Nathaniel Bruha

Treasure: Verona's Final Mask

This masquerade mask is valuable not just for the materials and crafter's skill that went into making it, but also for the story of its first owner.

This was created for Treasure Tuesday (#12), the day I take each week to create a nonmagical item for collections, black markets, museums, treasure hoards, or other uses in D&D and other roleplaying games.

Enjoy.

Thunderclap Gauntlets

Clap your hands to do some seriously loud damage (or just use them for your unarmed strikes to add it bit of rumbly hurt).

Spell: Sudden Escape

This little spell can teleport you as far as misty step can, but you can only cast it as a reaction to getting hurt and you don't getto choose the distance or direction you go.

Point of Interest: Greenroad Farm & Pistachio Orchard

This farm/orchard has a magical weagon that saves them a lot of time and work by moving itself along a designated path, guided only by brightly painted guardrails.

I just finished recording a guest spot on a podcast (which will come out later this year), and during the recording I homebrewed the wagon from random words (pistachio, guardrail, and enchanted). The farm/orchard is where the wagon is found.

War Spirits Carnyx

I was posting something to Instagram when I came across this video. I had to stop what I was doing to create this magical horn.

Now PCs and NPCs can use this horn to aid their allies in battle while scaring their foes.

Treasure: The Skull of King Hammondesh

This particular treasure is the symbol of office for an elected monarch, a reminder that the power of that throne comes not from inheritance, but from the people of that nation.

This is the 11th creation for what I call Treasure Tuesday; the day every week that I create a free, nonmagical object that DMs/GMs can place in treasure hoards, museums, collections, black markets, and other situations where something valuable (other than magic items) could be found. 2023-09-05 16:39:33 +0000 UTC View Post

Spell: Once More With Feeling

Some messages on my Discord server led me to thinking about a song from a musical (which I'd sung in choir way back in high school). This, of course, led me to making this homebrew.

This spell causes creatures in an area to sing and dance instead of just speaking and moving.

The title comes from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a series I used to watch back when weekly episodes were a thing.

Discordant Poisons

At the end of August, I asked the people on my Discord server to each give me a random word so that I had some inspiration for new D&D poisons (I'm currently working on poisons for my upcoming sourcebook).

The words I was given were tremulous, disheartening, mercurial, and tender. From those I made these four new poisons:

• Tremulous Tincture
• Disheartening Dust<...
  2023-09-01 06:01:42 +0000 UTC View Post

Treasure: Nelfir's Ring of Devotion

For Treasure Tuesday #10, I decided to make something that isn't necessarily worth thousands of gold coins, but it might be incrdibly valuable to the right person due to sentimental value or association with a particular person.

Poison: Truth Serum (updated)

For my upcoming sourcebook, I'm currently working on poisons. I've started with the 14 poisons from the SRD, updating them and rewriting them to conform to the general format I'm using for poisons in my book. Some of them are getting additional effects or information.

One thing I'm adding to some of them is a delay between when the poison is administered/ingested/whatever and when the poison takes effect (delaying the Con save as well so it's not immediately clear what caused the poison...

Window to the Sky

Deep underground and miss being able to see the sun or the stars? This handy little magic item can help you with that.

Hobb's Sail

Apparently a pick made from an old anchor isn't the only thing old Hobb made from parts of a sailing boat.

This cloak harnesses even light breezes to protect you from harm.

Treasure: Goldenfire Dragon

It's Treasure Tuesday, and that means a new, free, nonmagical item for use in your games' treasure hoards, museums, rich people houses, and black markets.

I know it's been a week since I posted anything at all. I was busy with prep for Coulee Con, then there was the convention, then catching up on sleep and house work. Sorry.

This particular treasure was inspired by the most popular of the daily drawing prizes at the convention (kind of like door prizes), a brand new red dragon mi...

Treasure: Reliquary of the Holy Feather

A solid gold base and cage hold a glass jar, which holds a feather. A temple has used this reliquary to lure people in for decades.

This was made for Treasure Tuesday #8, which I do once a week, creating nonmagical treasures to put into andventures and game worlds.

Feat: Great Resilience

With this feat, you're the type of person that just keeps going.

Spell: Animorph

This 1st level spell lets you transform into an animal, much like a druid does with Wild Shape.

There are limits to this though: It's only a CR 0 or 1/8 animal from from a specific list, it requires concentration, and, once you pick your animal form, it's always that same animal form every time you cast the spell.

