Spirit Window


Open Call: Design a wondrous item

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

3 people marked this as a favorite.

Spirit Window
Aura moderate divination; CL 8th
Slot none; Price 8,500 gp; Weight 1lb.

Description
This hand mirror has a two-way glass lens set in its frame and is activated by speaking a command word . A spirit window allows its bearer to see ethereal creatures out to a range of 60 feet, revealing their location but granting no additional ability to affect them. Ethereal creatures can see the bearer of the window clearly while it is activated, as if they existed on the same plane, though this grants ethereal creatures no additional ability to affect the bearer.

As a free action, the bearer may choose to view a corpse or an undead creature through the window and see them as they appeared in life, just prior to their death. Additionally, the spirit window can be used to view the source of a haunt within range, indicating the area affected by the haunt and making it visible to the bearer. The general appearance of a haunt's manifestation should vary by the haunt's theme and the appearance is left up to the GM, but should give a visual clue as to the haunt's nature. The bearer of a spirit window may study an undead creature or haunt within 60 feet as a move action, gaining a +2 insight bonus on their Knowledge (religion) check made to identify the haunt or creature.

A spirit window may be active for up to 20 rounds per day, and these rounds need not be consecutive.

Construction
Requirements Craft wondrous item, see invisibility, restore corpse; Cost 4,250 gp

Publisher, EN Publishing aka Russell Morrissey

It's not so much a mirror as a lens? This could be used to suitably creepy effect in a game, I think, though it would need a good GM.

Weak keep.

Developer

"Ethereal creature" isn't a thing within our rules (though even we mention it a couple times, meaning it's probably a holdover from the old days), unless the author is referring to creatures on the Ethereal Plane, which I guess kind of makes sense.

20 rounds per day is a lot to track.

This item would require too much on the GM's part every time it's used.

Reject

Associate Editor

I like the idea of the item—and particularly that it interacts with haunts, which not much does in our game yet. The terminology needs tightening up, though, and yeah, "lens" would be a much better term.

Weak keep.

Marathon Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka Clouds Without Water

I liked this item a great deal. In fact, it's probably my favorite of the top 32.

The Exchange Marathon Voter Season 6

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congrats Mate, your a heck of a writer (I know from our pbp's) and I can't wait to see what you come up with for round 2.

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

Ethereal creature definitely referenced a creature on the ethereal plane, which—I think Patrick's right—is holdover verbiage from older editions.

I'm glad to have been bumped up to a finalist and I really do hope to make the most of this opportunity. Thanks to everyone who voted for my item and enjoyed the potential creep-factor.

Associate Editor

This would be a super helpful item for the module

Spoiler:
Tears at Bitter Manor.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka theheadkase

I'll be honest...even though I didn't like the item that much I liked the creativity evident in it. I upvoted this a lot of times mainly because I wanted to see what the author could do in later rounds.

Agreed that it is not so much a mirror :)

I dislike the GM work this adds and I dislike the haunt abilities...it just feels like too much at that point.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012 , Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9

The interaction with haunts sold me on this item. I haven't seen that too often, and I hear a lot of complaints about haunts especially in the few PFS scenarios that feature them, so this would be an incredibly useful item.

Congratulations and good luck in the monster round!

Shadow Lodge RPG Superstar 2015 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka mamaursula

Congratulations and Good Luck in the next round!

Paizo Employee RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8

Nice work Robert! I was excited to see you get bumped to the Top 32. Your writing in our PBP has always impressed me and I look forward to reading what you bring to the monster round!

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Champion Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka GM_Solspiral

I really liked this and it is nice to see an alternate get the call to round 2. Congrats and good luck

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32 , Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7 aka Belladonna Blue

This one was on my "keep" list as I was voting and I'm happy it got out of the alternates and into the Top 32.

The haunt interaction and the creepy flavor -- reminding me a little, actually, of some of the Omens from the Betrayal on the House on the Hill board game -- sold me on it, even if I disliked the bookkeeping involved.

Congratulations!

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Dedicated Voter Season 9 aka Darkjoy

go go go

Dedicated Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9

I really liked this item and love the interaction with the history of undead - makes them much more than two-dimensional foes or encounter fodder. As an investigatory aid this item is (ahem) priceless, making the overall design multifacted and bringing your design nous to the fore.

