I'm playing in a campaign where PCs start with one uncommon magic item. I'm playing a fire sorcerer, and am contemplating a homebrew item to submit to the DM for approval. Here's what I've got so far; curious to hear feedback.
Spell Serpents (requires attunement by a spellcaster): This bracelet looks like three snakes twined together. One is made of gold, one of silver, and one of black iron. When you see a spell cast within 60 feet of you, if it is of a level you could cast, you can use your reaction to bind that spell into one of the snakes. If the snake already has a bound spell, the new one replaces it.
Each snake will only grant access to the newly-bound spell when a certain condition is met. You can then cast the spell using one of your own spell slots. When you do, it fades from the bracelet.
(The expectation is that the silver snake lets you back up an allied spellcaster on a particular spell, the black iron snake lets you steal a spell from an enemy in combat, and the gold snake holds a "rainy-day" spell that you won't use very often.)
In the days of yore, a big part of playing a wizard - and one I always enjoyed - was hunting for new spells. In the campaigns I played in, when you gained access to a new level of spells, you got one (1) spell of that level for your spellbook, and that was it. If the DM was nice, you got to pick which spell you wanted, but you still only got one spell every other level. For the rest, you had to beg, borrow, or steal from other wizards. 5E is much more generous to wizards, but not so much to sorcerers; this seemed like a neat way to recapture some of that "treasure hunting" feel. The gold snake also gives some incentive for actual treasure hunting.
Balance-wise, the pearl of power is probably the top end of uncommon items for a spellcaster. I felt like an item that gave three known spells (with restrictions on what you can put into it) but no extra slots was reasonably balanced against an item that gave one extra slot but no new spell options.
What do you think?
Spell Serpents (requires attunement by a spellcaster): This bracelet looks like three snakes twined together. One is made of gold, one of silver, and one of black iron. When you see a spell cast within 60 feet of you, if it is of a level you could cast, you can use your reaction to bind that spell into one of the snakes. If the snake already has a bound spell, the new one replaces it.
Each snake will only grant access to the newly-bound spell when a certain condition is met. You can then cast the spell using one of your own spell slots. When you do, it fades from the bracelet.
- The gold snake requires a sacrifice of gems or coins. Treat this as an additional material component, consumed in casting. The sacrifice is 5 gp for a cantrip; 50 gp per level for a spell up to level 5; and 500 gp per level for a spell of level 6 or higher.
- The silver snake requires that you have the original caster's spoken permission to use the spell.
- The black iron snake requires that the original caster is dead (or destroyed, if it wasn't living to start with).
(The expectation is that the silver snake lets you back up an allied spellcaster on a particular spell, the black iron snake lets you steal a spell from an enemy in combat, and the gold snake holds a "rainy-day" spell that you won't use very often.)
In the days of yore, a big part of playing a wizard - and one I always enjoyed - was hunting for new spells. In the campaigns I played in, when you gained access to a new level of spells, you got one (1) spell of that level for your spellbook, and that was it. If the DM was nice, you got to pick which spell you wanted, but you still only got one spell every other level. For the rest, you had to beg, borrow, or steal from other wizards. 5E is much more generous to wizards, but not so much to sorcerers; this seemed like a neat way to recapture some of that "treasure hunting" feel. The gold snake also gives some incentive for actual treasure hunting.
Balance-wise, the pearl of power is probably the top end of uncommon items for a spellcaster. I felt like an item that gave three known spells (with restrictions on what you can put into it) but no extra slots was reasonably balanced against an item that gave one extra slot but no new spell options.
What do you think?
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