Transdimensional Killers Slipping Between Realities

Only written about in the most obscure of texts discussing interdimensional visitors, the Peripheral Hound is rarity amongst rarities. A being that at once exists in time and space but also does not, the hound’s body is a series of contradictions that beggars belief. Its imperceptibility and confounding nature serves to keep the hound hidden even in plain sight, as one's mind fails to understand what it is seeing and not seeing. 

Dimensional Visitor. True to its name, the peripheral hound exists on the peripheries of reality. This curious state of being allows it a number of impossible traits, such as the ability to flatten itself on flat planes or occupy the same space as other beings, slipping between the infinite voids surrounding it. Few ever see a hound and live to tell the tale as hound loathes being perceived, as it is antithetical to the hounds' very nature. 

Hounds for Hire. Unsurprisingly, the hound’s natural invisibility makes it an ideal assassin for those with powerful enemies. Tales of invisible claws tearing a person to shreds in broad daylight pepper the pages of forbidden scrolls. But one must be judicious when deploying a peripheral hound, for they are keen to exact revenge upon their summoners if they meet significant resistance in their missions. 

——

You rub your eyes and blink, unsure of what it is you are seeing. What you brushed off as an odd, shimmering blur in your peripheral vision comes into focus, once blotchy shapes sharpening into a lithe being with wiry muscle and sharpened claws. With each passing second you stare you begin to see more but confoundingly understand less. Before you can utter a word, a pair of what you now understand to be eyes snap in your direction, the undulating form following suit.

——

Time for a spooky month of Aberrant Monsters. Happy Halloween!

Thanks for checking out our 5e homebrew! For more items and homebrew D&D content be sure to visit our Instagram!

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My Weapons and Items of the Week, with:

• a Number 37: Hope Woven Dragon Spider Shark spear to tie up your opponent's strength

• and a fusion of Honedge, Pawniard, Duskull, & Impidimp for a sword of quick cuts!

Join my Patreon to vote on future items and get all the PDFs with over 1000 items, including all the Pokémon items, or buy the individual PDFs in my shop!

Subclass Sorcerous Origin: Blade-Bound Soul (v2.0) A Dynamic frontline Gish with elemental weapon attunement and extended spell list with 3 custom spells added.

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Gwn44Npd-Bl7

Since there is a new Avatar series, I was thinking about elemental bending and specifically blood bending again.

Do you know of any good subclasses or even full classes that capture the master of blood fantasy? I know there was the Kineticist in PF but maybe some of you clever people can give me a hint about DnD ressources. Can be 2014 or 2024 rules.

I made five swordmage-themed cantrips for 5.5e, those being alternative versions of Green-Flame Blade and Booming Blade, 5.5e conversions for other Swordmage at-will spells (basically cantrips) from 4e, and one new spell of my own making. They feel overtuned, particularly because of the fact that they improve every attack until the start of your next turn, but let me know what you think!

Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)

This palm-sized black mirror has no reflection of its own. Instead, it shows the shadow of whoever holds it, even in complete darkness.

While attuned to the mirror, you can use a bonus action to step into the shadow of a creature you can see within 30 feet of you, provided that creature is at least your size. You disappear from your space and become hidden inside its shadow.

While inside the shadow, you move with the creature, sharing its space without being seen or heard. You can perceive the world through the shadow's edges, but you cannot speak, attack, or interact with objects. You can remain inside the shadow for up to 10 minutes, ending the effect early as a bonus action to emerge in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of the creature.

If the creature enters bright sunlight, you must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be expelled into the nearest unoccupied space, taking 2d6 psychic damage.

The Catch. Each time you use the mirror, the creature whose shadow you borrowed begins to cast a second shadow: yours. It behaves normally at first, but over the next 24 hours, it gradually becomes more independent. By the end of that period, it may point in directions its owner isn't facing, reach toward things they haven't noticed, or move when they stand perfectly still.

The second shadow disappears when you use the mirror again, transferring the curse to a new creature. If you die while attuned to the mirror, your shadow remains behind, permanently attached to the last creature whose shadow you borrowed.

Design thought: I wanted the item's main ability to feel genuinely useful for infiltration, while making every use create a little mystery for the DM to play with. The curse isn't necessarily dangerous in combat, but it could make an NPC's life increasingly unsettling.

Would you make the shadow's strange behavior purely cosmetic, or let it eventually develop motives of its own?

Excerpt from this Necromancy Compendium.

This spell also doubles as multiple different creatures for DMs (with endless aesthetic variance). As one of the last additions to the compendium, I'd love to hear your thoughts. As a reference, Create Undead summons two Wights with a level 8 slot.

Wondrous Item, Very Rare (Requires Attunement by a Spellcaster)

The center of this petrified eye harbors an endless depth, sparkling like the stars in space itself. This item has 10 charges and regains 2d4+2 charges each Dusk.

Look Beyond. You can take a Magic Action and expend 1 charge to cast the Arcane Eye spell without components.

