Magic Items

Arcane Blaster. This twisted rod is unwieldy to the point of being an impediment to the magician using it. It's fitted with flanges and loops of metal up and down the shaft that are vital for focusing energy but render the tool useless as a weapon. Instead it turns unmolded arcane power into a devastating attack. As an action a wielder can expend a spell slot and make an attack roll using their spellcasting ability. This is considered casting a spell, and is a ranged spell attack with a range of 120 ft., which can be modified with the Spell Sniper feat or Distant Spell metamagic.

The attack, if it hits, deals damage based on the spell slot used: a cantrip deals 1d6, 1st and higher does an additional 2d6 per spell level, and a bonus 1d6 of damage for each spell level 6th and higher (3d6 for 1st, 5d6 for 2nd, 7d6 for 3rd, 9d6 for 4th, 11d6 for 5th, 14d6 for 6th, 17d6 for 7th, 20d5 for 8th, and 23d6 for 9th level slots). The damage type is determined when the item is created. Versions exist that focus divine magic as well, though they are much rarer. This item requires attunement by a spellcaster.

Benevolent Rings. Beware strange wizards offering free magic items. A few years ago a magician grew frustrated with the limitations of his body and began concocting a plan to ensure he'd never be at disadvantage again. He enchanted a hundred rings, amulets, bracers, circlets, and the like. Each one had a useful, usually minor feature: rings of sustenance, bracers of armor, what have you. Each also had a minor curse: the wizard could, whenever he wanted, borrow a bit of your physical capability. This imposed a -2 to Str, Dex, or Con, and granted the wizard a +1 to the same score.

Most of the folks that wore these items thought it was actually not that bad a trade-off, so many of the cursed items stayed in circulation. With a hundred out there, as many as half might be active at any given time (resulting in a +16 or so to the wizard's Dex, Str, and Con). The bonuses granted by the "master" ring the wizard wears can't raise his scores above 30, and the "member" items can't reduce a wearer's stat below 1.

Blade of Dismissal. A golden-bladed +1 longsword with designs of abjuration covering the crosstrees and pommel. It has 3 charges, and regains 1d4-1 at midnight. The wielder can cast banishment on striking an enemy, consuming one charge, up to once per turn. The DC is 14, and the wielder can spend an additional charge to increase it to 16, or two additional charges to increase it to 18. When the wielder spends its last charge there is a 1-in-20 chance the sword loses its power and becomes just a normal +1 longsword.

Captain Coussard's Harpoon. A harpoon with a thick haft of oak, almost completely blackened with pitch and tar, it's sticky in the hand. The head is black iron, spotted with rust and salt rime. The point has wicked barbs, and was clearly made as a weapon of war, not hunting. Iron robes the haft for almost two feet back from the point to prevent the haft being broken off, and rather than rope the harpoon trails a slender chain. The chain is, in turn, connected to a heavy gauntlet of leather, backed in panels of iron and fine mail (again, rusted and coated in salt).

When the harpoon is thrown the chains turn a ghostly blue-green (like the sea, yarr) and stretch to whatever distance. Once the point has found a home the chains give a great jerk, retracting. The wielder makes an opposed Str (athletics) check against the target. If the target succeeds they remain where they are and the wielder is drawn to an open space 5 or 10 feet away from the target (if no such space exists, it is whatever space is closest and unoccupied, even if that would be open air or in another hazard). If the target fails this check, they are pulled to a spot 5 or 10 feet from the wielder (again, wielder's choice, and if no unoccupied space exists they end up in the next closest spot). In the case of a tie neither party moves, and the harpoon is dislodged in the shuffle. Either party may opt to fail the check intentionally, moving to their opponent.

Once a target is stuck with the harpoon it stays buried in their flesh, dealing an additional 1d6 damage each round, at the beginning of the injured party's turn. The target, or anyone within reach, may make a Wis (medicine) check DC 12 as an action to remove the harpoon with no additional damage, or may jerk it out forcefully, dealing another 1d6 damage. If the target is an inanimate object treat its Str check as a 10, modified as seems appropriate (eg, a wall can't be moved without a DC 30 check, where a 15-lb crate will always lose a Str check, and a 400-lb statue of a minotaur might be a DC 16).

Chime. These weapons - usually swords - ring like a huge brass bell as they're drawn, then areentirely silent as the strike. Each time the weapon clears the scabbard, there is a mellow boonnngggg, but during combat there's no clicking on armor, no clanging against another blade, not even the swish and whistle of air as it's swung. Targets struck by the weapon must make a DC 12 Charisma saving throw or be incapable of making noise as though in the radius of a silence spell. This effect extends to items they wear or wield, but not to items that they drop or throw. Three times per day the wielder of the chime can cast shatter with a DC of 12. 

Dead Sword. A two-handed blade (acts as a +1 greatsword) that has been killed. The blade in its scabbard is a wreck of rust, burnt steel, and rotted fittings. Through the necromantic arts an artificer created (or found) an intelligent weapon & then killed it. The soul of the sword remains, and can be wielded. Melee attack and damage rolls with this sword use Wisdom rather than Strength, and the damage dealt is necrotic rather than slashing damage.

When wielding it a user appears to reach for the sword, then swing and gesture with nothing but a shimmer in the air - the physical sword and its scabbard remain across the back of the wielder. The weapon is considered invisible until its first successful hit in combat, at which time it can be perceived as a ghostly outline. It becomes more 'real' the more damage it deals, then fades again over time. The sword can be seen by any creature that can perceive ghosts or ethereal objects, that has see invisibility, truesight, blindsight, or similar. If a creature cannot see the sword (e.g., is the target of the sword's first attack) the attack is made with Advantage. This weapon requires attunement.

Devastating Dagger. A long straight-edged dagger with a strong puncturing point, this blade hides its most notable feature: the handle is a solid core of an amber-colored gemstone, wrapped in worn leather. When it strikes an enemy with fewer than 10 hit points left the creature immediately drops to 0 hp - no damage is rolled. If the hit was a critical the creature dies instead of dropping to 0 hp. If the blade strikes a creature already at 0 hp that creature gains 3 "strikes" on its death track (and thus, dies). When a creature is killed by the dagger the handle flashes a bright golden light shining through the grip. These features do not affect creatures without souls - elementals, undead, constructs, summoned creatures; nor angels, devils, demons, nycaloths, etc. unless they are on their home plane.

Dimensional Hobble. This 8-inch iron stake has an emerald cap. When driven into the ground it creates a dimensional anchor for 1 hour, centered on the stake. If the stake is moved more than a foot it loses its power. This is a single-use item.

Drake-smoke Cigarillo. A black, thin cigarillo that smells of cloves, pepper, and woodsmoke. Looks like a clove cigarette, basically. When lit the end snaps and fizzes like a sparkler. As you breathe in it burns, and as you exhale it fumes out as a narrow billow of black smoke with a core of red flame. This is a 15' range single-target attack for 2d6 fire damage. Each cigarillo has 1d4 charges, and after that it becomes too hot to breathe in, and deals its damage to the user. The 1d4 is rolled by the GM in secret, so many users use it once, maaaybe twice, then dispose of it.

