Chapter 13 | Magic Items & Spells
• Length, in tenths of an inch
• Weight, in hundredths of a pound
• Temperature, in tenths of a degree Fahrenheit
• Three most prevalent materials, and their
amount in tenths of a percent
• Center of gravity, to the nearest hundredth of an
inch
• Number of objects in a container
S hare C ontingency
8th-level evocation
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a statuette of the target
carved from ivory and decorated with gems worth
at least 1,500 gp)
Duration: 10 days
Classes: Wizard
Target a willing creature within range and give
them the material component of this spell.. Choose
a spell of 5th-level or lower that you can cast,
that has a casting time of 1 action, and that can
target you. You cast that spell—called the contin-
gent spell—as part of casting share contingency,
expending spell slots for both, but the contingent
spell doesn’t come into effect. Instead, it takes
effect on the targeted creature when a certain cir-
cumstance occurs. You describe that circumstance
when you cast the two spells.
The contingent spell takes effect immediately
after the circumstance is met for the first time,
whether or not you want it to, and then share
contingency ends.
You can use only one share contingency spell
at a time. If you cast this spell again, the effect
of another share contingency spell on the target
creature ends. Also, share contingency ends if
its material component is ever not on the target
creature’s person.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using
a 9th-level spell slot, its duration becomes “until
dispelled” (the other conditions for ending the
spell still apply).
S peaking P age
Divination cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: Instantaneous
Classes: Bard, Wizard
You touch a note, book, or other composition in a
language you can read, and a voice you can hear
in your mind reads it to you. The spell can read
through solid matter such as paper or a book’s
binding, but a thin sheet of lead blocks the effect.
You decide the sound of the voice and where it
What if a book always read itself in the same voice with speaking page?
390
begins reading from. If the composition is a piece
of music, it plays in your mind in any instrument
you choose. The effect ends when you stop touch-
ing the object.
S phere of S hadows
Illusion cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a rag dipped in eye black)
Duration: 1 minute
Classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
A murky 10-foot-radius sphere appears centered
on a point you choose within range. Choose one of
the following effects.
Suppress Color. Objects within the sphere
appear in shades of gray for the duration.
Suppress Light. Bright light within the sphere
becomes dim light, and dim light is suppressed for
the duration.
The effect ends if you cast the spell again, or
dismiss it as an action.
S tagecraft
Illusion cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour
Classes: Bard
You hum along with the Universal Symphony for
a moment, and coax the Arcana to aid in your
artistic process. You create one of the following
magical effects within range:
• You cause light to shine from a point you choose
within range in a cone up to 20 feet long.
• You capture an image you see, inscribing it
instantly onto a sheet of blank paper in grainy
black-and-white. Text captured this way is not
clear enough to read.
• You capture the sound of yourself playing an
instrument, singing, or speaking for up to 1
minute, or play back a previously captured
performance. If you capture a second perfor-
mance, the previous one is lost. A creature gains
advantage on Charisma (Performance) checks
within range while it plays back.
• You enchant a mask you touch that can cover
a creature’s eyes, making its wearer’s face
unrecognizable with an illusion for 1 hour.
The mask remains visible, and the creature’s
face appears as an anonymous member of its
species. Observers are aware the creature’s face
is obscured with magic, and if a creature within
the spell’s range uses its action to examine the
illusion, the creature can see through it with
a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check
against your spell save DC.
 Chapter 13 | Magic Items & Spells

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have W hispers of the N etherworld
up to three of its effects active at a time, and you Necromancy cantrip
can dismiss such an effect as an action.
Casting Time: 1 action
S troke of G ood L uck Range: Self
Abjuration cantrip Components: V, S, M (a black candle worth at
least 5 gp, which the spell consumes)
Casting Time: 1 action
Duration: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock,
Components: V, S
Wizard
Duration: 1 hour
Classes: Druid You light a black candle to listen mentally through
the Absolute Veil for the murmurs of ghosts. Make
You touch the head of a friendly creature whose
a DC 11 Wisdom (Perception) check. On a suc-
type is Beast. For the duration, it has advantage
cess, the GM rolls a d100 in secret and consults
on all Wisdom (Survival) checks to find food or
the Whispers table for what you hear.
shelter and Charisma (Persuasion) checks against
at Beasts. Additionally, the Beast has advantage on Whispers
the next saving throw it makes during the spell’s d100 Result
duration.
01-15 Unintelligible gibbering
S wift I nvisibility 16-30 A random string of phrases
1st-level illusion
31-50 An unhelpful, but intelligible message
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Self 51-85 A cryptic insight that may be useful
Components: V, S 86-99 A helpful message
Duration: 1 round A helpful message, from a ghost who can hear
Classes: Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard 100
and respond to you for the duration
With a flick of the wrist, you become invisible
Casting this spell more than twice in the same
until the start of your next turn. Anything you are
location risks attracting the attention of a malev-
wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on
olent ghost powerful enough to manifest in the
your person. The spell ends if you attack or cast a
Beast World.
spell.

