turned dungeon in another part of the Waymoot region. (I.e., there are other dungeons to be accessed from the Catacombs, for possible future play opportunities.)

7. The trolls first rule was not to be discovered. Their second was to slay all that spotted them and to eat the corpses--gorging themselves if necessary--and to turn everything they could not eat over to the metal keepers.

8. Uhm...what are Metal Keepers? OK, Metal Keepers are barrel-sized mounds of living flesh with low intelligence and no visible eyes. Basically a blog o' fleshy stuff. They are native to the Feywild and share ancestry with trolls (and jaod--pie-sized creatures of flesh that live on human faces, and that can be shaped and molded to form disguises, of which a few are in circulation among spies and rogues in Cormyr), and they take on humanoid form by absorbing into their flesh metal armor, coins, weapons and tools, and using them to form skeletons (first) and then external metal "skin" (from coins and the like) second. They are not hostile unless attacked, and always try to escape when truly threatened (read: fire). Anyone who speaks Troll can command them to disgorge their metal, much like telling a dog to sit. They preserve all things metallic they keep in their bodies, needing only water, sunlight (or firelight) and minerals from laying on rocks to survive, plus an occasional meal of corpse or rotting plant matter. In tombs absent sunlight they harden up into dry mounds. They will disgorge their metal in a communal pile near underground lakes where magical light or phosphorescent illumination is present and they can swim around in their fleshyblob form.

9. Metal keepers make good cannon fodder. They regenerate like trolls do, they are dumb enough to follow crazy orders (though they won't run into a blazing inferno), they don't get confused because they can't understand complex orders--they just stay put until told to what to do with one word: attack or stay or disgorge--and they don't flee until after they are truly hurt by fire or acid or magic, or any spell or substance that dries them out. A Heat Metal spell will cause them to open up and disgorge their metal contents in short order. When they're hurt by fire or acid they make a fluted keening noise to warn their kind, who submerge themselves in the nearest water. They swim in water like seals. They can be hacked into fleshy bits, and these bits will form back together. Fleshy bits of one metal keeper and another metal keeper will gladly join together to form their own blob. They tend to linger wherever they are left to fend for themselves--and so where their troll masters fell in the Sundered Tomb. They dislike heat. Cool and wet first. Cool and dry second. Sunshine in moderation. Eat once a month. They tend to breed only when there is too much metal to go around. This is as simple as splitting in two. Blobs who've gained enough metal to form a humanoid body will depart when more than four or five occupy the same area. They eat dead flesh, clothing, rotted leather and plant matter.

10. The main entry hallway and the topmost chamber (areas 2 and 3) were devoid of trolls and metal keepers.

11. The trolls waited patiently in areas 4, 6 and 7, to assess their foes before attacking.

12. Two trailing mercs were skewered on a stag spear plundered from area 4, the spear wielded by a troll attacking from the last entrance to area 4 (at the top of area 5 hallway after the bend).

13. They were hit east to west, the spear driven through the neck of one merc and fully into the torso of the other.

14. 10 mercs left.

15. The double doors to the main chamber (area 8) are stuck fast. Not even the trolls could open them.

16. One mercenary was skewered by boar spear and bled to death at the double doors. His attacker was a troll to his right, in area 7.

17. 9 mercs left.

17. The ceiling at the end of area 5, and before the double doors to area 8, will end up blackened from smoke produced by burned troll and human flesh. That smoke stain will trail to a taper along the roof. It happened because air flowed out from other parts of the dungeon towards the newly made opening in the entryway.

19. The flanking rooms (area 6 and 7) will become blast-scorched and bone filled. (And during the adventure they'll be web-festooned, with mostly harmless spiders that crawled in from the outside, and possibly a giant spider.)

20. The flanking rooms each hold one greasy, fire-blackened troll corpse.

21. Area 7 holds three mercenary corpses. They went after the spear troll.

22. 6 mercs left.

23. Area 6 holds the corpse of one mercenary lieutenant. He faced off against a spear-less troll solo, driving it back into the room.

24. 1 lieutenant left.

