Mixed Signals

Straight-forward gaming

Created for the merchant Ghaskari the Greedy, who sought to make a gift of it to his rival, this elaborately-embroidered and bejeweled coin purse imbues coins withdrawn from it with a deficiency in satisfaction. When a player spends money taken from this purse, a payee who would normally be satis...

The floor here is not paved, but covered in dirt, gravel, and sand. As characters walk, 1d4 of them must make a Dex or Saving Throw, or be caught in fast-moving dry quicksand. Characters have just 1-2 minutes (50-50% chance) to find some way out.

Magic might help. A long pole which extends beyo...

This is an item for clerics and thieves. It appears as a ring with a stone of shiny black onyx. It will radiate powerful magic if tested for.

The Shade Ring gives the wearer influence over ghosts and ghost-like entities. Such beings will see the wearer as a person to be trusted and followed, a...

Trigger warning: Food,starvation

Game masters: Be sensitive to your players before using this cursed item.

This cursed item has to do with food, and may upset anyone with a history of eating disorders or who knows someone with a eating disorder, or anyone who experiences discomfort over...

Upon triggering, an incredibly powerful magical magnetic field forms in the area, drawing all metals (ferrous or not) up to the ceiling. Characters wearing metal armor are thrown to the ceiling without any chance to react, taking 1d6 "falling" damage.

Metal weapons, coins, or other metallic...

Originally consecrated to the worship of a god of spies and assassins, Telltale Candles allow magical types (ostensibly, the clerics, priests, monks, or nuns of the spy god) to watch the movements and actions of anyone who uses one. Radiating magic if tested for, these will appear as expensive-lo...

Do you play music during your game to set the mood? Here are the top 10 albums that have been playing in the background of our D&D sessions.

1. Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian

Most Poledouris soundtracks are great for a game, but the power and might of the original Conan is an i...

A valuable item (adjust the price in gold pieces to whatever appropriately entices your players) is trapped in a block of magical ice.

The ice melts as normal if heated, but the loss of weight triggers the release of a suspended pendulum (a sickle) made of magical ice. This swings down at any...

Upon triggering, the floor in the affected area collapses into a chasm, except for a very narrow balance beam in the center. Characters may roll Dex, Saving Throws, or use some sort of acrobatic skill to grab hold of the beam before falling (GM's choice). After this, walking across the beam will re...

If you're in the mood for some classic RPG adventuring, look no further!

Brent P. Newhall is an astonishingly prolific creator of games, game materials, blogs, and more, who has, among many other clever things, produced a charming little high fantasy role-playing game called Dungeon Raid...

A pressure plate causes itself as well as every second tile in the room (in the pattern of a chessboard) to quickly elevate, lifting anyone standing on one 20 feet into the air.

This presents the players with at least 3 options:

  1. If a creature on the pressure plate jumps down, taking fal...

A player falls into a pit that is a chute into an automated mummy-wrapping machine. Player takes no falling damage, because player falls into wrapping material, but for the same reason feather fall has no effect on the result of this trap: the player is bound from head to toe in cloth wrappings a...

Unwholesome Blades come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from that of dagger size, up to (rarely) that of a two-handed sword. These foul weapons will inflict the usual amount of damage to enemies for their weapon type, but also have two other characteristics in common: they are +1 to Hit and Damag...

The owner of this talisman gains +10 temporary HP.

Once the temporary HP is depleted, the player immediately suffers -2 CON. This effect is permanent until removed by remove curse, limited wish, wish, or similar.

The talisman's curse is single-use. Once the -2 CON has been bestowed...

Upon triggering, variously colored beams of powerful magical energy flash on from hidden locations in the walls and ceiling. Each beam has a different effect. Characters may attempt to evade (AC, Dex, or Saving throw, GM's choice). Anyone hit rolls 1d6:

1 -- Petrification Ray Turned to sto...

These horns always come in identical pairs, one of which is quite useful, while the other is cursed. Known properly as Anchored Signal Horns, these items radiate powerful magic if tested for, but no amount of testing will reveal a cursed from a non-cursed one. They can be plain, or ornately worke...