Fathom. A spear, precisely six feet from tip to butt, and marked out as though it were a ruler a fathom long. The blade is thin and barbed, as though it were a fishing spear or harpoon. On dry land it's an unremarkable +1 spear. If the spear or wielder are fully submerged in water, however, it becomes a +2 spear of speed, which deals an extra die of damage on critical hits. If the wielder has a swim speed it is increased by 10 ft.​

Fishbowl. The fishbowl is a soccer-ball-sized glass ball with a colorful fish inside. The fish darts and floats. There is no fish, in actuality. It's just a glass ball with an illusion of water and a fish in it, and a little extra enchantment that makes the thing slightly more pleasant, entertaining, and relaxing to look at. Because there aren't really any limits as to what the fish 'is,' there are versions with mechanical goldfish, tiny spirit wisps, skeletal eels, hamsters, faeries, all kinds of pets. The creatures interact a bit with the outside world, making them essentially tamogatchi.

Flying Broom. This could be a broom, or mechanical horse, or enchanted surfboard, etc., whcih has a name. The item's name is also its command word. It behaves when you call it, and has the approximate intellect of and attitude of a dog (usually they're animated by air or earth elementals with an Int of 2 or 3). These names may be inscribed on the items, written on a paired item (like a necklace or bracelet), may be hinted at by a riddle or poem (such as when the item is named after an object or historical figure), or could be known only by the creator (and anyone that casts identify).

Fortune Cards. A deck assembled of many decks. Some playing cards, tattered and foxed; some tarot cards; some tarokka cards borrowed from another plane; some simply scraps of paper or cardboard that have been marked. Many of the cards have drawings and annotations on them in ink or pencil or red ballpoint. The deck doesn’t mind if you don't have a full set, or if you add cards to it. Unlike a deck of many things or deck of illusions it offers no overt magical effects, it's just used for divination and fortune-telling via cartomancy. If you use it as the arcane or divine focus for a Divination spell any numerical effects of the spell are treated as though you were 5 levels higher, to a maximum of level 20 (e.g., percent chances, number of questions, etc.). As well, you gain the ability to use an action to do a reading on a target you can see. Roll a d20. At any time in the next 24 hours when that target makes a d20 roll you can force them to use your roll instead. You must be able to see their attempt to invoke this effect, or be otherwise aware of an action they're taking. This effect can be used only once per 24 hours on a given target. You can not use this effect on yourself, though an ally can use it on you. If ever your substitution of their roll results in the target's death directly (such as by forcing a saving throw to fail) the deck briefly burns bright and then explodes into a cloud of ashes and tattered fragments of paper.

Free-fall Collar. This thin collar of tarnished bronze is perfectly circular, and shaped with whorls and bizarre sigils on its surface. Following them with your eye too closely can give you a headache. Anytime you are in free-fall you can activate the collar as a reaction. It swings off your neck and expands into a portal that is oriented 90 degrees from the ground in a direction of your choice.

Because the momentum of your fall is conserved you are moved 30 ft in that direction, and may have a hard landing. Make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be prone in the square you land in. If you cannot move the full 30 ft because there is a barrier, you take 1d6 'falling damage' for each full 10 ft you were unable to move (e.g., if you move 15 ft and meet a barrier you take 1d6; if you open the portal immediately next to a wall you take 3d6). If the barrier is fragile or soft - like furniture or a thin door - you may break through it or deal equal damage to it at the GM's discretion. If the barrier is a creature it must make a DC 15 Str saving throw or be knocked prone. Even if you meet a barrier you must make your Dex saving throw or be prone.

Ghost Revolver. Found in the tomb of some powerful mage or a king maybe, resting by its hand, this is a large revolver that appears to be made of glass. It is totally transparent, as are the bullets, but it feels like iron with a pearl hand grip. Because of the transparency it's hard to tell how many bullets are left in it (roll 1d6). The revolver can shoot ghosts and other entities on the ethereal plane. It can't harm anything or anyone on the material plane, and doesn't confer any ability to see onto the ethereal plane, so it's a real risk firing the damn thing.

Grand Slammer. This warhammer has five glass or crystal beads set into each side of its head. When it strikes an enemy in combat (that means not rats or commoners) it gains 1 charge. A wielder can spend 5 charges to deal an extra 5d8 force damage on a hit. The hammer loses 1 charge per minute, starting the round after it last struck an enemy. When the hammer gains a charge a bead lights up. When they are spent there is a flash and the hammer sheds bright light in 10 ft until the beginning of the wielder's next turn.

Halbird. This polearm has a head and blade carved to look like a falcon with spread wings, the outer edge of the wing making up the edge of the blade. With a command word the bird can be launched from the end of the polearm toward an enemy, animating and attacking. It returns shortly thereafter, at the beginning of the wielder's next turn. The weapon is a +1 halberd, and can be used to launch the steel hawk up to 120 ft, in which case the polearm strikes as a +1 quarterstaff until the beginning of the wielder's next turn. While aloft the bird attacks twice with an attack bonus of +3, dealing 2d4+1 slashing on a successful hit. The bird counts as a magical weapon, even while separated from the halberd. The bird has an AC of 15, 20 hit points, and a Strength of 10 while separated from the weapon.

Hatred. A great two-handed hammer like a sledge, with inscriptions of curses and recriminations carved all over the thick octagonal haft. The wielder can use an action to bestow a Curse of Weakness on a creature they can see within 60 ft. The curse lasts for 1 minute, during which the target has vulnerability to bludgeoning damage. If the wielder of Hatred uses the Curse on another target the first instance immediately ends.

Holy Blade. These unique swords are rarely anything to look at, but their powers are exceptional. They ignore resistances, immunity, and armor. Attack rolls are made against a flat DC instead: 10 + the target's Dex bonus + any force effect, class ability bonus, etc.; no armor or magic bonuses. These swords are usually +1 longswords. Some are also bane to fiends and/or the undead.

Hound of Armis. A well-used, but sharpened longsword. Looks very much like a common soldier's sword: straight-bladed, sharpened on both edges, brown leather grip, brass crosstrees and pommel, pommel molded into the shape of two hounds facing opposite directions. The blade is worn down on one side and resharpened at a stone until fragile. Chips and dents mark the length of it. The sword is mildly cursed. The sword was made by a smith that memorialized his favorite dogs, and there is a glimmer of sentience to the weapon. It can't communicate verbally, but does understand most things, and can express emotion like a dog might. It misses most nuances and metaphor, like it was a particularly smart dog.

The bearer is cursed with a hound-like dedication to a cause - whatever their chosen cause is, they now pursue it single-mindedly and with fawning affection for their superiors. The sword's magic also grants the ability to track (like scent, but magical like locate creature.  Also grants a favored enemy effect when pursuing the wielder's goal, and a +1 enchantment when acting to further that goal. Wielder has disadvantage on Insight vs. Persuasion and Deception, and on saving throws vs. charm effects.

Key Axe. It is what it sounds like: an axe shaped like a long-handled cleaver with large shapes carved out of the blade. The wielder can tap the axe against a door to cast knock 3 times per day. The axe's bearer can also cast freedom of movement once per day. The axe has a +1 enchantment as well. This weapon is paired with the Shield-lock.

Laden Jar. Laden Jars are the common name for sorcery point batteries, referring to them being laden with magical potential. The jars are usually hardened ceramic filled with alchemical reagents and sporting a few contact points of mithril. They can store one or more sorcery points, which can be accessed by those with access to sorcery points to cast spells or apply metamagic. The size indicates their potential: a single point jar might be the size of a hand, two might be a drinking vessel, three might be a small chest, and four might be a massive urn. Five or more wouldn't really be mobile.