25. The rooms were torched by fire magic after the trolls won those close quarters fights.

26. The mercenaries did a good job; the trolls *were* hacked up pretty good--in some cases to pieces--but they killed the mercenaries or wounded them sufficiently that they would bleed to death, and in any event the trolls began regenerating so they were burned hastily *after* the rest of the mercenaries and mages funneled through rooms 6 and 7 and into the main chamber at area 8.

27. So, the section of hallway after the dogleg right was where the troll ambush commenced, and the back troll got it started, the better to surprise the front rank of mercenaries who may have turned towards the sound of danger. That first troll was no match for the mercenary commander and the free mage. The former hacked the troll's head off and the later burned both head and body to a cinder with her magic.

28. In the main chamber two trolls attacked, and were immediately doomed to dance forever as per a permanent version of the spell Otto's Irresistible Dance that was cast by the free mage. They yet remain when the PCs show up. (This should be an interesting encounter: Low level PCs vs. two trolls who can't move out of their space.)

OK, that's all I have for now on the events that transpired.

Thinking ahead to the actual adventure:

29. One of the rooms off the main chamber has a closed door where a Metal Keeper blob dried up. The PCs can experiment with it if they force the door. It's shaped like half of a big watermelon, but it's the color of an old dry bread loaf.

30. At least one fully humanoid Metal Keeper (I need a better name for them) should be glimpsed moving into area 10 when the PCs make their way into the main chamber (area 8).

31. When the work of figuring out what happened is done, remember to think about what may have come out of the dungeon (probably a couple Metal Keepers) or made its way into the dungeon (giant spiders, common animals, etc.) in the intervening time between when the mages and mercs met their doom, and when a group of PCs show up to explore the dungeon.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

The Fate of the Mages and Mercenaries, continued.

1. Thinking about idea #28 in the last post, I figure what doomed the two trolls to dancing forever was that when the freemage (going to make this one word from now on, just like the word "hiremage") cast Otto's Irresistible Dance, the two trolls were crouching in part of the jagged scar of stone that runs the length of the tomb.

2. This was bad because the entire scar had just become a fixed area area of tattered magic, including the trench-like scar itself, and everything above and either side of it out to 10'. (What's tattered magic, you ask? Think of it as an area where the fabric of magic is in shambles, and waiting to be repaired. The best way to fix it is to cast powerful spells in the area. Tattered magic doesn't form when the Weave of all magic is present, and as of 1479 DR it's not)

3. I figure the very fabric of magic itself had been rent by the backlash caused by the freemage's apprentices in their attempt to control the self-destruction magic present in the double doors at area 1 (see two posts up), so when the freemage cast her spell in area 8 it not only went off as planned, but being a 6th level spell it helped drive magical energy from the surrounding area into the tattered magic space, causing the fabric of magic to settle and mend itself--and in so doing it endowed the area in at least a 10' radius around the target troll with a permanent Irresistible Dance effect. Unfortunately, this mean no saving throws.

4. Trolls are Large giants, but they are also long and lean, so I think there was room for them to fold themselves into a crouch and hide in order to try and surprise whomever came through rooms 6 or 7. I figure that scar runs at least 5' deep in most places.

5. Assuming the mercenary captain ordered her last surviving lieutenant to fan their forces out (so as not to be caught bunched up), the trolls were probably spotted and they engaged the surviving mercenaries (6 left, at last count) as they approached the scar in the stone.

6. The trolls probably attacked as the surviving apprentices (2 left) were busy igniting rooms 6 and 7 to end the existence of the regenerating trolls within them.

7. Note: When it comes to illumination for the mages and mercenaries, the freemage and her two apprentices could each have cast Light once each (since the spell ends if you cast it again, they could only have cast it once). The mercenary commander probably has a magical source of illumination on her person, and the mercenary soldiers no doubt came equipped with torches, which at least one mercenary would have carried at the front and back of the marching order. Torches and the Light spell both provide the same illumination (20' bright, 20' dim). As for the Tomb, all the magical illumination inside it was at least temporarily shorted out by the backlash (as was the magical portal leading from the Waymoot Catacombs, lest we forget).