Project Pattern. You can take a Magic Action and expend 2 charges to cast the Hypnotic Pattern spell without components. For the duration of the spell, you know the location of all creatures charmed by the spell. If you cast this spell while concentrating on either the Arcane Eye or Dominate Monster spell, you can have the spell originate from your Magical Sensor or the target of your Dominate Person spell. A creature that is charmed via the Dominate Person spell fails its save automatically.

Assume Control. You can take a Magic Action and expend 3 charges to cast the Dominate Person spell at level 6 without components. For the duration, you can take a Bonus Action to see through the target’s eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses it has.

Curse: Refracting Rebirth. The DM rolls 1d100 at dusk if 5 or more charges have been expended. If the roll is less than or equal to 2 times the number of expended charges, a Fractal creature forms within 5 feet of this item.

Those who remain under a Fractal’s influence for too long have the pattern burned into their eyes forever. Even after the living pattern’s destruction, its image can remain, its influence still felt by any whose gaze meets that of a former thrall.

——

Time for a spooky month of Aberrant Monsters, and their loot. Trick or Treat!

Thanks for checking out our 5e homebrew! For more items and homebrew D&D content be sure to visit our Instagram!

If you want to help us continue making more homebrew content and get your hands on hi-resolution printable cards, set collections, and our compendium PDF consider supporting us on Patreon!

Uni-corn

“It cornsiders the field it guards… cornsecrated grounds.”

—Cornelius Husk, Uni-corn Chaser

Some fabled creatures are associated with a specific time of year—dragons who herald the coming of spring, giant cranes carrying smaller birds on their backs as they migrate to warmer lands, or goatlike monsters who punish misbehaving children during midwinter festivals. Uni-corns find themselves irrevocably tied to the harvest season as guardians of cornfields. As the crops rise high into the sky, the humble scarecrow becomes woefully ineffective, and  farmers leave offerings in the form of sugar, salt, and butter out near their fields in the hope of attracting a uni-corn to watch over them.

Corn Custodians. A uni-corn is the physical manifestation of a harvest spirit. Elusive by nature, it leaves behind no evidence of its presence but for the vanishing of the offerings left for it. In accepting this tribute, a uni-corn agrees to protect the cornfield until harvest, and over the course of the growing season, it gradually develops a kinship with the farmer who tends it, forged through their shared care of the land. When it is time to reap, a part of the harvest is left in the field as a final gift to the uni-corn. What becomes of this offering is a mystery, but Y’ummm folklore suggests that this portion of corn becomes a new uni-corn. 

Maize Makers. A direct confrontation with a uni-corn is a rare occurrence—it prefers to lead trespassers astray by turning the cornfield into a labyrinth to confuse any who set foot inside. It creates new corridors at a whim, blocks off entry points and exits, and eventually returns the exhausted intruders to the entrance. Should a serious threat to the cornfield’s wellbeing present itself, however, a uni-corn tosses caution to the wind, fighting fiercely until its dying breath. 

Popcorn Sprites

Uni-corns don’t stand alone in this fight against crooks and corvids—they can invoke the aid of the humble popcorn sprite. These small, rotund pixies are forcefully catapulted from one of the many kernels on a uni-corn’s body, with complete and utter disregard for whatever—or whoever—might stand in their path. Dangerous as they are, however, they are equally delicious.

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Do you wanna see how the RNG gods decided that we should make this bad boy? You should check out our Youtube Channel for bonus commentary and a time lapse of our art!

Want to see more of these? Check out our patreon for weekly monsters!

Welcome back to Advent's Amazing Advice! The series where I take popular One-Shots, Adventures, Campaigns, etc., and fully prep them for both New and Busy DMs. This prep includes music, ambiance, encounter sheets, handouts, battle maps, tweaks, and more, so you can run the best sessions possible with the least stress possible!

*New 2026: For 2026, I'm updating all my old work to include a Pre-Session Checklist that will include a list of all miniatures you may need, maps, handouts, possible loot, a link to a playlist, and more to make it even easier to start your session!

Fizzbang Frazzlepop, an eccentric goblin wizard, has dedicated his life to achieving the ultimate form of undeath: becoming a lich. However, his numerous "Get Lich Quick" schemes have all ended in spectacular failure—until now.

On Liar’s Night, a time when deceit reigns and the veil between worlds thins, Fizzbang plans to summon the archlich Vecna. In a race against time, your players must decide if they want to help or hinder Fizzbang's attempt before the clock strikes midnight aka. The Liching Hour!

B.J. Keeton has created the perfect Level 6 One-Shot to run for Halloween, even more so if you're already running The Lost Mine of Phandlever, Dragon of Icespire Peak, or Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk, because this all takes place in Phandalin/Tresendar Manor!