Characters that do not have access to sorcery points may still be able to tap a Laden Jar with education. Monks can use sorcery points to power their ki abilities, wizards can convert them into spell slots, paladins can use them to fuel a smite. The attempt requires an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC based on how different the sorcery points are from the user's field of magic (e.g., wizards have little trouble, while a monk might be very challenged).

Characters can gain proficiency in Laden Jars if they choose to spend the time. Sorcerers can access the Jar as part of casting a spell, so long as it's held or touched. Wizards and bards can use an action to recover spell slots. Other users need a minute to access the Jar.

Last Hope. A suicide run disguised as a huge two-handed falchion, treated as a +1 greatsword. This sword comes with a terrible curse, but provides immense power. That power is fueled by the life force of the wielder: upon attunement (a one-minute process involving silent meditation and drawing blood from the wielder's own arm/palm/whatever) the wielder begins to lose 1 max hp at the end of every round. This cannot be prevented except by a wish spell (which renders the sword a +1 greatsword) or remove curse (which requires a caster check vs DC 30, and breaks the attunement). While attuned the sword is a +3 greatsword that provides advantage on saves vs magic, 2 uses of indomitable (as fighter ability), and gains you 10 temp hp on downing an enemy.

Liar's Lament. A chain, sometimes called Liar's Lament, which is worn around the neck. It starts out hung like a loose necklace, but constricts if the wearer lies. Each time it draws a little tighter, until eventually the wearer suffocates. The chain acts as a very localized zone of truth with a DC of 15, and it further has a passive Wis (insight) score of 20. Anyone that it detects lying has their maximum hp reduced by 1d4 as long as they wear the chain. A few lies can kill a common person, while a stout warrior might survive a dozen lies as the chain digs deeper into their necks. The tightening of the chain is obvious to observers. There's a story that the chains are based on five legendary creations forged by Bahamut to stop Tiamat's lies, which can't be fooled (DC 30 and passive 30).

Magister's Many-Pocket Robe. A red robe, tightly covered in designs embroidered into and dyed into the silk. Capacious interior pockets sewn with accordion sides and bottoms allow the carrying of many knick-knacks without showing on the outside (barring really heavy or strangely shaped stuffs). The designs are reminiscent of Russian sorta Cossack patterns. The robe functions as a bag of holding, and as a spell component pouch. It is also +1 armor, in which the wearer is considered proficient.

Mercy. An executioner's sword: a five-foot-long blade with a square, dull tip and tremendous weight. Along the blade is marked the inscription "When I raise this sword, so I hope this sinner shall receive eternal life." This weapon is treated as a greatsword that does two additional dice of damage on a successful strike against an incapacitated or restrained target. Attacks with this weapon are made with disadvantage due to its weight and blunted end. If this weapon reduces a humanoid creature to 0 hp it dies immediately, and its soul is sent to the Mounting Heavens of Celestia, no matter where it was previously bound. Asmodeus has been seeking this weapon for some time - too many broken contracts and souls have slipped out of his hands.

Mind-Knife. a type of blade controlled by the user's thoughts. Designed by psychics, for psychics. Clearly not meant to be used hand-to-hand - it has no guard, is unbalanced, and the grip is awkward to hold. It moves up to 60 ft each round, requires an action to command, and cannot move farther than 120 ft from its wielder. If it is moved outside that range it immediately falls to the ground, immobile until the wielder touches it again (though it remains attuned). If the wielder can make multiple attacks, or make attacks as bonus actions, they can use the knife to do so: it functions in almost all ways like a melee weapon.

Aside from flying at range, the other major difference is that the knife uses the wielder's Int bonus for attacks and damage. If an enemy attacks the weapon its AC is 13 + the wielder's Int bonus, and it has 25 hp. It uses the wielder's ability checks against attempts to disarm, grapple, etc. the weapon.

Miskul Family Journals. A dog-eared and well-used set of slim 9" x 12" journals with soft leather covers in different shades, this shelf of journals has been passed down from parent to child among the scions of the Miskul family for 5 generations. On reading the whole collection (a course of study taking a month of dedicated work, or a year of casual reading) the character reading it gains +2 to Int, +1 to Wis, +1 to Con and +1 to Str. Each generation of Miskuls add their own findings, practices, advice, stories, and anything else they require. Upon finishing their entries (at least ten years of adult life experience) the journals gain the ability to add another +1 to whichever stat was the highest among the most recent writer's stats. In this way the Miskuls add their strength to the next generation.

Ooze Dust. A dehydrated ooze, like a black jelly or gelatinous cube. It is usually presented in a waxed brown paper packet, from a few ounces to a pound, depending on the size of the ooze. Add a gallon of water and voila, an ooze appears in 1 minute.

The Oscar for "A Lonesome Cry". Awarded for best supporting to an actor that later committed suicide as a result of the film's legacy (its message, or what happened to her on set, or a troubled family life). The production was famously 'cursed', and a number of supporting actors, costumers, stunt actors, techs, etc. all died in bizarre accidents. The statue brings terrible bad luck to anyone that owns it, but also brings a level of fame and a fascinating, compelling presence. Owners become magnetic, dramatic, tragic figures that everyone must watch as their lives implode and end in tragedy.

Piodn's Toolbox. A simple staff of carved hardwood, this style has become popular among elven adventurers - as well as librarians, researchers, politicians, and etc. The staff has a number of simple spells that come in handy often enough to be useful, but not so often you might want to memorize or learn them. The staff also typically features enough blank space to carve additional runes totaling 5 spell levels (so 5 1st-levels, 2 2nds & a 1st, etc.). The 'base model' usually has: Tenser's floating disk, levitate, unseen servant, comprehend languages, and detect magic. Lv-1 spells cost 1 charge, 2nd cost 3, and the staff has 10 charges, regaining 1d6 + 4 each morning.

Runix Cube. A small cube of stone three inches on a side, with each side separated into nine panels (a total of 54 squares on the cube). Each side can be turned, with the center tile on each side remaining stationary. Every tile has a small rune carved into it. By turning the sides a mage can create different rune combinations, then feed power into the cube to cast spells or produce effects. There are millions of possible rune combinations, but most are "dead" combinations that are magically inert. Those that are effective require practice and knowledge.

A mage with a Runix Cube can make an Int (Arcana) check DC 20 and spend 1 minute twisting the cube to create one of the combinations below. They can then feed a spell slot into it to cast the appropriate effect. (Insert table; randomized columns for range, level, duration, effect, and specific spells).

Second Fiddle. This simply-carved violin is beautiful more for its quality than its decoration. It has a wonderful tone and acts as a fine example of its kind, never goes out of tune, never needs much more than casual care. However, it really shines when played as accompaniment. Whenever played alongside another performer treat all Performance or Strings rolls as 10s. The other performer gains advantage on Performance or instrumental rolls when backed by the Second Fiddle.

Shield-lock. a badge-shaped kite shield with an oversized brass keyhole on the face. The bearer can cast arcane lock 3 times per day, as well as hold person once a day. It is a +1 shield. This shield is paired with the Key Axe. If the axe is inserted into the keyhole and turned the bearer is polymorphed into an iron golem for 1 minute. This power does not require concentration, and can be activated no more often than once per week.