8. I figure at least two mercs and one lieutenant were caught up in the Irresistible Dance effect, along with the trolls. This might seem comical, but for the giants and humans it was a mad fight to the death, while the freemage tried and failed to dismiss her spell (she stopped concentrating, but it just kept on going), and the mercenaries outside of the area of the dancing switched to ranged attacks on the trolls.

9. The humans were rent into bloody ribbons by troll claws and fanged troll bites, and the trolls were sorely wounded by the humans. I figure at least one troll had a head or arm lopped off (being 5' lower than their human attackers, this would have been a little more likely), but that won't stop a troll. The troll bodies were ultimately left to dance by the freemage's choice. She had ordered everyone away from the jagged scar and took the time to study both it and her spell's unexpected effect from a safe distance. She figured out what happened, warned her apprentice to mind their magic, then explained that the trolls were doomed to dance forever.

10. After that, the survivors bypassed the dangerous area of the spell and headed straight for the south end of the main chamber. The freemage was driving them hard at this point; she knew where she wanted to go (the Tombs) and getting there mattered more than anything. This probably cost lives earlier in area 5, since the freemage ordered the mercenary captain to *not* explore rooms 3 and 4, and instead to watch the alcoves leading to them as the mages and mercenaries passed by.

Headcount: 0 mercenary lieutenants left. 4 mercenaries left. 1 mercenary captain left. 2 apprentice mages left. 1 freemage left.

Note: Because the freemage cast Otto's Irresistible Dance, she's at least an 11th level caster. Probably 12th.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Moving From The Sundered Tomb To The Tomb Of Eight

Headcount: 0 mercenary lieutenants left. 4 mercenaries left. 1 mercenary captain left. 2 apprentice mages left. 1 freemage left.

1. So, once the surviving mages and mercenaries got to room 14 they saw the entrance to the tombs proper, as shown on the following isometric map:

Name: isometric-tomb-of-eight.jpg Views: 47 Size: 694.9 KB

As with the prior map, each square = 10 feet.



2. Thus, the entrance on the bottom left hand corner of the map faces North, and the tomb furthest from the entrance points South.

3. Where the stairs reach their lowest point, you can see what looks like water buildup on the floor. This can also be imagined as pools of blood--all of it belonging to three of the four trolls (the other half of the 8-troll strong expedition from the Waymoot Catacombs) that split off to explore this part of the tomb.

4. The trolls just got their heads handed to them (almost literally) by the spectral guardians (i.e., Ghosts; MM 147) that manifest as armored from head to foot warriors in gleaming armor wielding paired longswords and possessed of a wicked bad attitude, that emerged collectively from the tomb chambers they were left to guard for all of eternity very soon after the magical backlash from area 1 ripped through the dungeon.

5. A custom among nobles of Esparin was to have one bonded retainer--better an altar sworn veteran mercenary, when they could be found--who protected them at all times, and fought for them when matters could not be resolved peacefully. The spectral guardians were all altar sworn warriors (variously sworn to Tyr, Helm, Tempus, Lliira [you read that right] and Tyche), and they agreed to follow their charges into death by becoming ghosts. Think of this as a poor man's version of a baelnorn (goodly elf ghost protector).

6. One troll was Possessed as per the Ghost ability.

7. The freemage had good intel on the tomb, and she came prepared with a spell to even the odds against spectral guardians: Ghost to Flesh. As the spell suggests, when seven of the eight ghosts were caught in its area they all became flesh form temporarily. They lost all their terrible attacks (Withering Touch, Etherealness, Horrifying Visage, Possession), but gained in terms of their incorporeal armor and weapons becoming solid on their bodies.

8. If you've ever seen Game of Thrones, specifically the episode with a flashback scene where Bran Stark watched his father's force of five men take on dual-longsword wielding Sir Arthur Dayne and an ally of his, then it shouldn't be too hard to imagine how the now fleshform guardians looked as they brought the fight to the mercenaries.

9. And this was the fight the mercenaries had been waiting for: warrior against warrior, sword vs. sword.

10. The possessed troll attempted to bull rush right over the closed ranks of mercenaries and its ghost allies, so as to get at the spellcasters in the back rank that were further up the stairs. Unfortunately for it (and the spectral guardian riding inside it), the mercenary captain unloaded with her Heavy Crossbow of Wand Detonating. What's this delicious item, you ask? See entry #6 in the post after this one.

