[RPG] What magic item can I give the NPC to summon monsters

dnd-5emagic-itemssummoning

Is there anything a low-level NPC could get their hands on to summon monsters? Preferably an option where the monsters simply infest the location and are non-responsive to the summoner. I'm looking for a way to plausibly construct a scenario where a child NPC has access to magic well beyond their ability or maturity and uses that magic to further her idealistic goals.

I'd rather this be an item or weapon crafted by mortals and as disassociated from divine caprice as possible. I'd rather not implicate a deity in what's going on in my plot line. The analogy here is less "God tells Moses to wave a stick at a body of water" and more "Mom accidentally leaves her handgun lying around on a day her child decides she wants to defeat the evil president"

Best Answer

There is no such item.

The rules we have in D&D are intended for player characters to follow -- so we have skills for player characters, class progression for player characters, equipment for player characters, et cetera.

NPCs do not follow the same rules as player characters. It's expected and intended that the DM should make stuff up.

If I wanted to generate an effect like the one you described, I'd probably start by looking at the ninth-level spell gate. This spell opens a portal to a plane of your choice (including, for example, the Hells, the Abyss, or the Shadowfell), and creatures can come through unrestricted. Someone could generate that effect and then run away, and it would reliably generate a whole lot of bad monsters.

It's tempting to say "okay, this kid got a hold of a scroll of gate." But a child is not a trained caster and would have difficulty activating the scroll. I'd probably say instead that there was some sort of single-use magic item that created this effect when activated. The nature of the magic item, and the reason it was created, would depend on the setting.

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