Staff of Awakening (Patreon)

Staff, artifact (requires attunement by a spellcaster)

This fey staff's shaft is hewn from the wood of an ancient, mysterious oak in the Ebony Glade, whose roots are said to have absorbed the dreams of elves from long ago. A perfect sphere of amber from that same oak hangs suspended in the center of it. While attuned to the staff, you are immune to the dream and sleep spells.

Charges. The staff has 10 charges for the following properties. It regains all expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the staff's last charge and are not fey or lack the Fey Ancestry trait, roll a d20. On a 1, the staff disappears into a dreamlike mist and returns to the Ebony Glade in the realm of the fey.

Sleep. While holding the staff, you can use an action to expend 1 of its charges to cast the sleep spell from it. This version of the spell uses 3d8 to determine the maximum number of hit points for the spell, but targets a single creature within the spell's range instead. You can use the staff to cast the normal version of the spell at 1st level by expending 2 or more of its charges in this way, instead. For every 2 charges you spend after the 2nd, the level of the spell increases by 1.

Destroying the Staff. The only way of destroying the Staff of Awakening is to leave it in the workshop of the Grephearon, where its artisans untangle the dreams from which its originating oak grew. Doing so takes 1 year, after which the staff can be broken like a normal branch.

Dormant Properties. Some properties of this artifact are locked behind layers of dormant magic. As you grow stronger and reach certain milestones, these properties may become available to you.

(Prerequisite: 5th level) Nightmare. This staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff that deals an extra 1d8 psychic damage to any creature it hits. When you fail to put a creature to sleep with a sleep spell cast from the staff, that creature takes an amount of psychic damage equal to half the spell's remaining hit point total.

(Prerequisite: 5th level) Rested. While attuned to the staff, the amount of time you need to finish a long rest is halved, down to a minimum of 4 hours.

(Prerequisite: 9th level) Dream Walker. Sleep spells you cast roll an extra die when determining the spell's total number of hit points. In addition, you can reroll any 1 or 2 you roll on the spell's dice. You must use the new roll.

You can cast the dream spell from the staff, using your spell save DC, even if you're asleep or in a trance. You don't need to be holding the staff to cast the spell in this way, although it must be within 30 feet of you, and you must be the messenger of the spell. If you finish the spell and wake up, the staff immediately loses 5 charges, up to the maximum it has remaining. If you remain asleep or in a trance until you finish a long rest, it doesn't lose any charges. This version of the spell can't make the messenger appear monstrous to the target.

(Prerequisite: 13th level) Awaken. While holding the staff, you can cast the awaken spell from it, without any material components. To do so, you must use the spell's normal casting time and trace the spell's magical pathways into the staff's amber sphere. The lines vanish at the end of the spell. Once this property of the staff has been used, it can't be used again until 30 days have passed.

This part of the Awaken property is only discovered when a legend lore spell is cast on the staff: the version of the awaken spell cast by the staff can be used on itself, revealing additional properties. The Staff of Awakening gains the following properties once the awaken spell has been cast on it from the staff.

Sentience. The Staff of Awakening is a sentient chaotic good staff with an Intelligence of 10, a Wisdom of 19, and a Charisma of 16. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet; it can also see invisible creatures within that range. The staff communicates telepathically with its wielder and can speak, read, and understand Common, Elvish, and Sylvan. While you're attuned to it, it can communicate with you as long as you're within 30 feet of it.

Personality. The Staff of Awakening is dreamlike in its whims and wishes, and it always seems to be partially distracted. While you're attuned to it, the staff can also appear in your dreams, during which time it is exceptionally coherent and insightful. It loves nothing more than analyzing the dreams of other people and imagining far-flung scenarios.

Dream Aura. While holding the staff, you can use an action to create an aura of dreams, which extends from you in a 40-foot radius. When a creature starts its turn within the aura with fewer than half its maximum hit points remaining, it immediately regains a number of hit points equal to 1d8 plus your spellcasting ability modifier if it's friendly to you, or takes psychic damage equal to that amount instead if it's hostile. The aura remains for 1 minute or until you end it early (no action required). Once this property of the staff has been used, it can't be used again until the next dawn. Alternatively, you can use an action to expend 10 charges from the staff to use this property again.

Improved Nightmare. When you hit a creature with the staff, you can expend 1 of its charges to deal an extra 2d8 psychic damage to the target.

Increased Charges. The staff's maximum number of charges increases to 20; it regains 1d10 + 10 expended charges daily at dawn, instead of all of them. In addition, if you expend its last charge, you don't need to roll a d20 if you aren't fey or lack the Fey Ancestry trait.

Plane Shift. You can use an action to expend 7 charges from the staff to cast the plane shift spell from it, using the staff as the tuning fork for the spell. When cast in this way, creatures targeted by the spell are transported to the Ebony Glade on the plane of the fey. If the spell is cast while you're on that plane of existence, the targets are instead transported back to wherever the plane shift spell was last cast before bringing creatures to the Ebony Glade. Alternatively, you can expend 7 charges to magically teleport you and up to eight willing creatures linking hands to the location where you last finished a long rest, provided that you're on the same plane of existence.

Premonition. When you start a long rest, you can focus on a question about an upcoming event that can be answered with either "good" or "bad." If you fall asleep during that rest, you learn the answer to the question at the end of the rest. At the GM's discretion, any dreams you have during that rest may reflect details of the event. This property doesn't take into account any possible circumstances that might change the outcome, such as the casting of spells or the loss or gain of a companion.

Psychic Resistance. While holding the staff, you have resistance to psychic damage.

Under this blanket of stars, we all walk together in the valley of dreams. We revel in its wonders and shy away from its nightmares. Our dearest hopes are reflected by our greatest fears, and only we can determine which will follow us back into the realm of the wakeful.