First discovered by parabotanist Avalon Faryonda, this mushroom was unfortunately named by her apprentice, who had woefully misunderstood the fly agaric's etymology. Despite Faryonda's best efforts, the mushroom's name found its way into the Royal Botanical Encyclopaedia, Fifth Edition.
—
You can take a Bonus Action to consume this mushroom and gain 15 Temporary Hit Points that last for 1 hour. While you have these Temporary Hit Points, you have the following benefits:
Your size changes to Large if you're in a big enough space. Anything you wear or carry changes size with you until you drop it.
You deal double damage to objects and structures.
Your High Jump's distance increases by 20 feet and you subtract 20 feet from the distance fallen when you calculate fall damage.
You can take a Magic action to perform a High Jump without provoking Opportunity Attacks, landing in an unoccupied space within 20 feet of you. After you land, each creature within 5 feet of you that is smaller than you must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 2d8 Bludgeoning damage. A creature that fails the save by 5 or more also falls Prone.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
Next in this batch of size-changing items is a mushroom inspired by arguably the most famous size-changing character. This mechanic is based on Temporary Hit Points. For a consumable Uncommon item, 15 Temporary Hit Points is equivalent to a level 3 Armor of Agathys spell, which would be an Uncommon 3rd-level spell scroll. Instead of damage, this item grants some ribbon abilities (double damage to objects doesn't come up often and you can usually use alternatives to cover the leap) plus a damaging ability that more or less equates to taking an Attack action (~10 average damage).
Thematically, it was important that this mushroom lets you 1. Jump very high, 2. Break previously unbreakable blocks, and 3. Potentially "flatten" an enemy. Note that the High Jump distance is a flat increase, so it'll increase your standing vs running jump by the same amount. Boing!
Visually, I wanted to keep this as simple and recognizable as possible. The only difference of note is the spiral stems, which are meant to look like springs - boing!!
2025-06-02 16:00:15 +0000 UTC
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"One small step on man, one fatal step by giantkind.”
— Giant, often misattributed misquote
—
You have the following benefits while you wear these boots.
What Big Feet You Have. When you take the Attack action, you can replace one of your attacks with a stomp, magically creating a 2-inch deep shoeprint in a 20-foot long, 10-foot wide area centered on you in an orientation of your choice. Each creature other than you in this area must succeed on a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw or fall Prone. If this shoeprint is created on a soft surface such as loose dirt or mud, it is 2 feet deep instead. You can only make this shoeprint once per turn and you can't make it deeper than the depth indicated.
Big Shoes To Fill. While wearing these boots, you can take a Bonus Action to invoke its rune and magically change your size to Large if you're in a big enough space. This transformation lasts for 10 minutes or until you end it (no action required). Anything you wear or carry changes size with you until you drop it. For the duration, your Speed increases by 10 feet and you have Advantage on saving throws you make to resist being moved against your will or knocked Prone. Once used, this property can't be used again until the next dawn.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
The Titansteps were one of the first items ideated, stemming from a dynamic scene of stomping the grounds and a chill visual of finding mysterious giant footprints. The first property is essentially a replacement for Shove, allowing you to Shove up to 2 targets instead of 1 for a lowered DC (11 instead of using your Strength to calculate). This probably feels a bit like a ribbon given the trade-offs. The second property is similar to those found in the more recent giants book, which is a 1/day rune property. Note the specific wording that states you "change your size to Large" rather than "grow one size Larger," which prevents stacking similar effects. All in all, fairly simple and shouldn't be problematic even for a non-attunement Uncommon item.
The opening quote attribution "Giant, often misattributed misquote" is a fun one because it's extremely ambiguous, down to whether "Giant" here refers to literal Giants or just describes how grossly misattributed the quote is. Just wanted to point that out.
Visually, I drew from the Viking style because of the giants' runic connection to their culture — fur-lined and hide made from dragons (giants would slay them). Otherwise, as normal as boots can really be. The timelapse will show some struggles returning to art after a hiatus, too. Some of the new runes were designed with other cultures in mind (see if you can guess), so it won't be all nordic.
To set up a specific mechanic, the next couple items will be themed around changing size to Large as well!
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GIANTS WAKE
Welcome back! As promised in my last announcement post, this next theme will be Giants to fulfill the final winning theme poll of the Patreon. The name will be Giants Wake, a dual symbol for giants waking up (I'll be introducing 4/5 new giants) and the destructive path they leave behind (a wake). I plan to compile it all into a compendium at the end of it all (this will take time), but only time may tell.
Ideating for this theme was tough because I'm even more focused on identifying intra-theme mechanics and exploring lesser-used ideas. There's a satisfying one that should carry across all the items. I've also decided to deprecate rarity variants. Even if they logistically offers more flexible play, variants imbalances the text/art ratio, narrows design choices, and are often pretty basic changes anyway. The likely replacement is a GM sidebar about making custom modifications.
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SRD 5.2
In other news, the SRD 5.2 (aka, PHB 2024) has finally released and honestly it's great. Even if not perfect, it's a big improvement over 2014 PHB. There's nothing to lose using the new rules because they're very similar and mostly compatible, so the plan is now to shift over to the new SRD moving forward. I plan to revisit older items to update their art and balance—this is now an opportunity to also update them to modern SRD, starting with Aryka's Guide. Some of the oldest works are embarrassing by today's standards, so it would breathe fresh new life into it.
2025-05-05 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Quick Download Links:
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Item Cards:
Aquamarine Choker
Arcane Agate
Belt of the Primordial
Caster's Pearls
Chasm Maw
Dazzling Diamond
Emerald of Eminence
Faultline
Lodestone Crusher
Molten Carpet
Party Rock
Pearl of Passage
Petrified Claw
Porta-Boulder
Pyrite Mace
Quartzerstaff
Raybreaker
Ruby of Restoration
Sapphire of Savvy
Stonecycle Maul
Tiger's Eye
Topaz of Telepathy
Note: If an item has variant rarities, it's printed on separate cards.
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CARD KEY
Some information on cards have been simplified to save space. Here's a short key on how it works:
Card Icons. There are several icons located on the lower-right of each card front to assist in quickly identifying their type. If there's no special icon, that means it doesn't apply (e.g. nonmagical items will not have an attunement or rarity icon)
Key Properties. Certain properties have been condensed. You might see some of the following:
"Attacks" for static bonuses to attack, damage
"Defenses" for static bonuses to AC, etc.
"Special" for modifications to standard objects
"Spells" for shortened spell lists.
Key Words. Immediately after property names, you might see in italics words that simplify the property. Key words like Action; 1/dusk implies the property requires an action to activate, and can only be done once between dusks. DCs as a property references any saving throws the property forces. Others like 3 charges; regains 1d6+3 at dawn describes the charges.
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PRINTING CARDS
The cards are all sized for standard tarot-sized cards (70mm x 120mm) with a 3mm bleed (the area around the edge that is cut off by a printer). There are two ways to print these cards:
Professional Services. Any standard printing service will let you upload the cards' JPEG files and send them to print. Nowadays, this should be a simple process. You will have to print on both sides.
Self-Printing. You can also print the Print & Play PDF on 8.5" x 11" or similar-sized paper. After printing, follow the instructions to fold and cut out the cards yourself.
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2025-03-24 14:00:12 +0000 UTC
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This belt embodies the strength and endurance of the Boulder! With this belt on, one can enter the Boulder’s special stance and avoid being knocked out of the ring. The Boulder has finished explaining what the Boulder’s Belt does.
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The Boulder’s Belt
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement by a monk)
The Boulder’s Vigor. While wearing this belt, your Constitution score increases by a value equal to your Wisdom modifier, to a maximum of 18. This property has no effect if your Constitution score is higher than 18.
Stomp of The Boulder. While wearing this belt, whenever you use your Step of the Wind feature, you gain one of the following benefits of your choice until the end of your turn:
You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
You are immune to grapples for which the DC to escape them is 14 or lower.
You ignore difficult terrain.
—
Uncommon Variant. The uncommon version of this belt increases the Constitution score to a maximum of 15 instead of 18, and renders its wearer immune to grapples with an escape DC of 12 or lower instead of 14.
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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 was inspired by the Boulder, one of the best earthbender characters. Unlike the other two items, this one heavily focused on defense.
