Gloves of the Shoggoth
Wondrous Item, Legendary (Requires Attunement)
These gloves are made of a translucent viscous substance and wearing them feels like dipping your hands in a vat of jelly. During the attunement period, you receive visions of a slave race of Ooze creatures toiling away for their alien masters. While wearing these gloves, you gain the following properties.
Corrosive Pseudopod. When you hit a target with a melee weapon attack, you deal an extra 4d6 acid damage. In addition, the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or incur a −1 reduction to its AC, which lasts until the start of your next turn.
Eyepod. As an action, you can extrude a pseudopod from the gloves that is up to 6 inches wide and 10 feet long. The end of this pseudopod has a yellow eye which you can see through and inherits any special senses you have, such as darkvision. You can retract the eyepod as an action.
Slippery Grip. You have proficiency in the Sleight of Hand skill, as well as advantage on grappling a creature or escaping from a grapple. In addition, a creature grappled by you takes 1d6 acid damage at the start of each of its turns.
Curse. This armour is cursed, laced with eldritch energy from a distant realm, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. Once you put on these cursed gloves, you can't remove them unless you are targeted by the remove curse spell or similar magic. While wearing these gloves, you have vulnerability to fire damage and lose any immunities or resistances to fire damage. You also have disadvantage on saving throws against enchantment spells.
Helmet of Mi-Go
Wondrous Item, Legendary (Requires Attunement)
This helmet is covered in small hairy antennae tapers into an ellipsoid shape that curves backwards. It is carved from the head of a fungal lifeform that resides in a faraway realm full of hideous monsters. While wearing this helm, you gain the following properties.
Aberrant Nondetection. Your thoughts can’t be read by magical means, and you can't be targeted by any divination magic or perceived through magical scrying sensors (such as through the clairvoyance, arcane eye, or scrying spells).
Innate Telepathy. You can cast the telepathy spell at will. You must wait until the end of the spell’s duration before you can cast it using this property again.
Spatial Stasis. As an action, or as a reaction when you take cold damage, you can enter a period of temporary hibernation and become petrified. While petrified in this way, you are still aware of your surroundings and you can stop being petrified as an action, or as a reaction when you take fire damage. You also stop being petrified after 24 hours. Once you use this property, it can’t be used again for 1d4 days.
Curse. This helm is cursed, laced with eldritch energy from a distant realm, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. Until the curse is broken with the remove curse spell or similar magic, you are unwilling to part with the helm, keeping it on your person at all times. After using the helm’s Spatial Stasis property, and on each subsequent day until it can be used again, you must make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, your Intelligence score is reduced by 1d4. You die if your Intelligence score reaches 0. If the curse is broken, you also regain your original Intelligence score.
Leng Spider Boots
Wondrous Item, Legendary (Requires Attunement)
These dark purple boots draw power from an eldritch realm that is analogous to the Ethereal Plane. While wearing the boots, you gain the following properties.
Dreamlike Jaunt. These boots have 7 charges and regain 1d4 + 3 charges daily at dusk. As an action, you can expend 1 charge to cast the blink spell or 7 charges to cast the dream of the blue veil spell (you must still fulfil the spell’s material component). After you cast the dream of the blue veil spell with this property, roll a d20. On a 1, the boots lose their purple colour and become nonmagical.
Poisonous Proximity. You gain immunity to poison damage and the poisoned condition. Additionally, whenever a creature within 5 feet of you damages you with an attack or harmful spell, it takes 10d4 poison damage.
Spider Climb. You can move up, down, and across vertical surfaces and upside down along ceilings, while leaving your hands free. You have a climbing speed equal to your walking speed. However, the boots don't allow you to move this way on a slippery surface, such as one covered by ice or oil.
Curse. This armour is cursed, filled with memories of its own kind’s defeat in a realm of forgotten dreams. Once you wear these boots, you can’t remove them unless you are targeted by the remove curse spell or similar magic. While wearing these boots, you take double damage from attacks and harmful spells dealt by Fey and Humanoids.
Nightgaunt Armour
Armour (Studded Leather), Legendary (Requires Attunement)
This impossibly black armour has a leathery texture and is made out of the hide of a bat-like creature that feeds on the nightmares of mortals. It is completely sound absorbent. While wearing this armour, you gain the following properties.
Eldritch Darkness. You are invisible to any creature that relies on darkvision to see you in darkness. A creature that can see you in darkness and tries to target you with an attack or harmful spell must make a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 6d8 psychic damage and becomes frightened of you until the start of its next turn. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and isn’t frightened.
Eldritch Silence. Your movements produce no sound, and you become immune to thunder damage. Also, when you cast a spell, you can ignore the spell’s verbal component.
Curse. This armour is cursed, laced with eldritch energy from a distant realm, and becoming attuned to it extends the curse to you. Once you don this cursed armour, you can't doff it unless you are targeted by the remove curse spell or similar magic. At the start of each long rest, you must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or take 6d8 psychic damage and be unable to gain the benefits of a long rest for the next 24 hours. If this damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you die.
In addition, you are unable to cross bodies of water (such as a lake, ocean, or river). You take 3d6 psychic damage for every 5 feet you move across a body of water.
Optional Property: Form of the Stars
You can choose to add the following optional property to each of the magic items listed:
Form of the Stars. This magic item is infused with cosmic energy using long forgotten eldritch rituals, belonging to a set of items that includes: Gloves of the Shoggoth, Helmet of Mi-Go, Leng Spider Boots, and Nightgaunt Armour. When you are attuned to at least three of these items, you ignore each of the item’s Curse property. You can also use an action to transform into a Lesser Star Spawn Emissary (see its stat block in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft). You can't use any legendary actions and you don’t gain the Aberrant Rejuvenation trait. While in this form, the attuned magic items fuse and become a part of you.
You revert to your normal form after 24 hours or when you drop to 0 hit points. When you revert to your normal form, you return to the number of hit points you had before you transformed. However, if you revert as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to your normal form. When you revert to your normal form, you must succeed on a DC 22 Charisma saving throw or be killed instantly as the eldritch horrors consume your mind. Not even a wish spell can revive you. If you succeed, you can’t use transform again for 1d6 months.
Credits
- Made by /u/Stuffies_12 for Rabrustic#6992 as part of DoMT discord's Secret Santa giveaway.
- Art by Joseph Diaz and Angel Gonzalez Parra.
- Blackthorn Dark Theme by /u/blckthorn.
Happy holidays, Rabrustic! I took your prompt regarding eldritch equipment and drew inspiration from Lovecraftian lore, with each item inspired by a creature from said lore.
