Dust of Sneezing and Choking 5e
Wondrous item, uncommon
Found in a small container, this powder resembles very fine sand. It appears to be Dust of Disappearance, and an Identify spell reveals it to be such. There is enough of it for one use.
When you use an action to throw a handful of the dust into the air, you and each creature that needs to breathe within 30 feet of you must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become unable to breathe, while sneezing uncontrollably. A creature affected in this way is incapacitated and suffocating. As long as it is conscious, a creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on it on a success. The Lesser Restoration spell can also end the effect on a creature.
Commentary by Sam West, Twitter: @CrierKobold
Dust of Sneezing and Choking is a little prank magic item that matches the description of the invisibility-granting Dust of Disappearance. When consumed, though, you and each creature within 15 feet of you make a DC 15 Con save or become unable to breath and start sneezing uncontrollably. You’re incapacitated and suffocating when you fail, and you can repeat the save at the end of each of your turns.
Lesser Restoration can end the effect on a creature affected by the dust.
The Identify spell reveals false information to the caster, informing them that it’s actually Dust of Disappearance.
Characters that don’t already know what Dust of Disappearance is are a lot less likely to see the charm or joke in using this kind of “prank” magic item. If you’re not handing out a good amount of magic items that do work with Identify, I wouldn’t recommend throwing this little trap at your players.
Convincing other creatures to use the Dust of Sneezing and Choking and turn it from a potentially major hazard into a tactical advantage. Successfully identifying the Dust of Sneezing and Choking is a major hurdle in employing this kind of tactic, though.
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