Banners are cool.

And the people carrying them are cool too, because they have to use, at least, one hand so they may not be able to carry a shield or a secondary weapon. But banners are more than something that takes up some space. It’s meant to bolster the resolve of those seeing it. So they better be good looking.

A banner doesn’t have to be just a flag. It could be anything cool. From a small sculpture depicting an animal that’s a symbol for the army, to a holy symbol. Warhammer has some pretty good ideas for banners.

This guy is a Bladeguard Ancient from Warhammer 40,000. He’s carrying a banner that consists of the literal remains of a fallen comrade who died heroically in battle hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of years ago.

So yeah, you can go crazy with the designs. But what about some effects as well? Here’s an idea for a banner for D&D 5th Edition.

Banner of the Last Breath

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

The Banner of the Last Breath must be held in order for its effects to take place. If its bearer voluntarily leaves it, the effects immediately stop and they need to hold it for 1 minute before they manifest again. If its bearer involuntarily leaves it, they have until the end of their next turn to pick it up again, or the effects stop and they have to hold it for 1 minute before they manifest again.

The Banner of the Last Breath forms a 30ft radius aura around its bearer. All allies of the bearer inside the radius get a +1 to attack and damage rolls and cannot be frightened.

The bearer can also activate its secondary effect. When they do they become immune to all damage for 1 minute, have advantage on attack rolls, and divine light emanates from the banner. Any enemy of the bearer that enters or finds themselves inside the aura must make a DC 13 Wisdom Saving Throw or be blinded for 1 minute. They may make the Saving Throw again at the end of each of their turns. A creature that has succeeded on the saving throw cannot be affected again by this effect for 24 hours. When the duration of the secondary effect ends, or when the bearer decides to end it earlier, the bearer dies and any ally inside the aura’s radius is resurrected. The bearer cannot be resurrected in any way.

I know it’s a bit too much but banners should be epic.

And that’s all for today. Tomorrow’s word is “frame”. Maybe I’ll have another chance to get my engineer side out there.

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