11. The bolt flew true, and the exploding overcharged wand took the head and shoulders off the troll. The ghost was ejected and the mercenaries (who'd fallen prone and covered eyes and ears, as they'd been trained to do) went to work on the guardians who'd been hurt and knocked down by the boom, hacking and slashing them. The apprentice mages unleashed carefully aimed Burning Hands spells on the fallen troll parts--especially any heads or hacked off arms that could potentially trip up their sword-swinging allies, and the freemage targeted the ghost when it reappeared.

12. Then the tide came in.

13. What tide? The tide of magic. It was like a tsunami, and the shattering of the entryway door was the earthquake that spawned it. So in other words, when the apprentice mages attempted to channel the self-destruction spell ward on the doors in area 1, they didn't account for how the fabric of magic would react, and it reacted by rippling away from the tomb and then flowing right back towards it in a wave that was invisible, but that manifested in trees swaying and gusts of wind blowing like a miniature hurricane before flowing into the earth and to the tomb proper.

14. In the tunnel steps, the riptide of crashing magic dispelled all magic in the tomb. It washed away the preservative wards that had kept the memorabilia like new and kept the tomb in pristine condition. In its wake some of the objects aged years in just seconds, as though catching up for lost time. A few of the sarcophagus chambers and satellite rooms in the tomb were spared the worst of the magical tsunami. As for the wind, it howled in the stairway tunnel, knocked warriors prone and put out all torches. Only the burning flesh of the trolls remained alight.

15. Now freed from their fleshy confines, the spectral guardians waded into the mercenaries, slaying them mercilessly.

16. The freemage attempted one futile casting after another, but the wave of flowing magic drank her spells. Her life was ended when a pair of guardians caught her in their Horrifying Gaze, thus aging her by 80 years. She died a round later of hearstop (A Realmsian catch-all term for heart attacks or any condition from age to sickness that ultimately stills a beating heart).

17. While their master was aging to death, her apprentices threw caution to the wind, drew their Wands of Fireball, and set to blasting. The wands had no effect as the tide of magic was still washing in. Then the apprentices ran for their lives.

18. The mercenary captain was left to fend for herself. As the guardians closed in on her, she set a wand in her Crossbow and made sure it did not sit true. When she pulled the trigger the Crossbow misfired and the wand exploded, taking her and her attackers with her.

19. A guardian had bypassed the captain to chase the fleeing apprentices. It caught one ascending the stairs just before room 14, and slew her.

20. By then magic returned to normal in the tomb, as the invisible ripples and eddies of magical current settled down again.

21. The last apprentice was so utterly terrified that he ran headlong into the north wall of room 14--and was whisked away to the Waymoot Catacombs.

22. The north wall of room 14 is a magical gate. It consists of a fresco that runs floor to ceiling and wall to wall. Any creature incapable of taking Legendary Actions that comes into contact with the gate is instantly transported to a room in the Waymoot Catacombs that contains a duplicate fresco. This is the other side of the gate. After, the Gate does not function for that creature until the next day at dawn (or 24 hours...DM's call).

23. Using tools or objects on the gate, as well as casting spells that come into contact with the gate and that require concentration (like Bigby's Hand) will get you transported instantly, and end your spell.

24. Otherwise the gate absorbs the effect of any spell that targets it, or whose area intersects with the gate, if that spell is 7th level or lower. The gate likewise absorbs the effects from any magic item whose rarity is less than Very Rare.

25. Not sure what the fateof that last apprentice was (a topic for another day). But I can say that his appearance was rendered on both fresco walls, in very small form, when he was transported. The same has been true for everyone that's ever used the fresco gates. Where one appears has to do with one's alignment and temperament.

26. One may well notice that a dragon or two are visible on the fresco walls, and other creatures like dopplegangers and shape changing Malaugrym--these always appear in their natural form on the fresco. The trolls are visible, as are their metal-collecting flesh blobs.

And that about covers what came before in the Sundered Tomb and the Tomb of Eight.