Spellbook Staff. A staff made for a small wielder, probably a gnome, that could be carried like a switch or a scepter by a human. It deals 1d4 damage, like a fire giant musperule, if used to swat someone. The staff is of good aged oak, maybe salvaged from a beer barrel, bound with hammered brass caps on each end. The item was made by a gnommish illusionist to help guard against mistakes made while preparing his spells. The staff acts like a backup spellbook for a prepared caster using it. The caster can, after attuning, scribe up to 10 levels of spells on it (so, e.g., 2 level 4 spells and one level 2 spell; or one level 4, one level 3, one level 2, and one level 1; or any other combination that adds up to ten). These must be spells the caster knows, and the process of scribing them is just like filling pages in a spellbook, except that there's no material cost. The caster does not need to inscribe all the spells at once. Once a spell is on the staff it can be accessed later.

The caster can, once a day, swap out a spell they prepared for one on the staff while casting. So a caster with invisibility on the staff but not prepared that day could nevertheless cast it. This does not change the spell they prepared that morning, just allows the caster to access it once without having it prepared. The scribed spells are not visible to anyone but the caster - they are covered up by an illusion, and only visible if attuned to the staff. When a new caster attunes to the staff the old markings on it are wiped clear, preparing it for a new owner.

Spellthief Blade. Spellthief blades are daggers, swords, and similar that have kregora channels cut into them cunningly. On a critical hit that deals damage the target loses one of their highest spell-slots. That spell (roll randomly for which prepared or known spell it is) moves into the blade, where it can be cast once as if from a wand. A light weapon can hold one spell, a one-handed weapon two, and a heavy/two-handed weapon three. If the weapon crits when it's 'full' it swaps its highest-level held spell for one stolen from the target. This can result in a target having a spell prepared (and the slot to cast it) that's not on their class's list.

Steel Staff. a mage's staff six feet tall, made entirely of metal. It should weigh a hundred pounds, but the enchantments wrapped around it make it almost jump off the ground, giving it a light, unpredictable feel in the hands. Takes well to charges of electrical, magnetic, gravitic (force, telekinesis, etc.), and earth magics. In addition to normal stave powers it can be enchanted to serve as the holding place for an earth elemental, as a gem of elemental binding. The mage must form a magic circle, cast a planar binding, and can then use the staff aa the focus for the binding of the creature. When released the staff disgorges the elemental. While the elemental is bound in it, the staff moves and writhes, acting as a +1 staff that offers advantage to Str (athletics) checks to grapple, shove, or resist such moves.

Thorncord. A length of vine blight separated from the bulk of it, thorncords look almost like gray leather braids or cords studded with tiny hooks and needles. When applied to a user's arm, thigh, or torso it latches on and begins to cut and pierce, dealing 1 point of damage at the end of the user's turn for 1 minute (10 rnds). It grows more and more red each second. This item can be used to torture or harm, but because it requires skin contact and time is not a very effective weapon. More commonly it's used by berserkers to preserve their anger in combat. The cord can be taken off when it's done 'feeding,' or with a DC 10 Wisdom (medicine) check, or destroyed with 3 pts of slashing damage.

Torch Gauntlet. A cestus or gauntlet covered all over in small red scales, like a snakeskin. A careful observer might guess that they're taken from a young drake or dragon... The wearer gains 2 ki points. The wearer also gains the ability to use the monk ability Fangs of the Fire Snake (from the Way of the Elements). The air all around the glove ripples with heat and smells of burnt air. The wearer can expend 1 ki point to have the gauntlet light on fire like a torch for 1 hour. The flame from the torch does not harm the wearer, but does burn anything held in that hand.

Writing Desk. An animated roll-top writing desk that takes dictation automatically, as well as doing basic filing, mailing, and other secretarial work. The desk can also be targeted by sending, message, and similar spells, taking down the missive and even then mailing it onward to another destination. This item does not require attunement, but must be 'keyed' to a specific user by spending an hour adjusting settings and fiddling with knobs and providing a sample of handwriting. Unusually, the desk can also be keyed to a specific room or organization, allowing anyone that uses it on behalf of that organization to take advantage of the desk.

The Ammo Box. A tall and slender wooden case, which opens like a cabinet set upright. Inside are 30 arrows, all crafted of the same marbled brown-and-blonde wood, all tipped with similarly shaped and sized arrowheads of gleaming steel. The fletching, however, is different on each one – often colored brightly, and with a small character dyed into the feathers.

Each arrow is an arrow of slaying for some type of creature; the only one not represented is “humanoid, elf”. Each arrow is also held in place by a small leather strap, and each arrow tip is covered with a blob of soft wax and clay, to keep it from nicking anyone. Market price: 68,460 gp

Kirsil’s Last Hope. Kirsil was a bard who gained immortality through his stories and songs. Literally, he devised a way to stay alive for as long as anyone remembered him and sang his odes once a year. Since Kirsil had written hundreds of songs, and popularized them himself, he lived for quite a few years past his appointment with Death.

Noting this, the Crystal Scribes of Mechanus dispatched one of the Marut Inevitables to dispatch the errant bard. Kirsil was able to detect the coming of the massive construct, and escaped in time to avoid his fate. However, he knew that the Inevitable was exactly as dedicated and persistent as the name implied. Unable to get to another plane (his spell only collected the stories told on this existence), Kirsil knew he would have to defeat the creature – and hopefully turn it into a story to prolong his legend.

Kirsil commissioned an item from a spellcaster of immense power, something to kill the implacable creature after him. Promising to come back for it in one year’s time, Kirsil left to lead the Marut on a merry chase. He never returned from his trip, though his death is as yet unconfirmed.

Kirsil’s Last Hope is a +4 Anarchic Construct Bane Short Sword, which, when used against an Inevitable, has the added effect of forcing them to ‘reset’ the bearer’s wrongdoings. Should an Inevitable be struck by Kirsil’s Last Hope, the bearer makes a level check against a DC of 30. If he succeeds, the Crystal Scribes somehow lose their records, and the Inevitable is called off the chase, as are any other Inevitables that might be looking for him. This works against Zelekhut, Marut and Kolyarut Inevitables only.

The sword has, over time, developed an intelligence and personality similar to its commissioner’s: the blade is blithe and arrogant, and always charming. While not terribly intelligent, the sword has a perfect memory for songs, poems, riddles and anything relating to entertainment. Barring threats or magic, the sword will almost constantly reminisce and recite to its wielder. This allows the sword to make bardic knowledge checks with a bonus of +11, though whether or not he shares it with his wielder is up to question.

Kirsil’s Last Hope: +4 anarchic construct bane short sword; AL CN; Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 18; Speech, sight and hearing; Ego score 15

Balobob’s Mistake (or, the Efreeti’s Ring). Of the many rings treasured by adventurers, few are as helpful and sought-after as the Ring of Djinni Calling. Able to summon one of the genies it is named after, this manner of ring has helped build palaces; scout dangerous caves full of treasure; and has been the force behind many adventures. The secret behind the ring is that they are fairly simple to make.

All it takes to make a Ring of Djinni Calling is the ability to cast Gate and a bit of time and effort on the part of a spellcaster. While forging the ring, the caster forces it to assume properties sympathetically linked to the gate it holds.

