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- I Cast...Brainstorm issue 29!
I Cast...Brainstorm issue 29!
A weekly newsletter of ideas and advice for D&D Dungeon Masters, players, and fans
Dave Palmer
October 24th, 2025
In partnership with
This week — A Magic Dagger and a Puzzling Room
Thanks for reading I Cast…Brainstorm!, a weekly newsletter with ideas and advice to help make DM-ing and playing D&D (and other TTRPGs) easier and more fun.
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Let’s brainstorm some fun!
In this issue...
It was such a fun and busy week. I DM’d at Ye Rustic Inn this week, and early Wednesday morning, as I started my long commute, I seriously doubted I would be up for a rowdy game from 8 until midnight. Once I got to the bar and we started playing, though, all that weariness fell away, and I had a great time. Magic!
Hoping all your games this week are just as invigorating.
A Magic Dagger for Poisoners
This wide, single-edged dagger was created for the royal assassin Stenholm Prot over two centuries ago. Prot was a talented killer, but in his later years developed a habit of drinking too much…and then saying too much. One evening, during a particularly intense binge, he drunkenly betrayed his king’s confidences at a local tavern, and his liege vowed that Prot would never do so again. Not long after that, both Prot and the Makhara disappeared.
The Makhara
Weapon (dagger), rare (requires attunement)
This +1 dagger was forged with a channel along the length of the blade that can hold three doses of poison.
Once per day, you may use an Action to cast a 10’ radius Silence spell, centered on the dagger. This feature recharges at midnight.
If you’re using 5e 2024 rules, this weapon has the following mastery property —
Nick
When you make the extra attack of the Light property, you can make it as part of the Attack action instead of as a Bonus Action. You can make this extra attack only once per turn.
A Puzzling Room
This simple puzzle might be a nice change of pace in your adventure, an obstacle to a secret lair, or a fun element for players who like thinkin’.
One Way to Leave
Description
Read or paraphrase the following when the characters open the door to the room.
The thick oak door, banded with iron and polished to a bright sheen, opens into a 20’ x 20’ study lit by firelight.
The ceiling is 12’ high, a lattice of aged wood beams, and the floor is made of stone slabs, worn smooth by countless footsteps. A rug, its pattern faded and indecipherable, leads to a large granite fireplace, its firelight the only illumination in the room. Above the hearth is a dark painting of misty hills, a crooked tree in the foreground, and far in the distance a castle made of wicked looking towers under a stormy sky.
The walls on either side of the door are stone, but the other three walls are covered in wood panels, six in all, each carved with a bas-relief depiction of a tree. Hung on each panel is a framed piece of ancient parchment.
To the right of the door, a desk and chair are positioned facing the center of the room. The desk is cluttered with quills, parchment, a sealed inkwell, and a single candle burned down to a nub. The chair’s leather is cracked, its arms of carved wood show wear from use. Flanking the desk are two short bookshelves filled with ancient books, scrolls and boxes of various sizes.
On the wall opposite the desk is a closed cabinet, its polished surface gleaming faintly in the firelight.
The air smells of dust, old paper, and burning wood.
Information
The wooden wall panels depict the following trees — on the wall to the left when looking into the room are Alder and Elm trees, across from the door (on either side of the fireplace) are Ironwood and Silverbark, and behind the desk are Phandar and Yew trees. The carvings are graphic and stylized, but a successful DC 14 Intelligence (Nature) check can identify all six. At the DM’s discretion, lower checks can reveal the identities of fewer trees, with the alder, yew and elm being the most common and recognizable.
The framed pieces of parchment look like pages from the same ancient book on horticulture, each illustrated with a leaf with some faded and unreadable notations around it in an ancient form of Common. Each leaf can be identified with Intelligence (Nature) checks as described below.
Parchment A
A single ovoid leaf with a point at one end and serrated edges. The leaf is drawn to show both sides, one of which is glossy and green, and the other is downy and gray-green.
A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies this as an Alder leaf.
Parchment B
A yellow single leaf, with a point and finely toothed edges and an uneven, asymmetrical base.
A successful DC 10 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies this as an Elm leaf.
Parchment C
A dark green, lance-shaped leaf with a rough texture.
A successful DC 14 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies this as an Ironwood leaf.
Parchment D
A deep red, waxy, and serrated leaf with a point at the end.
A successful DC 20 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies this as a Silverbark leaf.
Parchment E
A grouping of large, triangular, mottled green leaves.
A successful DC 18 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies this as a Phandar Tree leaf.
Parchment F
A stem of dark green, needle-like, flat leaves extending out from opposite sides of the stem in two rows.
A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Nature) check identifies this as a leaf from the Yew tree.
Solution
When the characters enter the room, the framed pictures are arranged like so — Parchment A is hung on the panel of the Phandar tree, B is hung on the Yew tree panel, C is hung on the Silverbark panel, D is hung on the Alder panel, E is hung on the Yew tree, and F is hung on the Elm tree.
The frames have taut wires attached to the back, and are hung on carved elements on the panels themselves. When the frames are rearranged on the panels to match the leaves with their appropriate trees, the Yew tree panel clicks open, reveling a secret passage.
Brainstorming Links
You probably already know about the folks below, who are real inspirations to me, but if not, do yourself a favor and check them out.
The Arcane Library — masterpiece adventures, and Shadowdark, too!
https://www.thearcanelibrary.com
The Angry DM — so angry….so many great ideas….
https://theangrygm.com/
DMDave — on point analysis of D&D rules, and a ton of fun ideas
https://bsky.app/profile/dmdave.bsky.social
RPGBot — whip smart critique and explanations of 5e rules
https://rpgbot.net/
Sly Flourish — a DM’s best friend who is also a better DM
https://www.slyflourish.com/
Treantmonk — years of helpful advice and clever ideas
https://www.youtube.com/@TreantmonksTemple
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What I’m DM-ing
A high level campaign via Roll20 using 2014 5th edition rules
A weekly Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign, in-person, with 2024 5th edition rules
A series of one-shots in a bi-weekly game at a bar in LA. If you’re interested in joining in, the next event is October 22. Invites are sent via the Partiful app, and you can sign up at Ye Rustic Inn — 1831 Hillhurst Ave, Los Angeles, California
Two different campaigns with my kids, (Rime and Storm Kings Thunder) when schedules align
What I’m Playing
Vecna: Eve of Ruin as Clybb Thistlebridge, a 9th level Halfling great-weapon Fighter
If you play Hearthstone, find me at BigKahuna (#1802)
The gold-box D&D CRPG Ravenloft: Strahd’s Possession
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What Do You Think?
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The original ideas in this issue of I Cast….Brainstorm! are covered under the Creative Commons BY-SA license — all content is free to use (including commercially) and change, with proper attribution.
You can read about the license here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
