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So reviewing old notes and items I did when I ran the Mummy Mask and found an item that I placed in the Merchant Household as an item for resell (as I didn't think the group would want to keep it)
Unique Magical Ring - Ring of Appraisal
[CL 7th, Aura- Moderate Divination, Market Cost: 14,900GP, Craft Cost: 7,450GP]
Grants a +3 Competence Bonus to the Appraise Skill and Grants the Constant Ability to Detect Magic (per Spell)
It was popular enough to put two PC's behind gold & Equipment wise because they thought it would be a major boon.... and me being a DM, I didn't have the heart to tell them it was a pricy throw away item. (Group had a Cleric & Sorcerer, and one of the Fighters had the Appraise Skill)
I've noticed that a lot of players like to hold onto Unique items, in a few games I've done other horrid items [Most Cursed] Like the Ring of Three Delusional Wishes (Where failed will-saves result in those hearing the wish believe it was granted)
Just wondering, how many other DM/GM have also created Unique or Joke magical items that the group became strangely attached too?
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The Fluff of the Ring of Appraisal was so Merchants in Ancient times could see magical items and appraise if they where indeed valuable or just someone having cast Magic Aura on a worthless trinket
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I've created a 'Deck of Mundane Things' that would generate random 'stuff' based on a series of d100 rolls. If it ever created something truly unique (basically, rolling 100 twice in a row), the Deck would self-destruct afterwards.
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I've created a 'Deck of Mundane Things' that would generate random 'stuff' based on a series of d100 rolls. If it ever created something truly unique (basically, rolling 100 twice in a row), the Deck would self-destruct afterwards.
This sounds pretty amusing to me :3 I might have to create a 60 Card Deck that generates Mundane Items or events
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I was in a AD&D 3rd ed game when at one point in the campaign we went through a side quest to release the spirit of an elven princess that was trapped and could not move onto her afterlife. As a reward she gave my character a ring with a fairly minor effect.
Later on we ended up in the pocket dimension of some very powerful wizard/sorcerer type that was the home of a character of one of the DM's players from another campaign. He had the player show up to interact with us. We wanted him to help us get through a sealed gate to get to a place that had been the focus of the campaign. But the guy wanted the ring. And nothing else we had or offered to do for him would make him budge. And the guy just creeped me out. As an example, he described one of the dishes of food that his servants brought out as grilled Aboleth. Considering the ring had some sort of connection to the elf princess's spirit, I just wouldn't trust it in this guy's hands.
At the end of it all, out of frustration, I plane shifted the party back to our starting point and we kicked in the front gate and charged into the enemy's teeth, instead of sneaking in the back way which we had worked on for months.
Nice story :3
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In a homebrewed system I created (based on d20), I had a minor artifact that the party stumbled upon called the Ring of Bags. It was super lame, and I expected them to sell it, but they found it enjoyable and hung onto it.
All it did was when you slipped it on an empty non-magical bag of random material, size, and design would appear in your hand. When you let go of it, it remained, but a new one would poof into your hand. It was essentially infinite bags. They kept it, and any time they wanted or needed a bag or sack, they used the ring. It was not game-breaking, but kind of funny how much use they had for it.
Consequently, same game, same party, they found a creepy shop that they went into. The shopkeeper asked them if they wanted to buy an eyeball, and he kept hounding them about it. It was a human eyeball that was magically preserved. Just to get him to stop asking about it, one of them bought it. As soon as he left the shop, he threw it away (it only cost him 1 gold). An hour later, he found it again in his pocket. He tossed it away again, and it reappeared an hour later. He smashed it, the same thing. He tried giving it away, and it would be back in his pocket. He had it for most of the campaign before he figured out the trick. He had to SELL it to be able to get rid of it; then the eyeball would be someone else's problem.
That homebrew system was fun! Haha.
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I stashed a +2 Adamantine Dagger with the Anchoring, Called, and Impervious enchantments on it in a mini-boss' loot... the Slayer/Warpriest probably still has it in their gear. They don't use daggers normally, no TWF, just uses it whenever he thinks it will be silly. He has held on to it for the last 10 levels, and it saw use all the way to the end. Not that it needed to be used, he simply invents reasons to use it... could have just killed the enemy, but instead pinned them to the floor. No tactical advantage to it, just a reason to use to the stupid knife.
Speaking of knives... the very first custom magical item I made rolling on the tables turned out to be an Evil sentient Kukri that could sprout little spider legs and walk around its own, as well as cast the 6th level spell, Decapitate, at will. The party locked it in a box, dropped it in a hole, and then threw away the hole. It is buried in some vault along with the Oculus of Abaddon and some other random, horribly evil artifacts.
And, finally, same campaign/party... they requested a Flying Carpet be made, converting some of the kingdom's build points to cover the cost. They later asked if a portable hole could be added to it, like the boot/trunk of a car. Whatever, at this point in the game, their flying carpet having a storage space is the least of my worries... or so I thought.
They figured out a way to fill the storage space with Acid Flasks and bottles of Alchemical Fire, and dump it all at once... now they literally carpet bomb their enemies into oblivion...
That homebrew system was fun! Haha.
I’ve got my eye on you...
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The isle of negative energy.
I created a small island that was actually the skull of a colossal evil demi god. It continually generated constant negative energy. Meant as a lil joke that sailors would freak out why they were constantly taking damage till a player became an intelligent undead… and turned it into his lab/health spa
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Can I do the opposite? I gave my players a doorknob that would make doors in things they attached it to. Eminently useful, you'd think. It's not like this group hasn't totally exploited unique items I gave them before.
They completely forgot they had it multiple times.
Which was a shame, because the doorknob was a full on One Ring tier artifact that, after some time, was going to trap them in a labyrinth of doors and do some crazy stuff I hadn't decided on yet.
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I had a ratfolk transmuter keep the princess Tiara , thinking it did or signified something. It did not.
It DID however have one fun effect. In the next dungeon one of the other party members was possessed by a mother with a daughter, who was convined the ratfolk was her little princess.
Hillarity and much biting of the tongue ensued.
I had character who had a salt shaker that could be used to change the taste of whatever you sprinkled the salt on. It did not change anything but the taste, so spoiled food was still spoiled. I kept that for the entire campaign.
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I gave my players a doorknob that would make doors in things they attached it to.
I've handed out a couple like that. One was a door knocker (knock). Another was what you're describing (passwall), and the final one was a portal to a pocket plane where time ran faster (like, 1 day outside was 50 in the chamber).
I figured they'd use it for storage and whatever, but not as a safe haven to camp out every night.Then the dwarven alchemist used it to distill and age his various spirits at warp speed.
One player asked me if they could have a custom wondrous item; a small carving they whittled as a child, when their sorcerous power was first manifesting. But they weren't very good at whittling. Each time they threw the carving onto the ground, it could turn into a black bear (01-10), a mastiff (11-50), or a carp (51-100).
There was also a burlap sack that you could reach into every so often in hopes of finding something useful. A roll of 75-99 got you pretty much what you wanted. A 100 got you something better. The lower the result, the less useful the item you pulled out was.
One character wanted a pair of boots to tromp through a swamp, so as not to ruin their courtly shoes of fine velvet. They rolled under a 05, so they found...one boot. With a hole in the toe. Two sizes too big.
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Six Demon Bag
a Bag of Tricks that summoned random Quasits that had various abilities like one that spit alchemist's fire globs and one that cast gust of wind.
It had only one use per day, but they seemed to remember to use it every day, even when almost inevitably they had much more effective actions to use than 'throw random quasit at it.'
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Can I do the opposite? I gave my players a doorknob that would make doors in things they attached it to. Eminently useful, you'd think. It's not like this group hasn't totally exploited unique items I gave them before.
They completely forgot they had it multiple times.
Which was a shame, because the doorknob was a full on One Ring tier artifact that, after some time, was going to trap them in a labyrinth of doors and do some crazy stuff I hadn't decided on yet.
I made some "Bard barding" worth 139000gp that the party didn't even bother identifying. Lol. It was a Harmonizing Hero's Hauberk with Greater Shadow and Greater Energy Resistance (sonic). They sold it as a +1 adamantine chain shirt, when it should have sold for over what a +5 weapon enchantmemt costs.
Gave them access to an Alchemist that could make Potions up to "3.5-level" spell effects... meaning he could add Orisons from the Adept spell list to Potions he created. Party never used it. I don't even think they drank the free Potions he gave them as reward for something.
Gave the party a Tatzlwyrm with UnRogue levels that they completely forgot about. Like, apparently, it was TOO good at hiding, or something. When I brought it up to them later, they literally had zero recollection that they had befriended said Tatzlwyrm.
Gave the party access to a free Familiar. I wasn't even going to nerf it like Bonded Familiar does. They asked if it was still hanging around, once. They knew it was a Familiar. They knew it was without a master. And they literally had to tell it to stop following them at one point. Nobody decided to just adopt it even though I was encouraging them to do so.
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Can I do the opposite? I gave my players a doorknob that would make doors in things they attached it to. Eminently useful, you'd think. It's not like this group hasn't totally exploited unique items I gave them before.
They completely forgot they had it multiple times.
Which was a shame, because the doorknob was a full on One Ring tier artifact that, after some time, was going to trap them in a labyrinth of doors and do some crazy stuff I hadn't decided on yet.
Love this post XD
And it works as an opposite, it sounds like something a group would use a lot, but it sounds like they were wary of it. Then forgot it O_o
I want a "Deck of Mundane Things", that sounds like a fun magic item.
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One of my PC's wanted a "Deck of Mundane Things"-esque item, and he was playing a Druid who came from a land with an Elder Tree named Aathranyl. This particular tree had seeds that behave a lot like Stem Cells in babies, insofar as being able to morph its seed into any plant that a given land needs. In his backstory, he's supposed to defend Aathranyl's interests in far away lands, so I gave him a bag of these seeds, which would immediately morph into whatever he needed.
