Ghostbusters 5E: The Gadget List (First Draft)
(Artwork by Josh Ln)
This is the Gadget List that Brains characters with the Inventor specialty may choose from, as well as anything else that refers to “gadget slots.”
Gadget List
Prodigy-Level Gadgets
Armor Enhancer: This gadget sets the wielder’s AC to a minimum of 16, regardless of what kind of armor they may be wearing or other AC-changing effects. The gadget can be activated as a bonus action and operates for one hour after being activated, after which it requires 12 hours to recharge.
Burst Effect: A weapon that normally affects a single target is changed into a an area effect. The area is either a 10′ radius usable at the weapon’s normal range, a 25′ line emanating from the wielder, or a 15′ cone emanating from the wielder. The choice can be toggled every time the weapon is fired. Instead of the wielder making an attack roll, every target within the area makes a DC 15 Dexterity save. The target takes half damage if they succeed at the saving throw, or full damage if they fail the save.
Chameleon: This gadget enables you to completely alter your appearance, including minor variations on height, weight, facial features, the sound of your voice, hair length, sex, skin color, and so forth, though none of your statistics change. You can’t change to a creature a different size class than yourself, nor can you change such basics as going from a biped to a quadruped, etc. If you attempt to impersonate a specific creature person, this requires a Charisma (Deception) check against the Wisdom (Perception) of the target you are attempting to fool. Changing your appearance requires an action.
Cloaking Device: This gadget enables the wielder to turn invisible. It works for one hour after being activated, after which it requires 12 hours to recharge.
Custom Gadget (Prodigy): This is a catchall designed to enable players to come up with their own crazy ideas. When assessing whether a player’s idea is feasible as a Prodigy-level gadget, the Ghostmaster should compare it to the effectiveness of an existing piece of readily-available gear, a 1st- or 2nd- level spell from the Player’s Handbook, or a Common or Uncommon magic item from the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Keep in mind that unlike spells, gadgets can be used over and over again and rarely have durations. Thus the Ghostmaster should carefully consider the potential downfalls of the gadget being “spammed” or abused.
Damage Resistance: This gadget provides you with resistance against a specific damage type (bludgeoning, piercing, slashing, fire, thunder, cold, acid, etc.). This means you take half damage from attacks of that type. This gadget does not require activation and is considered to be always on.
Deflector Shield: The wielder of this gadget adds the higher of their Intelligence or Wisdom modifiers to their AC. This gadget does not require activation and is considered to be always on.
Electromagnetic Shoes: This gadget enables the user to move on vertical or even inverted surfaces as if they were normal ground, as per the spider climb spell. The gadget can be activated as a bonus action and works for up to one hour when activated, then must recharge for 12 hours before it can be used again.
Elemental Modulator: This gadget enables the user to change an existing weapon’s damage type to another damage type at will, which must be declared when the gadget is built. For instance, an existing laser rifle (fire damage) could be set to modulate to a freeze ray (cold damage). Modulating damage types is a free action.
Enhance Ability: This gadget uses chemical stimulants or other enhancements to give the wielder the benefit of the Enhance Ability spell on p. 237 of the Players Handbook. The effects last for one hour, after which the wielder cannot gain benefit from such enhancements again without a short rest. The wielder could use two different gadgets that enhance two different abilities, however.
Enhanced Senses: This gadget enables you to see, hear, or otherwise gather sensory data normally outside the range of human ability, such as an infrared camera or an ultrasonic sensor. This gadget does not require activation and is considered always on.
Ghost Capture: This property allows a gadget to capture a ghost (or other ethereal creature) which has been reduced to ½ its hit points or fewer or is incapacitated. This gadget is usually activated as a reaction, and the trigger of the Ghost Capture effect is defined by the gadget’s creator when the gadget is created. An ethereal creature subject to the effect must make a DC 15 Dexterity or Charisma saving throw (whichever is greater). On a failed save, the creature is restrained and incapacitated. The creature may make an additional save at the beginning of each of its turns. Ghost Capture only affects one target at a time, unless it also has the Burst Effect property.