Now it's time to think about how the place aged over the next 2 to 10 years, and to get it ready for the arrival of soon to be dead 2nd level PCs.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

More Magic Items, Including Wands as Explosive Crossbow Ammunition

Let's brainstorm more magic items.

Let's also abuse wands.

1. A ring that drinks charges from wands.

Ring of Spellslaking
Ring, rare (requires attunement)

When you wear this magical ring, you may grasp any wand and expend charges from it sufficient to cast one spell listed in the wand's item description. The spell is not cast, but absorbed by the ring and stored for later use. While wearing the ring, you may use one action to cast the spell stored in the ring.
If the wand does not cast spells, the ring does not allow you to expend charges from a wand. If the act of expending charges depletes the wand of charges, then the wand is automatically destroyed. If there are insufficient charges in the wand, it is depleted of its remaining charges and destroyed, and the ring does not store a spell. The ring may store only one spell at a time.

(The concept here is to give non-spellcasters a one shot item that mimics wands [items which can only be attuned to by spellcasters], and to allow a party to get a little more use out of rechargeable objects like wands. That, and it might be cool if a rogue used an action to grab an enemy spellcaster's Wand of Fireballs and possibly drain it of power before the bad guy blasts the party a second time and roasts them all to death.)

2. How about some gauntlets amenable to spellcasters? OK then.

Battlestorm's Gauntlets of Brawling
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires a bad attitude)

When you wear these magical war gauntlets, your unarmed strikes deal 1d4 damage instead of the base 1 point of damage. These gauntlets do not hamper a spellcaster's ability to cast spells or to make somatic gestures. You do not need to be proficient in Heavy Armor to wear these gauntlets.

("Battlestorm" refers to Taltar Battlestorm, a War Wizard of my own devising that prefers to punch first and cast spells later.)

3. For those days when you just have to be the hero and save everyone else:

Helm of the Spell Martyr
Wondrous item, rare (does not require attunement; anybody can be the hero)

This helm has 1d3 charges, and it gains back 1d3 expended charges daily at dawn. While you wear this helm, you may use your Reaction to expend 1 of its charges to prevent any one spell of the schools of evocation or abjuration that affects you from affecting others at the same time. The spell's damaging effects are tallied up for all of its targets as normal, except that all of the damage is applied to you. If the spell requires a saving throw, you make one roll. The spell must include you as a target or in its area, or the helm does not function.

4. How about some brass knuckles that steal spells:

Brass Knuckles of Spell Intervention
Wondrous item, uncommon

While wearing these brass knuckles, you may use your Reaction to make an unarmed strike against any spellcaster within your reach that casts a spell. If the attack is successful, the spellcaster must make a Constitution saving throw (10 + your damage dealt). If the save succeeds, the spell takes effect as normal. If the save fails, the spell is interrupted as though you had cast Counterspell.
If you roll a natural 20 on your attack roll and the spellcaster's save fails, the spell is stored in your brass knuckles. You can cast any spell stored in the brass knuckles as though you were wearing a Ring of Spell Storing. Only one spell at a time may be stored in the brass knuckles. A character may not wear the brass knuckles and any magical ring on the same hand.

5. Potions taste better when you first poor them into a sturdy stein before downing them:

Stein of Perfect Miscibility
Wondrous item; uncommon

This sturdy earthenware stein is topped with a platinum lid that can be locked into place. You may poor the contents of up to two different potions into this stein with no deleterious effects, and then close and lock the lid. The combined liquid remains stored in this manner until consumed. You may use your action to open the stein and consume its contents. If you do so, both potions take effect normally.

6. Who says you can't use wands as crossbow ammunition?

Crossbow of Wand Detonation
Wondrous item; rare

This heavy crossbow grants you advantage on attack rolls against spellcasters. In addition to crossbow bolts, you may use a wand as ammunition. On a successful attack the wand does normal heavy crossbow damage, and then detonates. The explosion deals force damage: 4 x the number of remaining charges in the wand, in a 10' radius. The damage is force damage.
If you roll a 1 on an attack roll while using a wand as ammunition, the wand explodes in the crossbow and deals its explosive damage as normal.

