In the campaign I’m running one of the characters has stumbled upon a magic item, that after petitioning his god, has fuzed to his flesh. He has used to command a horde of slave like creatures.
Bracers of the Bound
This set of gold bracers and necklace are adorned with finely cut obsidian. It appears as though a small flame is held within the obsidian. Or maybe the life fire of its previous owner.
When you command someone of a lower station, Roll+CHA. 10+, it will heed your command without question and to the best of its ability. 7-9, that and the GM will make you an offer. If you accept, increment a 5 segment countdown. If you decline, for a few moments your mind is preoccupied with visions of fire and thralldom. The GM will tell you more.
5 Segment Countdown: I’m cribbing this from the Planarch Codex and Apocalypse World. The idea being that there is clearly a price that comes with using this, and something is going to go horribly wrong when that timer rolls over to 5.
Also, I like the fictional trigger – as it makes even the simplest interaction with a serving maid a potentially damning experience.
Released under Creative Commons
http://takeonrules.com/2013/04/28/bracers-of-the-bound-a-dungeon-world-item/
I think the “doomsday clock” approach is great. It’s like ammo; sooner or later, you’re gonna have a bad time.