Necromantic Items

A collection of necromancy-themed magic items

Blasphemous Secret

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

This piece of paper has a maddening truth written on it, though there are magical wards in place to keep you from fully understanding it. Any creature attempting to read the secret without being attuned takes 5d10 psychic damage. If this damage kills them, they are transformed into an Allip.

As an action, you may whisper the secret to another creature. Choose a creature within 5 feet that is able to hear you, shares a language with you, and is not a fiend, aberration, celestial, undead, or construct. That creature must make a wisdom saving throw (save DC18). On a failed save they take 8d8 psychic damage and are stunned until the end of their next turn. On a succesful save they take half damage and are not stunned. If the damage from this ability kills a creature, they are transformed into an Allip (MToF pg.116). This property can be used once, and cannot be used again until the next dusk.

Canopic Jar

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

A simple sealed clay jar shaped in the image of a death god. In order to attune to this item, you must participate in an hour-long ritual with a Cleric of the Death or Grave domain. The cleric ritually removes your heart and places it into the jar without killing you. Your blood still flows through your body as normal and you suffer no ill effects from your heart being absent as long as it remains intact. While attuned, you may reroll a single death saving throw. When you do, treat any result between 17 and 20 as though you rolled a natural 20. You may use this ability twice, and regain all expended uses at dawn.

Your heart is considered to have an AC of 0. Any damage your heart takes while inside the jar is reflected onto you. If it takes damage while you are at 0 hit points, it is destroyed and you die. If it is removed from the jar, it is teleported back into your chest and you are unattuned from the jar.

Corpseflower Seed

Wondrous item, uncommon

These seeds are sometimes found within mature corpseflowers, and carry some traces of necromancy within themselves. As an action, you may plant one seed within a small or medium humanoid corpse to make it rise as a Zombie (MM pg.316) or Skeleton (MM pg.272) (your choice). The undead does not move until a certain condition is met, which you determine when placing the seed. You can choose for the undead to activate when a nearby object is touched, a creature gets within 5 feet of it, a nearvy door is closed, or some other similarly simple condition. Once this condition is met, the undead rises and attacks any nearby creature that is not you. If you choose no condition, the undead lies dormant until a creature makes an Intelligence (Investigation) check to inspect the body, at which point it attacks the inspecting creature.

24 hours after the seed has been planted, its magic fades away and the undead it is animating dies.

Ectoplasmic Amulet

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

This amulet has a small crystal sphere embedded into it, inside of which float a few small drops of ectoplasm. You can move through other creatures and objects other than physical barriers (such as walls, floors, or ceilings) as if they were difficult terrain.

Additionally, the amulet has 4 charges. On your turn, you can expend one charge (no action required) to take on a ghostly form until the end of your current turn. While in this form, you may pass through up to 10 feet of physical barriers (treating them as difficult terrain) as a part of your movement.

If you end your turn inside an object or barrier, you take 1d10 force damage and are immediately ejected to the closest available space.

The amulet regains 1d4 expended charges every day at dusk.

Dirgesinger's Instrument

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement by a Bard)

This instrument seems to be partly made of bone, and always feels cool to the touch. While attuned to this instrument, you know the Toll the Dead cantrip. It counts as a bard cantrip for you and does not count against your number of bard cantrips known. Additionally, you may cast Speak With Dead or Gentle Repose as 10-minute rituals, during which you play a somber melody with this instrument.

Ghoul Claws

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

A set of 10 sharp claws, torn from slain ghouls and imbued with magic. When attuned, the claws fuse with your fingernails, giving you a natural weapon with the finesse property. You are proficient in this natural weapon, and it deals 2d4 slashing damage on hit. If the target is a creature other than an elf or undead, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Knucklebone Dagger

Weapon (dagger), uncommon

This fairly small and very sharp knife seems to have several humanoid fingerbones inlaid into the handle. You can use this weapon to perform a 5-minute ritual wherein you use the dagger to remove the hand of a humanoid creature. The creature must be willing, dead, incapacitated, restrained, or otherwise unable or unwilling to interrupt the ritual. At the end of the ritual, the newly-severed hand animates as a Crawling Claw (MM pg.44) under the control of whoever holds the dagger. Whoever is currently wielding the dagger can telepathically issue a command to any number of crawling claws created by this dagger within 120 feet as a bonus action. The claws can only understand simple commands.

Each Crawling Claw remains animated for 1 hour, at the end of which it reverts to being a normal severed hand.