Collapsing Enigma
In the outer planes impossible things happen as a relative matter of course. Maybe a pocket plane has come to the end of its natural life; perhaps a particularly potent celestial being has imploded at the end of their existence; or the after effects of a wish or miracle are populating across the realms of different realities. A collapsing enigma is a rare happenstance, and seeing the shifting inversion of an explosion of creation and chaos is a privilege few have experienced.
A collapsing enigma appears suddenly, and the edge of its fury can be seen and felt by any being. They start as huge orbs and, over the course of 1d4+1 hours, they collapse at a steady rate until they completely disappear from existence. All matter inside of them at this time is lost, disappearing into the dreams of gods and outer beings.
Distracting. Staring too long at an enigma makes it impossible to think of anything else as the potentialities seek to find any purchase to exist for even the fraction of a moment longer. Creatures with an expertise die in Arcana must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure they make checks to overcome this challenge at disadvantage as they find themselves drawn to staring at the enigma.
Mind-Breaking. The rules of existence itself are entirely different around a collapsing enigma, as the very architecture of realities within it warps and unravels. Crossing over the edge, into the fury of the enigma itself, is a terrible mistake. Each round a creature spends inside the enigma, it makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, a randomly determined ability score is reduced to 1. This damage can only be restored by wish , similar 9th-level magic, or the intervention of a deity. Creatures that are inside the enigma when it disappears are destroyed and can’t be resurrected without the direct intervention of a deity.
Determining the safest path through the absurdist landscape that surrounds the collapsing enigma requires a group check.
Adventurers can choose from Arcana, to intuit the flow of magic, Insight to grasp what little logic applies here, or Survival to pick the best path.
Critical Failure. The party makes a catastrophic error. Each adventurer loses 10 (3d6) Supply, suffers a level of strife, and makes a Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, they lose a magic item or piece of equipment that is not armor to the destructive heart of the enigma. Anything short of an artifact is utterly destroyed by the disappearance of this part of reality itself. Artifacts are transported to a random location on a random plane.
Failure. Finding a safe path is difficult and the party stumbles into a pocket of warped time. Each adventurer loses 7 (2d6) Supply and 2 days of travel time.
Success. You manage to navigate the collapse without too much incident.
Critical Success. The adventurer finds themselves uplifted by the sights they managed to glimpse. Each adventurer reduces their fatigue and strife to zero.