Portable Hearth
Wondrous item, common
This 4-inch-diameter stone disk weighs 1 pound and has a miniature hearth at its center. You can use an action to place the disk on an inanimate flat surface, at which point the hearth sparks to a low ember. The disk remains on the surface until it's removed using another action. While on the surface, you can rotate a stone dial around the disk's circumference. Rotating the dial all the way clockwise increases the temperature of the surrounding area by 50 degrees Fahrenheit, up to a maximum temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit; rotating it less than that increases the temperature by a proportional amount less. The fire in the disk's hearth burns more or less brightly depending on how much the temperature is increased in this way. The heated area extends outward from the disk up to 30 feet but is blocked by obstacles such as walls or ceilings.
Changes to an area's temperature take place over the course of 1 minute. Once the disk is removed from its surface, the area returns to its normal temperature.
"Whew, it's cold in here. Mind if I turn the heat up a little?"
Comments (7)
Dad: "Okay, who's been messing with the thermostat? Wizard, was it you? Speak up, son!"
It specifically says "wall" ... not surface. Does this mean it doesn't work on the ground? On the floor? On the ceiling? On a random boulder or wagon? How long does it take to raise the temperature, that is, how quickly does the temperature change? Instantly? One degree per round? One degree per minute? And finally... 10 degrees? That's almost nothing. If it's freezing cold outside, say 15 degrees, raising it to 25 won't be of much help. As written, this item is mostly fluff... not even really useful except in very specific circumstances. To make it useful, I'd either increase the 10 degrees to 20, 25, or 30, and I'd change "wall" to read "flat surface." Another option would be to say it raises the temperature to a comfortable 70 degrees, but has no effect if the ambient temperature is already hotter than that. Just a suggestion.
After thinking about it some more, I agree with you! Mostly—setting it to 70 when you're in a -50F room is too much of a swing, but -50 to 0 is good! So now it's a 50-degree swing you can make, up to a maximum temperature of 80 degrees F. Thanks for the feedback!
This is *very fun*, but I think it could benefit from some clarifications. How quickly does it work? Magically/instantaneously? More importantly, how long do the changes last? Do they go away if you take it off the wall? If you remove it from the wall, reset it, and put it back on the wall, can you keep raising the temperature? Can you use it to lower the temperature or just increase it less than 10'?
Fixed!
Heh. My tropical setting needs the opposite of this, to provide a cool, dry breeze.
That would be a portable fan. :P