Sphere of Annihilation

→For the similar orbs that transported ley energy, people, and objects to Thar Amphala, see Ziggurat sphere.

Sphere of Annihilation
Depiction of a Sphere of Annihilation from D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide, 5th Ed. (2024), p. 306.
General Information
Type	Wondrous item
Rarity	Legendary
Properties	Destroys nearby matter with force damage Can be controlled with Arcana checks
Historical Information
Owner	Remnants

A Sphere of Annihilation is a destructive hole in space contained by a magical field that can be controlled with a mental effort.

Description

A Sphere of Annihilation is a two-foot-diameter void of utter darkness that exerts a pull on nearby matter and disintegrates all matter that comes into contact with it, except for powerful artifacts, which pass through the orb unaffected. Creatures who share a space with the orb must succeed at a Dexterity saving throw to avoid touching it, or take significant force damage.

The orb gives off a constant humming or buzzing noise as if vibrating.

The sphere can be controlled with a difficult Intelligence (Arcana) check, but it moves slowly (depending on the controller's Intelligence modifier), and failing the check causes the sphere to move toward the creature that attempted the check.

History

When Vecna reanimated an earth titan that contained an ancient dwarven city, some of the Remnants used a Sphere of Annihilation to carve out additional tunnels within the titan's stony body. When Vox Machina arrived, the Remnants used the Sphere as a weapon.

After defeating the Remnants, the party learned how to control the orb, but decided that it was too slow to bring along on their mission. Vox Machina instead simply disposed of the Remnants' bodies in the Sphere, hoping in part to prevent them from returning as undead. The adventurers were reminded of the siphons that transported ley energy, objects, and people from the corrupted ziggurats to the Shadowfell, but the Sphere was somehow more violent.

References

Art: