Looking for feedback on a homebrewed magical eye to replace one that my character lost. It's based loosely on the ideas of the Sharingan/Byakugan from Naruto (I know, so original haha). Anyway, after drafting it I was wondering what rarity to give and whether the item was relatively balanced given its drawbacks/etc. All constructive thoughts welcome.
The Magical Eye is a small crystal eye with a rune carved into the location where an iris would normally be. In order to use the Magical Eye, you must remove one of your own eyes and replace it with the Magical Eye, if you do, you gain the benefits of the Magical Eye. However, the strain of using the Magical Eye is intense and you can only use the Magical Eye for a maximum number of minutes each day equal to your Constitution Modifier, after which the Magical Eye can no longer be used until a long rest. When used outside of battle, any use of the Magical Eye counts as, at minimum, 30 seconds of use, even if used less than that time.
The Magical Eye can also be used as a spellcasting focus crystal without being active.
While active, you gain the following benefits and drawbacks:
Benefits:
You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.
You have darkvision that can see in normal and magical darkness out to a range of 120 feet.
You can see invisible creatures and objects, as well as see into the Ethereal Plane, out to a range of 120 feet.
You can see the strands of magic within 120 feet of you. Magic items, conduits of magic such as other spellcasters, spells themselves, and other magical sources cause vibrations in these strands. From the vibrations you can tell what school the magic is and generally the strength of the spell (Level 1-3: Potent, Level 4-6: Dangerous, Level 7-9: Deadly)
You can use Wisdom (Perception) rather than Intelligence (Investigation) to see through illusions.
Note: The benefits of this sight do not pierce physical barriers (e.g., wood, metal, stone, etc.).
Drawbacks:
You have disadvantage on saving throws against being blinded.
After using the eye, you have reduced vision for as long as the eye was utilized. Outside of battle this reduces your vision to 30ft and removes the benefits of any other visual senses (darkvision, etc.). If used in battle, the distance is further reduced to 20ft.
Until Character Level 8, the stress of using the Magical Eye requires immense focus. You must close your remaining eye and focus on using the Magical Eye. If used in battle, the stress of battle increases the speed at which the Magical Eye is utilized, causing 1 round to effectively count as a whole minute of use.
After Character Level 8, the stress no longer requires that you close your remaining eye and and focus on using the Magical Eye. Also, the Magical Eye can be utilized as part of the (Counterspell) without incurring drawbacks. All other restrictions remain.
If you use all of the charges of the Magical Eye in a given day, the stress of using the Magical Eye gives you a headache and you have disadvantage on any Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on a spell until you take a long rest.
Note: I refer to the eye as an "Arcane Eye" in my homebrew, but tried to replace the name with "Magical Eye" here so as to not confuse with the spell or run into copyright issues. Apologies if I missed replacing an occurrence of the name.
It seems to be an alright magical item. I would rate this at a Very Rare item (as the level cap for you seems to start around 8). I have a few criticisms that I hope make sense.
I personally would link the second drawback with the final drawback as they seem to go hand in hand as you are currently penalizing the player for using their cool magical item once (or am I misreading that?)
For the third and fourth drawback, I wouldn't focus too much on character level more than maybe linked to an Intelligence score (For example, a person with an Intelligence score of 12 or lower has to deal with the third drawback). It makes it to that most anyone (NPC's, random folks, etc) can use it and maybe it can be a goal for someone to steal it.
For the fourth drawback, do you mean you can cast Counterspell at any time? I would make this maybe a set number of times and the spell be set to a certain level but have another bonus (Such as you can cast Counterspell at 4th level a number of times equal to your Con/Int modifier but out to a range equal to where you can see the magic taking place or something along those lines)
Hopefully this helped to work out the kinks. I like the flavor of this item and a lot of the positive abilities flow into each other very well. Now take my comment with a grain of salt as I haven't seen Naruto and am basing my assessment on balance rather than keeping with the source material.
Yeah, these make a lot of sense and thanks for the input. Figured I'd respond to a few of your points.
