Wondrous Item, uncommon
Found in a small container, this powder resembles very fine sand. It appears to be dust of disappearance, and an identify spell reveals it to be such. There is enough of it for one use.
When you use an action to throw a handful of the dust into the air, you and each creature that needs to breathe within 30 feet of you must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become unable to breathe, while sneezing uncontrollably. A creature affected in this way is incapacitated and suffocating. As long as it is conscious, a creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on it on a success. The lesser restoration spell can also end the effect on a creature.
Notes: Incapacitated, Control, Debuff
Does this mean it obeys the rules for how long you can hold your breath, and if you fail enough times, going unconscious?
I would rule that a creature holding its breath can do so under those rules, while the con save 15 effect activates when anyone breathes inside the dusted area during the time of the action to throw the dust. To hold your breath, you would need to know it is dust of sneezing and choking or have another reason, or it would be metagaming and not allowed, forcing the saving throw. If you hold your breath, the dust is still on your face (insert breathing organ) and the next time you breathe in, if you have not been cleaned in the meantime, will force you to make the saving throw.
is there any way to tell this apart from dust of disappearance?
Using it would reveal the difference pretty quick, and in a funny way (for the DM)
You can use a short rest to identify an item without using magic. I believe this would be the main way to find out what it truly is.
RAW this seems like it could easily TPK.
If players aren't ready, they aren't holding their breath, so they have CON mod rounds (min. 1) to save. A lot of my players have CON scores of 2 or less.
They have a cleric, but lesser restoration has a verbal component so they wouldn't be able to cast it if affected. And besides it says they would be incapacitated so no spells anyway. It's not classified as a poison or disease so it doesn't look like any breathing characters are immune.
If they fail to save in their 1-2 rounds (max 5 typically) they go unconscious and start death saves.
DM ruling: do they regain the ability to breathe when they fall unconscious?
If yes, they have hope. Crit wake during death saves. Heal wake by an unaffected creature after you go unconscious but before you die. Stabilize wake in 1d4 hours if you save 3 times, or an unaffected creature makes a successful medicine check on you after you go unconscious but before you die.
If no, then they can't breathe which means their death saves are auto fail each turn, they cannot be stabilized, and they have less hope. They have all the opportunities from "yes" above IF an unaffected creature casts lesser restoration on them before they die. Without the lesser restoration, they die.
To be clear: from the time they are affected, they are incapacitated and have zero agency other than mandatory CON and death saves. Because of this, I'd say that they can breathe once they go unconscious.
I love crafting this as an artificer.
Combining this with the catapult spell results in a really effective crowd control, to the point that it's almost broken.
I am wondering if you can use this in a battle?
We are a group of some range characters (Cleric, Rogue, Ranger) and two melee characters (Fighter and Barbarian).
If i can release this into a group of enemies, and my group stays outside the dust and is shooting arrows and spells, could this work?
And what to do with our warriors? Is there something that allows you to not to have to breath?
If so, then you can maybe defeat a enemy group which much more numbers than you. Or not?
(sry for my english, it's not my first langeage. Hope you understand)
So basically, they have Con mod + 1 saving throws before they just drop to 0 hp...
Yes. The scary part is how your DM rules it after that. Specifically, can they breathe after they go unconscious?
Yes, the body's triggered response ends when they lose consciousness.
No, not until the save is made or lesser restoration is used. The item does not specify any duration or other criteria that makes the effect end. Anything based on "until the dust is removed" is homebrew.
Affected creatures are incapacitated so they can't:
And it doesn't make use of poison or disease conditions or damage so nothing protects from it. Just be something that doesn't breathe...
Air Genasis dont need to breath ;)
(sry for my english, it's not my first langeage. Hope you understand)
Its almost broken if your DM lets you just craft as many as you want. They should by the book be hard to craft, especially when throwing in the formula and needed items from the CR table in XGtE.
pretty much like a potion of poison but a powder
Interestingly enough--and this may be errata--but this item does not have the "Consumable" property.
Which would seem to imply that you can actually reuse the dust of sneezing and choking--I guess by sweeping it up and putting it back in the container?
Also called pollen
Couple things are wrong there as far as I can tell. The relevant rules for Suffocating state:
Technically healing does not awaken as a suffocating and dying creature cannot regain hit points. Resurrection still works though.
Nothing there states that Death Saves auto fail. You can still succeed on death saving throws... however 3 successful saves have no effect other than just letting you survive for 1 more round. You are still dying and still need to continue making death saving throws until you either fail three saves and die or you can breathe again and become stable.
Con+1 MINUTES. A round of combat is 6 seconds. So with the with the minimum of 30 seconds you would have 5 attempts. With a zero con mod, 10 attempts. Then you get at least 1 additional attempt, possibly more. Still pretty raw but not unbearably broken.
I have to assume you meant they have CON modifiers of 2 or less, because that would have to be some BRUTAL rolled stats for any poor sap to have a 2 as a stat score for anything.
Am I mistaken or is all dust, dust of sneezing and choking?!
Pocket Sand