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Continuing my dive into deeper conversions of Magic: The Gathering cards into D&D concepts, we come to the Wooden Sphere. Like Manabarbs, this card also first appeared in Magic's original set, Alpha. Since, it has been reprinted eight times, most recently in 2003 (which wasn't all that recently). I first encountered this card in 4th edition, which was the bee's knees when I started playing. There were four other cards just like Wooden Sphere, giving us one for each of the five colors. What does any of this have to do with D&D? Nothing yet. Let's fix that.
Using the art of the 4th edition card, we can make this a location in our campaign world. I'm imagining some remote wilderness where this sphere has grown undisturbed for perhaps thousands of years. No one truly knows what it is. Perhaps it is evidence of an ancient civilization? A portal to the Feywild? A great seed or egg? I think we want to keep the nature of the sphere a mystery. We don't have to know what it is. What we do know is that a circle of druids holds it sacred. These druids will stop at nothing to protect the sphere from harm, be it fire, rampaging orcs, drought, dragons, or development. So we have this Wooden Sphere and a circle of druids protecting it, but how can we make this more interesting? Perhaps a trade route has opened up between two settlements on either side of an expanse of wood and this wood just so happens to be the home of the sphere. The druids grow anxious as the forest is cleared for this trade route, but also as potential threats pass by what is essentially a holy site in their eyes. Soon, the druids come in conflict with the merchants and travelers cutting through the wood and the PCs are recruited as either protection for a shipment, or as agents of the local government hired to put a stop to this menace. Now we have a location, we have a conflict, and we have a couple of potential hooks. This gives us enough to really get the ball (or should I say sphere?) rolling. The standard druid stat block isn't that formidable, so you may consider what other agents these druids are recruiting to their cause. If their goal is to keep all others out of the wood, then they would not be above allying themselves with a couple of trolls. Likewise, perhaps the druids can (with the power of the sphere, of course) animate nature around them to help ward off interlopers. Think corpse flowers, assassin vines, and shambling mounds. These are all threats you can have your PCs wade through as they seek council with the druids. Will that negotiation go well? Will the druids fight to the death, or do they have some other ace up their sleeve (like some sort of archfey)? Whatever you cook up, this episode could serve as a gateway to a larger campaign. What if the spirit of an ancient green dragon is trapped in that sphere? What if it is a portal to a fey realm and less than friendly fey creatures start pouring through once the PCs have stuck their noses where they didn't belong? This is all for you to decide. What will YOU do with this Wooden Sphere? What ideas from above did you like? Which ones would you make better, and how? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @rjquestgiver. Until next time, Happy Questing!
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AuthorD&D 5e enthusiast. Creator on DMsguild. Supporter of creators, content and good times. Follow me on Twitter @rjquestgiver Archives
July 2021
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