This week — Magic to Help Adventuring in the Astral Sea and Etheral Plane

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Happy Friday! This week’s issue features two more movement-based magic items, and yes, I know…I promise I’ll write about something different next week! But the propeller beanie came up in a session and it was too silly to ignore, so here it is, along with a way for a character to step into the Border Ethereal, which is a place I’d love my players to visit one of these days.

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This idea came up in one of my games last week, as the players explored the Astral Sea, and it was so silly I had to write it down. And I have the feeling the mad mage Korollan Harkoon while turn up in these pages again some time, (that rascal!).

Wondrous Item, rare (requires attunement)

While you wear this brightly colored propeller beanie (invented by the mad wizard Korollan Harkoon) and will yourself to move through the Astral Sea, your move speed is determined by multiplying your Intelligence score by six (instead of three).

When on the Prime Material Plane, if you use a Bonus Action to spin the propeller on the beanie, it will lift you straight up 20’ into the air and hover. The hat will keep you aloft for one minute, or until you reach up and stop the propeller from spinning, and in either case you float gently to the ground. The hat can lift up to 500 pounds in this way.

These sandals essentially give a creature access to a limited version of the spell Etherealness (from the 2024 5th edition rules), allowing them to move to and from the Border Ethereal at will. I limited the number of uses per day to the characters’ Proficiency Bonus because I like magic items that scale with character level, but I was also thinking of pinning it to the characters Wisdom or Intelligence modifier. What do you think?

If you try this item in your game, please let me know if you discover any weird or overpowered exploits that it unlocks. (‘Cause players are great at finding those, aren’t they?)

Wondrous Item, rare (requires attunement)

While wearing these sandals, you may use your Action to magically enter or exit the Border Ethereal. You may use this power a number of times per day equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

The Sandals allow you to step into the border region of the Ethereal Plane, in the area where it overlaps with your current plane. There, you can move in any direction, but if you move up or down, you move at half speed.

You can see and hear the plane you originated from from the Border Ethereal, but everything there looks gray, and you can't see anything more than 60 feet away. While in the Ethereal Plane, you can only affect and be affected by other creatures on that plane. Creatures that aren't on the Ethereal Plane can't perceive you, and can't interact with you, unless a special ability or magic gives them the ability to do so.

You ignore all objects and effects that aren't on the Ethereal Plane, allowing you to move through the objects you perceive on the plane you originated from. However, its impossible to pass through creatures in this way.

After one minute you immediately return to the plane you originated from in the spot you currently occupy. If you occupy the same spot as a solid object or creature when this happens, you are immediately shunted to the nearest unoccupied space that you can occupy, and take force damage equal to twice the number of feet you are moved.

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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