I am looking for ideas for a magic item I created on the fly during last night's session.
Background: Og the half-orc inquisitor is wearing giant-hide armor (stone giant) in a place where stone giants have been sighted. One of the stone giants is pretty upset seeing as how he recognized a mark on the armor that looks exactly like his lost brother's birthmark. So Og has been looking for a robe to cover himself up with.
While searching the bodies of some recently killed baddies, the player said, "I need a robe of any style."
"A Robe of Any Style, you say?" I replied. "Because this guy has one."
And so was born the Robe of Any Style. So far all we know is that the robe has a mind of its own. It changes styles randomly.
Here's what I'm looking for:
- Backstory ideas: Who created this thing, and why?
- List of styles to add to a table. Serious and ridiculous ideas both welcome.
- How might it be controlled? Need something logical flavor-wise, as well as mechanical. There should always be a chance control attempt will fail.
Cheers!
in order to control it they have to invest skill points in Knowledge/Profession (clothier).
otherwise it changed styles, randomly, and sexes it could turn into a dress.
unless you make a will save dc 10+ your skill in clothier
It was created by a insane cloth maker to cover the funeral of his dead daughter.
or an effeminate bard who did not want to have to change clothes all the time. but the wizard who created it had a grudge against the bard for sleeping with his daughter, so he cursed the item to be unreliable. embarrassing the bard in front of the king. ruining him
The robe is actually a cursed item. It appears completely as the wearer wishes it to, but to everyone else, it appears either transparent or as a robe of completely random stuff like Lobolusk suggested. Honestly, if one decides to wear the skin of a fallen as a trophy, he should have the balls to back it up when someone gets offended instead of hiding like a coward. Im sure if an orc was running around with a necklace of elven ears, any elf would get pretty bent.
Time to stand up.
Perhaps the robe was originally crafted by a master thief, designed to allow the thief to shift her appearance at a moment's notice. The robe linked itself with its wearer allowing the thief to simply concentrate on a specific concept and the robe would follow suit. Darting down a dark ally could be aided with black tights. Attempting to mingle among the nobility was easy once your robe shifted to the latest fashions. And an escape was laughably easy when you look like a dirty pauper or local cleric.
But the thief extended her reach too far, and managed to steal a horrible artifact that had been locked away for safety. As the artifact slowly drove her insane, so too was the robe corrupted. Even now, long after the thief's death, her chaotic thoughts and unstable changes permeate the robe causing it to shift and change at random.
At the start of every day the wearer of the robe can attempt a will save to exert her will over the clothing. If successful, the robe follows her instructions and takes the forms she chooses. If unsuccessful the robe changes erratically, particularly during times of stress (combat). The robe also tends to follow emotional themes from its wearer, changing color and fit in response to mood.