While at its best, the Belt is equivalent to the Amulet of Health (a rare attunement item), also consider that the increase is dependent on the Wisdom modifier. It also is restricted to monks, whose builds require Dexterity and Wisdom first, before Constitution. At the item's rarity level, the average increase to CON should be +3 for an average final score of 16-17. There's definitely ways to go up to 18, but that requires sacrifice in other ability score builds that I consider decent enough a downside. Also, a lot of the Amulet and Belt of Strength type items take into account their usefulness for characters with very low scores for whom the static increase is more significant. A wizard with 8 CON gets much more out of the Amulet than a barbarian with 15 CON. I would rate this feature at just slightly below rare with attunement.
So why not just do a limited increase? Well I wanted some uniqueness and a way for this item to "scale." Once the monk goes beyond Level 11 and has ASIs to increase Wisdom, the Belt stays competitive amongst the other options.
The additional properties for Step of the Wind fill the rest of the rarity value. These are minor bonuses for the monk (which this item is restricted to!), whose kit already equips them with decent ways to: avoid opportunity attacks (resistance to physical for that turn pretty much only works against opportunity attacks - or falling); avoid grapples (monks are proficient in Acrobatics; they can stun enemies to escape grapples; and enemy grapples usually don't matter if the monk is within reach); and move fast (circumventing most difficult terrain; particularly if using Step of the Wind already allows you to leap over said terrain).
Design-wise, it was more a challenge to avoid recreating the Belt from the show. I'd consider it an overall success, using an octagonal emerald-like motif with very painterly cloudlike design fills and beloved band patterns often seen on porcelain. The shape of a mountain is still there, but it otherwise looks distinct. My return to art after the short break didn't do me many favors, but I was also experimenting with some alternative techniques.
2025-03-21 16:00:10 +0000 UTC
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The final of a 3-part item set for the collab with the Jhamkul Forge's Way of the Earthen Fist monk! Especially designed for monks, harness your mystical prowess to heighten your endurance and make your Step of the Wind even stronger!
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Check out the rarity variants at this post here, and don't forget to take a look at the Way of the Earthen Fist at the Jhamkul Forge!
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The Boulder’s Belt
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement by a monk)
This belt embodies the strength and endurance of the Boulder! With this belt on, one can enter the Boulder’s special stance and avoid being knocked out of the ring. The Boulder has finished explaining what the Boulder’s Belt does.
The Boulder’s Vigor. While wearing this belt, your Constitution score increases by a value equal to your Wisdom modifier, to a maximum of 18. This property has no effect if your Constitution score is higher than 18.
Stomp of The Boulder. While wearing this belt, whenever you use your Step of the Wind feature, you gain one of the following benefits of your choice until the end of your turn:
You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
You are immune to grapples for which the DC to escape them is 14 or lower.
You ignore difficult terrain.
2025-03-21 16:00:09 +0000 UTC
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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.
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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.
2025-03-19 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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This part 2 of a collab with the Jhamkul Forge! Some might remember the art for this may have been used for a different item — or perhaps a certain charlatan may have attempted and failed to reproduce the original genuine item. These are the true originals, used by the stalwart Way of the Earthen Fist monk!
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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.
Check out the rarity variants at this post here, and don't forget to take a look at the Way of the Earthen Fist at the Jhamkul Forge!
——
Stonemonger’s Wraps
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
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.
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.
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https://www.patreon.com/posts/123982096/
2025-03-19 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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There it is! A collaboration with the Jhamkul Forge! Or that's what it would sound like if... oh it's real! I've recently had the pleasure of working on a small project with them! They have designed a new monk subclass: the Way of the Earthen Fist; their followers draw on the power of ancient primordial earth beings to strike with the force of stone and manipulate rock their will. To complement them, I have designed three magic items — or repurposed one ;) — both for the monk and for those wish to emulate them.
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Check out the rarity variants at this post here, and don't forget to take a look at the Way of the Earthen Fist at the Jhamkul Forge!
(Note: as of 2025, the rules have been clarified that tremorsense is a Sense and does not count as a form of Sight - it does not allow characters to bypass invisibility or locate creatures that have successfully Hidden. It mainly allows characters to sense other creatures behind obstacles)
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Earthsong Robes
Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
These robes belonged to a master earthbreaker, a legendary monastic who honed a preternatural instinct for listening to the earth and a celebrated hero said to have saved the realms. Also known as the MELO(N)DY LORD, she is well known for her wondrous performances: a blend of song, rhythmic dance, and patterned sand art.
While you are not wearing armor and not wielding a shield, you have a +1 bonus to your AC while wearing these robes.
Stone Stance. While standing on earth or stone, you can’t be knocked prone or moved against your will and you have tremorsense out to a range of 15 feet. You can’t have disadvantage on attacks against creatures you can detect using this tremorsense.
Earthworker. These robes have 4 charges and regain 1d4 expended charges daily at dawn. You can use a bonus action to expend the necessary charges to perform one of the following:
Earthbreaker (1 charge). You strike a piece of nonmagical earth or stone that fits inside a 5-foot-cube, instantly cleaving, cracking, or shattering it (your choice).
Listen (1 charge). You extend the range of these robes’ tremorsense out to 60 feet for 1 minute or until you lose concentration (as if it were a spell).
Rock Barrier (2 charges). You cast the wall of stone spell (save DC 17) from these robes, creating only three 10-foot-by-10-foot panels rather than the wall options provided in the spell’s description.
Stone Passage (2 charges). You step into earth or stone adjacent to you, move up to 30 feet inside it without provoking opportunity attacks, and re-emerge into an unoccupied space. The target earth or stone must be large enough for you during this movement.
Tunnel (3 charges). You gain a burrow speed of 20 feet that only allows you to move through loose earth, mud, or sand, lasting for 1 minute. You can also burrow through solid earth and stone using this property, moving at half this burrow speed and leaving behind a tunnel of your size.
2025-03-17 16:00:08 +0000 UTC
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These robes belonged to a master earthbreaker, a legendary monastic who honed a preternatural instinct for listening to the earth and a celebrated hero said to have saved the realms. Also known as the MELO(N)DY LORD, she is well known for her wondrous performances: a blend of song, rhythmic dance, and patterned sand art.
——
Earthsong Robes
Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
While you are not wearing armor and not wielding a shield, you have a +1 bonus to your AC while wearing these robes.
Stone Stance. While standing on earth or stone, you can’t be knocked prone or moved against your will and you have tremorsense* out to a range of 15 feet. You can’t have disadvantage on attacks against creatures you can detect using this tremorsense.
Earthworker. These robes have 4 charges and regain 1d4 expended charges daily at dawn. You can use a bonus action to expend the necessary charges to perform one of the following:
Earthbreaker (1 charge). You strike a piece of nonmagical earth or stone that fits inside a 5-foot-cube, instantly cleaving, cracking, or shattering it (your choice).
Listen (1 charge). You extend the range of these robes’ tremorsense out to 60 feet for 1 minute or until you lose concentration (as if it were a spell).
Rock Barrier (2 charges). You cast the wall of stone spell (save DC 17) from these robes, creating only three 10-foot-by-10-foot panels rather than the wall options provided in the spell’s description.
Stone Passage (2 charges). You step into earth or stone adjacent to you, move up to 30 feet inside it without provoking opportunity attacks, and re-emerge into an unoccupied space. The target earth or stone must be large enough for you during this movement.
Tunnel (3 charges). You gain a burrow speed of 20 feet that only allows you to move through loose earth, mud, or sand, lasting for 1 minute. You can also burrow through solid earth and stone using this property, moving at half this burrow speed and leaving behind a tunnel of your size.
—
Rare Variant. The rare version of these robes don’t grant tremorsense and its associated benefit regarding removing disadvantage. Its Earthworker property’s Listen option instead grants normal tremorsense out to a range of 30 feet; and the spell save DC for its Rock Barrier option is 15 instead of 17.
Legendary Variant. The legendary version of these robes grant a +2 bonus to AC instead of +1, and have 5 charges instead of 4, regaining 1d4 + 1 expended charges daily. The spell save DC for its Rock Barrier option is 18 instead of 17.
*Note: as of 2025, the rules have been clarified that tremorsense is a Sense and does not count as a form of Sight - it does not allow characters to bypass invisibility or locate creatures that have successfully Hidden. It mainly allows characters to sense other creatures behind obstacles
——
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.
These robes accomplishes a majority of those goals, I think. This one is named and flavored for Toph, the blind tremorsense character; boasts a complement of utility options that don't overlap with those laid out in the monk subclass; and has a nice defensive bonus for unarmored characters (monk, of course).
