Voodoo Doll

This mischevous but cursed wondrous artifact resembles a humanoid burlap and straw doll, easily held in one hand and adorned with accessories. Without fail, the doll bears an unnerving resemblance to the humanoid creature which finds it. Whispered yelps of misery can be heard from the doll at night...

Curse of the doll

The Voodoo Doll's attunement time is instant, and it emits an aura of evil. Until you as the owner remodel the doll's appearance so that it no longer resembles you, all of its vile abilities will target you. The doll will try to teleport to an unobserved space within 30 feet of you each dusk if you are separated from it, rather than allowing its attunement with you to break. The doll has a curse which can only be ended if the owner dies or a Greater Restoration spell is used.

Curse. If the doll's charges drop to 0 or are at 0 when dusk arrives, you roll a 1d20. On a result of 1, you die and your soul becomes imprisoned within the doll.

Preparing the doll

You can spend an hour drawing a 5-foot radius spell circle on the ground - you can hold the Voodoo Doll while within the circle to cast Scrying once per day and Clairvoyance once per short rest, neither one needing spell slots or components.

To be used against a victim, the target creature must be alive and sentient and in possession of its soul, and the doll must be made to resemble them. This can be done over the course of an uninterrupted minute, or by succeeding a DC 18 Sleight Of Hand check to complete the remodeling in a single Action. You must be able to see the victim for the duration, and any previous victim is cleared. Including materials or possessions related to the victim will enhance the foul magic.

Adornment	Effect
Resembles the victim	The victim's soul cannot return to its body if separated or killed.
Includes belonging of victim's (locket, earring, clothing, etc)	The victim takes 1d6 psychic damage when they attempt to communicate about the doll.
Includes any piece of victim (hair, ear, etc)	Doll abilities instill the victim with a Long Term Madness (DMG.260) if they are currently sane.
Has been dyed or washed in some of victim's blood	Doll abilities no longer require sight, and refill 1 charge, when used against this victim.

Recreating the doll

The Voodoo Doll can be turned to ash by being soaked in holy water and then targeted with a Wish spell, releasing its imprisoned souls to their intended destinations (afterlife, etc). To recreate the doll, burlap cloth must be soaked in the waters of a branch of Styx, the River of Blood before they are sewn together to make the doll. The further downstream the cloth is soaked, the more powerful the Voodoo Doll (greater Save DCs, charge capacity, psychic damage, etc).

Using the doll

The doll can store 9 charges, used in the following ways with your Action by holding the doll if you can see the current victim or their corpse.

Pet the Doll: (0 charges) Drag the victim's soul into the doll where it is imprisoned.

Stab the Doll: (1 charge) Force the victim to make a Wisdom saving throw DC 18. On a failed save, they become incapacitated until the end of their next turn.

Bind the Doll: (2 charges) Force the victim to fall under the effects of the Bane spell for 1 minute.

Crush the Doll: (3 charges) Cause the victim to take an extra 1d6 psychic damage each time they lose hit points, except from this ability. This lasts for 1 minute.

Pluck the Doll: (4 charges) Suppress one of the victim's damage resistances, special senses, or condition immunities for 1 minute. Using this again clears the previous choice.

If you concentrate for a minute while holding the Voodoo Doll to send an imprisoned soul to a branch of Styx, the River of Blood, the doll regains 1d8+1 expended charges.

Protecting against the doll

Certain measures can counter the Voodoo Doll's vile power.

Spell	Effect
Bless	The victim may surrender Bless's benefits when it is cast on them to ignore the doll for 1 minute.
Remove Curse	Cast on the victim to suppress the doll's connection with them until the next dusk.
Hallow	The victim ignores the doll while inside the perimeter, which the doll can't cross on its own.
Divine Word	Use against the doll to release its imprisoned souls to their original destinations (afterlife, etc).

By /u/Morvick on Reddit. Art: Alexey Lelyk Panitkov.