Many years ago, a young wizard named Balobob got it into his head that he ought bend his magical might toward the task of creating a Ring of Djinni Calling, and assembled the required ingredients and tools. The most important tool he needed was a copy of Galeru’s Names of Power, a compendium of extraplanar creatures and their true names, commonly used for binding, summoning and the like. Looking up the names of several prominent but not-too-powerful djinn, Balobob began the ritual. Unfortunately, the scribe who copied this particular text had made a miscalculation; the djinni who was being called, El’Rahaaz, was not a djinni at all, but an efreeti.

The efreet are known for their hatred of being bound, and being one of the six great pashas of the efreet, who deal with all efreet business on the Material Plane, El’Rahaaz was an even poorer candidate for binding into a Ring of Calling. Balobob didn’t realize until after the completion of the Ring what he’d done, and when he put it on and tried it out, the very irate El’Rahaaz emerged from within, promptly changed Balobob into a midget and branded him, and then vanished once more.

Balobob threw the Ring away, not knowing whether its destruction would injure or aggravate El’Rahaaz, and retired from item-making, though he continues his work as a researcher of bodily transformation to this day. The Ring now sits at the bottom of a lake, near Balobob’s original laboratory. The Ring functions just as a normal Ring of Djinni Calling, except that it summons El’Rahaaz the Efreeti Pasha (who is described below).

El'Rahaaz is an efreeti with maximum hp and the following gear:

Summer, El’Rahaaz’s Crystal Lenses, El’Rahaaz’s City of Brass Pass, 2000 gp, 16 small stone carvings (his own work) worth about 600 gp apiece, and ‘gifts’: horseshoes of the zephyr, an elixir of hiding, an elixir of sneaking, a hand of the mage, lesser bracers of archery, amulet of mighty fists +1, a tan bag of tricks and a cloak of the manta ray

Summer is a +2 flaming bastard sword which El’Rahaaz wields one-handed. She (he is very particular about his sword’s gender) is intelligent, and lawful neutral (Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 12). Summer also possesses the ability to illuminate any invisible beings within 200’ as a free action which she can undertake without advice from her wielder. This outlines any invisible creatures in a yellow halo, though it does not illuminate inanimate objects, the undead or constructs.

El’Rahaaz’ Crystal Lenses are a pair of oversized (Large sized, of course) crystal spectacles held with gold wire and a pair of green jade nose-pads. The Lenses act as a Ring of X-Ray Vision, Eyes ofCharming, and of course let him read fine print. The Lenses also provide a user eidetic memory in terms of vision – anything El’Rahaaz sees or reads can be remembered and ‘replayed’ perfectly for up to a month.

El’Rahaaz’s City of Brass Pass is the green jade neck ornament he wears. The small tablet informs readers of his status among the efreeti, his office location and hours of operation, and that he is granted leave to travel wherever and do whatever by the Sultan. The Pass grants El’Rahaaz a +4 bonus against any effect that would force him back to his home plane (such as dismissal or banishment), and acts as a Ring of Counterspelling, into which he has had a wizard cast banishment.

El’Rahaaz is a towering figure, even for the efreeti. Standing some 13 feet tall, his breadth is truly what sets him apart from his fellows. With arms like tree trunks and a chest shaped like an actual chest, he is an imposing figure. His horns are trimmed to a point and capped with gold, and more gold lays across his chest in broad chains hanging down to his navel. The necklaces and horn-caps both glow a dull red from the heat of his skin. Hanging from a pair of shorter, finer chains about his neck are a pair of crystal spectacles and a large oblong green jade pendant.

El’Rahaaz is not just gruff, but infuriated when summoned. While he must obey his summoner for one hour, he must obey only ONE rule, and often this rule is “Don’t hurt me!” As soon as the hour is up, El’Rahaaz vanishes in a choking cloud of sulfur and hot iron filings.

Despite this demeanor, El’Rahaaz is quite a reasonable genie; he is simply a very, very busy being. If offered help in his tasks, El’Rahaaz will consider bestowing a wish on his summoner, or perhaps simply a favor on tap. He holds a great deal of power in the Sultan’s court, and is able to have strings pulled in return for some help on the Material Plane.

As one of the pashas of the Material Plane, El’Rahaaz splits his time evenly between ‘home’, in the City of Brass, and ‘work’, on the prime Material. His duties in the Material Plane include seeing to commerce between the plane and the City, making sure that not too many genies are being summoned and kept, and keeping an eye on the holdings of the City of Brass. Recent events have made him more irritable than usual, but also more open to the idea of help from mortals.

The Lost Ship. The stories of the Illithidae are rarely (never) told to other creatures, for a simple reason. The Illithidae are afraid of what might happen if the other creatures know about them. The mind flayers are beings from a far-distant future in which all of the suns have burned out, and all of the magic is gone from the world.

As the universe was ending, the mind flayers made a plan to go back in time, buying their elder brains yet more time to contemplate a way around the ending of the universe. This had the additional setback that they would need to repopulate the universe with themselves and reconstruct their great empire, but it was considered necessary.

In their travels back in time, the mind flayers took 2,114 ships. Of those two-thousand and change, all but one were accounted for as either crashed or landed and used to create a hive. Those that crashed were destroyed as completely as possible, so that no other race would have access to the time-traveling technology of the end of days. Those that landed were dismantled and turned into pools for the elders, and homes for the people.

The only one unaccounted for is the Lost Ship. Theorists suggest that it may have gone astray in its calculations, not going back in time far enough. If this is the case, then it will ‘pop’ out of the timestream at some point in the future. There is a group of illithidae who are waiting for just that, so that they can assure its destruction or transformation into a hive.

Anyone who found the Lost Ship would have unimaginable power; the ships were designed to go only backwards, but nonetheless time travel is a powerful tool. However, any non-illithid who found it would immediately be hunted by all mind flayers: every last one’s existence hangs in the balance of that ship.

Unfortunately for the mind-flayers, the ship is deserted except for an elder brain barely able to finish its travels. A strange psychic plague struck the ship mid-travel, and slowly eliminated every living being inside. The elder brain proved immune, but alone was unable to pilot the ship, and expended its last energies trying anyway.

The ship crash-lands on the Prime material plane, empty but for bodies and uneaten brains. Emergency procedures allow the ship to be pried open from the outside, though the material it’s made of is tough (hardness 20, with 15 hp per inch of thickness, 24 inches thick).

The ship itself is massive, as large as a city of 50,000. The shape is purely spherical, making it appear as a small moon of 3 miles across (1.45 mile radius). The sphere, from the outside, seems like nothing at all – simply a dull gray, cratered with divots. However, the inside is different, with 27,000 square miles of usable space, all centered around a hanging globe in the middle in which sits the elder brain. The engines of the ship are designed to convert the psychic power of all of its inhabitants into motive power. It requires at least 10,000 psionically active creatures (psions, wilders or similar of 5th level), and an elder brain to direct it.

The ship can travel backwards in time only, and through space instantaneously (as though affected by a greater teleport or plane shift at will, with no range limits). Up to 50,000 mainly humanoid creatures can comfortably live inside the sphere for 50 years (approximately the length of time it takes to time-travel from the end of the universe to the beginning).

The Glarong Tools. This collection of items derives its name from the location that they were unearthed, Glarong field. The Tools are not actual tools, but magical weapons and armor. They include the Glarong Staff, the Glarong Axe, the Glarong Shield and the Glarong Helm. All of the items are ancient and made of some type of wood.

None of the items are affected by magic attempts to dispel or weaken them, and none of them appear to detect magic or arcane sight, though true sight reveals images of living wood, great battles and half-hidden faces around them. The spell identify does not function 90% of the time on these items.