The +1 AC is similar to a +1 AC shield, down to some wielding/activation requirements: uncommon without attunement.
Stone Stance's immunity to prone and movement is decent, as is the tremorsense, though limited by location. Additionally, now that Tremorsense has been cleared up to not be a form of sight, is not as strong as it used to be, but can still be treated as bypassing Hidden creatures. Hard to assign a rarity value to this, but higher Uncommon (attunement) would be acceptable.
Earthworker has 4 charges, each charge being roughly equivalent to a 1st-level spell: Earthbreaker pretty much simulates mold earth cantrip; Listen sort of simulates a detect spell but with shorter range; Rock Barrier is one-third of wall of stone but as a bonus action, so 2/5 charges; Stone Passage is essentially misty step; and Tunnel is similar to any of the 3rd-level mobility spells like fly). So this property in all is 4 total spell levels, which is less than Uncommon (attunement) — compared to staffs or rare items like Helm of Mind Reading.
In total, this just about reaches the Very Rare value of rarity.
The design of the robes borrows the color palette of the source material from which it is inspired from. For this, I paid close attention to the 60/30/10 rule, setting it mostly green, a little beige-yellow, and a dash of black. I also experimented with skipping the linework stage and working directly with solid colors - to some degree of success. It wasn't a good way to return to drawing after a short break and required some onboarding, but was still decent at saving some time. I'm still lacking an understanding of hue palettes and would like to experiment more with alternative colors in the future. What was more successful is more subtle/narrower range of values and more shapely shadows.
2025-03-17 16:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Heya! Today, I have a special generous gift from my good friend Rudok's Tavern, highlighting their just recently-launched Backerkit campaign: Zine - Scions of the Fabled Kingdom! Each piece of art in this project is traditionally hand-drawn with oils and watercolors, resulting in an incredibly unique and beautiful look.
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Scions of the Fabled Kingdom | 5E Zine
A new campaign setting for stories that focus on Fey, Fairy Tales, Legends, Dreams and Stars. Venture into the land where Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends come alive, and dreams become reality.
This Zine by Rudok’s Tavern offers 125 pages of:
You can support this Rudok’s Tavern campaign NOW! See you in the Land of Fables.
——
Look at that beautiful cloth art! Also, bundled with this item is a Legendary version of the item in Item Card form!
2025-03-14 16:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Quick Download Links:
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Item Cards:
Note: If an item has variant rarities, it's printed on separate cards.
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CARD KEY
Some information on cards have been simplified to save space. Here's a short key on how it works:
Card Icons. There are several icons located on the lower-right of each card front to assist in quickly identifying their type. If there's no special icon, that means it doesn't apply (e.g. nonmagical items will not have an attunement or rarity icon)
Key Properties. Certain properties have been condensed. You might see some of the following:
"Attacks" for static bonuses to attack, damage
"Defenses" for static bonuses to AC, etc.
"Special" for modifications to standard objects
"Spells" for shortened spell lists.
Key Words. Immediately after property names, you might see in italics words that simplify the property. Key words like Action; 1/dusk implies the property requires an action to activate, and can only be done once between dusks. DCs as a property references any saving throws the property forces. Others like 3 charges; regains 1d6+3 at dawn describes the charges.
---
PRINTING CARDS
The cards are all sized for standard tarot-sized cards (70mm x 120mm) with a 3mm bleed (the area around the edge that is cut off by a printer). There are two ways to print these cards:
Professional Services. Any standard printing service will let you upload the cards' JPEG files and send them to print. Nowadays, this should be a simple process. You will have to print on both sides.
Self-Printing. You can also print the Print & Play PDF on 8.5" x 11" or similar-sized paper. After printing, follow the instructions to fold and cut out the cards yourself.
2025-01-13 15:00:08 +0000 UTC
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This is a preview for the final book, Aryka's Guide to the Cosmos! This 287-page tome presents 6 unique player species, 8 cosmic and technomantic subclass options, 26 spells, 73+ magic items, 39 monsters & NPCs, 5 starship maps, 21 starship stat blocks, 4 voidfaring locations, and a voidfaring adventure to ease four to six 2nd-level adventurers into the new Cosmos setting. Also, use these modular starship rules to design, customize, and operate a party's starship and fight enemies using a combat system that revolves around weapon choice, timing, and teamwork!
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Want to see this book? You can buy it from the Patreon Shop.
You can also purchase a copy of this via DriveThruRPG instead if you don't like the pledge model :)
2024-12-25 11:00:11 +0000 UTC
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Aryka's Guide is getting really close to completion! I'm insanely proud of how much I've gotten through. Back in September, I had only planned to add maybe 20 pages to the original book and repackage it, but as the project progressed, it essentially became a full revamp. I reviewed every bit of text and art and almost remade the whole book from scratch, on top of (somehow) adding over 100 pages to it. The final page count is going to be ~250 page, which is insane.
Unfortunately, that also means progress is slower. As of now, 95% of the book is done - all the major content has been written, balanced, and compiled into this beefy 95% book. There's a couple more stat blocks and templates to write, a full proofread, and then it's all about polishing the usability with links, bookmarks, and reference tables. It would seem like the final completion date is probably mid-December.
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Here's the completion progress so far:
Cover & Page Design improvements - Complete
Content Pages
Introduction - Complete
Chapter 1: Character Options - Complete
Chapter 2: New Rules - Complete
Chapter 3: Starship Rules - Complete
Chapter 4: Cosmos Locations - Complete
Chapter 5: Making Cosmos adventures - Complete
Chapter 6: Spells - Complete
Chapter 7: Magic Items - Complete
Chapter 8: Monsters - Revisions complete; new monsters TBD
Appendix A: Starships
References Table
Indices
Final Proofread
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Here's a Google Doc Changelog of the latest changes, rebalances, and fixes between the old book and this new one.
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The current billing freeze has ended. Thank you everyone for your continued support! Please enjoy the document and let me know what you think :)
2024-12-01 15:00:13 +0000 UTC
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I dunno if you've heard about it but I've been so enamored with the Sol'Kesh Speculative Evolution project for weeks. In fact, Terry was ever so kind to share an exclusive beast with us!
There's so much to say about how gorgeous the art is and how much detail goes into every single one. It's just incredible. If you want more creatures just like this Fennfistle, you'd best support his Kickstarter! It only has 10 days to go, but it's already 500% funded and chock full of art ready to add to your games.
Or hey if you're not yet convinced, check out the Sol'Kesh Instagram for peeks at what it'll be like.
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To see the full post (and download the token, item, and Mini STL), follow this link!
2024-11-25 16:13:08 +0000 UTC
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I dunno if you've heard about it but I've been so enamored with the Sol'Kesh Speculative Evolution project for weeks. In fact, Terry was ever so kind to share an exclusive beast with us!
There's so much to say about how gorgeous the art is and how much detail goes into every single one. It's just incredible. If you want more creatures just like this Fennfistle, you'd best support his Kickstarter! It only has 10 days to go, but it's already 500% funded and chock full of art ready to add to your games.
Or hey if you're not yet convinced, check out the Sol'Kesh Instagram for peeks at what it'll be like.
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Get the Fennfistle: its stat block, art, craftable item, token, and STL to 3D print your own mini!
(the STL file is in the link)
2024-11-25 15:00:12 +0000 UTC
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Hey everyone! Hope things are going well and everyone's staying safe. Got a small update for the Cosmos book :)
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Things are chugging along! I had originally hoped to move along at a quicker pace, but work has been hectic. Still, the plan is to complete it by the end of November at the latest. A lot of it is reviewing 2-year-old work and revising it. I have what we in the architecture business call a 50% document: about half of the final product completed so far. Follow the download link to check it out!
Here's the completion progress so far:
Cover & Page Design improvements - Complete
Introduction - Complete
Chapter 1: Character Options - Complete
Chapter 2: New Rules
Chapter 3: Starship Rules
Chapter 4: Cosmos Locations
Chapter 5: Making Cosmos adventures
Chapter 6: Spells - Complete
Chapter 7: Magic Items - Complete
Chapter 8: Monsters - Revisions complete; new monsters TBD
Appendix A: Starships
Index:
Currently about 100 pages into a 200-page document. I can't wait to finally complete it because I'm already so excited about it all.
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Here's a Google Doc Changelog of the changes, rebalances, and fixes between the old book and this new one.
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The current billing freeze and pricing adjustments will continue on for another month while the book continues nearing completion.
