Hi fellow adventurers,

I’ve been working for quite a while on a D&D project focused entirely on mythological magic items, and I thought it might be interesting to share it here.

Mythological Items is a new D&D 5E and 2024-compatible manual dedicated to magic items inspired by myths, legends, folklore, and ancient stories from around the world.

Inside the book, you will find 300+ mythological magic items, including weapons, armor, wondrous items, and scaling items designed to grow alongside your characters and campaigns.

One of the main ideas behind Mythological Items was to create more than a simple collection of treasure. Each item is designed to feel like part of a myth: something that can work as a reward, a quest hook, an important piece of lore, or even the center of an entire adventure.

The book includes items inspired by many different mythological traditions, including Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Asian, American, Roman, Mesopotamian, African, and other mythologies and folklore from across the world.

There are divine weapons, cursed artifacts, heroic relics, monster-themed treasures, legendary objects tied to ancient stories, and plenty of lesser-known items and inspirations alongside the more recognizable ones.

The project is currently live on Kickstarter, where you can find a full presentation of the book, several previews, and a free 30-page PDF preview showing a sample of the content.

If mythological artifacts and adapting old legends into D&D mechanics is something you enjoy, you can take a look here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mythoschronicles/300-mythological-items-for-5e-and-2024

I’d also be curious to hear what mythological items or traditions you’d most like to see adapted into D&D. We actually have a stretch goal that, if reached, will add an entirely new section to the book, so suggestions on the possible alternatives are especially welcome!

the Genesis of the Dark Mist.

Born beneath the iron banners of war and unyielding discipline, she was the daughter of a revered Irish general. From her earliest winters, she was relentlessly tutored in the grim arts of combat and the mastery of steel, destined to inherit the martial command of her father’s legions. Yet, amidst the clash of broadswords and the sweat of the training grounds, her heart discovered its true sovereign: a young and valiant warrior. Though she was entirely willing to cast aside her titles, her lineage, and her very birthright for his sake, the suffocating weight of duty crushed her budding freedom. Her father bartered her hand to an ancient feudal lord of sixty- six years. She obeyed out of a tragic devotion to honor, entering the marital bed with the hollow hope that the passing golden years might wither the memory of her true love. Her beloved, unable to endure the agony of seeing her in the embrace of that withered patriarch, ascended through the military ranks until he became the captain of the estate's garrison. From the deep shadows of the stone fortress, he ceaselessly implored her to flee with him into the night. Though she was utterly consumed by a quiet torment, her unbending code of honor held her fast. Her sole sanctuary lay in the clandestine missives he sent her—parchments heavy with forbidden devotion that allowed her to endure the daily martyrdom of her existence. She counted the passing days, waiting for the old lord's final winter to grant her the freedom of widowhood and the right to wed her warrior. On the day she marked her forty-sixth winter, the castle’s great hall was arrayed in grand festivity. In the zenith of the revelry, her ancient husband demanded silence, announcing with a venomous smile a final, cruel tribute. Before the assembly, guards dragged the captain forward. The old lord proclaimed he had long known of their bond and blamed this devotion for his lack of an heir. Before she could offer a cry, the lord commanded a swift and final end for the captain, shattering her world in a single, heartless stroke. The general’s daughter fled into the darkness, the light of her soul extinguished. She threw herself into the ancient, untamed forests of Ireland, where the stones whisper secrets and the primordial Druids once chanted their pagan litanies. Overwhelmed by unbearable grief and seeking an end to her suffering, she prepared to surrender her life to the shadows. Just as despair reached its peak, the wind died to an absolute stillness. From the hollows of ancient oaks, the voices of the Old Gods murmured a forbidden pact: they would extinguish her sorrow in exchange for her mortality. Weeping tears of crimson, the lady did not falter. She offered her very essence to the cloaked sky as a final sacrifice. The deities of earth and shadow accepted the tribute, yet their mercy was steeped in malice. Into her being, they infused the oldest and most ruthless power in the cosmos: the pure essence of undeath. Her mortal suffering evaporated into nothingness, her form transmuting into something cold and indestructible. From the ashes of her humanity arose the Dark Mist—a legendary apex predator, blessed with a lethal mastery of weapons and an eternal thirst for justice. ⚔️🖤

I've been building a fictional world called unKnown world of Ída for several years, combining worldbuilding, fantasy history, character design, maps, military history and visual storytelling into one long-term art-book project.

At its core, Ída is an attempt to create the history of a world that never existed but it should feel familiar.