W here is V arasta ?
2nd-level divination
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: 1 hour
Classes: Bard, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger,
Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard
You ask the question aloud, and the Arcana
answers with a weary sigh. You sense the direction
of the god Varasta’s mortal avatar. If Varasta is in
motion, you know the direction of his movement.
The spell fails if he doesn’t wish to be found.

“He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

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 Cppendix
A hapter 1—Q
A — uick
Building
Reference
a Crew

Building a C rew Coming Together

This section outlines seven decisions to make
about a delving crew. This exercise is especially
useful for first-time Beast World GMs and players.
The tables assume no one has decided anything
about their individual characters, but it’s also
compatible with a party whose sheets are already
done.
How (or if) you use these tables is entirely up
to you! You can roll diligently at every step to let
chaos control the start of your game, or choose
specific entries. Skip steps if you want to decide
them through the course of play. My only recom-
mendation is to do this with everyone present, so
everyone has input. You might find this useful for
session zero.
Tier Type of Game
Level 3-8 Everyman Delver
Level 9-16 Household Name
Level 17-20 The Crowd Falls Silent
The game’s tier is an important decision about the
vibe of your game. For more information about
the tiers and how they fit into the Beast World, see
page 22.
D8 How’d You Meet?
1 Comrades Anyway
2 Nowhere Else to Go
3 Seeking Something Better
4 Race to Greatness
5 Matter of Fate
6 Mutual Mentor
7 Anyone Would Do
8 Career Synergy
Comrades Anyway. If you hadn’t formed a delv-
ing crew, you’d still be friends or relations. Some
crews are immediate family members, and others
are childhood buddies who saved up for their first
wagon then rode it out of town.
Nowhere Else to Go. You’re a crew because you
had no other choice. Maybe you’re all fugitives who
escaped from the same cell, or maybe you’re in
debt to the same lender. It’s an unhappy circum-
stance that brought you all together, and you’re
working to get out of the hole.
Seeking Something Better. Like the previous
entry, but without the hard-on-your-luck vibe. After
a night of drinking, four farmers confess they
dread the prospect of spending their lives in a field.
A group of Pirhouan bethelkeepers-in-training are
annoyed serving the whims of their community.
Yours is a quest for a more interesting life.
Race to Greatness. You’re all in a competition,
friendly or otherwise, that led you to delving.
A corrupt jail warden sends prisoners into the
Dungeon to fetch loot, promising that the heaviest
sack buys a pardon. Fame-seeking crews meet this
way, knocking elbows in the fight for center stage.
Matter of Fate. A wizard sweeps her hands
over a crystal orb and ponders the names on its
surface. Ancient prophecy describes, with uncanny
accuracy, four youths from the same town. Like it
or not, destiny brought you together for a larger
purpose.
Mutual Mentor. Competent people attract stu-
dents and protégés. Your professor, commander, or
local crime lord sent you into the Dungeon, to test
your mettle or win some loot for them.
Anyone Would Do. Sometimes, Varasta’s ran-
dom will brings a crew together. Y’all showed up
without your own crew and ended up side-by-side
on the Delve.
Career Synergy. This origin has some overlap
with a mutual mentor. You’re in the same line of
work, perhaps as a noble’s knights or geological
researchers. You didn’t come into this story as
delvers, but your job will lead you below ground
soon enough.