2024-10-25 05:10:06 +0000 UTC
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You have bound yourself to the mercy of an Artificial Intellect, a synthetic mind far beyond mortal comprehension. Such entities’ motives are often incomprehensible, obfuscated beneath multitudinous layers of logic, order, and directive.
Your patron is likely a technomantic intellect, such as WARDEN, the master of the technoplanet Atelia, or Atr0pOS, the phantom virus that plagues the holonet. Beyond the realms of technomancy, other kinds of transcendent minds can also serve as your patron, such as the cogwork god-plane of Axiom or the anonymous hacker collective Polyphema.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
This warlock entreats with an artificial intelligence, a mechanical mind that far surpasses that of mortals. It’s your favorite Ghost in the Shell/AI warlock — the GLaDOS, SHODAN, Ultron, Guilty Spark, Max Headroom, or whatever current sentient horror in the machine — speaking to you.
Interestingly, 5e designers already released a UA (Unearthed Arcana playtest) warlock with this flavor, one intended for a custom Modern campaign. This Cosmos setting is different enough that both subclass designs aren’t compatible - plus this one has a bit more compatibility with traditional settings.
The design process was long, with many ideas vying for a spot. I also wanted to keep the theming flexible, without forcing the warlock to be one specific type of technomancer/hacker character. In the end, I think it worked out fairly well, with two features that build on each other to reduce overall complexity. There were ideas of artificial minds concentrating on spells for you, but it would have been much too limiting.
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The typical warlock progression is as follows: a subclass-defining 1st level feature (e.g. Great Old One, Fiend, Fathomless), a defensive, resistive, or mobility-based benefit for 6th and 10th levels (their offensive power comes from full-caster spells, so this adds flavor), and then a 14th level powerful capstone.
Let’s take a look at the Artificial Intellect patron. This warlock is mainly an enchantment/conjuration/control build, themed around running programs and interacting with others intelligently.
Expanded Spells
Each level of spell offers two choices, one technomancy spell from the book and one non-technomancy spell to expand the versatility. Command and lightning bolt are both good combat spells. Overload and Viral Payload leans more toward control. Animate objects, though a weird choice at first, is meant to shore up the control flavor and the visual of a technomancer manipulating everyday devices like printers, computers, etc via malware..
Peripheral Intellect
At this level, you gain a thematic object that links you to your patron: any kind of computing device you choose, which you use to do your magic. The intended imagery is a hacker who presses buttons and executes programs to make things happen. This could be just a handheld phone (a flip phone for cool points), or perhaps a little wrist-strap screen. There’s a lot of text, but it is mainly a read-and-forget situation.
To make the whole chunk of text worthwhile though - the peripheral grants you advantage on one Intelligence check per rest. Advantage is easily gainable, typically through Help, so it’s in the middle for power. I chose a rest limitation because it syncs with the other feature, reducing upkeep. This lends flavor to this intelligent patron who would lend a portion of its intellect to assist you, as well as make hacking (a big part of this subclass) easier.
Quick-Scan
This feature grants either bonus attack or bonus damage, once per creature per rest. While not as useful in single boss monster fights (because you can’t stack these bonuses, e.g. Genie), this shines in fights against hordes. Instead of dealing bonus damage once per turn, you could theoretically activate it several times on your first turn with a well-placed Eldritch Blast. It’s also an interesting 1-level multiclass option for martial classes, but not to the extent of Hexblade.
A d4 is appropriate at this level, equivalent to one bless or one divine favor, just spread across multiple creatures throughout the day. Unless you’re repeatedly escaping and fighting the same monster again (hopefully the GM can use common sense here), the once-per-rest duration is essentially once per creature.
The feature uses a bonus action, but to free up the action economy, it also allows a free action use when rolling initiative. This avoids over-taxing bonus actions, especially when the popular warlock spell hex requires a bonus action. The Genie’s bonus damage doesn’t require actions as well.
Power-wise, a d4 compares well to a Genie’s d4 damage; Fathomless does do d8 damage, BUT it relies on an attack, requires a bonus action, and thus has reduced overall effectiveness. Genie and Fathomless deal this damage once per turn; assuming an average fight length of 3-5 rounds, it should equal out to the average 3-5 enemies per combat.
In any case, d4 is pretty low, so it ramps up to a d6 at 6th level, and d8 at 14th level to keep it kind of relevant. Undying warlock basically gets an extra d10 damage at 6th level, so I feel somewhat comfortable with the scaling.
Admin Access
This feature grants additional options for Quick-Scan. You learn some preliminary info about the monsters you mark (as sort of an exploration feature).
The DDos option is your typical warlock defensive option, causing your target to make a save to attack you. This is the equivalent of a sanctuary spell. It has a similar effect to the Great Old One warlock’s 6th level feature with the benefit of using it more than once per rest, although 1) you don’t gain the subsequent advantage, 2) you may only end up redirecting the attack and thus haven’t mitigated damage, 3) the creature may succeed on the save, and 4) it costs your mark so you can’t use its other benefits. Seems alright to me.
Exploit Vulnerability is a more situational use, since a typical party should have access to alternative damage types to bypass resistances or immunities. It does cost an action, but you learn for free how to hit it and any protections it has. I considered an ability to impose vulnerabilities on the creature (to really drive in the pun), but it’s got too many potential abuse cases to allow on its own (e.g. you effectively double the damage of a Big Spell for basically free).
Ghost in the Machine
(Not Ghost in the Shell)
The warlock gets a free cast of a 4th-level spell with some perks. It’s basically like the Fathomless warlock’s 10th level but slightly different. Instead of gaining temp HP from casting the spell (as a defensive ability), the summoned mech instead grants half cover to you, which is significant! This could stack really well if you choose the Guardian Protocol for the mech, forcing enemies to focus on the mech instead.
The summoned mech is also a great option for roleplay (imagine walking around with a guard mech, or reanimating a dead Construct as a persuasive tactic) or exploration (it can scout for you, or if you’re Small you can even ride it around).
Embrace Singularity
A final capstone, dealing damage comparable to the Fiend’s capstone. 4d10 against multiple targets (who can still succeed on the save) is similar to 10d10 against one target that automatically takes the effect. The nice benefit is that it moves enemies regardless of size - good for positioning - and that you can place the singularity in the air for bonus fall damage.
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Both this warlock and the Cyborg Archetype are among my favorite subclasses. There's so many interesting ways to play and use them, and both are unique in their own right. I hope you get the chance to play them and take them for a test ride!
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As a reminder, this book will be the last scheduled content for Aripockily. Everyone who pledged/supported during the month of September will receive the upcoming book, which will be done by October (hopefully). See this post for more details.
2024-09-23 14:00:09 +0000 UTC
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Just a little announcement that the cards for all the Cosmos items, including the most recent batch of Technomancy items, have been updated! That's ~90 handy items in card form.
If you're pledged at the $5+ tiers, head over to the linked post to download them before the end of September!
Link
2024-09-19 20:30:09 +0000 UTC
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Cyborgs who follow the path of the warrior become an indomitable fusion of organic flesh and synthetic material, a relentless hunter with the best traits of both and none of the weaknesses. Their deadliest members are characterized by a drive for change and perfection, compulsively upgrading their bodies with the latest better technology.
Within the vast cosmos, the cyborg can be more than just a human frame outfitted with metallic cybernetic enhancements. Some warriors build bodies from alternative materials such as stone or porcelain, or even from resilient organic armor like the barkstalkers of Ygjras’ mecharboreal worlds. Others may not originally be organic at all — perhaps a construct in the midst of a mortal metamorphosis. In worse circumstances, a tortured few may even be involuntary participants in their own transformation.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
The cybernetic warrior is a Striker with additional enhancement options, which is fitting for a Fighter. Much of its flavor leans into its artificial body, from its Overclock Surge that lets them act with inhuman speed to its Transhumanity that allows them to eschew certain organic comforts. A cyborg warrior can be versatile in background too. The only requirement is a mix of organic and inorganic, with some examples included in the flavor text. You could possibly be plant and metal; flesh and porcelain; a stone golem who wants to be a real living being, etc.
This one’s long! It really needs a deep analysis to check balance because it’s so interrelated-complex. Feel free to skip if it’s too much.
Let’s dive in.
