Wondrous Wednesday: Candle of Convocation (D&D 5E)

Another item from John M. Maxstadt's "Still More [Gods Forbid] Out-rages From the Mages,"  from Dragon #144 (April 1989). This one is obviously just a gag in its original form. But nobody said it had to stay a pure joke item. For example, if you have purchased Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos, and wanted to introduce it to your PCs but were stymied for a way to do it organically, just drop a candle of convocation into your next game. A "gag" scenario, maybe, but I could see a number of ways it could play out, from the totally silly to the more serious, and now that the PCs have heard of Strixhaven, they'll probably be interested in going back...

Candle of Convocation

Wondrous item, very rare

This slender, garishly-colored taper is linked to a learning institution on another plane of existence. The candle's linked learning institution cannot be detected. The DM chooses the school or determines it randomly.
     Curse. The candle's magic is activated when the candle is lit, which requires an action. After burning for 4 hours, the candle is destroyed and the curse ends. The candle cannot be snuffed out early.
     When lit, the candle sheds dim light in a 30-foot radius. All creatures within that light must make a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. Those who fail are transported instantly to the university linked to the candle. Those transported are placed under an effect similar to dimensional shackles – no method of extradimensional movement, including teleportation or travel to a different plane of existence, may be used until the curse ends.
     The learning institution will be in the midst of a cheering competition. The candle's magic may be canceled before the candle burns out if the party is able to lead the school's cheerers to victory in the competition.

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