The Glarong Staff: The Gralong staff is a six-foot tall, straight piece of mellow brown wood, carved all over with runes and symbols. The staff is continually warm and gives off a very quiet hum when in use. When nicked, cut or otherwise damaged, the staff glows icy blue around the wound and regenerates at a rate of one hit point an hour.

The use of the staff is combative. On a mental command, the staff projects a lance of lightning to a single target. The blast does 1d6 points of electricity damage with a successful ranged touch attack, and is accurate up to 200 feet. This is not a strange use for a magical item; what is strange is that anyone can use it, from a mage to a mason, and even a child. The second bizarre element of the staff is that it functions inside an antimagic field. Dispel attempts do nothing to the staff, and it is even immune to areas of dead magic and a Mordenkainen’s Disjunction. The staff simply operates, anytime, anywhere, for an unlimited number of uses.

The Glarong Axe: The second item is an axe made of the same dark wood as the staff, blade and all. The wooden blade seems to hold an edge, and still had an edge when found in Gralong field. The axe, like the staff, is etched all over with runes and symbols that press into the hands of its wielder. Also like the staff, the axe is seemingly invulnerable, regenerating one hit point every hour when damaged. The enchantment on the axe is of strength: any person who subdues a foe in a life-or-death situation gains a temporary point of Strength.

The axe is quite picky about what constitutes a life-and-death battle. It must be a situation in which there is a very real chance of the wielder dying, and the wielder must have lost blood (in game terms, the CR of the creature or situation must be equal to the characters level + 1, and the character must have taken at least ¼ of his total hit points in damage).

For each foe subdued by surrender or death, the user of the axe gains a point of Strength, to a maximum of +20. This is counted as a magical enhancement bonus. This bonus lasts until the wielder willingly surrenders to a foe (being knocked unconscious or killed has no effect), or until the axe leaves his possession (through thievery, sale, gift or loss). If the axe leaves his possession, the wielder loses the temporary Strength bonus, and may never wield the axe again; in his hands, it’s simply a keen battleaxe.

The abilities of the axe cannot be cancelled out by antimagic fields, disjunctions, dead magic or the like, exactly as the staff. The bonus to strength remains, as does the axe’s keenness.

The Glarong Shield: A small, round wooden shield spotted with sigils, glyphs and runes, the Glarong shield is a single piece of carven wood. The shield is sized for a large arm and hand, with the handle and grip on the back also carved with runes. If ever struck hard enough to do damage, the shield regenerates at a rate of one hit point per hour.

The shield makes it feel as though blows directed at it are nothing. The shield seems to resist attempts to move it not made by the bearer. The ease of turning blows gives the shield an abnormally high bonus to AC against attacks. A side effect of this is that bull rush attempts, overruns, tramples and any other attack that tries to push back or push down the bearer are strongly opposed by the shield itself. When using the Glarong shield against these attempts, the bearer is treated as having a Strength of 50 (+20 bonus).

The Glarong Helm: The last item in the set is a tall wooden helm, shaped something like a cone with a flat top sloped backward. The helm is, like the axe and shield, all of one piece, and is sized for a large head. Like the other items, the helm is carved all over with small runes and sigils, and like the other items it retains its strange power in antimagic zones and when targeted with dispelling effects. Like the other Glarong artifacts, the Helm regenerates one hit point per hour when damaged.

The helm grants its wearer fast healing 1, as well as bestowing a single temporary hit point on its wearer for every time the wearer spares a surrendering foe. If an enemy that would significantly threaten the wearer (that is, a situation or enemy with a CR of the wearer’s level + 1) is overcome, and the wearer spares the lives of all involved, he gains one temporary hit point. This hit point lasts until the wearer loses, gives away, or sells the helm. Like the axe, the helm is very discriminating in what fulfills its requirements.

If the wearer not only spares the lives of his enemies, but aids them (with healing, food or reparations for the battle), he gains 1d4 hit points. Like most temporary hit points, the character loses these first, but unlike other temporary hit points, they may be regained through healing. In effect, the character increases his hp maximum through the use of the shield. The maximum bonus from this ability is a hundred hit points.

The Alfr: Altogether, the Glarong tools are a powerful arrangement. The tools were crafted long before elven civilization grew up, when the elves were still barbarian warriors that worshipped loosely-defined deities of sky and sea and earth. They must be all together to activate their greatest power. As a full set, worn and wielded by one person, the tools call up the memories and ghosts of the ancient elves that created them.

The character holding all of them is instantly blown out of his own body (no save), and becomes a ghost (MM 117) who is tied to (and haunts) the Glarong tools. The body is taken over by an amalgamation of all of the ancient elves who wielded the tools, called the Alfr. In game effects, the Alfr is a 20th level elven paragon barbarian with a chaotic neutral alignment.

The Alfr is comprised almost entirely of mismatched memories from ten thousand years ago, but in other ways is much like a mortal being. Thus, he will probably emerge from his ‘awakening’ confused and angry, and begin laying about with the weapons. His primary motivation is to survive and propagate the elven race. In a day and age when the elves are well off enough on their own, his aim becomes to advance the elven race above the others in a campaign of conquest and extermination, with the goal of an all-elven world.

Should the Alfr ever fall in battle (reduced to 0 hit points), there is a chance for the ghost of the most recent wielder to reassume control of the body. This contest of wills is represented by an opposed Wisdom check between the ghost and the Alfr. The winner assumes control of the body.

Should the ghost (previous wielder) win the attempt to control the body, he has 1d10 rounds to rid himself of at least one of the Glarong tools before the Alfr returns. Should he successfully lose, give away or sell one of the items, he retains control of the body (an elven paragon body). Treat this like a polymorph spell with a permanent duration.

Further, the ghost is aware of the Alfr that waits for all of the tools to be together. Each tool is counted as an intelligent item with the following statistics: AL CN; Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 16; telepathy; Ego score 12 (staff), 13 (shield), 16 (helm), 16 (axe). Should a character possess more than one item, the more dominant (higher Ego) takes over, and adds 3 to its Ego score for each other item in the set. So, for example, the staff and shield together have an Ego score of 16 (Shield 13 plus 3 for the staff), and the full set has a score of 25 (16 axe plus 3 each for the helm, shield and staff).

A character who has not gathered all of the items together remains unaware of the Alfr, and does not need to contest the Ego of his item.

The Glarong Staff (quarterstaff): damage 1d6/1d6, critical x2, 7 lbs, bludgeoning, hardness 25, hp 25

The Glarong Axe (battleaxe): damage 1d8, critical x3, 6 lbs, slashing, hardness 25, hp 25

The Glarong Shield (light wooden shield): +5 AC bonus, -1 armor check penalty, 5% spell fail chance, 6 lbs, hardness 25, hp 40

The Glarong Helm: wearer ignores any called shots or criticals to the head 50% of the time, hardness 25, hp 25

The Reversible Robe. The Reversible Robe is a strange artifact in that it’s often one nobody wishes to use. The Robe itself is a large half-circle of silk, more a cape than a robe. The clasp that holds it on is made of old blackened iron, and on one side shows a large circle of gold. On the other side is a silver diamond shape. On one side of the cape, the silk is black with red lining, and on the other it’s white with blue lining.