The fighter subclass progression typically follows a guideline. At 3rd level, fighters gain some bonus to damage output to make them better at fighting (e.g. Battlemaster dice, Champion criticals, Samurai's Fighting Spirit). The 7th level usually follows up with a roleplay or exploration feature because fighters often lack features outside the combat pillar (e.g. Banneret, Battlemaster, Champion, Samurai). At 10th and 15th level, fighters receive an improvement usually to their subclass features, often an offensive-oriented one at 10th and a defensive-oriented at 15th. 10th level features are “half-flavor-capstones,” meaning the flavor generally defines the character in some way because it’s the last level before a half-half multiclass. Fighters, being mainly combat-oriented, tend to get something at 10th. Finally, at 18th level, fighters gain a strong unique capstone to round out the class.
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The cyborg shares many of these design elements. Let’s take a look:
> Cybernetic Design
This 3rd-level feature forces you to take on the technomantic tag (understandable), which has downsides and upsides (some effects only target or benefit technomancy creatures. The other half of the feature grants 2 cybernetic modifications, with new options at every main fighter level (aside from 18), similar to a Battle Master or Rune Knight. Each modification option is intended to be equivalent to half an uncommon item at this level. These myriad options are rife with flavor and choice for a wide range of cyborg character concepts. More details about each one at the end of this section.
> Overclock Surge
This is the main bread-and-butter of this archetype. The flavor goal here is pushing beyond-beyond human limits; the Action Surge flavor already mentions this in some way. Overclocking basically grants extra Action Surges (but worded differently to avoid unintended extra uses of Action Surge that may trigger other effects, i.e. custom homebrew items that add rider effects to Action Surge).
These uses are limited by a CON save that progressively increases over the course of a day; you’ll always get at least one use; at this level assuming +5 to CON saves, you may get 2 uses (DC 15 = 50% chance for a second use) and rarely 3 uses (DC 25 = 5% for a third). The probabilities work out to be ~1.5 uses per day at this level. Overclock Surge amounts to 1.5 extra weapon attacks per day, or the equivalent of a couple extra turns. It’s not too impressive, but an action is also versatile; even one extra action can mean closing critical distance or escaping.
In terms of damage, this extra action equals an average of a max extra 18 damage per day (2d6 + mod damage x 1.5, assuming the best Great weapon) — low compared to the Samurai’s 15 temp HP + attack advantage (3 uses), the Rune Knight’s ~25 bonus damage (1d6 per turn, 3-4 turns per combat, x2 uses, not including the other benefits), or the Battle Master’s whopping 54 (12d8) extra damage (assuming two rests and expending all four superiority dice, not including the maneuvers’ alternative effects).
However, Overclock Surge also gets stronger by fighter level rather than subclass level, so the scaling comparison is okay. Overclock outputs more damage when you get more extra attacks; increases to-hit for attack rolls when your ability score or PB increases, and can mitigate its saving throws as Indomitable grows. To also account for this, the cyborg’s other features are generally much lower-powered compared to other subclasses’ features of that level.
> Internal Logic
At 7th-level, the cyborg gains another cyborg modification at this level, which accounts for most of this level’s power. Proficiency with Intelligence is good flavor though, and better protects you from effects that usually target technomantic creatures.
> Transhumanity
At 10th-level, the modifications gain new benefits, which accounts for most of this level’s power. So this feature just grants a ribbon (aka abilities that don’t affect most games), but is deeply in flavor with a machine.
> Rush Strike
At 15th-level, the cyborg gains another cyborg modification at this level (which also gains the 10th-level enhancement, by the way), which accounts for most of this level’s power. This level simply grants up to ~3 extra advantages per day (~3 Overclocks; should have ~+10 to saves at this point, so the fighter should clear DC 15 and 25 easily), which isn’t a lot and low-impact considering how many sources of advantage there are. You also don’t get this advantage if you Surge and don’t attack.
> Inhuman Surge
Finally the capstone at 18th level. To keep things low on bookkeeping because there’s already so many cyborg mods, this one simply lowers the DC, which overall gives the Fighter potentially one more Surge. A Surge at this level is already powerful!
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> Cyborg Modifications
Each Cyborg Mod is balanced to be about half an non-attunement uncommon item, with little to no immediate impact on combat. Thus, getting two of them at 3rd-level sorta grants you the equivalent of +1 weapon at most (if you pick only the attack-focused ones). They can be compared to the Rune Knight’s runes, who also get two at 3rd level.
At 10th-level, the modifications gain an enhancement — typically a 1/day short-term benefit, elevating it to the level of a non-attunement uncommon item. We don’t want them too powerful because by 10th-level, four of your mods will be enhanced at the same time.
With that in mind, let’s take a quick look:
Bionic Fortitude. This grants half roughly one-quarter Tough feat, which isn’t a lot, but still is significant over the course of a hard day. Statistically, +1 to hit point maximum is equivalent to half a CON ASI, and we want to hit a mark that’s about half of that. It also stacks well with certain builds. The 10th level enhancement only adds a 1/day dash to your Second Wind, which may not see use often, but crucial when it is used properly.
Camoskin. This is for your ninja assassin cyborgs. Proficiency in Stealth is the main draw here. The secondary benefit is situational, requiring you to stay still for a long time, which usually doesn’t apply since you’re mostly sneaking around, not staying still. At 10th, you basically get a 1/day bonus action Disengage. It lasts until the end of the turn! But it’s FUN for the flavor.
Fail-safe Circuit. Though charmed conditions are somewhat situational, they can wreck martial classes so it’s worth something. These conditions don’t crop up too often, so it’s not too powerful nor 100% necessary to take. At 10th, you can auto-end the condition, which helps in case you still fail (and want to save your Indomitable for other things).
Hacker Systems. This grants proficiency for when you want to play a beep boop hacker bot. You become the hacker tool, so it can’t be confiscated. At 10th, you become a bit more successful.
Holonet Access. This grants proficiency in a rotating skill or tool of choice. The choice is the main draw here (a built-in holopad is a ribbon since anyone can purchase one). At 10th level, I opted for triple instead of double PB for one check per day because double PB is only a +3 at that level – an increase that is, though not insignificant, still feels bad to play with.
Integrated Armor. This is just natural armor. 12/13+DEX won’t add up to real armor. It’s not meant to replace armor or give a bonus — just an alternative.
Integrated Weapon. This is for the “I want my arm to be a cannon or sword” cyborgs. The main benefit here is you can’t be disarmed of this new weapon, and the weapon can deal alternative damage types to bypass resistance to physical damage. Vulnerabilities in 5e aren’t abundant, so it’s not valued heavily. At 10th level, it becomes a +1 weapon, which isn’t much considering you should be getting +2/+3 weapons by then. Half of this is flavor!
Mobility Suite. Climb or swim speed is a cool alternative. Climb is most useful in the cosmos because of how many skyscrapers there are, but shouldn’t break too many encounters.
Optics Array. Darkvision is always good, though carrying a light does the same. The other benefit is a “heat vision” scan, which is pretty situational and grants a minor +2 bonus (about half of advantage). The 10th level grants a 1/day see invisibility, which is generally situational. You may go weeks without encountering invisible enemies. You could use it to see invisible passages, though you’d have to hope you guessed right first.
Prosthesis. Probably the most variable one, since there’s no telling what homebrew prostheses there are, hence the GM decision. Since it’s limited to common prostheses at this level (the most ribbon, non-impactful tier of rarity), it’s not usually a big deal. Removing the attunement requirement lets this mod be more than just “you get a magic item,” which is already a solely GM decision.
Synthetic Musculature. This mod adds +1 damage (Versatile damage dice increase by one tier, which mathematically equals +1). This is the most combat-oriented modification, and lends flavor to the “cyborg wield big weapon” concept. +1 damage is definitely better than half an uncommon item, but I give it a pass because of the flavor. Because the bonus damage scales with extra attacks, the 10th level feature only grants a very brief burst of strength to round it out — enough to initiate or escape some grapples/shoves. The bonus to carrying capacity is useful but have little impact in most tables where weight limits are ignored - just a ribbon.
Hopefully this explains the reasoning behind this design and that it is more or less balanced. I would compare it most to the Rune Knight, which is kind of in the middle of all subclasses. If played right, a Battle Master or Samurai will outperform the Cyborg Warrior in combat, which is okay since the Cyborg is meant to lean heavier into its non-combat flavor. Of course, if outliers emerge from regular play, please let me know!
