[Collab] Item - Stonemonger's Wraps

Imbued with runic magic of the giants, these wraps are a symbol of the ancient tryst between followers of the Way of the Earthen Fist and the reclusive conclave of stone giants. Novices are expected to meticulously care for them for they are meant to be worn across a lifetime of discipline.

—

Stonemonger’s Wraps

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

While wearing these stony wraps, you have a +1 bonus to the attack and damage rolls of unarmed strikes made with your fists. These attacks are magical and deal double damage to objects and structures.

Stonebearer. While wearing these wraps, you can use a bonus action to fortify your forearms with stone, granting yourself 15 temporary hit points. While you have these temporary hit points, unarmed strikes made with your fists deal an extra 1d4 force damage. Additionally, when a target takes this extra damage, you can choose to lose 5 temporary hit points; if you do, you knock the target prone unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Strength saving throw. This property can be used twice; the wraps regains expended uses of them daily at dawn.

—

Uncommon Variant. The uncommon version of these wraps do not grant a bonus to its unarmed strikes. The DC of their Strength saving throw is 13 instead of 15.

Very Rare Variant. The very rare version of these wraps grant a +2 bonus to unarmed strikes instead of +1. The DC of their Strength saving throw is 17 instead of 15.

——

DESIGN COMMENTARY

This item is one of three parts of a collaboration with the Jhamkul Forge, who had designed a fun Way of the Earthen Fist monk subclass. Taking inspiration from Avatar, I identified several criteria split between the three items: 1. relate to a character whenever possible; 2. get a decent mix of offensive, defensive, and utility capabilities among the items; 3. create at least one item that is monk-specific and one that best benefits the monk; and 4. complement the monk subclass in flavor and mechanics.

This item doesn't take inspiration from a specific character, but from some world lore instead. The mention of stone giants (sort of) leads into the next (loose, unscheduled) theme which is giants-related, as well as grants some extra lore connections to the subclass.

These wraps provide a standard offensive bonus that encourages attunement plus a limited-use extra feature. The attack bonus accounts for half the item's rarity value (like an uncommon +1 magic item); the other half trades between defensive and offensive measures for flexibility. Assuming an average combat lasts ~4 rounds and the wearer takes decent damage, we'd expect the character to lose the THP after 2 rounds. This mitigates 15 points of damage and deals an extra 10-15 damage depending on the sequence of attacks made; using this feature twice nets the item's rarity value to about that of an uncommon, attunement item. Adding them together and accounting for margins of error results in a respectable Rare rarity.

Longtime fans may recognize the artwork from a previous set — an item from a shady charlatan who may have attempted to recreate these wraps for his sales. Since I already had this art done (and it looks amazing!) and it would be criminal to not design wraps for an earth monk, I just refreshed and repurposed it.