Image attribution: Alhill42, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

‘Tis the morning before Christmas, and before I vanish into the hills with a frankly absurd stack of RPG PDFs I’ve accumulated over the year, I wanted to leave you all with a little gift: I have a bunch of short pieces that I was working on, so I decided to mix them all and give them to you as your holiday presents. So what is in this big sack I brought with me?

Oddities on parade, Strange utility magic items

First up, we have twelve strange magic items that may not make you hit harder, but might just save your life—or at least your dignity—in the right circumstances.

1. Thyme Traveler’s Pendant (Rare, Requires Attunement)
Once per day, the wearer and up to four companions can instantly travel between any two thyme plants they are familiar with. (A true herb of passage.)

2. Book of Directions (Common)
A small black book containing directions from its current location to a specific destination, detailed within. Works even if the destination is in another world or universe.

3. Needle of Binding (Very Rare)
A sewing needle with an infinite supply of ethereal thread that can pierce any substance. Any two objects stitched together with it are permanently fused into one.

4. Peephole Monocle (Uncommon)
While wearing this monocle, you can see through closed doors as if they weren’t there. Unfortunately, your depth perception is ruined — you make all ranged attacks with disadvantage.

5. Ventriloquist’s Speaking Trumpet (Rare)
As an action, you can throw your voice or mimic any voice you’ve heard — no training required. You have advantage on Deception checks made to fool others with ventriloquism.

6. Pot of Life (Uncommon)
Any plant placed in this terracotta pot becomes immortal and requires no sunlight or water—the perfect gift for forgetful gardeners.

7. Pit-Finding Pendulum (Uncommon)
This dowsing pendant points toward the nearest hole, shaft, or pit at least five feet deep. Particularly useful for those who like to avoid them — or those who don’t.

8. Pouch of Multiplication (Rare)
A small leather pouch that duplicates the last item placed within (as long as it’s not made of gold or silver). When turned inside out, it appears empty — but reach in, and there it is again.

9. Permanent Chalk (Uncommon)
A one-inch stick of chalk whose markings cannot be erased by any means short of magic. Graffiti with confidence.

10. Extra Hand (Uncommon, Requires Attunement)
A small bracelet that grants a spectral third hand (as per mage hand). After a week of practice, the wearer can control it without concentration.

11. Infinite Reel (Rare)
A small winch with a button on the side. Produces an infinite length of whatever rope or chain is wound around its drum. Pressing the button quickly retracts it with enough force to lift five medium creatures, one large creature, or 1,400 pounds. (Pairs nicely with #12.)

12. Indestructible Rope (Uncommon)
A 50-foot length of rope that cannot be cut, burned, or broken by any means.

The Silver Moon Bakery & Café Holiday Menu

Next up, we have the seasonal menu for the Silver Moon Bakery and Cafe. Since Mortalfolk Christmas and Feyfolk Yuletide fall within the same time frame, the bakery is extra busy, pumping out treats for both holidays, along with its usual assortment of breads, cakes, pies, and cookies. Likewise, the cafe is jumping this time of year, since the cafe half of the Silver Moon Bakery and Cafe has a reputation as the coziest spot in the city. All prices are in New Mountainheartain Marks.

Christmas / Yuletide Menu

Available during Yuletide, while the moon wanes and waxes its longest arc.

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🍞 Old World Christmas Breads & Cakes

(Mortal-Favored, Fey-Approved)

Stollen — ℳ2.5 (slice) / ℳ18 (loaf)
Rich yeast bread with dried fruits, nuts, marzipan, and powdered sugar “snow.”

Bremer Klaben — ℳ20 (loaf)
Dense, long-keeping fruit bread traditionally baked once per season.

Lebkuchen — ℳ1.2 each / ℳ12 per dozen
Soft spiced honey cakes, some glazed, some chocolate-dipped.

Zimtsterne — ℳ1.0 each
Star-shaped almond cinnamon cookies, naturally gluten-light.

Pfeffernüsse — ℳ0.8 each / ℳ9 per dozen
Peppery spice cookies with a gentle bite and lingering warmth.

Baumkuchen — ℳ4 (slice) / ℳ32 (whole)
Layered “tree cake,” baked ring by ring over open flame.

Mohnstriezel — ℳ3 (slice) / ℳ22 (roll)
Yeasted poppy-seed swirl loaf, faintly sweet and deeply comforting.

Früchtebrot — ℳ2.5 (slice)
Dense fruit-and-nut bread, meant to be eaten thin with butter.

Honey Cake — ℳ3 (slice) / ℳ24 (round)
Moist, dark, and spiced—popular with both witches and bees.

Speculoos — ℳ1 each
Stamped spiced biscuits depicting saints, spirits, and occasionally suspicious-looking goats.

Springerle — ℳ1.2 each
Anise-scented embossed cookies that snap when broken properly.

Schneeballen — ℳ2.2 each
Deep-fried pastry balls dusted with sugar, cocoa, or moon-salt.

Rumkugeln — ℳ1.5 each
Chocolate rum balls, unapologetically potent.

Apfelstrudel — ℳ3.5 (slice)
Thin pastry, spiced apples, raisins, and cream.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte — ℳ4.5 (slice)
Chocolate sponge, cherries, kirsch, and cream—not for children or dryads on probation.

