Category: D&D

Magic Item: Astral Orrery

I created this as part of a set of magic items for players to be able to traverse the planes in a campaign several years ago. Combined with an Ethereal Sail, this was the start of building out spelljamming before the 5th edition Spelljammer – Adventures in Space set was released.

Astral Orrery

Wondrous Item, rare

This intricate arcane device consists of nested brass rings, jeweled indicators, and a slender mechanical arm that acts as a lever. When mounted to a vessel—typically a seafaring ship or planar skiff—the Astral Orrery attunes to the ship’s structure and weaves a shimmering magical barrier around it, enabling planar navigation and limited levitation. An Astral Orrery can have up to three attuned users.

Planar Shift

Once per day, an attuned user can activate the Astral Orrery as a Magic action to cast plane shift, targeting the vessel and its contents. The ship must either be:

  • On a valid body of water, or
  • Within the Astral Sea

When activated, the ship and all passengers are transported between the current plane and the Astral Sea, or from the Astral Sea to another plane. This transportation generally follows the rules of the plane shift spell, however the ship, everyone aboard, and all of it’s cargo, up to the limits of the levitation field, are transported.

Levitation Field

While the Astral Orrery is active, the ship gains a levitation field that can support up to 15,000 pounds (including cargo and crew). An attuned user can use the lever arm to raise or lower up to 15 feet per round vertically.

Multiple Astral Orreries may be installed to increase the vessel’s maximum levitation capacity. However, this does not improve the rate of ascent or descent.

Magic Item: Ethereal Sail

I created this as part of a set of magic items for players to be able to traverse the planes in a campaign several years ago. Combined with an Astral Orrery, this was the start of building out spelljamming before the 5th edition Spelljammer – Adventures in Space set was released.

Ethereal Sail

Wondrous Item, rare (requires attunement by the ship’s pilot or navigator)

Woven from silk that shimmers with faint, translucent light, this sail catches winds that blow not through the Material Plane, but through the Ethereal Realm. Even on windless seas, an Ethereal Sail fills and pulls taut as though caught in a mighty breeze no one else can feel.

While installed on a ship and paired with an astral orrery or similar planar navigation focus, the Ethereal Sail allows the vessel to ride the turbulent flows of the Ethereal Winds.

  • The ship gains a flying speed of 125 feet. It can accelerate or decelerate by 5 feet each round as long as the sail remains trimmed.
  • The ship’s minimum flying speed is 60 feet, unless the sail is fully furled.
  • Furling the sail takes 2 rounds with an active crew or equivalent magical rigging. Once fully furled, the ship begins to descend, losing 10 feet of flying speed per round until grounded or supported by other means.

Planar Winds. The Ethereal Sail does not function in areas where the Ethereal Plane is inaccessible or suppressed, such as within dead magic zones or planes without ethereal resonance.

Rarity and Use. These sails are prized among skyships, extraplanar traders, and spelljammers who navigate planar currents or sail through realms where traditional wind cannot be relied upon.

Magic Item: Draught of Final Remembrance

Inspired in part by the book A Cosmology of Monsters by Shaun Hamill, the draught of Final Remembrance is used to prepare new initiates by Nepenthe Priests.

Draught of Final Remembrance

Adventuring Gear (potion), uncommon

Brewed from the dusk-petals of the Nepenthe flower and steeped in ritual incense, this luminous tea smells sweet but tastes bitter. It is commonly used by the secretive Nepenthe Priests to prepare victims for indoctrination as Empty Vessels—willing, pliant souls freed of pain, purpose, and memory.

When You Drink This Draught:

  • You fall into a deep, trance-like sleep for 1d4 + 4 hours. You cannot be awakened by normal means. Only a lesser restoration spell or stronger magic ends the effect prematurely.
  • Upon awakening:
    • You permanently forget a single painful memory—chosen by the DM or agreed upon with the player.
    • You have advantage on Charisma (Persuasion) and Charisma (Performance) checks for the next 24 hours.
    • You gain the benefits of a long rest, even if you have already taken one within the last 24 hours.
    • If you are suffering from any form of Madness, it is cured.
  • After 24 hours, you gain one level of exhaustion.
  • Upon your next sleep, you experience a vivid dream or hallucination of an impossible city, with twisting non-Euclidean geometry and a towering cyclopean spire that watches you.

Cumulative Effect

Each time you consume a Draught of Final Remembrance and gain exhaustion from it, mark one level of corruption (tracked by exhaustion levels caused specifically by this draught). After accruing 7 levels of exhaustion in this way, even if they are later removed, You lose all memories, personality, and independent will. You become an Empty Vessel, a docile creature incapable of acting on your own. You will follow the last person who administered the draught and carry out their commands without question.

Only a wish spell or divine intervention can restore your identity and autonomy.

Shelf Life

The draught can be bottled, but loses its potency 24 hours after brewing.