So, I could use a little help with this…
The Crown of the Dwarven King:
Found in the sealed vault of a dwarfhold overrun by Derro, the party Wizard (the only member to wear it) has heard it whisper to him when the party lost it for a while. Now he’s reclaimed it again, and as soon as he sobers up, he’ll likely put it on.
But what does it actually do?
Anything known yet about the King?
…to clarify (re-reading your post), I assumed it was found on the body of the former King, which may not be the case at all. Perhaps the better questions would be… was it passed from King to King? Does the current King where a new crown? Of course, non of this may be known yet, but I figured I would ask 😉
Mike Weem the crown was found in the treasure vault. The Derro had not touched it. The only other noteworthy item in the vault was a horrifically dangerously protected puzzle box, containing a secret, and referencing Halflings, Gnomes and Dwarves as that secret’s protectors.
The king is an unknown.
Excellent, so it’s pretty open. One more: What was whispered to the player wearing it when they were all lost?
to be clear, it was the crown, not the characters, which was lost. And it whispered “You want the crown back. You must have the crown back”.
actually, now that I think about it, it might now have been the crown doing the whispering. But clearly the crown does something
Perhaps the crown was enchanted to hold the soul of the dwarven equivalent of Merlin, forever to advise the king and uphold the dwarven customs. (I.e. give him xp to do things that are dwarfish but not necessarily helpful to the party, he can ask the crown for advice, etc)
Gotcha!
Mechanics aside, some things I think of when it comes to crowns (it’s brainstorming time)…
Royalty, Authority, Wealth, Power
And then, considering it is a Dwarven Crown…
Line of a Ruling Family of Dwarves, Symbol of an ancient Dwarven Civilization (perhaps not even worn), Dwarven Treasure Hoard, Intentionally buried artifact of a powerful but hated Dwarven ruler
With those in mind, some really quick ideas…
– It could have no magical properties BUT be worth a lot to a certain family of Dwarves (great future quest and/or reward possibility)
– Again, could have no magical properties, but it’s discovery could usher in a new era (good or bad) for the Dwarven civilization
– It could be the key (literally) to the treasure hoard of a lost Dwarven civilization
– It could be cursed, and lost intentionally. It’s power could be as simple as causing the wearer to make poor decisions – but in the hand of a former king, those decisions were monumentally important, etc
Those quick ideas out of the way, I kind of dig this quick idea I had, so I went into more detail…
False King
This crown was forged at the request of a Dwarf who called himself a King, but who was merely a wealthy merchant. This Dwarf had a stronghold constructed in the Everpeak Mountains, where he “ruled” from his golden throne.
The Dwarf has long been dead, the stronghold overrun with all manor of creatures, but the deed to his lands (the stronghold, and a small amount of land around it) is held by the merchant house he was once partnered with some 100 years ago. His will indicated that whomever possessed the crown would claim ownership of the deed to his home.
The current merchants running the company he was partnered with are more than happy to be rid of the deed, should a possessor to the crown be found – truth is, they’ve nearly forgotten about it. The stronghold lies far from any trade routes, or even any roads as the Dwarf became a hermit in his later years.
Possible magical effects:
-A nose for gold
-Extra digging abilities
-The more he wears it, the stouter he becomes
-And the valuable benefit: doubling his drinking ability
But probably some side-effects:
-His beard grows extra fast
-Wearer really just doesn’t like Elves all that much
-Prone to bursting into song at inappropriate times
But I’d be inclined to go with something psychological… The wizard THINKS it gives magical skills, as a great and powerful dwarf king. But there’s no actual benefit, just something that must be played out until figuring out how to get it to its rightful owner. But why would he want to get it to its rightful owner? He thinks he’s the true king!
Actually, Mike Weem ‘s ideas are way better. Ignore me.
Daniel Peterson Yours are great and in fact could even work with my False King idea (vs it being a non-magical, etc) . Good stuff there 😉
Aww, those are good ideas and here I was thinking “obviously ice powers.”