Friday, January 16, 2015

Forty Fallen Empire Magic Items



MAGIC ITEMS OF THE NORTHLANDS 

Alpine Unicorn
Here’s a list of 40 magical items for my Fallen Empire Setting, specifically the Talpidy Lands along its Northern Border with the Pine Hells.  The first 20 items are from the North and use the shadow or more natural magic of the Pine Hellsman while the last twenty are from the Empire and its fading, rotten tradition of high magic and marvelous arcane manufacture.

I've also included a picture of an Alpine Unicorn, a horrible ghost eating predator of the Pine Shears that enjoys venting its considerable malice on human travelers.  



XD20
ARTIFACTS OF THE Blue Meadows
Weight
Fragile
1
Antler Standard – Worn on the back, this insignia of crow feathers and antlers marks the wearer as a Hellsman champion. The wearer of this item may ‘cleave’ (gaining another attack after killing any opponent) enemies.
Backpack
1 Item
No
2
Black Bones – A bundle of charred bones covered in crude runes.  The spirit of the murdered warrior (3HD immaterial undead) will hunt one target for assassination if submerged in mead with a possession of the target.
Backpack
1 Item
No
3
Mountain Horn – The great translucent blue horn of a peak ape, ornamented with ancient beaten copper bands.  Blowing the horn in snow bound mountainous areas will cause and direct avalanches.  Once per session it can create an avalanche that will strike in 1D6-1 turns doing 2 – 10 D6 damage depending on the surroundings.
1 Handed
1 Item
Yes
4
Shaman’s Furs – Heavy seal, musk-ox and mountain goat fur, saturated with the black tarry essence of shadow.  These furs both grant a +2 to all stealth checks is worn and give a -2 per die to damage from cold.
Backpack
1 Item
No
5
Pyre Bead – A string of 1D6/2 thick wax beads, painted with lacquer.  Within is the concentrated heat and flame of a ritual bonfire.  If exposed to flame the beads will burst creating a 10’ x 10’ fireball that ignites all flammable material (even frozen wood) and does 4D6 damage.
Trinket
Insignificant
Flammable
6
Mastodon Bone Armor – A suit of banded armor carved from the bones and spirit of a great ice elephant from the far north.  The medium armor and grants the wearer some of the mastodon’s strength and ferocity (+1 to melee damage).
Armor
1 Item
No
7
Beast Mark – The tanned skin of a corpse tattooed with cruel runes.  Stitched into the skin of the living it will permanently transform them into a were-creature, most likely a wolf or bear, but may be removed at death.
Trinket
Insignificant
No
8
Seeds of Endurance – A finely carved bone box containing 2D6 bright green seeds from an ancient pine.  Each seed is marked with a silver rune and when eaten will grant immunity to cold for 1 turn.
Potion
1 Item
Yes
9
Crow’s Teeth – Tied in a bundle of bark cloth with pine needles, these 1D6 small black teeth are made of slippery black shadowstuff. When swallowed the eater will transform into a crow for 1D6 turns, though there clothing and equipment will not. 
Trinket
Insignificant
No
10
Bone Broth – 1D6/2 Cubes of unicorn bone bullion, wrapped in woven pine needles.  When added to boiling water the cubes make a healing broth that will return one individual to full HP after a turn. 
Potion
1 Item
No
11
Pine Ring – Made of thick pine needles woven into an intricate and complex pattern of magical significance.   While wearing the ring a wizard or priest may speak to pine trees.  Pine trees are neither especially observant or intelligent  but will generally be well disposed towards the ring’s wearer
Jewelry
Insignificant
Flammable
12
Berserk’s Girdle – Cracked and bloodstained, this thick belt is worked with teeth and tiny bones.  When wearing it a fighter will heal 1 HP for every foe slain and develop a tendency toward foaming at the mouth.
Jewelry
1 Item
No
13
Heart of Winter – A shriveled human heart encased in gleaming blue ice.  At first it feels painfully cold to the touch, but if kept near the body it soon (1 turn) feels natural.  The owner will become immune to cold, magical or otherwise, but develop a stiffness of manner and body that reduce Charisma and Dexterity to 9 (unless already below 9).
Jewelry
1 Item
Yes
14
Throwing Iron – A blackened iron weapon, weighted for throwing and shaped a bit like a spiked spider (range and damage as thrown hand axe).  Upon striking a target the axe will animate and twist, doing 1 point of damage per round until removed with a successful STR check (each attempt takes a round). 
1 Handed
1 Item
No
15
Spirit Drum – Covered in the tanned skin of tribal enemies, this small drum has the power to raise the dead while it is in use.  On a successful save vs. spells one corpse can be animated while the drum is played (as a 2HD revenant). On a failed save the drummer is energy drained for 1 point of Strength (remove curse will cure).
