Oculus Arcanum
This fist-sized sphere of pale amethyst crystal was crafted by a court arcanist who grew tired of her spells washing harmlessly off armored war-mages. She ground the lens herself from a single flawless geode, etching hairline runes along its equator in silver. Those who look through it from the right angle claim they can see faint outlines of where a creature's defenses thin — like cracks running through old ice.
Mechanics
A crystalline orb that sharpens spell targeting and occasionally reveals the hidden vulnerabilities of your foes.
Focused Sight
While using this orb as your spellcasting focus, you can see through light obscurement (fog, light smoke, dim light) without suffering disadvantage on Perception checks or attack rolls made as part of a spell. This is a passive effect that requires no action.
Arcane Appraisal
As a bonus action, you hold the orb toward a creature you can see within 60 feet and spend 1 charge. Until the end of your next turn, you learn whether that creature has resistance, immunity, or vulnerability to any damage type, and the next spell you cast that deals damage to that creature before the end of your next turn ignores resistance (but not immunity) to its damage type.
Brilliant Surge
When you cast a spell of 1st level or higher using this orb as your focus, you may spend 2 charges as a free addition to the casting (no extra action required). If you do, one creature damaged by that spell must succeed on a Constitution saving throw (DC 13) or be blinded until the end of its next turn as a brilliant flash erupts from the orb.
4 charges
Recharges at dawn
DM Notes
Balance considerations: Arcane Appraisal's resistance-ignoring effect is the most powerful feature here and should be watched carefully in encounters where the party faces elementally resistant enemies — it effectively turns a weak matchup into a fair one, which is its intended role. The DC 13 blind from Brilliant Surge is intentionally modest to keep the item within Uncommon territory; against Constitution-proficient foes like most bruisers it will rarely land. The 4-charge pool means a player can use Arcane Appraisal twice and Brilliant Surge once in a day, or mix and match, but cannot spam either ability. Consider placing this item before an encounter featuring a creature with elemental resistances to let the player feel smart for using it. Attunement was deliberately omitted — the passive and charge-gated effects are appropriately scoped for an Uncommon item without it.
Generated with: Level 5 · Arcane focus · Heroic · Uncommon