D&D 5E What should this magic item's rarity be?

[ad_hoc]

Rarity is literally a measure of how many of them there are.

So how many do you want there to be?

Are there only a few in existence? Very Rare

Can you buy them in town? Common

 

[Stormonu]

Another thing to consider with objects - with the likes of silent image, you could create the illusion of a 5 foot high by 5 foot wide stack of gold bars. Hit it with this dust…are you ready to deal with the consequences?

 

[Quickleaf]

Sounds like an update of the old 1E Shadow magic spells, in item form.

Probably want a CR limit or make a generic stat block for any monster made real by the dust. Might be a good idea to have “levels” of the dust - lesser, standard, greater - that have CR ranges they can affect (or spells - maybe Lesser can only affect 1st-2nd level spells, such as Phantasmal Force, while standard affects 3rd-4th and greater affects 5th+).

Another consideration might be the HP illusion creatures gains. 1E Shadow magic gave it in percentages (10%, 20%, etc.); for 5E, it might be better to set it at X hit points per HD (say 1 HP/HD for lesser, 3 hp/HD for standard, 5 hp/HD for greater) - keeping in mind Large+ creatures use bigger HD (1d10, 1d12, 1d20). The wording of Simulacrum would probably be a great help here.

I’d be curious to see what your expectations would be if someone used this dust on Mirror Image - would you get a Simulacrum or Clone equivalent from it?

If you use the lesser, standard, greater format you’ll want to tweak the DC for the secondary effect.

Another thing to consider with objects - with the likes of silent image, you could create the illusion of a 5 foot high by 5 foot wide stack of gold bars. Hit it with this dust…are you ready to deal with the consequences?

Thanks very much! Yeah, my initial points of comparison were Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments (very rare) and Ring of Wishes (legendary). I haven't looked at 1E shadow magic in ages, so making the connection between that and simulacrum is brilliant.

Exactly, about the mirror image clone. There are maaaany corner cases. For example, what if you use it on a creature concealing its identity with illusion? On the one hand, it's super tricky to design for. On the other hand, my intent is an item which really encourages players getting creative. So with the mirror image clone, one difference between this magic item and simulacrum is that your simulacrum is always friendly & obedient to you. Not so with this item - the creature brought over from illusion has its own sentience and desires. I'm strongly tempted to include a provision that it if used to create a copy of an existing creature, it has an alignment opposite to that creature (i.e. Neutral Good mage sprinkles the dust on one of his mirror images, and brings into being a Neutral Evil version of himself). Of course, that means it maybe could be weaponized against enemies using mirror image, in which case there'd need to be a saving throw. Still on the fence about that.

Thinking on it a bit more, I've made a revision to my draft, with the revised portions in orange...


Dust of Phantasmal Manifestation
Wondrous item, very rare

Found in a small container, this pearlescent white dust glows faintly when touched. There is enough of it for one use. It can be used to make an illusion real, polymorph a creature shrouded in an illusory guise to a form matching its guise, or prevent a creature from entering the Ethereal Plane.

Make Illusions Real. When you use an action to throw the dust on an illusion within 10 feet of you, the illusion becomes a real nonmagical object or creature for 24 hours. Thereafter you must roll a d20 at the beginning of every new 24 hour period; on a roll of 9 or less, the object or creature reverts to being an illusion. Additionally, if dispel magic is cast upon the object or creature, it reverts back to being an illusion. If the illusion was the result of a spell, treat it as if the spell was just cast by its original caster. No object created by the dust can have a value greater than 25,000 gp. Any creature brought into being by using the dust cannot have legendary actions and it has half the creature's hit point maximum. The creature has its own sentience and desires.

Embody the Disguise. When you use an action to throw the dust at a creature within 10 feet of you that is shrouded in an illusory guise, the creature must succeed a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or be polymorphed into a form matching its illusory guise. The creature retains its alignment and personality, but otherwise its statistics are those of its new form. If reduced to 0 hit points, the creature resumes its true form. This effect lasts for 24 hours.

Bind the Ethereal. Alternately, when you use an action to throw the dust at a creature within 10 feet of you. If the creature has the ability to enter the Ethereal Plane, that creature must succeed a DC 20 Constitution saving throw or be unable to enter the Ethereal Plane for 24 hours.

 

[Ancalagon]

The effect has to be magical. Otherwise it would be permanent.

 

[Quickleaf]

The effect has to be magical. Otherwise it would be permanent.

Thanks, mate. To which part are you referring? Is it this...?

Make Illusions Real. When you use an action to throw the dust on an illusion within 10 feet of you, the illusion becomes a real nonmagical object or creature for 24 hours.

If so, the intent is for the adjective "nonmagical" to apply to the noun "object" and "object" alone. To make that clearer I could write: "...becomes a real creature or nonmagical object for 24 hours." ?

 

[J.Quondam]

RAI question...

What happens if the dust is used by a party on the Ethereal, on a creature on the Ethereal plane?​

(No effect? Eject from Ethereal? Prevent from leaving the Ethereal? Or..?)​

That might or might not be a point you'd want to clarify in the verbiage. (I'm asking only because it was the main obvious potential rules issue that popped into my head!)

 

[Ancalagon]

Thanks, mate. To which part are you referring? Is it this...?

Make Illusions Real. When you use an action to throw the dust on an illusion within 10 feet of you, the illusion becomes a real nonmagical object or creature for 24 hours.

If so, the intent is for the adjective "nonmagical" to apply to the noun "object" and "object" alone. To make that clearer I could write: "...becomes a real creature or nonmagical object for 24 hours." ?

The effects last up to 8 hours, but then reverts. Let's say the potion has given you a huge nose and blue skin to imitate a particular fiend. If the changes then reverts, it means that the effect is magical, as your nose won't spontaneously "ungrow" back to its normal shape.