The Ghas Maidan is an artifact druidic focus that could easily make for a great MacGuffin in your games. Similar to the Megiddo from last week, it comes with several artifact-worthy abilities for anyone attuned to the item to use, as well as special abilities specific to three different classes.
Unlike the Megiddo, the Ghas Maidan is a much more support focused item. While there are some offensive features within, the combat features are centered around healing and protection. There are also a significant number of exploration based abilities, especially for above ground wilderness adventuring.
Background & Details
The Ghas Maidan, or Orb of Verdant Pastures, as it is known in the Common tongue, is a powerful artifact that turns up rather frequently in myths of various cultures. In the most popular stories, it is said to have been carved from one of the seeds of the World Tree. Afterwards it passed from hand to hand in various druidic circles, and has been involved in enough significant rituals among such groups as to be one of the go-to explanations for major natural phenomena occurring outside settled lands.
Ghas Maidan
Wondrous item, artifact (requires attunement by a Cleric, Druid, or Ranger)
This crystalline orb is about 8 inches in diameter, with vines and small budding flowers enwrapping it. It can be used as a druidic focus for spellcasting. While attuned to the item, you have access to the following abilities.
Miracle Grow: If you plant the Ghas Maidan in a spot of soil that is exposed to sunlight, a tree will grow from the spot, reaching a height of up to 20 feet over the course of the next minute. By default the tree is a large, darkly colored oak. If you bury the seed of a particular variety of tree along with the Ghas Maidan, the tree that grows from the spot will match the variety of the seed you planted. By placing your hand on the trunk of the tree and speaking the command word the tree will return to the earth, depositing the Ghas Maidan in the empty square where the tree formerly stood.
While within 30 feet of the base of the tree, creatures cannot be surprised or scried upon, and have advantage on Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma saving throws. Additionally, whenever they roll a die to restore hit points, they may reroll the die once, taking the higher of the two rolls.
While the creature attuned to the Ghas Maidan is within 30 feet of the base of the tree, they do not require any components for their spells except material components with a gold value.
Sunlight to Sustenance: For every hour this item, or the tree grown by the Miracle Grow feature, spends exposed to direct sunlight this item gains 5 charges, up to a maximum of 80 charges. While attuned to this item, you may use an action to expend 20 or more charges to release a pulse of healing light in a 30 foot radius around you. You may restore Hit Points equal to the amount of charges spent, divided as you choose, among any creatures within the radius.
Druidic Magic: You know and always have prepared the Beast Bond, Entangle, Beast Sense and Locate Animals or Plants spells. These spells don’t count against the number of spells you may know or have prepared. Additionally, you may cast these spells using this feature without expending a spell slot. Once you do so, you may not cast the same spell again using this feature until you complete a short or long rest.
Nature’s Voice: You are considered to always be under the effects of the spells Speak with Animals, and Speak with Plants.
Forest Guardian: Intentionally harming any non-evil Beast or Plant type creatures while attuned to Ghas Maidan will immediately break your attunement with it, and cause you to take 10d10 points of force damage.
Druid Feature: You may cast cantrips while wildshaped, and whenever you cast a cantrip you may make one weapon attack as a bonus action. Additionally, there is no limit to the number of times you may cast the spells granted by the Druidic Magic feature without expending a spell slot between rests.
Finally, when you wildshape, you may choose to turn into an Awakened Tree. All creatures within 30 feet of you while you are in this form receive the same benefits granted by the tree created by the Miracle Grow feature. Ghas Maidan melds into your body as part of this transformation, granting you access to all of the above features while you maintain this wildshape, including the spells granted by Druidic Magic.
Cleric Feature: You learn one cantrip of your choice from the Druid spell list. Additionally, if you make a roll as part of your Divine Intervention feature while within 30 feet of the tree created by Miracle Grow, you may reroll the die once, taking either result.
If you are not a Nature Domain cleric you gain the ability to use your Channel Divinity to Charm Animals and Plants, as per the Nature Cleric feature of the same name (PHB 62).
If you are a Nature Domain cleric you gain an additional use of your Channel Divinity, and the maximum number of charges for the Sunlight to Sustenance feature increases from 80 to 100.
Ranger Feature: You may use this feature to cast the Scrying spell on any creature currently under the effect of your Hunter’s Mark spell without expending a spell slot, using this item as the material component. If you do so, the creature is considered Familiar to you for the purposes of the spell.
The spell Hunter’s Mark (and the mark ability of the optional feature Favored Foe from TCoE, if you use it) no longer requires your concentration.
Final Thoughts
It is a lot of fun crafting items and abilities for higher tiers of play, where you have a bit more freedom to go wild the strength of things. I mostly run games that range from low to mid-tier in terms of party levels, so I don’t often get the opportunity to use or even make things like this. The next few weeks will likely hold content for that level of play in mind.
So on that note, let me know in the comments what type of games you like to play! Are you often playing sapling adventurers fresh out of level 1? Or are more people playing as level 20 world-shakers than I’m aware of?