Howdy y’all, I’m a new GM running a Hyborian-style Crush the Cultists kind of adventure, and I thought I’d post a few of the magic items I’m considering for the players for perusal/approval.
The Dislocation Glove
A thick right-hand gauntlet of beaten brass, with a length of lightweight chain leading from just behind the thumb to clip to a cinched leather band worn halfway up the bicep.
When the user detaches the chain from the band, he can move away from his arm and leave it hovering in midair, able to perform any action its user can do as normal, including wield a weapon (although it grants no magical vision, and the user still needs to be able to see what they’re doing).
It is rooted in place, and any attempt to move it will register to the user as someone tugging on their arm. Enough force applied to it will “rip” the arm away, with the same effect to the user as ripping someone’s arm off normally has. Naturally, the Glove’s keeper would be wise to avoid the situation.
Returning to the arm and retethering the chain reattaches it, and the glove can then be removed as normal.
The Hamelin Plague-Wreath
A thick ring of nettles and briars bound with twine, and festooned with 5 tiny animal bones. Worn around the neck, where its brambles dig into your shoulders and throat in uncomfortable places.
When its user crushes one of the bones to dust and sprinkles it over a fresh medium size (or larger) corpse, it explodes into a swarm of a hundred or more rats, and the user rolls +INT.
On a 10+, choose 3.
On a 7-9, choose 1.
-The rats are under the user’s mental command.
-The user can see from the eyes of any of the pack.
-The rats are starved and eager to attack any creature.
-Those aren’t rats, those are bats!
On a 6-, the rats are uncontrollable and cause complications to their creator, making a lot of noise, skittering into his clothes, or even biting and attacking him.
The rats crumble to bone and twigs after five minutes of life or when killed.
The wreath holds only 5 bones on recovery. Any more wanted must be woven in by a skilled Mire-Witch, who will ask for dark things in exchange.
Ink-Mirror
A hand mirror of braided silver wire that has been stained almost entirely with black ink, including a sizable black blotch across its reflective surface.
The ink is from a devil’s inkpot, tipped over by the trembling hand of a princess as she signed her soul away for eternal youth and beauty. When it stained her mirror, it morphed it into a powerful magical item, and her eternal prison cell.
When it is looked into, the user makes contact with her bound, tortured soul, reflected in the mirror as a beautiful, tearful, pale phantom that offers you her power.
Roll +CHA. On a 10+, choose 1. On a 7-9, choose 1, but it is fleeting and lasts an hour before it ceases.
-You become a more healthy, young, and beautiful version of yourself. Take a +1 ongoing to charisma.
-You alter your appearance to that of a complete stranger. Any negative Outstanding Warrants have no effect and no one will recognize you unless they know your clothes, demeanor, and (if you speak) voice.
-You are invisible. Only your flesh is affected; if you want the benefits you’ll have to disrobe, and anything you carry remains visible.
-Your appearance becomes so fearsome and frightening that you gain the Terrifying tag.
Any of these effects last until you bathe in liquid, whereupon the illusion washes away from you like ink.
On a 6-, the trapped princess rebelliously changes you into a hideous old crone or ghoul. Take a -1 ongoing to charisma until you bathe.
On a 3-, your appearance is so shocking and unnerving to you that you drop the mirror, and at the GM’s discretion it smashes to the ground. The lady’s soul is finally freed from its glass prison.
Really cool, Alex Davis! I love how you really focus on the fiction. A couple of comments, however. You don’t need to define a 6- for moves, and typically 6- (failure), 7-9 (partial success), 10+ (total success) and occasionally 12+ (super success) are the categorizations, not any distinctions between failures. Comment number two: don’t reference distinct units of time like five minutes. Instead, say “a few moments” or “until their first prey is devoured”. But seriously dude, fantastic job!
Yeah, very cool.
Thanks for the input! I modified things as you suggested and added a new magic item; Put ’em all here to reduce clutter.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/12JGnR0KJPJHp50QXmgHtpyT0QOGPAMk_3x7y9VfecLs/edit
I’d be especially interested in hearing input on the new item’s mechanical effects (the Standard). Should I have a roll like that, or should such an item be more abstracted and subject to fiction?
Why would I wear that thing around my neck? Wont it work otherwise?
I would assume not. I’d even assume that the wearer had to let it dig in so that they contribute blood for the effects.
Hah, yeah. I should make that clear. Without it around your neck the spell won’t work.