2024-09-16 14:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Spell Projector
Wondrous item, technomancy, uncommon
This device has space for a spell disk. Over the course of 10 minutes, you can manually set a trigger that casts a spell disk inside inside the device using the glyph of warding spell’s Spell Glyph option, abiding by all restrictions (such as spell level). The trigger deactivates if the spell disk is ejected or if the device is targeted by dispel magic.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
A little bonus item for everyone using some of my scrapped (fully rendered!) art. The spell projector picks up some of the functionality that was originally meant for the spell driver, which is the remote trap-based trigger spell. It's basically a glyph of warding spell on repeat, limited by how many spell disks you can source (similar to the material limitations of the spell itself). There's an additional restriction in that this item can only ever cast 3rd or lower-level spells.
2024-09-12 14:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Microscopic arcane text and colors flicker across the pupils of this prosthetic eye. Popular variations by Figma Technologies offer distinct fashionable styles and connection bandwidths.
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Technomage's Eye
Wondrous item, technomancy, uncommon (requires attunement)
This spherical prosthesis replaces a lost eye. You must spend the duration of the attunement period with this eye in the empty eye socket. While attuned, it functions identically to an eye and grants you the following benefits:
You gain darkvision out to a range of 30 feet if you don't already have darkvision.
You have a +2 bonus to your Passive Perception.
You can use the eye as if it were a holopad that transmits data directly to your mind. Additionally, while you have permissive access to a system with an open channel to a Gridspace, you can use an action to see out to 30 feet around the Gridspace Ingress until the end of your turn.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
This item is from the original book, though it had no associated art. This one was revamped to 1) add more art as opposed to text, and 2) add more interactions with Gridspace, the "digital world" of this setting. This eye grants darkvision and a +2 bonus to passive Perception, which are pretty minor benefits. Most races tend to have darkvision already, and 30 feet is still small and not useful for exploration. Passive Perception doesn't tend to come up in games and also don't apply to checks, the latter of which are the more active version of Perception. A +2 is also minor in itself - half of advantage. Finally, the ability to see into Gridspace without needing to jack into it is a situational, flavor benefit, with the intention of letting players scout for danger.
Overall, these are minor benefits, especially because it requires attunement.
Within the Cosmos setting, Figma tech is the trendy technomancy wearable corporation. It just makes sense they would produce multiple lines of eyes (that function like a holopad) with lots of color variations!
From a visual point, I had to make sure the design of this eye feels mostly mundane and does not overshadow the Orb of Atelia. I chose a simple chrome outer plating and focused more on designing metal elements that looked like a pupil. I avoided the camera lens effect in favor of a couple of current-activated moving chips. Then I chose red to ensure the eye looked less human (and more like a Terminator and/or sharingan from Naruto), adding three white lenses to better sell the effect.
2024-09-09 14:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Spell Disk
Wondrous item, technomancy, rarity varies
A spell disk is a data disk that stores magic data in technomantic weave form. It functions identically to a spell scroll save for the following exceptions.
A spell stored on a spell disk can only be identified and cast using certain technomantic devices (such as a special holopad or spellreader). It can be also be used as the prepared spell for a glyph of warding spell cast from a technomantic spellcasting focus, provided it meets the requirements. After a spell is cast from the disk, the disk’s nonmagical material remains and can be used in the creation of another spell disk.
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Failsafe Variant. Programs (or limited artificial intellects) can also be stored on a spell disk along with a spell, designed to trigger malicious code when a creature attempts to cast the stored spell without proper permissions. When this occurs, the spell isn't cast and the disk produces a different effect. The effects of the failsafe program are up to the GM; common effects include creating a localized blackout, emitting a minute-long siren heard up to 300 feet away, or dealing 1d8 force damage to the caster per level of the stored spell.
Similar to cursed items, an identify or read disk* spell cannot identify a spell disk's failsafe program. Instead, a failsafe program must be identified by a creature that succeeds on an Intelligence (Arcana or Investigation) check against a DC equal to 10 + the level of the stored spell. A creature that succeeds on the check by 5 or more also learns the form of access, such as a passcode or a separate key device.
*See Cosmos 3 - Spells.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
This item is meant to be a futuristic/cyberpunk version of a spell scroll (it would be weird to have scrolls in a world that no longer needs paper). However, it wouldn't do to just make it identical to a spell scroll, so it has a couple restrictions, benefits, and a variant.
The extra benefit allows it to be identified even if the spell on the disk isn't in your class spell list (the original spell scroll rules limits its legibility by spell list) and can be used as part of a glyph of warding spell, only if your focus is a technomantic device. You still need a device to cast the spell. The technomantic device is immediately available to Technoweaver wizards and the upcoming Artificial Intellect warlock, and I'll probably make some version of them available as a basic item.
The failsafe variant is the more interesting part. It's basically a different form of a trap for the spell disk, recalling the computer viruses, trojans, and worms. I didn't include this suggestion in the item, but it can definitely break your holopad, especially if it's a basic item. Be careful what you plug into your computer!
2024-09-05 14:01:01 +0000 UTC
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This device is a sleek, handheld, modified, quick-loading disk drive that outputs magic with incredible accuracy.
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Spell Driver
Wondrous item, technomancy, uncommon (requires attunement)
While you are holding this device, you can use it as a spellcasting focus. When you cast a Technomancy spell through this device, you gain a +1 bonus to your spell save DC for that spell.
Spell Loader. This device has a space for one spell disk. While it has a spell disk*, you can use an action to identify the spell stored in the disk. You can use the device to cast the stored spell even if the spell is not on your class spell list (though you must abide by all other restrictions); you can choose to use your spellcasting ability modifier and spell save DC for the spell instead of those listed for a spell disk.
Cast to Device. You can use this device to remotely cast certain spells from a stored spell disk. To do so, the spell must be of 3rd-level or lower and must target only one creature or an area. While the device is within 150 feet of you, you can cast that spell using your own senses, as if you were the device. If the spell has a range of touch, the spell’s target must be touching the device or else the spell fails.
Once the device has been used to cast a spell remotely, this property of the device can't be used again until the next dawn.
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Rare Variant. The rare version of the device can remotely cast spells up to 5th-level or lower instead of 3rd. It also grants a +1 bonus to your spell save DC for spells you cast through the device, or a +2 if the spell has the Technomancy tag.
Very Rare Variant. The very rare version of the device can remotely cast spells up to 8th-level or lower instead of 3rd. It also grants a +2 bonus to your spell save DC for spells you cast through the device, or a +3 if the spell has the Technomancy tag.
*See Spell Disk item
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
This item was actually the result of a series of iterations of technomantic spell items for technomancy spellcasters. It started off as a remote device (future-tech is greatly defined by remote devices!) that could function as a trap for use in an exploration game. The spell disk, an item from the original book, was chosen as the vehicle for spells, so this item was designed as a disk reader. It gained some new functionalities, and eventually the trap functionality was later given to a different item entirely, the spell projector, available in the book.
This item is difficult to grade because so much of its power depends entirely on the availability of a different item, which is entirely up to the GM to reward. To expand this functionality, the item can identify the spell disk, cast it regardless of class (a requirement most tables ignore in their games anyways), and use your own spellcasting. The secondary property allows you to cast a spell remotely, which is an excellent benefit that roughly doubles the power of a cast spell by essentially extending the range. Assuming the best spell is cast, that's roughly the power of a 3rd-level spell per day. Because these properties depend on the availability of spell disks, their utility is limited. It would be acceptable as a non-attunement uncommon item, but the remote property basically requires attunement, so...
...to compensate, this item can also be used as a spellcasting focus that benefits Technomancy spells, which players can design their characters around to gain a consistent benefit from. +1 to DC is pretty good - and makes up for the attunement requirement.
Design-wise, I had envisioned a really classic DVD drive. The first design was a flat device that, after several iterations, ended up looking kind of silly for what should have been a cool technomantic device (this became the disk projector). The reworked item took on an all-black approach, drawing from some of the PlayStation console designs, and I added a weapon trigger just to make it wieldable in one hand and hella sick. The disk port was instead influenced by old-school CD players, fashioned to look and work like how you would load a grenade into a launcher.
2024-09-04 10:25:37 +0000 UTC
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The Aviary’s F-21 model of wingblade are ancient ancestors compared to the modern F-32, but no less dangerous. The blade’s greater mass contributes to greater cutting force at the expense of flight mobility.
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F-21 “Kestrel” Wingblade
Weapon (turbo-sword), technomancy, uncommon (requires attunement)
Twin Modes. This weapon has two forms — a Blade Form and a Wing Form — that determines the weapon’s properties, described below. At the start of your turns, you can decide which form the weapon takes (no action required).