Ghost Containment: This property allows a gadget to restrain a single ghost (or other ethereal creature) indefinitely. This gadget is usually activated as a reaction, and the trigger of the Ghost Containment effect is defined by the gadget’s creator when the gadget is created. An ethereal creature that is already subject to a Ghost Capture effect which is then subjected to a Ghost Containment effect must make an additional Dexterity or Charisma saving throw (whichever is greater) against DC 15. On a failed save, the creature is trapped in an extradimensional space with properties similar to the “Minimus Containment” option of the imprisonment spell. On a successful save, not only is the creature not contained, but it may make a free saving throw attempt to escape the Ghost Capture effect as well. Ghost Containment only affects one target at a time, unless it also has the Burst Effect property, but once the creatures are trapped in the Containment effect, any number of creatures may occupy the same Containment effect. (Thus, you can only catch one at a time, but you can hold any number.)
Ghost Snare: This gadget defines a 20′ x 20′ square at a point the wielder can see which becomes highly agitated with PKE interference. Any ghost (or other ethereal creature) in the area while the gadget is activated must succeed on a DC 15 Strength or Charisma saving throw (whichever is higher), or be restrained. The area also counts as difficult terrain for ethereal creatures, even flying ones, and renders all invisible beings visible, at least in outline as PKE crackles around them. The gadget operates for an hour after it is activated and then must recharge for 12 hours until it can be used again.
Ghost Ward: This gadget defines a 10′ x 10′ square at a point the wielder can see that is impassible to ethereal creatures. Any ethereal creatures within the area of effect are automatically pushed out of the area to an adjacent space of their choice, unless they are paralyzed, restrained, held in a Ghost Containment effect, or otherwise prevented from escaping the effect. Ethereal creatures who cannot escape the effect are trapped within it. The gadget operates for an hour after being activated; after that time, it must recharge for 12 hours before it can be used again.
Hologram: This gadget produces a convincing visual image of a single immobile creature or an object up to 10′ tall and 5′ wide in a space you can see (although once the image has been put in place you do not need to monitor it to keep it going). The visual image has no sound and cannot be interacted with in any meaningful way, and any attempt to touch the object in the image will reveal its false nature. The gadget can replay a series of prerecorded events on a loop up to ten minutes long. Any creature that depends on sight must make a DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check to see through the illusion. The size of the hologram may be increased with the Burst Effect property.
Inertial Shoes: The wielder of this gadget cannot be knocked prone. Also, they always land on their feet and are resistant to falling damage. Once per 12 hour period, they may rise vertically, up to 20′, and remain suspended there for up to 10 minutes. At the end of the 10 minutes they float gently back to the ground. This gadget does not require activation and is considered to be always on.
Life Support: This gadget protects you in a hostile environment, such as the depths of the ocean or the void of space. It also filters out toxins, provides you with air and regulates your temperature and pressure, and so forth- but it does not provide protection against damage. (So for instance, something that would keep you alive in an elemental plane of fire would still not protect you from a blowtorch.) This gadget does not require activation and is considered to be always on.
Melee Weapon (one-handed): This gadget is a one-handed melee weapon, doing 2d6 damage of a type of your choice. You must declare the damage type and proficiency the weapon requires when the gadget is created.
Melee Weapon (two-handed): This gadget is a two-handed melee weapon, doing 2d8 damage of a type of your choice. You must declare the damage type and proficiency the weapon requires when the gadget is created.
Mental Discombobulator: This gadget, when activated, forces up to three creatures of your choice that you can see within 30′ attempt a DC 15 Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, whenever the target attempts an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw for the next minute, they must roll 1d4 and subtract that from their total. The gadget may be used once, after which it requires 12 hours to recharge.