For the second and final drawback, were you thinking to merge the two so that the limited vision kicks in once all charges are used and remains until a long rest is taken? I was thinking of the second drawback as more of a transitory affect to add some urgency to certain fights. E.g. You are fighting an invisible enemy and have 3 Rounds worth of charges left. You activate the eye, giving you clear vision of the creature for up to 3 Rounds. But if you don't kill/incapacitate the creature in 3 Rounds you will be at a tactical disadvantage for the following 3 Rounds as your vision is reduced, but then afterwards your vision returns to normal. Does that make sense?
That's a really good point about intelligence score and I think I'll steal that :D
In my head the fourth "drawback" (which really isn't a drawback) is more there for aesthetic/flavor.For a spellcaster who knows counterspell (and assuming the DM lets the spellcaster know what spell prior to counterspelling, rather than the Xanathar's rule on identifying spells) I figured it could act as a flavor addition for RP purposes. Like they quickly open their and see the enemy caster summoning the fiery magic of a fireball and quickly counterspell it. But I didn't intend it to provide any mechanical benefit there. I should probably reword for clarity.
For the second and final drawback, were you thinking to merge the two so that the limited vision kicks in once all charges are used and remains until a long rest is taken?
Yeah, that sounds like a good way to do it.
I was thinking of the second drawback as more of a transitory affect to add some urgency to certain fights. E.g. You are fighting an invisible enemy and have 3 Rounds worth of charges left. You activate the eye, giving you clear vision of the creature for up to 3 Rounds. But if you don't kill/incapacitate the creature in 3 Rounds you will be at a tactical disadvantage for the following 3 Rounds as your vision is reduced, but then afterwards your vision returns to normal. Does that make sense?
First it made sense, then it didn't, then I went back and reread stuff and it did. This isn't exactly a vote of confidence.
In my head the fourth "drawback" (which really isn't a drawback) is more there for aesthetic/flavor.For a spellcaster who knows counterspell (and assuming the DM lets the spellcaster know what spell prior to counterspelling, rather than the Xanathar's rule on identifying spells) I figured it could act as a flavor addition for RP purposes. Like they quickly open their and see the enemy caster summoning the fiery magic of a fireball and quickly counterspell it. But I didn't intend it to provide any mechanical benefit there. I should probably reword for clarity.
Yes, you should reword it. You should also put it with the benefits and let it be used to identify spell level before counterspelling. And the tiers should be 1st-2nd level, 3rd-5th level, and 6th-9th level.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Ok, I understand what you mean with the second drawback, but may I suggest, along with do combine it with the last, add a third condition? If the eye is used to enhance the player's vision, at the end of the player's turn, they must make a Constitution saving throw against a DC (lets say 12 + the number of charges spent so far, or a static number like 14). If they fail, their vision is reduced for a turn or so and they must use the eye again to regain sight, which becomes a compounding problem (if you want to be an evil DM). Otherwise, you cna leave it as is if you so desire.
Go ahead and 'steal it,' I'll turn a blind eye this one time XD
And if someone does not know the the Counterspell spell? It feels like a really neat concept but I would incorporate it into the eye (even if it can only be used once per long rest) OR you could go the anti-magic field route where the player can choose one target they can see within the eyes sight range (which compounds with the problems of before) and that target cannot cast spells or be affected by spells as long as the player keeps visual contact on the target (which again, compounds on the detriments of earlier drawbacks but really its only if you want to be a dick to your players like I tend to do XD)
Otherwise, great item and glad my feedback managed to help you out. Keep up the good work!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid." Proverbs 12:1
Looking for feedback on a homebrewed magical eye to replace one that my character lost. It's based loosely on the ideas of the Sharingan/Byakugan from Naruto (I know, so original haha). Anyway, after drafting it I was wondering what rarity to give and whether the item was relatively balanced given its drawbacks/etc. All constructive thoughts welcome.
The Magical Eye is a small crystal eye with a rune carved into the location where an iris would normally be. In order to use the Magical Eye, you must remove one of your own eyes and replace it with the Magical Eye, if you do, you gain the benefits of the Magical Eye. However, the strain of using the Magical Eye is intense and you can only use the Magical Eye for a maximum number of minutes each day equal to your Constitution Modifier, after which the Magical Eye can no longer be used until a long rest. When used outside of battle, any use of the Magical Eye counts as, at minimum, 30 seconds of use, even if used less than that time.