(Don't sell excess wands! Save them in a quiver for a special day in the future when you can use them as exploding ammo!)

7. Slings are fun, but Slingshots are better--especially magical ones:

Slingshot of Impertinent Magical Destruction
Slingshot; uncommon

This slingshot is a simple ranged weapon. It deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage, and uses the same type of ammunition as a Sling (PHB 149). Its range is 60/180.
The handle of this slingshot is hollow, and a hole in the base of the handle can admit one wand (the magic of the slingshot resizes odd-shaped wands to fit). Whenever a wand is inserted into the handle, you may choose to expend charges from the wand while making a ranged attack with the slingshot. If you do so, select an effect from the wand's description, and deduct charges from the wand as normal. The wand's effect occurs only if you make a successful attack roll, and the effect is centered on the target of your ranged attack. If you roll a 1, the wand's effect occurs as normal, but with you as the target. You may not make a save to avoid this effect.

8. A cat on your back can be a good thing. Watch those claws!

Cape of the Hissing Cat
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement by Fancy Feast[TM])

While you wear this cape embroidered with a big fluffy house cat, you have advantage on initiative rolls. Whenever a foe makes a successful Sneak Attack against you, you may use your Reaction to make an Opposed Dexterity Roll with advantage. If your roll equals or exceeds the attack roll of your foe, the attack fails. (And the DM should tell you that the embroidered cat briefly comes to life, hissing and spitting at the unseen foe that just tried and failed to stab you in the back.)
This cape is of no help when you are sleeping, and does not prevent you from being surprised.

9. You're attuned to that item, huh? Think again, bro.

War Shield of Dissonance
Shield, very rare

This shield comes with 1 charge, and gains back 1 expended charge daily at dawn. It may hold no more than 3 charges.
You may expend one charge while using an action to bang your sword or other heavy object against the shield, causing it to emit a shrieking howl of dissonant noise. Every creature within a 60' radius centered on you that is wielding or carrying at least one attuned magic item must make a Wisdom saving throw against a DC of 15 + your Charisma modifier. On a failed save, they become unattuned to one magic item at random, and the shield gains back 1 charge per unattuned item (to a maximum of 3 charges).
You may use your Reaction to expend a charge whenever a creature fails an attack roll against you with a melee weapon. If you do so, that creature's attack was blocked by your shield, and that creature must make a saving throw against a DC of 20 + your Charisma modifier. On a failed save, they become unattuned to one magic item at random, and the shield gains back 1 charge per unattuned item (to a maximum of 3 charges).
This shield has no effect in areas of magical silence (as per the spell Silence, PHB 276), or on creatures without a sense of hearing.

10. Oh man, I'm spent. So...a few posts back I came up with a minor magic item property called Crawling. I think an interesting encounter a DM using the new Storm King's Thunder adventure might try is having the PCs encounter an enormous longsword (say 10' - 15' long) with the Crawling property. The PCs are traveling down the road when the sword comes rumbling along thanks to the legion of legs sticking out of it.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

More Magic Item Ideas

Not much time for writing full magic item entries. But that’s OK. This thread is supposed to be about idea generation, not finished products.

1. A wardrobe closet that carries a spare set of equipment.

Backup Wardrobe
Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

This tall, rectangular wooden closet is about the size of the Police Call Box (aka the TARDIS) from Doctor Who. The frame is supported by sturdy iron wheels at each corner that remain perpetually lubricated and rust free.
Three of the wardrobe’s interior walls contains hooks, shelves, hangers and numerous means of storage for clothing, armor, shoes, jewelry, and all manner of objects that may be worn, as well as the ceiling. A full-length mirror backs the entrance to the wardrobe. Facing the mirror is a fully articulated mannequin that changes height and shape to match the proportions of the creature it is attuned to. The interior of the wardrobe is always lit comfortably by magic from an unseen source.
If you are standing outside the wardrobe, and are on the same plane as the wardrobe, you may use an action to teleport all of your worn and held objects to the wardrobe, and replace them with whatever objects are worn and held by the mannequin. The wardrobe can’t be used this way again until the next dawn. When you use this property of the wardrobe, its magic automatically ends all spells effects, other ongoing magical effects, and any other effects active on your person that were caused by your first set of worn and held items


2. Monty’s Haul:
On a successful attack, this magic weapon steals a one of a creature’s three attunement slots and gives that slot to you. You can receive no more than three attunement slots this way. That creature can take back its slot by making a successful melee attack against you. While you have an attunement slot from another creature, you may attune to one extra magic item beyond the normal limit of three (DMG 136).