Pocket Ghost I: This gadget, which may or may not look like a small red and white ball, can be used to contain a previously-trapped ghost or other trappable creature of CR ½ or lower. As a bonus action on your turn, you may release the ghost from the pocket-ball and give it a simple command. Thereafter on each of your turns, you may use your bonus action to direct the ghost on how to move and take its action. The ghost cannot move further away than 60′ from the pocket-ball, but that distance may extend through walls or barriers that the ghost could normally move through. The ghost automatically returns to the pocket-ball after 1 minute (10 rounds) or when it reaches 0 hp, after which time it cannot be released again until you have completed a short or long rest. (Technically, it’s the ghost that’s resting, but you get the idea.) Returning to the pocket-ball automatically heals all damage to the ghost and removes any conditions it may be under. If the ghost is subject to another capture effect (for instance, it succumbs to someone else’s ghost trap), the pocket-ball is immediately broken and the gadget slot becomes available to you again. You may carry as many pocket-balls as you have gadget slots to spend on them.
Psychic Beacon: This gadget sends out rhythmic pulses of PKE which are fascinating (or possibly infuriating) to ghosts and other PKE-sensitive creatures (including characters with the Psychic Awareness feat). Any such creatures within five miles of the gadget when it is active must make a DC 15 Wisdom or Charisma save or be drawn to the device to investigate. Once the creature has seen the device up close and learned its nature, they are immune to its effects thereafter (but may still choose to remain close to it). Creatures who succeed at the saving throw are immune to its effects as well.
Rapid Recharge: This gadget modifies an existing gadget with a recharge time, causing it to recharge in half the normal time. This modifier can be added to a gadget multiple times, reducing the recharge time by x4, x8, x16, etc.
Ray Weapon (pistol): This gadget is a one-handed ranged weapon, doing 3d6 damage of a type of your choice. The weapon has a range of 40’/120′, and holds 50 shots per ammunition pack. You must declare the damage type and proficiency the weapon requires when the gadget is created. (Note: Proton packs default to radiant damage and require the Ghost Capture property.)
Ray Weapon (rifle): This gadget is a two-handed ranged weapon, doing 3d8 damage of a type of your choice. The weapon has a range of 100’/300′, and holds 30 shots per ammunition pack. You must declare the damage type and proficiency the weapon requires when the gadget is created. (Note: Proton packs default to radiant damage and require the Ghost Capture property.)
Repulsor Unit: This gadget, when activated, requires every creature within 15′ of you (including ghosts or other ethereal creatures) to make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 2d8 force damage and is pushed 10′ away from you. On a successful save, the target takes half as much damage and isn’t pushed. In addition, unattended objects within the area of effect that weigh 100 pounds or less are automatically pushed 10′ away from you. The effects of this gadget are instantaneous and do not create a static field. The wielder must activate the device again if its effects are desired additional times.
Rocket Shoes: This gadget triples the wielder’s jump distance. This gadget does not require activation and is considered always on.
Rocket Skates: This gadget enables you to take the Dash action as a bonus action on each of your turns. Note that it doesn’t actually have to be rocket skates, that’s just the most common version. Any effect that would reduce your movement speed (including the Slimed condition) also prevents you from using this gadget until the condition is removed. This gadget does not require activation and is considered always on.
Slime-Proof Clothing: This gadget makes you immune to the Slimed condition. This gadget does not require activation and is considered always on.
Stake Gun: This weapon fires custom-made wooden-shafted darts. Its statistics are the same as an automatic rifle from the Dungeon Master’s Guide, except that it has a range of 30’/120′, and a critical hit with this weapon against vampires or another such vulnerable creature is considered to be a stake driven into the target’s heart.
Tethered Slime Barrier: This gadget uses “slime tether” technology to fill a 20′ x 20′ cube with sticky slime filaments in a spot of your choice within 60′. The area so filled becomes difficult terrain and is obscured to vision. If the filaments aren’t anchored between two solid masses (such as walls or trees) they collapse on themselves and create a mass of quivering green goo roughly 5′ deep. Each corporeal creature that starts its turn in the slime barrier must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is restrained as long as it remains in the slimy filaments or until it breaks free. A creature restrained by the slime filaments can use its action to make a DC 15 Strength check. If it succeeds, it is no longer restrained. Each 20′ x 20′ cube lasts 30 seconds (five turns).