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🍀 Fey Yuletide Bakes

(Seasonal • Hearth-Blessed • Mildly Enchanted)

Barmbrack of the Long Night — ℳ3 (slice) / ℳ20 (loaf)
Irish fruit bread baked with symbolic charms.
Contains one charm per loaf: ring, coin, thimble, or bone (edible sugar replica).
(Silver Moon is not liable for fate.)

Selkie Oat Cakes — ℳ1.2 each
Scottish oatcakes enriched with butter and honey, stamped with seal motifs.

Blackberry & Heather Hand Pies — ℳ2.8 each
Wild berries, heather honey, and a whisper of peat smoke.

Crowdie & Honey Tartlets — ℳ2.5 each
Soft fresh cheese sweetened with honey, nutmeg, and oat crust.

Faerie Shortbread Fingers — ℳ1.5 each
Buttery shortbread dusted with moon sugar and a pinch of salt “for balance.”

Rowan Berry & Apple Pasties — ℳ3 each
Sweet-tart filling traditionally eaten for protection during midwinter.

Moonseed Bannock — ℳ2.5 (wedge)
Dense oat bread baked on stone, studded with poppy and flax.

Yule Honey Scones — ℳ2 each
Served plain, or with clotted cream (+ℳ0.8) and jam (+ℳ0.5).

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☕ Hot Drinks & Winter Beverages

Black Tea — ℳ1.5
Strong and sensible.

Green Tea (Yamati Style) — ℳ1.8
Clean, grassy, and calming.

Qualdiran Espresso — ℳ2.5
⚠ Warning: may cause knurdness, insight, or existential unease.

Coffee — ℳ2
Reliable, honest, necessary.

Mocha — ℳ2.8
Chocolate and coffee in peaceful accord.

Peppermint Mocha — ℳ3.2
Festive, bracing, and very popular with apprentices.

Hot Chocolate — ℳ2.5
Rich cocoa with whole milk.

Atazlan Chocolat — ℳ3.5
Thick, spiced, and faintly ritualistic.

Chamomile Blossom Tea — ℳ1.8
Apple-sweet and soothing; encourages sleep and gentle dreams.

Peppermint Leaf Tea — ℳ1.8
Bright, cooling, and excellent after heavy winter pastries.

Lemon Balm & Honey Tea — ℳ2.2
Uplifting and calming in equal measure; popular with anxious familiars.

Nettle Leaf Infusion — ℳ2
Mineral-rich and earthy; favored by druids and iron-poor mortals.

Rosehip & Hawthorn Berry Tea — ℳ2.3
Tart, ruby-red, and heart-warming in more ways than one.

Elderflower Tea — ℳ2.5
Light, floral, and faintly nostalgic; traditionally drunk at dusk.

Fennel & Anise Seed Tea — ℳ2
Sweet, warming, and settling after feasting.

Lavender & Vanilla Tea — ℳ2.4
Soft floral notes with creamy warmth; best sipped slowly.

Ideas from the Cutting Room Floor

Finally, some ideas from the cutting room floor.  I am constantly coming up with ideas for various things, including roleplay settings. I am a little attached to the Feengrenze right now (literally, I’m going into surgery in a few days to have it removed, haha, not really), but regardless of how rough these ideas are, they really do appeal to me enough to share with all of you.

The Subconscious Sea

Deep in the underworld is a globe-spanning sunless sea with its own civilizations plying the ever-changing passages, dangerous monsters, and cunning pirates. Not all is as it seems down here, for the sea might just be a metaphor.

The worselands

Dnd has more DNA from the Western genre than the fantasy genre, so why not lean wholly into the tropes? Out beyond the western reaches of civilization is the wastelands, a dry, rugged landscape of endless plains, canyons, and mountains. There is gold to be made out there if you know where to look, but there is danger aplenty. The law has not reached these parts, and there are plenty of dangerous native tribes about. However, nothing here is as it seems, and just maybe those savage native tribes might be more civilized than the wealthy tycoons and their henchmen.

Apocalypse 1517:

In October 1517, two significant events occurred: Martin Luther published his 95 Theses, and magic returned to the world; the latter is considered the more impactful of the two. The world was not ready for the return of magic and magical creatures, and most damingly of all, divine magic did not return; god remained silent at the return of magic to the world. That was ten years ago, and the world has been turned upside down. Armageddon has not happened yet, but there is chaos aplenty in the old and new world for a cunning adventurer to profit from

Dustbowl

Nobody knows where the magic went when the big bubble burst in the big cities out east. Folks in the heartlands understand that the magic is certainly not here, and everybody is worse off for it. The farms are struggling, the safe and practical magic those slick salesmen from out east sold them are no longer working 100% of the time, unemployment is high, and the outlaws are getting bolder, knocking down banks left and right and skipping town in their souped-up magic carriages. It’s a hard time, and heroes are few. Can the players rise to the challenge?

DungeonWorld

Something happened an impossibly long time ago, rendering the surface uninhabitable. The survivors fled into the massive, globe-spanning dungeon beneath the surface. Life is hard but doable down here, but the survival resources are beyond the settlements. It is only through the brave adventurers that these tiny refuges hang on by their toes.

I mustn’t tarry here any longer. See you in January, when I’ll return with my Appendix N!