This was inspired by Harry and Ron's first introduction to Professor McGonagall in the first Harry Potter movie, when she appeared as a cat before returning to ...

Treasure: Moonrise Over Blue Waves

This could be the target of art thieves or wealthy collectors, just like valuable real-life artwork.

This was created for Treasure Tuesday, the day every week that I create a nonmagical treasure for nobles, museums, black markets, dragon hoards, or other places you'd find valuable loot.

Treasure: Tidewater Temple Tablet (Expedition to the Tidewater Temple)

Holding perhaps the first hook for getting adventurers interested in delving underwater (treasures?!), this old tablet has an important clue to help them find and get into the Tidewater Temple.

This was created for the final day of the Expedition to the Tidewater Temple, 7 days of daily homebrews based on the theme of finding/visiting some sort of temple that gets flooded by the sea.

Spell: Riptide (Expedition to the Tidewater Temple)

Move creatures with the power of an unexpected, very strong current of water.

This was created for day 6 of the Expedition to the Tidewater Temple, 7 days of daily homebrews based on the theme of finding/visiting some sort of temple that gets flooded by the sea.

Monster: Barnacled Bones (Expedition to the Tidewater Temple)

Barnacles will grow on almost any hard surface that's in shallow sea water. What happens if that surface happens to be an undead skeleton?

This was created for day 5 of the Expedition to the Tidewater Temple, 7 days of daily homebrews based on the theme of finding/visiting some sort of temple that gets flooded by the sea.

Anemone Lash (Expedition to the Tidewater Temple)

This whip is shorter than most, but it has a dozen bright orange-pink "tails" that give it an extra sting...of paralytic poison.

Using it in or near the sea provides additional benefits.

This was created for day 4 of the Expedition to the Tidewater Temple, 7 days of daily homebrews based on the theme of finding/visiting some sort of temple that gets flooded by the sea.

Spell: Seaweed Bloom (Expedition to the Tidewater Temple)

Conjure a mass of seaweed to hamper foes or to hide in with this spell of the sea.

This was created for day 3 of the Expedition to the Tidewater Temple, 7 days of daily homebrews based on the theme of finding/visiting some sort of temple that gets flooded by the sea.

NPC: The Radiant Starfish (Expedition to the Tidewater Temple)

This golden starfish can help you find the underwater temple, and it can help you get into things. It likes gold.

This was created for day 2 of the Expedition to the Tidewater Temple, 7 days of daily homebrews based on the theme of finding/visiting some sort of temple that gets flooded by the sea.

Treasure: Crystal Cuff

This delicate piece of jewelry would certainly get attention at the ball, but you wouldn't want to wear it everywhere.

This was created for Treasure Tuesday, the one day a week that I create a nonmagical treasure for nobles, museums, black markets, dragon hoards, or other places you'd find valuable loot.

Green Gauntlet of Acropora (Expedition to the Tidewater Temple)

This single gauntlet is made from leather and green coral. You can use it as a weapon, and it helps you survive in the sea.

It was created for day 1 of the Expedition to the Tidewater Temple, 7 days of daily homebrews based on the theme of finding/visiting some sort of temple that gets flooded by the sea.

Pahr-Tae's Cane

Always have a bit of "social lubricant" on hand with this fancy cane.

If things get out of hand, it is a magical weapon.

The Speaker's Staff

Do your group's PCs always interrupt your villains' practiced speeches? Does the rogue shoot before the big bad gets more than 3 words of their brilliant narrative across?

This magic staff, also known as The Staff of Monologue, will stop those pesky "heroes" from ruining your moment by forcing them to simply stand there and listen.

Treasure: Dancer's Gold

This Treasure Tuesday creation was initially inspired by The Italian Job (2003), then I decided that it could also be part of a supposed map to a bigger treasure.

The lower end value of this is just for the gold itself, which for standard D&D stuff is 50 gp per pound.

Themed Week Poll: August 2023

For the 1st week of August, I plan on doing a creative exercise of daily homebrew creations themed around a specific location.

I could end up making creatures, items, points of interest, spells, or whatever else comes to mind each day; all things that could be discovered while the party gets to or reaches the chosen location.

Of the following locations, which most interests you as a DM and/or player?

Poll will be open until the end of July.

Plot Hook: The Sign of the Hungry Mimic

A popular breakfast joint didn't open one morning. The owners and workers just never showed up, and no trace of them has been found. Now, this sign is all that remains.

I got three random words from three different people on my Discord server (fork, mimic, and sign), and this mystery is the result.