The Magical Eye can also be used as a spellcasting focus crystal without being active.
While active, you gain the following benefits and drawbacks:
Note: I refer to the eye as an "Arcane Eye" in my homebrew, but tried to replace the name with "Magical Eye" here so as to not confuse with the spell or run into copyright issues. Apologies if I missed replacing an occurrence of the name.
It seems to be an alright magical item. I would rate this at a Very Rare item (as the level cap for you seems to start around 8). I have a few criticisms that I hope make sense.
I personally would link the second drawback with the final drawback as they seem to go hand in hand as you are currently penalizing the player for using their cool magical item once (or am I misreading that?)
For the third and fourth drawback, I wouldn't focus too much on character level more than maybe linked to an Intelligence score (For example, a person with an Intelligence score of 12 or lower has to deal with the third drawback). It makes it to that most anyone (NPC's, random folks, etc) can use it and maybe it can be a goal for someone to steal it.
For the fourth drawback, do you mean you can cast Counterspell at any time? I would make this maybe a set number of times and the spell be set to a certain level but have another bonus (Such as you can cast Counterspell at 4th level a number of times equal to your Con/Int modifier but out to a range equal to where you can see the magic taking place or something along those lines)
Hopefully this helped to work out the kinks. I like the flavor of this item and a lot of the positive abilities flow into each other very well. Now take my comment with a grain of salt as I haven't seen Naruto and am basing my assessment on balance rather than keeping with the source material.
"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid." Proverbs 12:1
Yeah, these make a lot of sense and thanks for the input. Figured I'd respond to a few of your points.
For the second and final drawback, were you thinking to merge the two so that the limited vision kicks in once all charges are used and remains until a long rest is taken? I was thinking of the second drawback as more of a transitory affect to add some urgency to certain fights. E.g. You are fighting an invisible enemy and have 3 Rounds worth of charges left. You activate the eye, giving you clear vision of the creature for up to 3 Rounds. But if you don't kill/incapacitate the creature in 3 Rounds you will be at a tactical disadvantage for the following 3 Rounds as your vision is reduced, but then afterwards your vision returns to normal. Does that make sense?
That's a really good point about intelligence score and I think I'll steal that :D
In my head the fourth "drawback" (which really isn't a drawback) is more there for aesthetic/flavor.For a spellcaster who knows counterspell (and assuming the DM lets the spellcaster know what spell prior to counterspelling, rather than the Xanathar's rule on identifying spells) I figured it could act as a flavor addition for RP purposes. Like they quickly open their and see the enemy caster summoning the fiery magic of a fireball and quickly counterspell it. But I didn't intend it to provide any mechanical benefit there. I should probably reword for clarity.
Yeah, that sounds like a good way to do it.
First it made sense, then it didn't, then I went back and reread stuff and it did. This isn't exactly a vote of confidence.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Ok, I understand what you mean with the second drawback, but may I suggest, along with do combine it with the last, add a third condition? If the eye is used to enhance the player's vision, at the end of the player's turn, they must make a Constitution saving throw against a DC (lets say 12 + the number of charges spent so far, or a static number like 14). If they fail, their vision is reduced for a turn or so and they must use the eye again to regain sight, which becomes a compounding problem (if you want to be an evil DM). Otherwise, you cna leave it as is if you so desire.
Go ahead and 'steal it,' I'll turn a blind eye this one time XD
And if someone does not know the the Counterspell spell? It feels like a really neat concept but I would incorporate it into the eye (even if it can only be used once per long rest) OR you could go the anti-magic field route where the player can choose one target they can see within the eyes sight range (which compounds with the problems of before) and that target cannot cast spells or be affected by spells as long as the player keeps visual contact on the target (which again, compounds on the detriments of earlier drawbacks but really its only if you want to be a dick to your players like I tend to do XD)
Otherwise, great item and glad my feedback managed to help you out. Keep up the good work!
"Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid." Proverbs 12:1
I saw the Reddit post where you talked about this.