abyssalbrews

Doomscroll

Added 2025-07-03 15:03:29 +0000 UTC

Greetings adventurers!

Ah, yes this one I must keep under lock and key for it’s very dangerous for you to see. There’s something about this tablet that is far too alluring and I’d rather not see you succumb to it here in my shop. I’m not sure why people cling to it so fiercely when all it does is sow misery and fear, but cling to it they do. It has to be some form of enchanting magic or maybe it’s just that it supplements the lonely feeling we all get sometimes when we realize we’ve been sitting in the workshop for 3 days straight surviving entirely on a diet of dried corn sheets and mashed tomato mix. Oh, maybe that’s just a problem for me. Either way, be careful where you leave this lie.

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Design notes from Matthew:
Yeah look, you got me. I wanted to make a phone. I wish it were more exciting than that, but I had a realization that “doomscroll” is a crazy good magic item name and I knew that it could be something entertaining to bring into a game. I try not to take myself overly seriously and think that sometimes it’s good to throw a little referential humor into my games. Maybe it’s just that that’s the kind of table I run, but I have to imagine I’m not the only one who goes out of their way to be a bit silly at times. Don’t get me wrong, I love tender moments, but humor is important as well.
I went about these in very different ways with very different purposes for what I wanted to accomplish. In the 5E version I was looking mostly for something that would be a temporary distraction, something you could use to lure someone to a location and keep them there for a period of time. The extra effects of lowering intelligence and charisma are helpful, but far less of a focus than the element of keeping someone entranced by the item for a period of time. I had to give some off ramps though like allowing multiple checks or for someone to rip the tablet away. It’s important to remember that 5E expects more dice rolling in that way sometimes.
For the PF2E version. I came across missives awhile back and put them in my notes as something I would like to try to design at some point in the future. It wasn’t until I thought about this item that I realized it could be perfect for someone to create a missive with the intent of panicking an opponent or something of that nature. I could fully see one being left on an important politician’s desk right before a debate left for some spritely wizard to find and end up causing himself a world of problems. Again, I say design for the system first.

I’m glad that people seem willing to indulge our silly side from time to time. We certainly want to provide useful items for your campaign that really sell themes or add something special. That said, we just love bringing some levity to our campaigns every once in awhile and it seems that folks here are willing to support that.

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