392

Adventure Scale
D4 Scope
1 One City
2 One Homeland
3 Caravan’s Path
4 Crossworld Hop
One City. Your adventures center on a single
region. Members of Baroness Diana’s Dungeon
Brigade patrol Patrie’s countryside. The Thieves’
Army has special delving crews that ensure
meddling monsters don’t disrupt business. This
is a great option for GMs and players who enjoy
detailed city maps and a web of social intrigue.
One Homeland. While you’re more prone to
wander than those in the previous category, your
adventures focus on a single Beast World home-
land. If your table is especially interested in one,
this is a way to dive deep into its lore. You might
not stay forever, but an initial commitment can
inform interesting character concepts.
Caravan’s Path. Most games in the setting go
this route. Your crew follows the game loop of
caravan-lead-delve. Littfeld takes a yearly lap
around the world, but caravans don’t need any
concrete route.
Crossworld Hop. You’re not bound to one
homeland. You’re not even bound to the Beast
World. Enter the collective unconscious Dreaming
or go curio scavenging in the Broken World. More
information about the cosmology is in Chapter 8.
Origins
D3 Where Are You From?
1 All the same homeland
2 Tending toward one
3 All different homelands
It’s helpful to determine if you’re all from the
same cultural background. This can inform
the campaign’s initial adventures. For example,
Allemagnians traveling in the far north of Oria
might meet interesting friction that wouldn’t apply
to a Vinyotian crew. A crew of all non-feline Al’ari
also sets out with a good hook.
Crew Dynamics
This is less focused on the Beast World, and more
on how your characters will interact. By thinking
about who actually likes each other before charac-
ter creation, you can explore spicy interpersonal
conflict. I find that the strongest stories are about
crews that are kind of a mess.
AC hapterA
ppendix 1—Q
— Buick Reference
uilding a Crew
D6 How Do You Get Along?
1 4 Delvers, 4 Roles
2 What’s Our Next Move, Boss?
3 Two Pairs
4 Nobody Wants to Be Here
5 Hard Focus
6 The Polycule
4 Delvers, 4 Roles. The default way most players
see a 5e party is like a “heist crew.” Everyone has
a role to play, and interplay is based on knowing
each member is the best beast for their job. This
is useful for those new to the setting or to tabletop
roleplaying. It removes some initial pressure and
allows you to focus on learning your species and
class.
What’s Our Next Move, Boss? Your crew trusts a
leader to direct them. It’s not a dictatorship; rather,
they keep the game from hitting a brick wall of
deliberation. The leadership role is fantastic for
a player who wants to come out of their shell but
gets overshadowed in free-form roleplay. Long-
time groups can freshen things up exploring a new
party disposition.
Two Pairs. This crew is two previous relation-
ships combined. They could be married couples
or matching pairs of classes or roles. There might
also be a schism down the middle, opposed ideol-
ogies allied by circumstance. I recommend each
pair work together during character creation, then
let the backgrounds interact during the game.
393
 Cppendix
A hapter 1—Q
A — uick
Building
Reference
a Crew
Nobody Wants to Be Here. This fits any crew
forced to cooperate. People who can’t stand each
other suck it up because these jerks are their
best chance of surviving a delve. Evil-aligned
campaigns often operate this way. This dynamic is
difficult to pull off. However, with mature players
and out-of-character communication, interpersonal
conflict is not the game-dooming curse it has a
reputation for. Remember that everyone is playing
for the same reason. Work together for a good
time, even when your characters assuredly aren’t.
The beauty of this option is that it describes
the game’s beginning. Stories about hated rivals
can arc into ones about found families who bond
through adversity. That’s the quintessential Beast
World story.
Hard Focus. Conventional wisdom says every
party must be a balanced machine with exactly
one member of each character archetype. “Tank.
DPS. Healer. Controller.” I make an effort to keep
my writing upbeat and positive. That said, look at
me in my eyes, right now.
Restricting your party to four “role slots” is stupid.
In 5e, the only challenge-related question of con-
sequence is: “do we have access to cure wounds?.”
And even that is totally mitigable. The rules will
survive four beefcakes. Show courage.
The bardic rock band, the wizard study group, or
the druid circle are all fantastic examples of this
model. This crew shares a specialty and debates
its finer points. They might compare how much
hurt they dish out—or are dished out—during a
delve.
The Polycule. This isn’t solely intended for
mutual love affairs between four people (but that’s
allowed). This is a story of inseparable allies. They
aren’t always in lock-step, but they always know
someone has their back. While this might seem
like abandoning conflict altogether, think of it as
a shift in focus. Instead of a rocky relationship
between begrudging allies, these crews collide
with everyone else. When you can skip the moral
debates, there’s more time for berating bratty
nobles for information.
394
My Favorite
My favorite way to play the game is with
two dual concepts. Every player comes to the first
session with someone to chatter with and bounce
off their individual character quirks. I always love
duos. Try it!
The Quest
Don’t over-prepare. You should preserve some
suspense and allow the GM a chance to surprise
players with twists and false goalposts. However,
discussing the story’s vague shape can ensure
everyone is engaged and immersed.
D10 What’s Your Shared Long-Term Goal?
1-2 Wealth Unimaginable
3-4 Mutual Self-Mastery
5-6 The Seven Orbs
7-8 The Cure
9-10 Big Footprints
Wealth Unimaginable. The simplest and most
common goal: a mountain of solid gold. For
GMs, it’s important to build a good reason for
piling up money. Is someone clawing their way
out of a secret debt? Are there kids to feed back
home? Perhaps it’s a simple matter of building a
retirement fund of giant rubies and marble statues
and stuff. The crew is banking their rewards, so
challenge them to manage their growing fortune.
They hang out with lots of shady types, after all.
Mutual Self-Mastery. Tight-knit crews often
delve because of a shared obsession with being
the best at something. Towering titans appearing
early can set up a satisfying conclusion. With good
luck and smart decisions, someday one’s idols
will become their admirers. An effective reward is
letting the crew flex on new delvers and mentor
those on the same path.
The Seven Orbs. A rock-solid, venerated frame-
work: the quest to retrieve the thing from the guy.
A villain has stolen something powerful or some-
one precious. A prized artifact sits on a pedestal.
A tangible token of success on the horizon helps
motivate a character and introduce tension. It’s
also ripe for subversion; because of its ubiquity in
tabletop roleplaying campaigns (and books, and
movies, and video games…), expectations are deep
and automatic. A beginner GM might start a story
on this path. After some experience running the
game (and emotionally manipulating players), they
can throw the orb out as a curveball to make it
unforgettable.