Life-Catching Portrait
Life-Catching Portrait is a magic item (wondrous item) of legendary rarity.
This canvas, whether black or painted, radiates necromantic energies. Once you have attuned to it, you or another creature can make a DC 20 Dexterity (painter’s tools) check to capture your likeness in a portrait on the canvas (AC 14, 20 hit points). On a success, the painting captures your soul.
While the _life-catching portrait_ remains intact, the Narrator begins tracking how much damage you take and how much time has passed since the painting. Your image on the portrait shows what you would look like from all the injuries you’ve suffered and the passage of time. With a Dexterity (painter’s tools) check (DC 20 + 3 per previous check) some of the damage can be mitigated by touching up the painting, reducing the aging and damage your likeness has suffered by half.
Should the portrait ever be destroyed, you immediately suffer from all of the damage dealt to your likeness, and you age all at once. If this kills you, your soul is permanently destroyed.
You gain the following traits while your portrait is intact:
_**Regeneration.**_ You regain hit points equal to half your level at the start of your turn. You die only if you start your turn with 0 hit points.
**_Rejuvenation._** When you die, 1d4 hours later you regain all of your hit points and become active again.
Mechanics
- type:
- Wondrous Item
- rarity:
- Legendary
- requires attunement:
- false
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Sources
- Level Up Advanced 5e·OGL-1.0a·© Level Up Advanced 5e. OGL-1.0a. Via Open5e (open5e.com).
Last updated 6/19/2026·Tags: item, wondrous item, legendary