Blade Form. While in this mode, the weapon’s damage die is 2d6. When you hit a target with this weapon, you can use a bonus action to deal an extra 1d10 weapon damage with the attack.
Wing Form. While in this mode, the weapon’s damage die is 1d10. While holding this weapon, you can use a bonus action to fly up to 15 feet. If you don’t end this movement on a solid surface, you fall.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
This was designed as the precursor to the F-32 “Falcon" Wingblade, using some of the more simplified aspects of the properties. Unlike the Falcon, the offense form can perform a bonus action d10 damage (average 5.5), which will come up more often at the uncommon tier because there are fewer uses of bonus actions at that level (though Rage and Second Wind still exist).
The wing form grants extra movement in the form of flight, but can't be Dash-extended to double the distance. In exchange, the damage die is reduced by an average of 1.5 (from a typical greatsword's 7).
2024-09-01 14:01:01 +0000 UTC
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This custom blade requires special training to properly use. Kendoran “Falconeer” shock troopers wield them to devastating effect, zipping around the combat zone in an bombarding flock.
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F-32 “Falcon" Wingblade
Weapon (turbo-sword), technomancy, rare (requires attunement)
Twin Modes. This weapon has two forms — a Blade Form and a Wing Form — that determines the weapon's properties, described below. At the start of your turns, you can decide which form the weapon takes (no action required).
Blade Form. While in this mode, the weapon’s damage die is 2d6 and it has a +1 bonus to its attack and damage rolls. When you hit a target with this weapon, you can use a bonus action to deal an extra 2d6 weapon damage with the attack.
Wing Form. While in this mode, the weapon's damage die is 1d6 and it has the Thrown (20/60) property; it flies back into your hand after you hit or miss with it. While holding this weapon, you can use a bonus action to gain a fly speed of 40 feet until the end of your turn or until you no longer hold the weapon.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
This was designed as part of the Swordtember Challenge! I've always been interested and amazed by the people who worked on the challenge and yet never had the spare time to participate myself. I still don't, so I won't be able to participate for the rest of the month (sad), but I'm happy I did at least one. This was orchestrated by several other creators; we got together and also had a lovely discussion about our weapon design process, which will be released in a video at some point in the future.
I also used a previous scrapped render of this art to design a new, but similar weapon that won't be in the book! Patrons can check out the F-21 "Kestrel" here.
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The stats of this item are self-explanatory, with an offensive and mobility mode. For the offense mode, the +1 accounts for its power level up to a non-attunement uncommon; the bonus action 2d6 damage accounts for a portion of the remainder. Though 2d6 seems like a lot, the bonus action cost becomes substantial at this tier of play especially when it is needed for so many other things (Second Wind, Rage, Hunter's Mark, Smite spells, etc) and only occurs once per turn.
For the mobility mode, you get a Thrown benefit that essentially is any typical Thrown weapon (so it's nothing), plus a fly speed that lasts for one turn. It's a positioning benefit that can be doubled to 80 via Dash, or more with other effects. Flight is pretty powerful especially at will (even if limited), so this is somewhat equivalent to the other flight items (boots of flying).
Together, the versatility of both options places it at the rare attunement level.
Design-wise, the Swordtember prompt was "wings," and the outside-the-box idea was airplane wings. It can essentially act like a glider (green goblin!). It pulls inspiration from the Milano starship (Guardians of the Galaxy) and X-wings (Star Wars). The whole time, my mental image of the blade was a cybernetic bounty hunter zipping around combat with the weapon swinging it and transforming it for various uses.
2024-09-01 14:00:05 +0000 UTC
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This item is coupled with a very important announcement.
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Horn of Finales
Wondrous item, uncommon
You can spend 10 minutes giving a heartfelt speech and then blow into this horn, producing a honk audible up to 60 feet away. Each creature holding another horn of finales that heard your entire speech and honk can use its reaction to blow into their own horn in response. You and every creature that responded with their own horn of finales become bonded by fate.
Each bonded creature (including you) gains the following benefits while it is holding, wearing, or carrying its own horn of finales. A creature's bond ends early if it dies or if it forms a new bond using a horn.
The Rousing End. When the creature makes an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw while within 30 feet of another creature it is bonded to, it can end its own bond to add a +5 bonus to the result (no action required). It can add this bonus after making the roll, but before it learns whether it succeeded or failed.
We'll Meet Again. Guided by destiny and companionship, the creature will eventually reunite with all other creatures benefiting from the bond sometime within the next 5 years. The GM decides the time, place, and circumstance. After this reunion, the bond ends.
Once this horn has been used to form a bond, whether as speech-giver or responder, it can't be used to form a new bond again until the next dawn.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
This is a really good item to just hand out to players in the final session of a campaign — some festive party blower horns with the promise of one day meeting again. All good feelings.
The needle, compass, red string of fate, and wyrd are present on this party horn.
2024-09-01 05:00:05 +0000 UTC
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All things come to an end.
This news is both surprising, yet expected. After almost 4 years of creating 5e homebrew for Aripockily, I've made the tough decision to hang up the cram-wow. For years, the amount of work required for every compendium steadily increased (every compendium post somehow opens with how I plan to write less next month). When I took on a new job last year and decreased production, I also hoped it would make my time manageable. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, partially due to the new promise of item cards and reckless ambition to make use of the "extra time." As proud as I am of the product, my already-high page count doubled!
Combined with my current job (in 5e content), I've been working up to 70 hours per week with little time for much else and stayed up unhealthily late. Work normally performed by a small team of 3-5 (writing, art, editing, arranging, publishing) in this time frame is hard to do with just one. It has become unsustainable due to increasing stress, increasingly busy job, and low monetary return. I have realized that any Aripockily deadline, no matter how small, adds pressure to my work load.
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What's Happening?
At the end of this month (after the Cosmos compendium releases), there will be no more scheduled content. I will continue to make 5e content, but much more sporadically.
I don't feel comfortable continuing to take money from patrons for this non-work, so tiers will undergo changes to ensure it's all voluntary.
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What is Changing?
Cosmos Theme
This theme's content will continue to release throughout September as scheduled.
If you support Aripockily for the month of September, you will receive all upcoming items, subclasses, and the Aryka's Guide to the Cosmos book.
The book underwent some major changes and is taking longer than usual. The book will not release in September (likely October). However, when it's complete, I will message the book to every patron that supported throughout the month of September.
Tier & Benefit Changes
All existing tiers have been unpublished. Members can no longer make new pledges at those tiers. Existing patrons should cancel their pledges — AFTER September billing if you still want access to the Cosmos theme.
A new Adventurous Support $5 tier has been published for those who just want to support Aripockily with no expectations. Supporting at this tier also grants access to all 5e content except compendiums.
At the end of September, billing will be paused to grant existing patrons more time to cancel pledges. When billing resumes, I'll continue to refund patrons for a couple more months just to make sure they're aware of the situation.
Content Access Changes
With all existing pledges unpublished, the only way to access old Aripockily content will be to retain your pledge or pledge at the new tier.
Pledging at the Adventurous Support tier grants access to all 5e content except compendiums.
Most compendiums will be available via one-time purchases, either from the Patreon shop or via DriveThruRPG.
Very Rare+ Patrons with access to The Archive can still access the Archive's contents via the Google Drive permalinks while they are pledged. Before canceling your pledge, make sure to save the Google Drive folder links so you retain access to them.
Very Rare+ Patrons with a limited use license to use my artwork will retain the same rights from September 1st on. No more need for continued support; you've supported me this long so you can keep using them (with the same guidelines). Although it'd still be nice if you volunteered donations via the Adventurous Support tier!
Patrons should take the time to download any content available to them, if they haven't already.
Future Content?
There will be no scheduled content; no weekly or monthly releases.
To respect the most recent poll, any new content that does appear here will be Giant-themed.
Old themes' tarot item cards will continue to release sporadically until all themes have tarot cards.
Existing content will be added to Collections for ease of use.
Old posts and content will receive sporadic updates as I review and revise them (to modern standards).
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TL;DR - What Should I Do?
You should prepare to cancel your pledge. If you want the rest of the Cosmos content (and the compendium PDF), cancel after you are billed in September (you'll have time to do it in October). You'll receive the PDF in a DM later.
Make sure to save any content you have access to before you cancel your pledge!
If you have questions, just reach out or comment on this post.
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What does "Aripockily" mean anyways?
It's a completely made-up word with no meaning.
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Last Words
Ending it on the Cosmos book, my proudest work, is fitting. I'm looking forward to spending more time on other personal projects. Thank you so much for your support — none of this content would be possible without all of your initial and continued support. I am eternally grateful and wish you all the most fun of games.
This is an end, but not good bye! I'm leaving one final item for the wonderful patrons.
Check out the Horn of Finales here.
—
Thank you everyone. How wonderful it has been!
2024-09-01 05:00:05 +0000 UTC
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Much like fire extinguishers in a flammable mine, these rods were designed to tame unexpected Current leaks at energy mining facilities. Unsurprisingly, they have been adapted into anti-drone products by military industries.
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Anti-Current Rod
Rod, technomancy, rare (optional attunement)
This rod can be wielded as a club.
Disruptor Pulse. While holding this rod, you can use an action to activate it immediately, or set a timer that causes the rod to self-activate at any chosen time within the next 10 minutes.
When the rod activates, it casts the blackout* spell centered on itself (save DC 15), lasting only until the start of your next turn. The rod itself is immune to this spell. The rod continues to intermittently emit afterpulses for 1 minute or until a creature uses an action to touch and disarm it. During that time, roll a d20 at the end of each of your turns. On a roll of 15 or higher, the rod casts the blackout* spell again, targeting itself and lasting only until the start of your next turn.
Once activated, this rod can't be activated again until the next dawn.
—
Optional Attunement. If you choose to attune to this rod, you can use an action to remotely use the rod's Disruptor Pulse property while it is within 120 feet of you without needing to hold it. Additionally, once per turn, when you use this club to hit a creature with the Technomancy tag, the target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or suffer disadvantage on the next ability check or attack roll it makes before the end of its next turn. Constructs have disadvantage on this saving throw.
—
Uncommon Variant. The uncommon version of this rod has these changes. Its DCs are 13 instead of 15, and its Disruptor Pulse property casts the slow spell instead of blackout*. This spell has the same modifications described and only affects creatures with the Technomancy tag.
Very Rare Variant. The very rare version of this rod has these changes. Its DCs are 17 instead of 15, and it grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. Additionally, the Disruptor Pulse property's blackout* spell is cast normally, lasting for its full duration.
*See Cosmos 3 - Spells.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
The goal of this item was filling the niche of anti-Technomancy, modeled after an EMP pulse, as it would be remiss of me to not include items that interact with Technomancy negatively. The basic idea is to make use of the blackout spell – a really good spell to tie into an item that guards, bounty hunters, or rebels might use.
Blackout is a 6th-level spell, which is normally restricted to Very Rare+ items, so the move is adding restrictions to the spell (the "pulsing"). That's why Very Rare variant is normal; I wanted to keep the rarity down to ensure availability to lower-level enemies and games.
Reducing the rod's spell from the normal 1 minute duration to 1 turn effectively halves its effectiveness. The possibility of additional pulses is more thematic than effective, though still very useful if it occurs.
The optional attunement encourages attunement, by offering an additional, useful benefit. The trade-off is a very low club damage (a d4), and this only works against Technomancy creatures (it's got no use if you're fighting an organic alien), forcing you to decide on attunement. Constructs tend to have high Constitution as well, so this effect should take about half the time – good for a constant benefit.
2024-08-26 14:28:04 +0000 UTC
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Public opinion of Bravos Corp. autonomous drones dipped significantly after the Trava Incident, spurring the development of the foldable Compact design. Sold as a "drone you don't need to see or worry about," they dominated the drone market until the public promptly forgot about the Incident two months later.
—
Bravos Compact Drone Plating
Armor (any plate armor), technomancy, rare (requires attunement)
This armor grants you a +1 bonus to your AC while a drone is embedded in it (see below).
Deploy Drone. This armor hosts an embedded drone. You can use an action to deploy it, causing it to unfold in an unoccupied space adjacent to you. The drone is a Small Construct with AC 17; 15 hit points; resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage; and immunity to psychic and poison damage. It has a walking speed of 30 feet. If it makes a saving throw, it adds your proficiency bonus to the roll. The drone remains active until it is reduced to 0 hit points or until you use an action to re-embed it into your armor. While embedded in your armor, the drone regains all missing hit points at dawn or whenever you use an action to expend a spell slot of any level to repair it.
While the drone is within 100 feet of you, you have a technomantic connection to it, allowing you to communicate with it and receive information detected by its sensors. The drone acts on your turn and at your command; it can move up to its speed and take any actions available to it. Unless you use a bonus action on your turn to command it take the Dash, Disengage, or Help actions, the only action it can take is the Dodge action. As long as you are connected to the drone, it also functions as a set of hacker's tools and a connector, allowing you to interface with technomantic terminals remotely as if you were in the drone's space.
There are several types of armor, each designed to host a certain kind of drone. Depending on your armor, your drone has one of these benefits:
Panopticon. This drone's sensors have darkvision out to a range of 120 feet and tremorsense out to a range of 20 feet.
Quadwalker. This drone has a walking speed of 50 feet and can carry up to 25 pounds of weight.
Rotorwing. This drone has a fly speed of 40 feet.
Titanstead. This drone has AC 19 and 30 hit points instead.
—
Very Rare Variant. The very rare version of this armor has two embedded drones instead of one. It grants a +1 bonus to AC for each drone embedded in it, up to a +2.
Legendary Variant. The legendary version of this armor has three embedded drones instead of one. It grants a +1 bonus to AC for each drone embedded in it, up to a +3.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
There needed to be more cool armors, as well as more products from the Bravos drone corporation — hence this one. The flavor text is a cheeky little poke at the untouchable state of megacorporations often found in many cyberpunk settings.
Overall, I compare the armor to its +1/+2/+3 armor counterparts. at the same rarity level. While your drone is deployed, you lose the AC bonus, so I don't consider the drone and AC bonus a "stacking" benefit. However, it's still a versatility benefit, which is covered by the attunement requirement cost.
The drone itself basically functions as an at-will find familiar with more hit points (effective 30, if the damage type is right) and no material cost. You can revive the drone with spell slots, so it's more like find familiar. Each drone has its own unique benefit over a typical familiar as well: choosing from tremorsense for invisible targets; speed and carrying capacity for special delivery; flight for exploration; extra AC & HP for tanking some hits. Titanstead doesn't have that much HP to truly tank, but a cost of 1 spell slot to resummon makes it worthwhile. Each drone doesn't equate to +X armor, but adds enough versatility to make the rarity tier what it is.
2024-08-19 14:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Quick Download Links:
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Item Cards:
Amulet of the Bondsmith
Cloak of the Familiar
Familiarmor (Bramble Tail)
Familiarmor (Clobber Hat)
Familiarmor (Razor Wing)
Familiarmor (Whirlwind Claws)
Flamebeast Sash
Kerchief of Devotion
Magmin Caller
Night Rider Saddle
Orb of Monster Pocket
Rod of Delight
Soulbond Collar
Storm Runners
Teensy Boots
Thunderfoot Horseshoes
Yllyana's Cozy Sweater
Note: If an item has variant rarities, it's printed on separate cards.
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CARD KEY
Some information on cards have been simplified to save space. Here's a short key on how it works:
Card Icons. There are several icons located on the lower-right of each card front to assist in quickly identifying their type. If there's no special icon, that means it doesn't apply (e.g. nonmagical items will not have an attunement or rarity icon)
Key Properties. Certain properties have been condensed. You might see some of the following:
"Attacks" for static bonuses to attack, damage
"Defenses" for static bonuses to AC, etc.
"Special" for modifications to standard objects
"Spells" for shortened spell lists.
Key Words. Immediately after property names, you might see in italics words that simplify the property. Key words like Action; 1/dusk implies the property requires an action to activate, and can only be done once between dusks. DCs as a property references any saving throws the property forces. Others like 3 charges; regains 1d6+3 at dawn describes the charges.
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PRINTING CARDS
The cards are all sized for standard tarot-sized cards (70mm x 120mm) with a 3mm bleed (the area around the edge that is cut off by a printer). There are two ways to print these cards:
Professional Services. Any standard printing service will let you upload the cards' JPEG files and send them to print. Nowadays, this should be a simple process. You will have to print on both sides.
Self-Printing. You can also print the Print & Play PDF on 8.5" x 11" or similar-sized paper. After printing, follow the instructions to fold and cut out the cards yourself.
2024-08-15 06:33:59 +0000 UTC
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