Magic Item: Blessing of the Beast

H2: Thunderspire Labyrinth is one of the better written 4E adventures to come out of WotC's offices. That said, it has a number of flaws and many areas that had a lot of potential that weren't fully realized. I've done a few things here on DMG 42 to tweak that up, not to mention the excellent work by 11 ft. Pole and The Demon Prince of Undeath. Taken all together, it's pretty top-notch.

One of the background elements to the adventure that I enjoyed was the theme of Baphomet the Horned God and his presence on the extinct culture of Minotaurs from the labyrinth. To help reinforce this idea on the dungeoneers, I added a Divine Boon to a few shrines in the adventure. Dungeoneers paying their respects at several strange altars were rewarded with a lasting reminder of the story of the dungeon and how it came to be, who passed by here before them, and why this place was unique.

Lastly, the boon has a mechanic to discourage the 5-minute adventuring day. This boon in and of itself would probably never make a dungeoneer think twice about taking a needed rest, but the design philosophy extended to multiple items and coupled with magic rings and the like which gains benefits from milestones, starts a growing incentive to make the difficult decision to keep pushing forward into the dungeon despite a dwindling supply of healing surges and daily powers.


Blessing of the Beast
Level 4 Divine Boon

The Horned God Baphomet smiles upon you, blessing you with the gifts of the beasts.

Bestial Fury
Property: Your critical hit dice are d12’s while you are bloodied.

Bestial Strength + Encounter
Free Action
Trigger: You make an Athletics or Strength check.
Effect: Reroll the triggering check, taking the second result.

Duration
The blessing lasts until three Extended Rests have been taken.