2 Handed
1 Item
Yes
16
Unicorn Token –A carved and enchanted disk of unicorn horn that when burnt will summon the nearest Alpine Unicorn.  The malicious and fearsome creature will appear in 1D6-1 turns and be in the typical foul mood of its kind.
Trinket
Insignificant
No
17
Spirit Rattle – The skull of a child, lost to the pines, atop a black horn rod, this object can summon the mocking ghostlights common in the most cursed copses of the Pine Hells.  On a successful Wisdom check the bearer can call forth a set of bobbing, darting wisps (as the dancing lights spell) to confound and misdirect.
1 Handed
1 Item
No
18
Hunter’s Respite – a bundled wool rug, pattern to depict a small sound cabin, stocked for a week’s stay.  If blood from a freshly slain animal is dripped on the rug, the cabin depicted will appear, providing shelter and sustenance for up to five people for a week, before fading back into a rug.  The cabin restocks itself slowly, filling with a day of firewood, food and beer per session it is dormant up to the week maximum.  
Backpack
2 Items
Flammable
19
Tincture of Night – A cracked yellow gourd filled with black oily shadow.  If oil is ingested it is a dangerous and deadly poison.  However, whatever it is poured over (including up to one normal sized person) will become invisible as long as it is night.
Potion
1 Item
Yes
20
Alchemical Bandage – Laced with healing agents and powders this bandage, still sealed in a tin marked with an Imperial military crest used to be standard issue for Imperial troops.  If applied to a wound (a 1 round action) it will begin immediately to heal any injury at a rate of 1 point per round until it has healed up to 2D6 hit points.  The bandage may not be reused.
Potion
1 Item
Flammable
21/1
Essence of Blue Flower – Distilled, dried and stabilized through a lost alchemical process these blue crystals can be mixed with water or insufflated to cure poison or disease.
Potion
1 Item
No
22/2
Marble Limb – Most likely a leg or arm when discovered, probably still attached to a withered corpse. These sorcerous prosthesis were popular in the first years of the Successor empire as a means of displaying one’s loyalty to the polity.  If placed on a stump it will create a poison, acid and heat immune limb of animate white marble.
Backpack
1 Item
No
23/3
Recall Badge – A gilt covered clay badge, emblazoned with the ram’s head seal of the XVII legion, when clutched with a sincere wish for safety or flight will magically whisk the owner back to the central courtyard of Talpidy town before crumbling to dust
Trinket
Insignificant
No
24/4
Icon of the Golden Emperor – A corpulent iron idol covered in flaking gold leaf.  The holy spirit of the 83rd “Golden” Emperor, watches the idol and will grant health and vigor to those that sacrifice it gold, by feeding the idol coins or gold dust.  For every 100 GP sacrificed the idol will heal 1D6 HP, however the idol, and its spirit are greedy and there is a 1 in 6 chance (cumulative in the same session)  that the gold will simply be taken by the idol (on the first use a 6 means the gold has been stolen, on the next use a 5 or 6.
Backpack
1 Item
No
25/5
Lock Swarm – A tiny swarm of insectile automatons, the lock bees will attack and unlock (5 in 6 chance) any mechanical lock in one turn. If they fail however it indicates that the swarm is exhausted and its various tiny limbs and stingers are bent and broken to uselessness.
Potion
1 Item
Yes
26/6
Jaeger’s Bullroarer – A musical instrument and signaling device made from a twisted sheep gut cord and a heavy lozenge of blued wood covered in guild markings.  When swung above the head the device makes a cacophonous sound that will repel owlbears and other beasts. Such creatures must save vs. Spells to avoid fleeing the horrible sound.  Unfortunately the noise of the bullroarer carries and is very distinctive – immediately roll on the local random encounter table to see what or who it has attracted noting that animals will not approach the sound.
1 Handed
1 Item
No
27/7
Mask of the First Emperor – Finely crafted from gold and ivory, meant to be tied on with string. The mask depicts the shockingly beautiful 1st Emperor and while worn the wearer is under his divine protection (as Protection From Evil).  The mask has no eye holes, and while wearing it the wearing is blind and at -4 to all rolls.
1 Handed
1 Item
No
28/8
Cunning Lamp – Elegant twists of brass wire surround a thin crystal orb trapping a small fragment of some celestial consciousness within.  If the proper name (engraved on the base is spoken) the lamp will produce a steady white light as a lantern, without the need for fuel or oxygen and can even dispel magical darkness.
1 Handed
1 Item
Yes
29/9
