Mystic Tide Orb

February 13, 2024

Wondrous item, very-rare

dnd dnd-5e tier-1 tier-2 tier-3 tier-4 consumable

Lilrin focused her gaze on the small blue orb resting on her palm. It slowly drifted off and started to vibrate intensely. Immediately she could feel the magic energy being pulled from all around her, from within her. She turned and began to run but only made it 3 steps before an arrow struck her thigh, causing her leg to give way. She tried to use the momentum from her fall to roll and get back up but as she started to spring back up another arrow found its way to her left shoulder. Running was no longer an option it seemed.

Now there were shouts as bodies were rushing towards her, ignoring the orb. They knew what the device was and that would be useless to try to deactivate it. As they closed in on her she propped herself up on her longsword, feigning weakness. 2 arrows didn't put her down at the battle of Entylon, and they wouldn't be the end of her in this wretched place.

Lilrin's feint worked and she met her aggressor's unarmored region under their armpit with her longsword. They were too close for their overhead swing to be effective and a disembodied arm went flying against the wall.

Regaining a proper stance, as proper as it could be with 2 wounded limbs, she had just enough time to notice a third arrow. All she could do was brace as the arrow was headed straight for her upper chest. The arrow made contact with her breastplate and ricocheted upwards until her neck guard deflected it off to the side. She would have to thank the smith for that new addition to her armor.

Mystic Tide orbs are used to suppress the flow of magic. They have a wide range of practical applications but are often used to assassinate powerful magic users. Anti-magic cults have been known to cherish these items to further their cause, though their means are somewhat hypocritical.

As an action, you can activate the Orb which will cause it to float 4 ft. in the air as it begins to absorb magical energy from around it. It will continue to hover in place, vibrating erratically, for 5 rounds, at which time it will explode, releasing all of the energy it absorbed.

While the orb is active, any spell being cast within 30 ft. of the Orb will require the caster to pass an Arcana skill check in order for the casting to succeed. A success means that the spell is cast, while a failure means that the spell fizzles out as the arcane energies are absorbed into the Orb.

Refer to the table below to determine the values for your level of play. These tiers are at the discretion of the GM. For example, and level 5 player close to leveling up may receive a tier 2 version of the item. Also, the DM can choose to have the magic items “level up” with the player, or maybe the player needs to upgrade the magic item.

Tier of Play	Arcana Skill Check DC	Explosion Effect
1	DC 14	It deals 2d6 force damage to anything withing a 15ft. radius, pushing everything back 5 ft.
2	DC 18	It deals 4d6 force damage to anything withing a 20ft. radius, pushing everything back 10 ft.
3	DC 24	It deals 6d6 force damage to anything withing a 25ft. radius, pushing everything back 15 ft.
4	DC 30	It deals 8d6 force damage to anything withing a 30ft. radius, pushing everything back 20 ft.

Magical items that cast spells with charges are unaffected.

This item may be found on non-magical cultists with only simple spells. They’ve been targeting powerful spell casters and are using the orb to gather powerful magic and magic items for their leaders.

DM Notes

This can be a very powerful item when used at the right time… be careful about when you give it to players. You may need to compensate for your boss failing all their spellcasting…

To add more flavor and excitement to your game, when any spells are cast with the orb active, be sure to describe how the orb is sucking in the arcane energy and absorbing the power that was being weaved to form the spell. Maybe every time a spell fails, the Orb’s effect grows stronger…

If used in combination with some sort of anti-magic cult, give the cultists magic wands with spell charges to make for some interesting combat and roleplay opportunities. Maybe they’re being deceived by their leaders and the magic items they’re collecting will be used and not destroyed. Just make sure that their spells aren’t too powerful or numerous. Magic missiles and other low-level direct damage spells might be a good idea.

Attribution

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.