The Reversible Robe was originally created by a wizard who was weak, timid, and homosexual. He was continually punished by society for his flaws, as he was an awful gossip and had no socially redeeming qualities. In a fit of self-loathing he set out to create an item that would change him into something completely opposite: charming, brave, strong, straight and popular. What he got was the Reversible Robe.

The purpose of the Reversible Robe is to completely change the person wearing it, and then change them back. When donned for the first time, the cape flips itself about dependent on the alignment of the character wearing it; if it’s a good person, the white side and golden circle show. If the character is evil, the black side and the silver diamond show. Neutral characters suffer an immediate splitting of their personality into good and evil, and it’s 50/50 which side shows first. This splitting can be resisted with a DC 20 Will save, in which case the cape simply unclasps and slips to the floor.

The Robe creates a double of the character, who only appears when the cape is turned over to its opposing side. The double is the same race and level as the original, as well as sharing her chaos/law alignment, but in every other way is opposite. The double’s goals are opposite, her scores and feats and skills all change, as does her class. Gender may switch or may not; it’s a 50/50 chance. In effect, the first time a character puts on the Robe, she creates an entirely new person out of thin air, who only emerges when the Robe is turned.

It takes a standard action to flip the cape over and ‘trade places’ with a character’s double. When this is done, the character disappears, and her double takes her place, wearing all the same clothing, armor and items as the original. This state persists until the Robe is flipped again, bringing back the original character.

While inactive (that is, nonexistent), a character cannot be located by spells such as locate creature. True seeing, mind probe, and similar spells also do not reveal the hidden character. In effect, nothing short of a wish or miracle can detect that the character even exists, and even those spells cannot bring her back. The only ways to bring a character back are to flip the robe (thus banishing the double) or to destroy the Robe magically (by using Mordenkainen’s disjunction). Magically destroying the Robe reestablishes the original, and the double is forever trapped. If the Robe is destroyed mundanely, the character who is present is all that remains; the flipside is gone.

The double created by the Robe is, in all ways, a real person. She cannot be dispelled, disjuncted, dismissed or otherwise banished. She can be killed (in which case, both characters die). The double has her own goals, habits, and preferences, though she retains the original’s memories (but thinks that they are her own).

Players should work with their DMs to produce someone who is the “evil twin” (though they need not be a lookalike) of the character. The table below lists some likely changes to class, though DMs and players are encouraged to get creative. For example, a warlock character whose specialty is escaping may have a rogue as a double, whose specialty is locks and tracking down criminals.                   

Ioun Stars. These tiny rocks appear as normal, though extremely heavy, ioun stones, with a pearly white coloration. A bit of examination, though, shows that it is not one of the usual iouns stones, and at intermittent intervals it flashes with light beneath the outer skin of the stone. Ioun stars come in sets of six when created. The stars orbit around their wearer’s head, just like ioun stones (and have the same AC, hardness and hit points). Ioun stars can be used in a number of ways, each of which is dependent on how many ioun stars the wearer owns.

All of the following effects are activated by a thought (treat as a command word), taking a swift action and provoking no attacks of opportunity.

Defense of Falling Stars: The stars begin to whirl and whip around the wearer’s head and body, knocking away projectiles. This functions as though the wearer had the feat deflect arrows, and could deflect a number of arrows each round equal to the number of stars he controls. This effect lasts for one minute, and at the end of the minute one of the stars becomes useless, as though it were a dull gray ioun stone. The burned out star no longer counts as one of the ioun stars for purposes of determining the stars’ effects.

Blinding Rays of the Stars: The ioun stars begin to flash brighter than usual, and one of them emits a blindingly bright light. The owner of the Star is immune to this effect, but all others in a radius must make a Reflex save or be blinded for one minute. The radius is equal to 10 feet per star, and the Reflex save is equal to 10+the number of stars. Those who successfully make the save are still at a -4 to all visual checks (such as Spot or Search) and at -2 for all attacks for one minute. This action burns out a single one of the stars, which thereafter acts as a dull gray ioun stone, and no longer counts as a star for purposes of determining effects.

Nova: A single star splits off from the pack to target a single creature or object. With a quick glow and flash, the star bursts, dealing 3d8 points of fire damage to everything within 10 feet (Reflex save DC 15 for half). The creature or item targeted does not get a saving throw if the star hits directly (the ioun star has a ranged attack bonus of +7). If the star misses, the target is still counted as being in the burst area, and must make a Reflex save. The ioun star is, of course, destroyed completely.

Call Forth the Stars: Using this command, the ioun stars revert to what they once were: the fire elementals that live in the hearts of the stars. Each ioun star splits into a number of small fire elementals equal to the number of stars the character possesses (so with one star, only one elemental is summoned, while with two, you get four. Three stars produce nine, etc.). Alternatively, the owner of the stars may trade two small elementals for one medium elemental, or four small elementals for one large (or eight for a huge, or sixteen for a greater elemental). The elementals are slightly different than normal fire elementals (apply the celestial template), and glow bright white and yellow. The fire elementals stay around for seven rounds, and follow the orders of their owner. This use of the ioun stars consumes all of them completely.

The ioun stars are forged out of the metal that falls from the heart of a star, and contain the essence of it in the form of fire elementals. Given enough time and energy, the fire elementals will ‘bud’, reproducing. For every fifty-six hours of direct starlight that the stars absorb (about one week of continuous nighttime exposure), a single new ioun star is produced.

Mock Ioun Stars. These pearly stones mimick true ioun stars, but are not considered unique items. They can be created by earthly mages, and are often sold. They possess all of the powers of true ioun stars, but none of their powers are dependent on the number of stars possessed – they all function as though the possessor had only one star (making the blinding function, for example, operate in a 10 foot radius, and have a DC of 11). Note that this means only one small fire elemental may ever be summoned using the Call Forth ability, and that this fire elemental lacks the celestial template.

The Frozen Skull of Kas Ral Mar. The frozen skull of Kas Ral Mar is just that; the skull of some humanoid creature that appears to be constantly rimed in frost. The story of Kas Ral Mar is a sad one: He was once a wizard of some power that ventured into the snowy north to research the bizarre magic rumored to exist there. When he arrived, though, he found no practitioners, no strange magics, only ice and snow.

Trapped by a blizzard, and then impeded by an avalanche, Kas Ral Mar was unable to make it back home that winter, and holed up in a cave with what supplies he had. Unfortunately, his supplies were largely bent toward magical research and development, not survival. The rudimentary foods he had packed would last perhaps a month, if rationed.

During this month, Kas Ral Mar had to face some difficult decisions on how he would spend what would be the last month of his life. His eventual choice was lichdom. By extending his existence through the gifts of unlife, he might still be able to get back home and visit his family before going into a church and asking to be destroyed. The magical researching tools he had brought allowed him to find a cheap and easy path to undeath, which he utilized. This transformation changed him into a lich, and the negative energy flowing through his body twisted his mind as it changed his body.

After another season of contemplation in the north, Kas Ral Mar began to experiment with undoing lichdom, and found that the only way to turn it back was to simply apply deific amounts of power to it. With this in mind, Kas Ral Mar continued to research, only now to find a path to godhood. The research included, necessarily, a great deal of religious research and attempting to replicate the powers the gods gave their followers by means of arcane magic. To continue his experimentation he had to travel south and raid the nearby villages, taking reagents and test subjects to experiment on. With these he traveled back up to his icy lair, continuing his foray into apotheosis.

