Warden's Hollow Collar
Forged by a grief-stricken groundskeeper who tended a hidden cemetery for the beloved animals of a noble family, the Warden's Hollow Collar was pressed into the earth above each grave and left for three nights beneath a moonless sky. The groundskeeper believed that love, given freely enough and long enough, could not simply end — that something of the creature's loyalty remained coiled in the soil, waiting for someone worthy to call it home again. The collar smells faintly of rain-wet earth and warm fur, no matter how long it has been stored away.
Mechanics
A tarnished iron collar that can call forth the spectral echo of a beloved creature, binding its lingering loyalty to defend and serve once more.
Remembered Bond
While attuned to this collar, you may spend 1 minute in quiet meditation while holding it, naming aloud a beast or monstrosity you were personally bonded to in life (a pet, mount, familiar, or animal companion that has died). Once named, that creature becomes the collar's bound spirit. You may change the bound spirit during a long rest. The collar retains only one bound spirit at a time.
Hollow Call — 4 charges, recharge 1d3+1 at dawn
As an action, you expend 1 charge to summon the spectral echo of your bound spirit in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of you. It appears as a translucent, faintly glowing version of the creature, and uses the stat block of a Dire Wolf (if the original was a Small or smaller beast), a Giant Eagle (if it was a flying creature), or a Black Bear (for all other cases) — your DM may substitute a thematically appropriate beast of similar CR. The spirit is undead, immune to poison and the poisoned condition, has resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks, and cannot be turned. It obeys your verbal commands (no action required). The spirit remains for 1 hour or until it drops to 0 hit points, at which point it dissolves into pale motes of light. You may only have one spectral echo active at a time.
Guardian's Vigil
While your spectral echo is active and within 10 feet of you, you gain a +1 bonus to AC as the spirit instinctively orbits and interposes itself between you and harm. This bonus does not stack with itself from any other source.
Faithful Return
When your spectral echo is reduced to 0 hit points, you may use your reaction and expend 2 charges to prevent it from dissolving. Instead, it immediately re-forms in the same space with hit points equal to half its hit point maximum (rounded down). This ability may only be triggered once per summoning — if the echo is reduced to 0 hit points again after Faithful Return, it dissolves permanently until you use Hollow Call again.
4 charges
Recharges 1d3+1 charges at dawn
DM Notes
Balance consideration: The spectral echo uses existing stat blocks rather than custom ones, keeping the DM's cognitive load low. The CR of those stat blocks (CR 1 to CR 2) is appropriate for a Rare item at levels 4–6 — the echo can contribute meaningfully in combat without overshadowing the party. The Guardian's Vigil +1 AC bonus is the item's only flat numeric bonus and is conditional on the echo being alive and adjacent, making it easy to disrupt. Faithful Return costs 2 charges, meaning a player who used Hollow Call (1 charge) and then triggers Faithful Return (2 charges) has spent 3 of 4 charges total — a meaningful resource decision. DMs should feel free to substitute a thematically appropriate beast stat block if the player's described pet was unusual (e.g. a spectral cat might use the Panther stat block). The collar works well as a narrative anchor for players whose characters have lost animal companions, mounts, or familiars — encourage players to name and describe their bound spirit to deepen emotional investment.
Generated with: Level 5 · Pet cemetery · Heroic · Rare