Hussar’s Panoply – The armor of an Imperial Hussar, AC 18, -1 per die to all damage received and -1 to Initiative.  The circumstances of discovering this suit of smooth bonewhite plate vary – scoured clean by snow and ice, with a withered mummy inside or stuffed with straw and painted bright colors as a god to primitive mountain folk, however discovered the armor is like nothing made in the Empire today.
Armor
1 Item
No
30/10
Summer’s Flower – Encased in a glass tube this bright red bloom radiates the warmth of a lowland summer. When the flower is planted, it creates a 10’ diameter sphere of summer and the flower freezes and blackens.  All ice, including permafrost melts.  Magical ice and ice creatures are destroyed if they fail a save vs. spells.
Potion
1 Item
Yes
31/11
Ring of Songs – This golden ring stores songs.  It is likely filled with an ancient marching song, but the song can be easily replaced.  The ring is easily triggered to store and replay any speech.
Jewelry
Insignificant
No
32/12
Wicker Soldier – Wrapped in a waxed sack, the wicker soldier is a crude bundle of tied lowland grasses that will unroll into a man-sized manikin with 1 HD.  If armed and armored it will fight as a 0-level man at arms or otherwise aid its owner for 1 day.  The manikin is considered to have physical stats of 9. 
Backpack
2 Item
Flammable
33/13
Possible Arrow – A single bonewhite arrow inscribed with silver sigil work.  When fired at a target the arrow will multiply along all possibilities of the shot.  Roll one attack and then treat the arrow as five attacks, at -2, -1, 0 +1 and +2 to hit from the attack roll.   Each hit will do 1D6, and fumbles are possible.
Backpack
1 Item
No
34/14
Prayer Script – A bundle of brittle parchment, engraved and illuminated to resemble various Imperial script, patents and licenses.  Burning the entire pile of these enchanted papers will charm the spirits of the Emperors and create a 10’ Diameter circle of protection, immune to missiles from without, and ables to prevent any creature with violent intent from crossing into its smoky confines.  The fire will last 1D6/3 turns before the script is consumed and the divine will departs.
Potion
1 Item
Flammable
35/15
Insignia of the XXI  Legion – Worn and cracked by time, this  bonewhite standard topper is chased in platinum and molded into the shape of a ram’s horn.  When displayed prominently atop a pole, the bearer may not act, but all allies within 50’ gain +1 Initiative.
2 Handed
1 Item
No
36/16
Fop’s Panoply -A violently bright suit of lace and frills, 2D10x10 years out of style.  The suit will remain forever neat and devoid of stains, which has the advantage of granting the wearer (it will not fit under armor) a +2 to all saves.
Armor
1 Item
No
37/17
Divine Fire – A Heavy glass orb, sometimes still wrapped in layers of black felt.  Looking through the thick ensigiled crystal reveals a microcosm of flame and destruction. If the flask is shattered it will create a 80’ diameter apocalypse of otherworldly flame (throwing distance of the orb is a maximum of 60’ without siege engines) that will destroy all creatures within (Save vs. spells or die, on a successful save take 10D6 flame damage).
Potion
1 Item
Yes
38/18
Sweetheart’s Promise – A fine cameo inside a bonewhite and platinum locket.  If the image of a willing loved one is placed within the locket (the man or woman currently depicted is long dead) a single killing blow will be diverted by the jewelry’s magic, instead injuring the person who’s image is in the locket (doing 1D6/2 damage) but sparing the wearer.
Jewelry
Insignificant
No
39/19
Merchant’s Lens – A crystal reticule that allows its wearer to recognize fakes and value.  While wearing the lens the character has the equivalent of a 4 in 6 Acumen skill as it relates to the appraisal of valuables.  
Jewelry
Insignificant
Yes
40/20
Force Lance – Ancient and powerful, a rod of crystal about 6’ long, this artifact is a fabled force lance.  If the proper words are spoken (the name of an Emperor usually) the lance will project a beam of cosmic force at a target.  The target may save vs. spells, to resist the power of the lance. Failure results in instant, explosive death. On a successful save the target takes 3D6 damage. The lance has 2D6 more charges before it shatters.
2 Handed
1 Item
No

4 comments:

  1. Cool items. A lot of nice color.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hear here. I will use this in its entirety in my home campaign.

    ReplyDelete
  3. more fallen empire! more! best snowflake currently around!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See the thing is I don't think of this as a remotely unique setting - it's my vanilla fantasy setting - pretty much straight high-fantasy apocalypse with a bit too much Virconium thrown in.

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