Legendary Items of the Celestial Bureaucracy
Today, our journey through the AD&D Deities & Demigods looking for material for use with 5E D&D continues with our first steps into the Chinese Mythos.
Direct quotes all come from Deities & Demigods.
Canon of Changes
Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)
“This is a book of the gods that deals with redistribution of matter and motion.” By reading the canon of changes, you can create objects. “It takes 72 hours of constant reading to learn the words for one given thing, and after uttering them it takes another 72 hours for another creation of even the same thing to take place.” It requires enormous stamina to read the canon of changes. After 8 hours of reading, if you’re mortal, you must must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. For every additional 8 hours of reading, you must make another Constitution saving throw, and the DC increases by +2 each time. Each failed saving throw imposes one level of exhaustion. If you successfully complete the 72 hour regimen of study, you can create one object of up to 25,000 gp value that isn’t a magic item. The object can be no more than 300 feet in any dimension, and it appears in an unoccupied space you can see on the ground.
Dancing Sword of Lightning
Weapon (any sword), legendary (requires attunement)
You can use a bonus action to toss this magic sword into the air and speak the command word. When you do so, the sword begins to hover, flies up to 30 feet, and attacks one creature of your choice within 5 feet of it. The sword uses your attack roll and ability score modifier to damage rolls. While the sword hovers, you can use a bonus action to cause it to fly up to 30 feet to another spot within 30 feet of you. As part of the same bonus action, you can cause the sword to attack one creature within 5 feet of it. Instead of attacking, up to four times per day, you can use a bonus action to cause the sword to shoot a lightning bolt (as the spell). The stroke of lightning is 100 feet long and 5 feet wide. Each creature in the line must make a DC 19 Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 8d6 lightning damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.
After the hovering sword attacks and/or fires lightning for the fourth time, it flies up to 30 feet and tries to return to your hand. If you have no hand free, it falls to the ground at your feet. If the sword has no unobstructed path to you, it moves as close to you as it can and then falls to the ground. It also ceases to hover if you grasp it or move more than 30 feet away from it.
Fire Gem
Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)
This “extremely rare and magical hand-sized” gemstone shoots flame upon command as a ranged weapon attack that uses your Dexterity score modifier to modify your attack roll. On a hit, the target takes 6d10 fire damage. A fire gem has a range of 40/160 feet, and it can be used once per turn. A fire gem has 2d6 charges when found. A fire gem becomes worthless glass when it expends its last charge.
Giant Black Pearl
Wondrous item, legendary
“This 3 foot sphere negates all wind and earth turbulence in a one mile radius. It does this of its own accord and cannot be controlled to make it stop.” Spells or magical effects that manipulate the wind or earth to cause damage to creatures or objects do not function. Spells or magical effects that would manipulate air, the wind, weather, or the earth to cause hostile conditions also do not function.
Iron Wand
Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)
When held, invisible creatures and objects become visible as long as the creature or object remains within 30 feet of you. This wand has 7 charges. It regains 1d6+1 charges daily at dawn. If you expand the wand’s last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the wand crumbles into rust and is destroyed. The wand has these other functions:
* Climbing Pole. You can use an action and expend 1 charge to cause the iron wand to “grow to a length of 100” feet. The wand becomes “roughened for easy climbing” (DC 10).The wand has AC 20 and 20 hit points. It regains 1 hit point every 5 minutes as long as it has at least 1 charge. If reduced to 0 hit points, the wand expends a charge and returns to normal size. If it has no charges left, it is destroyed. Otherwise, another action and 1 more charge causes the wand to return to its original size.
* Strike. The iron wand can be wielded as a magical club that grants a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with it. When you hit with a melee attack using it, you can expend up to 3 charges. For each charge you expend, the target takes an extra 1d6 force damage.
* Superior Invisibility. You can use an action to expend 1 charge to turn a creature invisible. The creature remains invisible for up to 1 minute or until its concentration is broken, whichever happens first.
Jade Scepter of Defending
Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)
When you hold the jade scepter of defending and take the Dodge action, you gain a +3 bonus to AC and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.
Wind Fire Wheel
Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)
The wind fire wheel is a 1-foot diameter circular fan. It has 50 charges. It regains 4d6+2 expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the last charge, roll a d20. On a 20, the wheel regains 1d12+1 charges. While holding the wheel, you can use an action to expend some of its charges to cast one of the following spells (spell save DC 19): conjure elemental (air or fire only, 7 charges); control weather (8 charges); fireball (12d6, 7 charges); flaming sphere (2 charges); fly (3 charges); gust of wind (2 charges); wall of fire (4 charges); wind walk (6 charges); or wind wall (3 charges).