3. Shield of the Wounded Warrior:
A shield that drinks evocation magic and provides you with hit points.

4. (spell) Ride the Lightening:
Summon the fury of Talos to be struck by lightening and teleported to a random destination within the same region of the storm, or to someplace where the deity determines you are most needed.

5. Gems of Whiplash:
Say the command word and get rocketed back to the location of the last gem in this five gem set, and at an awesome rate of speed. You will hurl. You’ll be yanked into the sky like the unfortunates in the movie “The Forgotten”, except that you get to land somewhere and (hopefully) walk away.

6. Hellwalk Boots:
Active a blazing inferno at your feet with the boots, or jump in a fire on the Prime Material Plane, and then step lively as you race through the Hells for a short while until you find the second fire conjured up by your boots to jump through to make your way back home and to your destination on the Prime. But beware: the denizens of hell love a free meal and a chance to torment, and they always know to toss the boots back through the fire so the next fool and his friends will come, because they’re the ones that made the boots.

7. Ring of Combat Critiquing:
This magical ring “remembers” the last combat you participated in. A combat is as any encounter where you rolled initiative, and the ring records everything from your point of view until the combat ends. Any time before your next combat, you may command the ring to replay the last encounter. The replay consists of a Programmed Illusion that fills up to 30’ space, includes sight and sound, and lasts for no more than 5 minutes. There is no limit to the number of times you may replay your last encounter. The last replay stored in the ring is erased the instant a new combat starts .

8. Shield of the Fire Thief:
Although this surface of this ornate shield is carved to resemble a flattened red dragon’s head, it plays no favorites when it comes to dragon breath weapons. Any time the wielder of this shield is struck by the breath weapon of a dragon, the shield automatically prevents all damage and deleterious effects to the wielder, and it steals the dragon’s ability to use its breath weapon. The dragon’s breath weapon returns at dawn on the day after its breath weapon was stolen. This shield may steal no more than one breath weapon this way.

9. Gauntlets of the Pious Mercenary:
These simple gauntlets provide healing to their wearer. Whenever bearer of the gauntlets provides food and drink to the needy, to the wounded, or to the starving by handing it to them and assisting them to consume it (if necessary), the bearer is healed 8 hp per person fed. For up to one day after feeding others while wearing the gauntlets, if the bearer harms someone they fed, the bearer is then cursed: he or she may not benefit from healing magic of any kind for one year per person harmed, and the gauntlets may not be removed by any power short of a Wish spell or divine intervention.

10. Gauntlets of Extra Hands:
Whenever you require extra help with a physical, non-combat task (such as lifting up a heavy object, carrying a fallen comrade, steadying a ladder from falling, etc.), these Gauntlets create a second set of your hands that may be “set” in place and then commanded to act as you would act while performing the physical task. For any of the tasks listed under Other Strength Checks in the PHB, p.176, these gauntlets confer advantage on your Strength roll. These extra hands disappear when you stop performing the physical task. They may not be used to make attack actions of any kind.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

Playing Around With Attunemnt (DMG 136)

1. Warships, sailboats, wagons, carriages, horse-drawn carts, huts, houses, towers, castles...all of these can be magic items, and it follows they can be attuned to.

2. I think a magical property that magic conveyances and magic structures could posses is something called Shared Attunement: The owner of this magical structure/conveyance may share the magical properties of any other magic item to which the owner is attuned to with the structure or conveyance. This is accomplished by placing the item on the structure/conveyance (hanging a magical shield on a bracket on a wall), and spending a short rest linking the attuned item to the c/s. Once this is done, the c/s is considered to have all the magical properties of the magic item, and the owner of the c/s may use the shared properties from anywhere in the structure, or while in physical contact with the conveyance.

...a DM would have to decide odd cases or corner cases, but I think this basic idea is workable.