Translator: This gadget can translate speech or text in any known, historical language into any other known, historical language, in “real time.”
Universal Healing Kit: This gadget gives the wielder advantage on all Wisdom (Medicine) checks and once per 24 hour period enables them to automatically succeed in ending either one disease or one of the following conditions on an afflicted humanoid creature or animal: blinded, deafened, paralyzed, or poisoned.
Widget: This gadget is a small robotic personal assistant. It carries things for you, can deliver messages or run simple errands, etc. It can remain in constant contact with you via radio and relay sound and/or video surveillance of a remote location. The Widget has statistics similar to a creature of your choice as described by the find familiar spell, except that its type is construct. It cannot make any attacks. This gadget does not require activation and is considered always on.
Genius-Level Gadgets
Arcing Weapon: This modifier causes an energy weapon’s effect to “arc” from target to target. When the wielder scores a successful hit with the weapon, they may immediately as a free action make another attack at the same bonus (and inflicting the same damage) on a different target up to 30′ feet away. If that attack succeeds, the wielder may then make another attack on a third target, and so on, until an attack misses or there are no more targets within range. This effect only works once on any given turn, regardless of how many attacks the wielder may be entitled to make.
Custom Gadget (Genius): This is a catchall designed to enable players to come up with their own crazy ideas. When assessing whether a player’s idea is feasible as a Genius-level gadget, the Ghostmaster should compare it to the effectiveness of an existing piece of more expensive gear, a 3rd- or 4th- level spell from the Player’s Handbook, or an Uncommon or Rare magic item from the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Keep in mind that unlike spells, gadgets can be used over and over again and rarely have durations. Thus the Ghostmaster should carefully consider the potential downfalls of the gadget being “spammed” or abused.
Etherealizer: This gadget, when activated, turns the wielder semi-ethereal. They can see and interact with objects or creatures on the ethereal plane as well as the material plane. They can also move completely through creatures and objects on the material plane (including walls or solid rock) as if they were difficult terrain. However, they take 5 (1d10) force damage if they end their turn inside an object. This gadget operates for one hour after it’s activated, after which time it requires 12 hours to recharge before it can be used again.
Fleet of Widgets: This gadget actually consists of five Widgets. Other than being a lot more of them, it is otherwise identical to a single Widget.
Greater Burst Effect: As Burst Effect, except the choices are a 20′ radius sphere usable at the weapon’s normal range, a 50′ line emanating from the wielder, or a 30′ cone emanating from the wielder.
Greater Damage Weapon: As Melee Weapon or Ray Weapon, but adds an additional two dice of damage to the values listed. (For instance, a Greater Damage Ray Weapon rifle would do 5d8 damage.)
Improved Effect: You may add the higher of your Intelligence modifier or proficiency bonus to the DC of an existing item’s saving throw.
Jetpack: The wielder of this gadget has a fly speed of 60′. The gadget is activated as free action during the wielder’s movement and operates for ten minutes once activated, then must recharge for 12 hours before it can be used again.
Lingering Damage: Placing this modifier on a weapon or other item that does some form of elemental damage causes the damage to continue for a number of rounds equal to the wielder’s Intelligence modifier after the initial damage.
Mind Link: This gadget allows two unresisting creatures to be mentally connected, allowing direct mind-to-mind communication. There is no limitation on how long this state can last, but both creatures are considered restrained while the gadget is in operation. If either creature moves, the link is broken.
Pocket Ghost II: Like Pocket Ghost I, except it may contain creatures up to CR 1.
Robotic Assistant: This gadget is an android designed to assist you with whatever tasks you assign it. It has statistics similar to a set of Animated Armor from the Monster Manual. Like the Widget, the Robotic Assistant can remain in contact with you via radio and relay sound or video images. The Robotic Assistant can be programmed to fire a proton pack or other weapon, but it never gains proficiencies. This gadget does not require activation and is considered always on.