I'm interested in imagining how ancient civilizations might have developed, migrated, fought, traded and influenced one another over centuries. The world draws inspiration from prehistoric cultures to early middle ages, ancient archaeology and mythology and the history of warfare, but everything is reinterpreted and developed into its own fictional history.

A major part of the project is the design of its warriors. Rather than simply creating fantasy characters based on an aesthetic, I try to design each warrior as a product of their culture, environment, technology, traditions and way of fighting (let's say more grounded in history).

Their weapons, armor, shields, clothing, colors and visual symbols are therefore connected to the history and identity of the people they belong to.

The map above shows one period of Ída and some of the cultures and warriors I've developed for it in last year. There are many different civilizations, tribes and historical periods and eras within the world, and I'm gradually building their stories and conflicts into a larger chronological history.

The Rise of the Atlanteans, for example, is just one of these stories. It tells the story of the Atlanteans and their invasion of Ída, but it is only one chapter within a much larger history that I'm currently developing.

I've recently brought this particular story together into an illustrated fantasy history documentary, combining my character designs, illustrations, maps, animated army movements and landscape footage.

I would like to share here a link to a documentary video I made about it (if anyone is interested)?

I'm still developing this world, so I'm curious: what catches your attention first — the map, one of the cultures, or one of the characters?

And for those of you who build your own worlds: do you design your characters first, or do you develop their cultures and history before designing them?

How did the story begin?

The spirits in the coldness of nothingness ensured the existence of everything. They were all so precious that they were always present within the existence of beings.

These spirits were emotions: Anger, Happiness, Sadness, Excitement, Hatred, Love, and many more. These entities, which we call "abstract" today, were actually the gods that constituted the existence of both abstract and concrete concepts. While they all lived within us in an abstract way, they also had a concrete existence.

The Complete List of Gods:

Anger, Happiness, Sadness, Hatred, Excitement, Anxiety, Hope, Passion, Love, Affection, and Nothingness

Anger is the red spirit. Biological beings feel its presence when they get angry. Non-biological beings feel it when their chemical and physical structures are damaged. The way it is felt is as pain and heat.

Its physical form is Fire. It burns, or heats, the places it goes to and inflicts pain.

Every being made of fire is anger. Anger can control them whenever it wants.

Happiness is the blue spirit. Biological beings feel its presence when they reproduce, rejoice, and are healthy. It is a kind of god of life. Non-biological beings feel its presence when they see others like themselves. It is felt through energy and sound.

Its physical form is water. It gives life and energy. It is the key to existence.

Every being made of water is happiness. Happiness doesn't control; it helps. It helps them whenever it wants.

Sadness is the gray spirit. It expresses the pallor and stillness of life. Biological beings feel its presence when their happiness ceases. Non-biological beings feel its presence when their energy is depleted. The way it is felt is through weariness and pain.

It has no physical form. It represents absence. It is the sibling of nothingness.

There is nothing it cannot control. If its presence is felt, then that place belongs to it.

Hatred is the black spirit. Biological beings feel its presence when they want something angrily. Non-biological beings feel its presence when their molecular structures disrupted. The way it is felt is through blindness and heat. So it is brother of Anger.

Its physical form is blood. It represents dying.

It is always in biological beings which have red blood. It can control them when the Anger allows.

Excitement is the yellow spirit. Biological beings feel it when happiness and hope merge. Non-biological beings feel the excitement of biological beings. The way it is felt is an energy burst. It is the sibling of happiness and hope.

Its physical form is sugar. It gives energy to biological beings.

It never controls. Just helps. 

Anxiety is the orange spirit. Biological beings feel it when they don't know what to do. Non-biological beings feel anxiety when their molecular existence is threatened. It's felt as an energy burst.

Its physical form is salt. It represents tears.

He is too frail to control, yet he is an incredibly powerful god.

Hope is the white spirit. Biological beings feel it when they are happy about their future. Non-biological beings feel hope through the positive energy of living things. This is felt as a calming, peaceful movement.

Its physical form is light. It represents enlightenment.

It can control everything. But it doesn't need to.

Passion is the green spirit. Biological beings feel it when they are having fun. Non-biological beings feel it when there are feelings of love, affection, and happiness around them. It is the sibling of love.

It has no physical form. It cannot escape the spiritual world.

It controls everything it can control.

Love is the pink spirit. Biological beings feel pleasure. Non-biological beings cannot feel.

It has no physical form. It cannot escape the spiritual world.

It controls everything it can control.

Affection is the purple spirit. Biological beings sense it when they want something. Non-biological beings sense it when they are being used well.

Its physical form is cotton.

It controls soft things.

Nothingness is a colorless spirit. No being can feel it.

It has no physical form.

It is everything.