2. So, let's do that. If a player builds a castle, gives it Shared Attunement and decides to hang his or her trusty Flame Tongue on a wall in the sitting room, what can happen next? Well, according to your description, the PC should be able to speak the sword's command word and cause the castle to erupt in flames that shed bright light in a 40-foot radius (really this ought to be farther--I mean, we're talking a freaking castle here). Presumably the interior rooms wouldn't light on fire, and the castle exterior would remain as immune to the flames as the blade of the Flame Tongue.

3. What if the sword was a Luck Blade? Hrm...well, the PC wouldn't gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls unless he or she was actually wielding the blade. They should benefit from the +1 to saving throws, since they are in their castle, which is about the same as the sword being "on their person." That means the PC would be able to activate the Luck and Wish magical properties of the sword from anywhere in the castle.

4. Forget swords. What about Staves? Specifically, the mother of all staves: Staff of the Magi. As with the Luck Blade, the owner would not gain the +2 benefit to attack and damage rolls because they're not wielding the staff; it's hung up somewhere in the castle, in a (presumably) safe location. The owner would gain the +2 to to spell attack rolls, since being within the area of the castle (and in contact with it) is similar to holding the staff. Therefore, all the other magical properties of the staff that require it to be held in order to be used (Spell Absorption, Spells, Retributive Strike) can be used from anywhere in the castle.

5. [Encounter Idea] Whoa...that's pretty powerful. But if we switch this scenario from a PC to an NPC, then you have the makings of an interesting ongoing set of encounters in the dark castle of a Big Bad Evil Guy NPC, who just happens to have one or two secret rooms in which their Staff of the Magi and another powerful magic item are kept, so the bad guy NPC can keep their hands free to do other nefarious things to the PCs while being able to call on those two items' powers. If they PCs can get to the items first, though, they can limit the bad guy's power by destroying the items or maybe turning them to their own use somehow. The PCs could also figure out how to levitate the NPC so he's not in physical contact with the structure, since this would be like taking a magic item out of his hands.

6. I figure a Retributive Strike called up by the bad guy NPC in the scenario above would not destroy the Staff, it would explode the whole freaking castle. <insert evil DM laugh here> The description does say you have to break the staff, but I suppose the rules could be bent if the NPC could break something else attached to the castle (like a window).

7. Hmm...what if we power everything down a bit...maybe an item, like a wrought iron decorative hook--like a coat hook or something you'd hang your walking cane from--that can be placed on a conveyance or fastened to a wall in a room inside a larger structure. The owner of the magical iron hook would have to be attuned to it, and any magic item hung from the hook would be considered as still in contact with its owner. This way, a sleeping NPC (or PC) who doesn't want to have to lug their Staff of Power with them to the jakes in the middle of the night would at least have a shot at using the powers of the staff to defend themselves if they were caught unawares in the structure. An NPC riding in a wagon would probably be using both hands to hold the reigns controlling the draft animal(s) pulling the wagon, so this item would allow the NPC to fight back without having to let go of the reigns and grab their magic item(s) up.

8. Another Minor Property: Faraway This item never becomes unattuned to its bearer as a result of being separated by a distance of 100' or more over a 24 hour period. This property does not extend beyond planar boundaries; the bearer and the item must be on the same plane for this property to function.

9. There ought to be objects or compounds or alchemical mixtures or spells or magic items that modify the process of attunement during a short rest, for better or worse. This is a topic for another day.

10. Regarding Attunement in general: Maybe some items that must be attuned to be used, and that remain with one owner for decades or even centuries (think: Liches and Dragons) end up becoming tethered to their owners in ways mysterious. For example, if a PC finds a magic item that requires attunement, and then discovers that they can't attune to it, then the spellcaster in the group might be able to deduce that this means the ghost of the last owner of the item is still on the Prime Material Plane, and that former owner needs to be put to rest permanently.

11. This could be a simple "slay the evil ghost" adventure, or something more involved where the PCs have to figure out what wrong was never righted before the former owner died, or something similar. Succeeding in this way might grant the PCs a boon of other magic items tied to the ghost, that are now free to be attuned to the PCs.