Nice work and congratulations - I'm sure your monster will likewise be well thought out.

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

I'm really thrilled with the feedback I've received thus-far on the spirit window. Thanks to everyone who has chimed in!

Shadow Lodge Star Voter Season 6

I don't like the item for most of the reasons Patrick described (though I don't think 20 rounds is too much "to track" - wands have 50! and it won't always be used in combat, so that's 2 minutes out of combat), but there is clearly a lot of interesting thought put into it. The mechanics have that certain logic.

I can see Robert being a strong contender in future rounds, if he watches his fine print.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 8

I really like the storytelling potential of this item. Ghosts and haunts—the two things I see this item being used on the most—are both story-driven game elements that call for some GM preparation beforehand anyway, and this item gives the PCs some insights into those stories, insights that may otherwise be lost on them or glossed over as they contend with the in-game effects. I'm looking forward to your monster!

RPG Superstar 2010 Top 32, 2011 Top 4 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9 aka DankeSean

I love it when alternates get a chance to come on in and play. It always seems so cruel to have these four people looking in with their noses pressed up against the bakery window, so it's nice when they get a call to come in out of the cold and have cookies.
There was another item very similar to this in the contest, and I upvoted both of them a bit. They never came up against one another for me, so I never had to make a choice between haunt mirrors. I liked the idea in both forms it was presented, so I'm happy to see it made it through one way or the other. Good job, enjoy the ride. (And the cookies.)

RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8 , Marathon Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7 aka Demiurge 1138

Christopher Wasko hit the nail on the head with this one. Haunts are in-game effects that require a story to be woven into them, but frequently end up being reduced to a single save. This item lets the players in on the story, which is a great thing. It does require a little legwork for the GM, but in so doing can be richly rewarding.

Congratulations, and best of luck in Round 2!

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

Haunts are among some of my favorite mechanics and I'm always dismayed by the limited toolbox players often have to interact with them. In several encounters I've run, if the party lacks a cleric they hardly ever even successfully identify a presence as a haunt, let alone interact with it beyond taking damage. There's lots of opportunity for storytelling there, definitely.

Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8

Congrats Robert! I've been extremely impressed with your character in the PbP we're both in, and this item underlines your creativity.

I do agree that ethereal creatures aren't a big part of PFRPG, unlike 3.5. I do like the ability to detect haunts-- that's a niche underserved in the game.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing your low-level urban monster!

(And I'm also looking forward to more RP with you in the Sunless Citadel.)

Star Voter Season 6, Dedicated Voter Season 7, Marathon Voter Season 8, Marathon Voter Season 9

Congratulations Robert,

I found the first ability OK, though it has been done before. Being able to see the haunt was also better than OK, but still a little meh. I would have loved to see an item that focused on just this aspect.

Swing for the fences and good luck. :)

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

I feel like there's a lot of missed opportunities for interacting with the ethereal plane. It isn't utilized nearly enough in adventures, though the times it has been have been notable (such as the storm of dread wraiths seen in The Witchwar Legacy.) It would also be a helpful tool for combating things like phase spiders!

However an item attuned specifically to haunts could be excellent. Am Ouija board themed item that could allow for communication with haunts (as if they were rapping spirits) would be interesting. As would perhaps having the lens that comes with the board have the properties of the spirit window, in regards to viewing a manifestation of the haunt.

All of this feedback has given me some excellent ideas!

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9 aka JoelF847

I really like this item. It would have been one of my top items if I had seen it in voting. I really like that all of the abilities make thematic sense, and each has it's own use - so that while each might only come up occasionally, in combination, this should be useful fairly regularly, though not every adventure, which is fine.

Looking forward to your monster!

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

Thanks for the support, Joel! :)


I'm going to use this in my game. Except to use its power the holder has
to stand and look in the mirror over her shoulder. That is more spooky.

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 32 , Star Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7

Awesome! I'd love to hear how it works out! :)


Tensor wrote:

I'm going to use this in my game. Except to use its power the holder has

to stand and look in the mirror over her shoulder. That is more spooky.

OOH! I LOVE that visual! I might put this in my skull and shackles campaign as a piece of loot, and see if my players use it when they run into some ghosty-type creatures. I'm absolutely sure that the Undead Lord cleric in my campaign will enjoy seeing what any undead creatures he commands looked like before being undead-ified.

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