At the end of an undetermined number of years, Kas Ral Mar had finally amassed enough information, knowledge and power to begin his ascent to godhood. At first he did it by gathering followers to him, granting powers of knowledge, magic and cold to a cult of worshippers he began in the villages south.

After another undetermined period of years, Kas Ral Mar finally attained true godhood, and promptly banished the undeath that plagued him. Without the negative energy coursing through him, the fledgling god understood the things he’d done to get there, and regretted them. In a fit of sorrow and frustration, he killed himself for good.

His skull remains, though, the worship of a small cult in the north who revere knowledge above all else, even (especially) at the expense of life and pleasure. The skull is a receptacle for what remains of the dead god’s consciousness, and has several powers related to this.

Anyone holding the skull has full access to any two of the following domains: cold, dream, mysticism, or undeath. A character’s arcane caster level is substituted for his cleric level when calculating the benefits of the domains (that is, she must be an arcane spellcaster to use this ability). An arcane spellcaster may prepare any of the spells on her chosen domain lists as though they were known to her as arcane spells, and gains an extra spell slot for each level of spell she can cast.

However, the benefits of just holding the skull are nothing next to those of being attuned to it. Those attempting to attune to the skull must satisfy the following requirements: They must be an arcane spellcaster of at least 10th level, and able to cast at least 3 spells related to cold (such as ice storm, cone of cold, or even ray of frost. Further, the character cannot be good aligned or chaotically aligned. As a last requirement, the character must have an Intelligence score (unmodified by items or spell effects) of 20 or higher.

Attuning to the skull takes one full month of studying Kas Ral Mar’s notes and research in the cold of the north, living as an ascetic (little food, no water except the ice outside, no human contact). After this month, the character must give up all of their earthly ties, as though they had been dead or asleep for a few hundred years. This means no contact with loved ones, parents or friends. Once this great sacrifice has been made, the character gains a divine rank of 0, though is not considered a deity – the rank is entirely granted by the skull.

Divine Rank 0: The character automatically has maximum hit points for his hit dice. Add 30 feet to the character’s base speed, and 20 feet to any additional movement rates (such as a natural climb, burrow or fly speed). The character gains a profane bonus to Armor Class equal to her Charisma bonus. Deities are also immune to any transformation or transmutation (such as polymorphing, petrification and the like), though the character’s own shape-shifting and spells still function as normal on her. The character holding the skull is immune to ability drain, energy drain and ability damage, whether from magical sources or poisons and diseases. Likewise, the character is immune to mind-affecting abilities and spells, such as charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns or morale effects. The character gains immunity to cold, damage reduction 20/magic, and spell resistance 20. Finally, the character attuned to the skull gains the divine salient ability Automatic Metamagic for the feat Energy Substitution (cold).

Automatic Metamagic: The deity chooses one metamagic feat. As a free action, the deity can apply the selected fear to the spells from any one spellcasting class the deity has or to its spell-like abilities. A spell altered by the use of this ability does not use up a higher-level slot. The deity must obey all the limitations normally associated with the metamagic feat. For example, a deity using Automatic Metamagic (quicken wizard spells) could cast only one quickened wizard spell each round.

Energy Substitution: You choose one type of energy: acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. When employing a spell with the acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic designator, you can modify the spell to use your chosen type of energy instead. The altered spell uses a spell slot of the spell’s normal level. The altered spell works normally in all respects except the type of damage dealt.

It is worth noting that all of these effects only apply when the character is holding the skull. If at any point the character drops the skull, is disarmed, or otherwise loses contact with the artifact, all abilities granted are instantly lost. A character does not have to re-attune to the skull, simply pick it back up. All spells granted by the skull with a duration longer than ‘instant’ continue their effects even if the caster loses contact with the skull.

Shimhawazhe’s Crystal Vase. The elven astronomer Shimhawazhe once posited that as the stars and planets emit and reflect energy in the form of light, so must every living thing emit energy in the form of magic. And as crystal lenses may transform or even capture the light emitted, so might a powerful magical item collect or purify the ambient magic.

While Shimhawazhe did not ever act on this principle, his name is given to the magical item which was created in accordance with his theories. The vase’s creator was an unknown elf, and took the secret of its creation to his grave. The magic constructing the vase cannot be identified and studied simply because it is not magic; it is a scientifically produced item which acts on magic somehow. However, the liquid collected by the vase can be studied, but only by magical means. To all other sources of information, the liquid seems to be a non-acidic, non-poisonous liquid with a nearly infinite surface tension. The liquid does not react with any other material, and has no other special properties.

The crystal vase is a bulbous-bottomed vase of iridescent translucent glass or crystal. The neck contorts in an eye-bending pattern before opening up in a wide, pouring mouth. All over the vase are dents, nicks and scratches presumably serving some purpose. When the vase is full, a thick silver syrup collects in it and produces a faint blue glow when no other light sources overpower it.

The thick, silver syrup is the essence of magic that the vase refines. It can be poured from the decanter, at which point it becomes a large, round bead of liquid that maintains its surface like a silver water balloon. At any point this bead of magic may be ‘popped’, and it then releases the spell it had stored. To check which spell the bead has, roll on the arcane scroll tables on page 239 of the DMG. There is no external indication of which spell has been refined, and the spell identify must be used to detect it.

When popped, the bead of liquid casts the spell with no casting time (even for identify, summon monster or similar spells), and targeting its immediate area (that is, the holder), even if it’s a spell with range, like fireball. The spell is subject to spell resistance, and if a save is required, the DC is calculated as 15+spell level.

Shimhawazhe’s crystal vase acts to collect and refine ambient magic, and does so at a very slow rate. Once a day, the vase collects enough magic to produce a 0-level spell. Every week, so long as it has not been tapped, it produces a 1st level spell. Every month, without being tapped, it becomes a 2nd level spell. If a year goes by without the vase being emptied, it produces a 3rd level spell. It takes 10 years to produce a 4th level spell, 50 to produce a 5th level spell, a century for a 6th level spell, 200 years for a 7th, 500 years for an 8th level spell, and a full 1,000 years for the vase to collect enough energy to manufacture a 9th level spell.

If ever the liquid is poured from the vase, it is counted as ‘tapped’, and it begins recollecting and refining the ambient magic. No matter how much time goes by, there is only one spell’s worth of magic in the vase at any one point. Thus, while a character could collect one bead every day for a 0-level spell, he could not then collect the bead for the 1st level spell at the end of the week.

The Golden MacGuffin. The Golden MacGuffin is a large statuette of lead, covered in gold foil. The figurine stands almost a foot and a half high, and depicts a grinning, pudgy man wearing simple robes over one shoulder with his hands covered in rings, chest draped with necklaces, and arms wrapped in bangles.

The figurine has been variously lost in jungles, buried underground, enshrined in mountaintop temples, dropped to the bottom of the ocean. The story of its creation has been lost, but it centers prominently in the tales and stories of many other people. Wherever the MacGuffin goes, stories and great, world-shaking events go. Some have theorized that the MacGuffin bends fate, while others claim that it simply changes the natures of those around it such that they behave in dramatic ways. The truth is a little of both.

The MacGuffin exerts a powerful but subtle mental influence on anyone in its immediate presence: the MacGuffin becomes vital to their plans in some way, be it as a lynchpin of a magical contraption or used simply as a method of stopping someone else from accomplishing their goals. A successful Will save, DC 28 will prevent this mental influence for 24 hours.