A lacquered, wooden case is presented to you, containing a complete dragonchess set of exquisite craftsmanship. The black figurines are made out of obsidian, while the whites are carved out of moonstone. Even though it is clearly an item of rare value and beauty, you can’t help but receive an eerie sense of discomfort as you lay your eyes upon it. Only ten pieces among the set are magical. Those are the Warrior, the Hero, the Thief, the Cleric, the Mage, the Paladin, the Sylph, the Unicorn, the King and the Dragon.

As an action, you may hold a piece in your hand and whisper the command word Checkmate to force a creature that you can see make a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw. Upon failure, the creature falls under a short-term madness effect, which is determined by rolling randomly upon the appropriate table (Dungeon Master’s Guide, page 258). No single effect can be caused by two different pieces, which means that upon determining the same madness effect a second time, you must reroll for another. After a piece is used once in this manner, its magic is spent and it therefore becomes an ordinary dragonchess piece.