Crazy idea for Magic item (Maybe not so crazy or original)
Hello! I'm looking for help/advice on creating a magic item mechanics for a player.
For context: We're playing a campaing (5e), on a world of my creation. A player created his second caracter with a Giants Lineage (Custom Race). On the process of making, he rolled a trincket which is a wooden cube toy. In this campaing, magic and magical items are restrict and rare. Except for the players and evil guys, of course. And when they come across something extraordinay, these items have a connection with the worldbuilding.
Note: Everyone knows the concept I set for the game and we're all happy so far.
I want to create a plot for the giant race missing in the world (Extinct? Fleed to another dimension? Who knows, this is less import for now). But a want to put the mistery there and plant some clues. Old places that resemble Giants archtecture or runes and so on. And the cube is some sort of key or connection in the long plot game.
In my mind drawings, the wooden cube has several unknown runes scribbled all over, and the cube is played like a Rubik cube. My initial mechanics was to made every side a real Rubik's a type of giant, by playing and solving sides (puttin the "runes" together), magical effects can be achived. So the Real Cube becomes a puzzle for the in game abilitys.
The cube have a X number of charges that can be used daily.
For exemple: Let's pick the White color, which stands for Frost Giants. The player manage to solve a cross "+" (That I belive is the easiest to do on Cube solving). So the caracter unlocked Ice damage resistence for some time when he chooses to activate that rune.
Am I too crazy? Is it possible? Is somthing like that already be created? So I thouht that diferent combinations of colors with specific patterns can made to create even more diverse and powerfull efects.
I can't post images for exemple, but I have few ideas for combinations.
I understand that solving a cube can be tricky and a buzzkill, but the item is just an extra and the players can share knowledge to solve it together, plus I can give tips from time to time with intelligence checks on solving.
To resume my question: which patterns and effects can be created with this item? If its possible?