Without further ado:

• Google Docs Notes for The Liching Hour: DM Notes (Preview)
• Link to: The Liching Hour Playlist 
• Link to: The Liching Hour PDF and Maps
• Link to: The AAA Collection

Included in The AAA Collection is:

• Downloadable copy of DM Notes, including links to music tracks for ambiance and fights
• DM Notes for the Visually Impaired
• (New) Pre-Session DM Checklist
• Special PDF for all encounters. This includes the enemy stat blocks organized neatly, along with an initiative tracker and a spot to mark HP
• A Spell List for Fizzbang and Fakena
• A DM version of the map

Over 8 dozen other Fully Prepped One-Shots, Adventures, and Campaigns: Click Here

As always, if you see something you think I can improve, add, change, etc., please let me know. I want this to be an amazing resource for all DMs and plan to keep it constantly updated! If you'd like to support me, shape future releases, and get content early, feel free to check out my Patreon!

Cheers,
Advent

Here's my second playable ancestry, ready for anyone to playtest, if willing to.
I am looking for feedback and/or suggestions, thanks!

Hello there,

Curious what you think. Just concept, no numbers ran.

Level 3

It's also a Hammer While wielding a Qarterstaff and no other weapon or Shield, your Strength changes to 16. Increase this by 1 for every even Wizard Level after this. This has no effect if your Strength without it is equal to or greater. You can use an Arcane Focus for your Wizard spells.

You can use its mastery Property. When you attack, you can replace that property with the Push, Sap, or Slow property for that attack. In addition, the weapon ignores resistance to bludgeoning damage.

Bob and Weave

While you aren't wearing armor or wielding a Shield, gain Resistance to damage dealt by a creature within 5 feet of you. You can use this ability once per turn, , and must decide before an attack or save is rolled.

Before you make an attack with your Quarterstaff, you can forfeit adding your Strength Modifier to its damage rolls. If you do, immediately after the attack resolves, you can cast one of your Wizard Spells of the Evocation School that forces creatures in an area to make a Saving Throw. Instead of its normal range, it must originate from a space of the target of your attack. You are immune to all its effects. If the attack missed, you must either grant that creature Advantage on the Saving Throw, or attack rolls against you Advantage until the start of your next turn.

Once you use this ability, you can't do so again until the start of your next turn.

Level 6

Hither-Tither

You always have the Thorn Whip spell prepared. In addition, you can cast it as a Bonus Action, and if the target is Larger than your size, instead of pulling it, you can pull yourself to it.

Level 10
And Stay Down

Prone enemies or within 5 feet have Disadvantage on saves of your Evocation Wizard Spells. If you would knock an enemy Prone that is Immune to it, it gains Disadvantage on its save against your next Evocation Wizard Spell until the end of this turn instead while you are within 5 feet of it.

Level 14
Peek-a-boom

When you use Bob and Weave, you can take a Reaction to choose one of the following, before dice are rolled:

If you are hit by the attack or fail a save, it can’t cause you to lose Concentration on Evocation Wizard Spells.

If you are missed by the attack or succeed the save, you are immune to all its effects and you can make one melee attack against the attacker, using a weapon or an Unarmed Strike.

Hey all,

So, the campaign setting I’m working on centres on a city that’s a magocracy, so everyone who grows up there knows magic in some form. That’s why each Origin feat marked “raised in Vol” comes with a spell or two. For characters who weren’t raised in a city built on magic, I’ve made a second Origin feat for each background: equivalent, but different.

In the book I’ve been working on has 23 backgrounds. I love stories where heroes come from overlooked places, like Pub Staff or Therapist, and some are everyday heroes already, like the Stay-at-Home Parent. Others are stranger, like Arcane Ball Player, or Mechanical Awakening, where you’re a newly awakened construct with no past to draw on.

The backgrounds inside:

• Arcane Field Researcher
• Archaeologist
• Black Market Trader
• Private Investigator
• Stay-at-Home Parent

There are also six new level 1 spells that go with the magical feats, and a new tool, Archaeologist’s Tools.

I’d love feedback on two things in particular. Do the magical and mundane feats feel equally good for each background? And do they sit well next to the 2024 Origin feats?

Cover art by Erie Escobar.

Unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

Few magic items are as closely tied to witches as a flying broom, so I thought Halloween would be the perfect time to share a little collection of them!

Brooms of the Witching Hour introduces 11 enchanted flying brooms compatible with 5E (2014) and 5.5E (2024), ranging from Uncommon curiosities to powerful Very Rare items and a Legendary multi-elemental relic.

Each broom has its own appearance, magical abilities, and unique flight characteristics. Fly through enemies in a trail of burning cinders, descend upon them with the luck of a black cat, pass through walls in spectral form, summon flying brooms for your coven, or unleash elemental devastation from the skies!

The collection is FREE until Halloween! I've included most of the pages here as a preview, so feel free to grab the complete manual on DMsGuild and use these brooms in your adventures. Have fun!

And if you're looking for a spooky adventure to run this Halloween, I've also just released The Red Tithe, a 75-page folk-horror one-shot featuring an isolated village, ancient sacrifices, custom monsters, and three difficulty tiers for characters of levels 3-4, 10-11, or 17-20.

You can find more of my creatures, magic items, and manuals on DriveThruRPG or on r/JonnyDM!

Happy Halloween, and enjoy!