Sovereign’s Scepter
Rod, fabled (5th-level and higher properties require attunement by a creature of good alignment)
While holding this scepter, a critical hit against you becomes a normal hit. Once triggered, this property can't be triggered again until the next dawn.
Sovereign’s Protection (Requires Attunement). As your level increases, you gain the following benefits while holding or carrying the scepter.
5th level. You have advantage on saving throws against spells. In addition, you are immune to magic that allows other creatures to read your thoughts or determine whether you are lying, and creatures can telepathically communicate with you only if you allow it.
9th level. You gain a +1 bonus to AC, and you stabilize whenever you are dying at the start of your turn. In addition, you can use an action to press one of the ruby eye buttons on the scepter’s lion head. For 1 minute, you know the direction of the nearest creature hostile to you within 60 feet, but not its distance from you. You can sense the presence of hostile creatures that are ethereal, invisible, disguised, or hidden as well as those in plain sight. The scepter’s lion head has two ruby eye buttons. Once pressed, a ruby eye button becomes inactive and can’t be pressed again until the next dawn or until you recharge it with the scepter’s 13th level feature.
13th level. You now gain a +2 bonus to AC, instead of +1. When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you casts a spell that targets only you, you can use a reaction to counter the spell. If the spell is of 4th level or lower, the spell fails and has no effect as the lion’s mouth opens and consumes the spell’s magic. Then, all inactive ruby eye buttons become active and can be pressed again. You can counter a spell with this feature only if at least one ruby eye button has already been pressed and is inactive.
17th level. You now gain a +3 bonus to AC, instead of +2. When you use your reaction to counter a spell, you can now counter a spell of up to 7th level. In addition, if both ruby eye buttons are active and can be pressed, you can use an action to press both buttons and force the lion’s head to roar. Each creature of your choice within 60 feet of you must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be deafened for 1 minute. A deafened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. All active ruby eye buttons then become inactive and can’t be pressed again until the next dawn or until you recharge them with the scepter’s 13th level feature.
While holding this scepter, a critical hit against you becomes a normal hit. Once triggered, this property can't be triggered again until the next dawn.
Sovereign’s Protection (Requires Attunement). As your level increases, you gain the following benefits while holding or carrying the scepter.
5th level. You have advantage on saving throws against spells. In addition, you are immune to magic that allows other creatures to read your thoughts or determine whether you are lying, and creatures can telepathically communicate with you only if you allow it.
9th level. You gain a +1 bonus to AC, and you stabilize whenever you are dying at the start of your turn. In addition, you can use an action to press one of the ruby eye buttons on the scepter’s lion head. For 1 minute, you know the direction of the nearest creature hostile to you within 60 feet, but not its distance from you. You can sense the presence of hostile creatures that are ethereal, invisible, disguised, or hidden as well as those in plain sight. The scepter’s lion head has two ruby eye buttons. Once pressed, a ruby eye button becomes inactive and can’t be pressed again until the next dawn or until you recharge it with the scepter’s 13th level feature.
13th level. You now gain a +2 bonus to AC, instead of +1. When a creature you can see within 60 feet of you casts a spell that targets only you, you can use a reaction to counter the spell. If the spell is of 4th level or lower, the spell fails and has no effect as the lion’s mouth opens and consumes the spell’s magic. Then, all inactive ruby eye buttons become active and can be pressed again. You can counter a spell with this feature only if at least one ruby eye button has already been pressed and is inactive.
17th level. You now gain a +3 bonus to AC, instead of +2. When you use your reaction to counter a spell, you can now counter a spell of up to 7th level. In addition, if both ruby eye buttons are active and can be pressed, you can use an action to press both buttons and force the lion’s head to roar. Each creature of your choice within 60 feet of you must succeed on a DC 17 Constitution saving throw or be deafened for 1 minute. A deafened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. All active ruby eye buttons then become inactive and can’t be pressed again until the next dawn or until you recharge them with the scepter’s 13th level feature.
This golden scepter is topped by an impressive lion’s head with ruby eyes. Owain was a great king who viewed his role as Protector of the Realm as a sacred pact between himself and his people. King Owain, often called The Lion, personified all the qualities desired in a sovereign. He was intelligent and wise, good and kind, strong and just. Owain went to great lengths to ensure the safety, prosperity, and well-being of his people. He believed all people, regardless of their station in life, deserved to be treated fairly and equally. He codified the realm’s first set of laws, and he even specified that no one, not even a king, was above the law. The reign of King Owain the Lion was truly a golden age. On the anniversary of Owain’s 30th year on the throne, his lords commissioned a magnificent golden scepter to commemorate the king’s long and just reign. Royal wizards and high clerics of the realm bestowed powerful protective magic upon the scepter, which was then presented to the appreciative king. By the time King Owain had reached his seventieth year, he was in failing health. The King transferred power to his young son, Prince Tarrgrin, during a solemn ceremony in which he formally turned over
his sovereign’s scepter to the young prince. Less than a year later, the great king, the Protector of the Realm,
died peacefully in his sleep. The people had hoped that Owain’s son would be as wise, strong, and just as his father had been. Alas, it was not to be. Although Tarrgrin tried to live up to his father’s example, he was in truth but a shadow of the ruler King Owain had been. Within a few years, most of the lords were in open rebellion. Bitter, furious, and increasingly paranoid, Tarrgrin rejected his father’s laws and swiftly imprisoned anyone suspected of treason. The kingdom was soon ripped apart by a bloody civil war. Eventually, the capital city was taken. King Tarrgrin was captured and beheaded, and in the chaos that followed, the sovereign’s scepter disappeared. Perhaps it was taken by one of the lords; perhaps it was accidentally destroyed. There are many that believe someone loyal to King Owain’s memory took the scepter and hid it away. Rumors say that, when someone truly worthy of Owain’s ideals comes forward, the sovereign’s
scepter will be found once again.
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