I Cast...Brainstorm issue 33!

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This week — Luminous Magic Armor, and a Trapped Corridor

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Let’s brainstorm some fun!

In this issue...

• A New Magic Item

  • Mantle of the Luminous Champion

• A Trapped Corridor

  • A Murderous Mosaic

• Brainstorming Links

• Gifts for Gamers and People Who Love RPGs

Happy Friday, Brainstormers!

This week I DM’d two sessions and played in my weekly game, too — lucky me! — and also found some time to work on the 1st level adventure I’m writing. I’m sure I’ve read dozens of modules and adventure paths over the past 45 years, and hundreds of one-shots on top of that, but writing an adventure of my own is a difficult, daunting and fun challenge. Thankfully I’m past the “how the hell do I start?” phase, and I’m well into the rewrite phase, which is where things really take off.

In my case — a LOT of rewriting!

I’ll have more about the Fel and Xarkorian School of the Magical Arts in coming weeks. This week, check out a new magic item and a trapped hallway, and as always please feel free to let me know what you think, and if there’s anything you’d like to see more of, (or less of), in the newsletter.

Have a great and creative week!

A New Magic Item

Legend says this armor was forged from the enchanted shield of the warrior-goddess S’yol, stolen from her castle by a rogues guild called The Hood and Hook. If such a guild ever existed, no trace of it can be found — a fact often attributed to the goddess’ vengeance. Others say woe to the wearer of the Mantle, if the angry goddess should stumble across them and recognize her symbol etched upon the breastplate.

Mantle of the Luminous Champion

Very rare plate armor (requires attunement)

This +1 plate mail is burnished to a high sheen, and etched with an ornate, stylized blazing sun on the breastplate.

Three times per day (recharging all uses at dawn) the wearer can touch the design on the chest plate to cause the armor to flare with sunlight — any creature that can see within 5’ of the wearer must make a successful DC 16 Constitution save or take 4d8 radiant damage and become blinded. On a successful save, a creature takes half damage, and is not blinded.

Undead have disadvantage on the saving throw. A blinded creature makes a Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a successful save, it is no longer blinded.

A Trapped Corridor

This trapped hallway is a deadly encounter for characters level 5-10, or a nuisance for levels 11-16 (in 5th edition D&D rules). For characters level 1-4, or above 16, (or if you use a different rules system), adjust the DCs and damage accordingly.

You can start the encounter by reading or paraphrasing the following —

A Murderous Mosaic

The Set Up
The hall is 50’ long, and the floor is made of five 10x10 blocks of bloodstone. To make the descriptions below easier to understand, we’ll refer to each 10’ section of hallway, starting nearest the PCs, as A, B, C, D, and E (at the far end).

The walls are constructed from smaller blocks of different colors — tourmaline, granite and alestone among them— which create a repeating 10x10 decorative pattern. In the center of each 10x10 section of wall is a round red stone.

The heroes can safely step into the hall to occupy section A — the first 10x10 section of hallway.

The Trap
If a creature steps or flies forward into section B, C, or D, when they reach the center of the section the walls on either side snap in toward the center of the hall, crushing anyone that occupies that section for 5d10 bludgeoning damage. A successful DC 16 Dexterity saving throw reduces the damage by half, and anyone who saves ends up one section back in the direction they came from, (so saving in section B sends creatures back to A, C sends them back to B, etc.).

Once sprung, walls immediately retract and then take 12 seconds to reset. The trap only triggers when moving from section A toward E — the reverse direction is always safe.

Bypassing the Trap
To be able to move into sections B, C, or D safely, the round red stone on either of the walls in the preceding section need to be pressed. Once the stone is pressed there will be an audible click as the mechanism that makes the walls spring inward disengages.

The red stones disengage their respective sections for 12 seconds, after which they reset.

So, to move safely into section B one of the round, red stones on either wall in section A must be pushed to disengage the mechanism. While in section B, one of the red stones in that section must be pressed to safely move into section C, and one of the red stones in section C must be pushed to move safely into section D. However, to move from section D to E safely, the round red stone must NOT be pressed! Pressing the red stones on either wall in section D engage the crushing mechanism in section E.

If the characters examine the floor of hallway sections B, C, D or E, a DC 16 Wisdom (Perception) check reveals a few faint scratches on the floor running across the hallway, ending around the middle of the hall. A DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check when examining the walls of sections A, B, or C reveal a bit more wear on the round red stones on either wall.

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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