Some of these items below are inside jokes :P And despite being able to pull "anything he wants" out of this bag, it was surprisingly not overpowered because of the DC being 15 + CL. There was some pretty funny stuff that happened when he failed though ;)
Aathranyl's Nut Sack:
The wielder of this magic bag can summon almost anything to him upon a simple thought. Upon successful Use Magic Device check (DC: 15+Character Level), the wielder may pull out the desired item. If the item is too grand, obscure, or too well guarded, then the Use Magic Device check fails automatically. Any attempt that fails causes the wielder to pull out an unwanted item instead (see the d% table below).
1% Dead TaunTaun with a fresh lightsaber wound
2% An old toothbrush
3% A Caller-in-Darkness
4% Angry, wet, soapy feline
5% A bag of marbles
6% Ruby worth 50g
7% Frothy Mug of Ale
8% A bag of 50 copper coins
9% An Invisibility Cloak (lasts 72 hours)
10% Spiderweb Potion
11% Three talking mice (Mub, Grub and Toothy)
12% A Black Pearl (500 gp)
13% A giant Sea Horse
14% A wereboar
15% A helpful Pixie
16% 3 Animated Skeletons
17% A Jug of Black Pudding
18% A poisonous snake
19% A rabid wolf
20% A handful of black dirt
21% A delicate Gas Spore (make a fortitude save)
22% A helpful giant Owl
23% A flute
24% An Orc War Chief
25% A bag of moldy socks (that really stink)
26% A severed boar's hoof
27% A bolt of silk cloth
28% An Ivory bowl engraved with a random party member's name (roll 1d6 - must sacrifice something or become cursed)
29% A pair of leather shoes
30% A bucket of soapy, dirty mop water
31% Small Silver Mirror
32% A box of perfumed candles
33% An immovable rod (lasts 72 hours)
34% A +5 Vorpal Weapon of choice (lasts 10 minutes)
35% A carved wooden ring
36% A pair of chance dice (roll 1d6)
37% Marble Goblet
38% A painting of a Mayor and his family
39% A set of thieves tools
40% An Onyx (80gp)
41% Bronze Music Box
42% A Crystal Ball of Remote Viewing (lasts 72 hours)
43% A +1-5 Greataxe of Throwing and Returning (lasts 72 hours)
44% A gallon of Donkey Urine
45% A flying carpet (lasts 72 hours)
46% A pair of manacles (lasts 72 hours)
47% A Ring of Protection (lasts 72 hours)
48% An already lit Torch
49% A potion of protection from (energy type, roll 1d4)
50% A Staff of Resurrection (with % charges) (lasts 72 hours)
51% A floating gold bell (highly cacophonous)
52% An Iron Figurine of a God of Destruction (make a request)
53% An Ioun Stone (roll %) (lasts 72 hours)
54% A Staff of Frost (with % charges) (lasts 72 hours)
55% A bottle of fine wine (unending) (lasts 72 hours)
56% A carved wooden figurine of a Deity (Ask one question)
57% A potion of unstable alchemists fire (make a reflex)
58% A staff of healing (with % charges (lasts 72 hours)
59% Wand of Magic Missile (with % charges) (lasts 72 hours)
60% A small vial of perfume
61% Potion of Tongues
62% Potion of X-ray vision
63% An electric eel
64% A smoke bomb that instantly explodes
65% A helpful Centuar Warrior
66% A drow mage
67% A handful of brown and tan grease - Throw it to cast the spell Greasefor 1 minute.
68% A fire elemental
69% A giant constrictor snake
70% A burlap sack full of fire ants
71% An embroidered pillow with catnip and the bones of 20 dead chickens inside
72% A treasure map
73% An accounting ledger of a random town/guild
74% A wand of cure moderate wounds (with % charges) (lasts 72 hours)
75% A carved obsidian rose
76% A sundial
77% A shaved cat
78% An octopus with Phillipe's face on it
79% An angry pirate
80% A silver hairpin
81% A ring of Spell Storing (lasts 72 hours)
82% 5 wooden ponies that become ponies if they touch the ground (last 72 hours once summoned)
83% A +1-5 Floating Tower Shield
84% A scroll of Mass Cat's Grace, Bull's Strength, Bear's Endurance, etc. (roll 1d6 )
85% An Inflict Wounds spell that instantly goes off (roll 1d8)
86% A rowboat with oars
87% One non-magical weapon of choice
88% One potion of choice (3rd lvl spell or lower)
89% A potion of Fly
90% A Blacksmith's apprentice
91% An item from your enemy
92% 3 helpful dogs (lasts 72 hours)
93% A swarm of poisonous spiders
94% A swarm of rabid bats
95% 3 helpful giant ants
96% A windstorm (lasts 30 seconds)
97% A necklace adorned with 24 dwarven teeth
98% A Vampire
99% A genie that grants 1 wish (lasts 5 minutes)
100% You succeed in pulling out your item