Ages past, elves and humans waged a terrible war against evil dragons. When the world seemed doomed, powerful wizards came together and worked their greatest magic, forging five Orbs of Dragonkind (or Dragon Orbs) to help them defeat the dragons. One orb was taken to each of the five wizard towers, and there they were used to speed the war toward a victorious end. The wizards used the orbs to lure dragons to them, then destroyed the dragons with powerful magic.
As the wizard towers fell in later ages, the orbs were destroyed or faded into legend, and only three are thought to survive. Their magic has been warped and twisted over the centuries, so although their primary purpose of calling dragons still functions, they also allow some measure of control over dragons.
Each orb contains the essence of an evil dragon, a presence that resents any attempt to coax magic from it. Those lacking in force of personality might find themselves enslaved to an orb.
An orb is an etched crystal globe about 10 inches in diameter. When used, it grows to about 20 inches in diameter, and mist swirls inside it.
While attuned to an orb, you can use an action to peer into the orb’s depths and speak its command word. You must then make a DC 15 Charisma check. On a successful check, you control the orb for as long as you remain attuned to it. On a failed check, you become charmed by the orb for as long as you remain attuned to it.
While you are charmed by the orb, you can’t voluntarily end your attunement to it, and the orb casts suggestion on you at will (save DC 18), urging you to work toward the evil ends it desires. The dragon essence within the orb might want many things: the annihilation of a particular people, freedom from the orb, to spread suffering in the world, to advance the worship of Tiamat, or something else the GM decides.
Random Properties
An Orb of Dragonkind has the following random properties:
- 2 minor beneficial properties
- 1 minor detrimental property
- 1 major detrimental property
Spells
The orb has 7 charges and regains 1d4 + 3 expended charges daily at dawn. If you control the orb, you can use an action and expend 1 or more charges to cast one of the following spells (save DC 18) from it: cure wounds (5th-level version, 3 charges), daylight (1 charge), death ward (2 charges), or scrying (3 charges).
You can also use an action to cast the detect magic spell from the orb without using any charges.
Call Dragons
While you control the orb, you can use an action to cause the artifact to issue a telepathic call that extends in all directions for 40 miles. Evil dragons in range feel compelled to come to the orb as soon as possible by the most direct route. Dragon deities such as Tiamat are unaffected by this call. Dragons drawn to the orb might be hostile toward you for compelling them against their will. Once you have used this property, it can’t be used again for 1 hour.
Destroying an Orb
An Orb of Dragonkind appears fragile but is impervious to most damage, including the attacks and breath weapons of dragons. A disintegrate spell or one good hit from a +3 magic weapon is sufficient to destroy an orb, however.
Notes: Healing, Summoning, Control, Scrying, Detection
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Posted Apr 29, 2023Feel like it's insane that DNDBeyond doesn't link to the random properties.
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Posted Jun 6, 2023Maybe I misunderstand, but how long does it stay enlarged? It doesn't say it ever goes back to being a 10" sphere..
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Posted Jul 11, 2023It takes a disintegrate or +3 weapon to break it? In the original books, it's like knocked off a pedestal and it shatters lol
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Posted Oct 12, 2023Yes, here are some edits:
1. The DC should never lower based on attunement. In Dragonlance lore, it never got "easier" to use. Instead, it should be 20 DC if you are of the same alignment of the Dragon type in the orb, and 25 if you are not.
2. Your alignment shouldn't move towards CE, but instead one step towards the alignment of the Dragon type in the orb. That can be CE, NE, LE... All depends on the dragon type. Why would a LE Blue Dragon Soul move you towards CE for example? Makes no sense.
3. Attuning to the orb should only be possible if you are a servant of Takhisis, (AKA Tiamat) and come with additional benefits accordingly. (Still not a lowered DC for it, as Takhisis/Tiamat was famous for wanting her people to prove themselves rather than making things easier for them.
4. Add in the ability to probe the memory of the Dragon inside the Orb. Dragons have "genetic memory" and so the Dragon should know a lot, even if the Dragon inside is from generations prior. Lost knowledge. Lost spells. Etc, etc, etc.
5. Replace Daylight with getting the Draconic language instead of Tongues.
6. You can also use an action to cast the Dominate Monster spell from the orb. Can be cast only on a dragon, and if cast on a dragon of a type matching the orb, it does not use a charge. Also, when cast on a dragon of the appropriate color, this check imposes disadvantage on the dragon. Any other dragon does use a charge, and also the dragon has advantage on resisting if they are the wrong color. Why? Because each orb is meant to control one type of dragon, and dragons of differing colors fight each other all the time.
Because while it did in the Dragonlance story it came from, D&D decided that would be "too OP" for players to have, and instead of trusting DMs, they just nerfed it, so it now sucks and can't even be used properly for enemies. Because they think you're all idiot children who need to be held by the hand. Congratulations.
And this kind of "logic" is why we never see cool OP items. It isn't "too much". You just make the item that much more valuable and harder to obtain, and worse to keep because so many powerful individuals want it.
This idea that "you can't have items that powerful" is stupid. Just don't give them away so damn easily.
Anyone who knows anything about these things and where they came from, would understand exactly why being immune to dragonfear makes perfect sense. Anyone who could master a freaking Orb of Dragonkind would have to be immune to dragonfear, (either directly, or just so high in Charisma that winning the roll was pretty much a given where they could just "take 10") or they would fail to master it in the first place!
True, but that was pretty damn dumb, and frankly, is about the only thing they changed on this item that is an actual lore improvement lol.