Slime Automaton: This gadget is a large object or collection of objects being manipulated into a semblance of animation by the effects of psychomagnotheric slime. The wielder controls the automaton’s actions each turn with a bonus action, and must stay within 30′ of the automaton to control it. (The wielder may choose to “ride” the automaton like a mount or vehicle.) On any turn in which the automaton is not controlled, it simply stands inert. A slime automaton has statistics similar to a clay golem from the Monster Manual, except it does not have the Acid Absorption, Berserk, or Haste properties. This gadget does not require activation and is considered always on.
Sun Grenade: This gadget is thrown like a grenade. When it detonates, it creates an intense field of light, heat, electromagnetic and ultraviolet radiation that simulates the effects of full sunlight at high noon on the equator for six seconds in a 50′ radius sphere. All creatures who have not averted their eyes before the grenade goes off must make a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to 8 + the wielder’s proficiency bonus (if applicable) + the wielder’s Intelligence bonus. On a failed save, the creature is blinded and stunned until the end of their next turn. In addition, creatures that are damaged or destroyed by sunlight suffer the full brunt of such effects for that six-second duration. Once the grenade is detonated, the gadget slot the inventor used to create the gadget becomes free again.
Tractor Beam: This gadget uses energy fields to remotely manipulate objects at a distance. It creates effects similar to the Bigby’s hand spell cast at a level equal to the proficiency bonus of the wielder, except that there is no “hand” that can be attacked, simply energy fields. The gadget operates for one minute after activation, and then requires 12 hours to recharge before it can be used again.
Vehicle Mount: This modifier allows an existing piece of equipment or a gadget to be mounted to a vehicle and used from the control station of that vehicle.
Mastermind-Level Gadgets
Android Army: This gadget actually consists of five Robotic Assistants or ten Widgets. Other than being a lot more of them, it is otherwise identical to a single Widget or Robotic Assistant.
Custom Gadget (Mastermind): This is a catchall designed to enable players to come up with their own crazy ideas. When assessing whether a player’s idea is feasible as a Mastermind-level gadget, the Ghostmaster should compare it to the effectiveness of an existing piece of more expensive gear, a 6th or 7th level spell from the Player’s Handbook, or a Rare or Very Rare magic item from the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Keep in mind that unlike spells, gadgets can be used over and over again and rarely have durations. Thus the Ghostmaster should carefully consider the potential downfalls of the gadget being “spammed” or abused.
Extraplanar Portal: This gadget creates a semi-stable portal to another dimension (generally “the Ghost World”) as long as it is active. Note that planar rifts are inherently hazardous and generally create unwanted side-effects, such as creatures wandering from dimension to dimension and the general breakdown of reality as we know it in the vicinity. Opening or closing the portal requires an action.
Maximum Effect: An item with Improved Effect now adds both your Intelligence modifier and your proficiency bonus to the DC of its saving throw.
PKE Suppression Field: This gadget creates a 10′ radius sphere around the wielder, that can be carried by and move with the wielder. All PKE activity is nullified within the sphere, including the use of magic or psychic powers. Ghosts or other PKE-motivated creatures within the area of effect simply “wink” out of existence, and possessed creatures or objects are instantly freed from all supernatural influences. Once no longer within the field, ghosts and other such creatures “wink” back into existence again, but they must re-establish any hold they had on possessed creatures or objects. The gadget works for one hour after it has been activated, and then must recharge for 12 hours before it can be used again.
Pocket Ghost III: Like Pocket Ghost I, except it may contain creatures up to CR 4.
Slime Juggernaut: This gadget is similar to a Slime Automaton, except that it is size Huge and has statistics similar to a Stone Golem (but lacks the Slow property).
Ultimate Burst Effect: As Burst Effect, except the choices are a 30′ radius sphere usable at the weapon’s normal range, a 100′ line emanating from the wielder, or a 60′ cone emanating from the wielder.
Ultimate Damage Weapon: As Melee Weapon or Ray Weapon, but adds an additional five dice of damage to the values listed. (For instance, an Ultimate Damage Ray Weapon rifle would do 8d8 damage.)
Whattya think, sirs? Next time, Feats.
-The Gneech
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