Magical Miscellaney

The following seven items of low to moderate power and somewhat unusual in effect. Some, such as the Summoning Gems, are of obvious use. Others, such as the Spider Eye Necklace, will take some care and planning to use to their best effect. Finally, there is the Kittenstone, which is a comfort and a convenience to any traveller – at least, any traveller who is not allergic to cats!

Spider Eye Necklace

This appears to be a necklace of small gleaming black spheres. One such sphere at a time can be detached and pressed against any surface, where it will stick securely. (a firm tug will remove it) The sphere will then provide 270 degree remote visual capability to the person wearing the necklace. Each bead can only be used once. Activation of any subsequent bead deactivates the current one, as does removing it from its surface or the user moving more than a kilometer from the bead's location. In any event the bead expires and turns dull in 30-90 minutes after activation.

The user must concentrate on the necklace to receive information from the bead, and can therefore move no faster than a walk, and is always surprised unless in an area visible to the active bead. A necklace has 3-12 of these special beads, easily distinguished from the remaining jet or obsidian beads.

Wand of Magical Location

This wand can be used to locate a single previously designated item. There is no command word as such; rather, the wand is moved over and around the object in a complex pattern. This uses one of the 2-24 charges within the wand and magically "sensitizes" the wand to that particular object. (The target object is not affected or enchanted in any way, and thus no magic can be detected on it) Thereafter, merely by holding the wand and concentrating on the item, the person who sensitized it can cause it to point toward the previously designated item if within 20 kilometers outdoors, 500 meters indoors or underground. Only non-living items from 1-50 centimeters in diameter can be affected. The target object can be moved, carried, etc., even out of range, and still be located when again if it and the wand's user once again come into range.

Paralysis Net

This is a small throwing net such as a gladiator might use, though it appears to be knotted of some silky material rather than rope. When the Paralysis Net is dropped or thrown over a living creature, the target must make a saving throw (as appropriate to game system) against magic to avoid paralysis. If this is successful, the target must make a second save to avoid being magically slowed while in the net and for 1-4 minutes afterward. In this case the victim has the normal chance of working free of the net but of course, due to the slow effect, attempts are made half as often as normal, and the net-wielder can see a probable escape before it occurs. If the save against paralysis is failed, the victim is totally paralyzed until unwrapped from the net. This only affects voluntary muscles; breating, heartbeat, and such continue normally. This effect also persists for 1-4 minutes after release.

The Paralysis Net must be thrown, dropped, wrapped, or otherwise targeted by a person. It will not function as anything other than a normal net if dropped automatically in some fashion, such as part of a trap.

Summoning Gem

Generally a large semi-precious gem such as amethyst or topaz. If the gem is closely examined in good light, the faint image of an animal can be seen at its heart. When the gem is thrown to the ground it will shatter and the animal will appear. The animal thus summoned can be controlled by simple verbal orders by the person who threw the gem: it can be commanded to attack a designated foe, cease to attack, or disappear. If not commanded to leave it will remain for 10-15 minutes.

Only normal animals, such as bears, wolves, tigers, etc., have ever been found within such gems, but the possibility of gems which can summon monsters should not be ignored.

Ring of Understanding

Enables its user to discover the basic attitudes and intentions of any creature with a mind, however simple. Concentrating for 30 seconds reveals its basic attitude: "friendly", "neutral", "hostile", "hungry", etc. After a minute, the magnitude of feeling is discerned: "very friendly", "mildly hostile", "somewhat scared", etc. Another full minute of concentration will reveal greater detail, including a clue to its intentions: "neutral, will fight if threatened", "friendly if fed", "cautious, will attack if reinforced", etc. It can be used for up to three minutes at a time, after which the user must rest for ten minutes for each minute the ring was used before using it again. (Other activities may be performed normally during this time) The attitude sensed will be what the subject feels toward whoever or whatever it is currently interacting with, or anticipates. For example, if the subject is a Dermac, a shopkeeper talking to Fox, the user of the ring, it will reveal Dermac's attitude toward Fox and perhaps whether or not he's in a mood to haggle. If the shopkeeper is talking to another customer, Fox will detect Dermac's attitude toward that customer. If Dermac is not interacting with anyone, and unaware of anyone's presence, a random attitude -- his emotions of the moment -- will be read.

The Kittenstone

This appears to be merely a flattish oval black stone, about the size of an egg. Despite its polished appearance, it feels fuzzy when touched, and sometimes vibrates slightly when held. If placed in a sleeping area, such as at the foot of a bed, it will raise the temperature of its immediate area as though a live cat were curled up there. It does, however, have one side effect: It will cause people allergic to cats to sniffle and wheeze.

While the Kittenstone might not be of much use to the average adventurer, a good market for them would undoubtedly exist among ordinary people if the secret of their manufacture could be discovered. That is assuming, of course, that the rumors that Kittenstones are really the eggs or dormant forms of some strange monster are unfounded.

Frog-Eye Helm

This unique item is a bascinet subtly shaped in the form of a frog, with two bulging froggy eyes sculpted into the top. It looks somewhat silly, causing a small negative reaction modifier (-5%) to anyone who does not know the wearer. Its benfits, however, outweigh the disadvantage of wearing a helm that looks rather like a frog. In addition to having the normal armor effects of a helm of its type, the Frog-Eye Helm has the following special powers:

Enhanced peripheral vision: The wearer can see movement anywhere except for a 90 degree arc directly behind the helm. Note that if something is not moving, or moving very, very slowly (e.g., a slug crawling) it will not be noticed. Some users have reported an inordinate interest in watching bugs.

Swimming underwater: When in water, the wearer's skin functions as a frog's for oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange. This allows a humanoid wearer to survive underwater for ten times the normal limit. If a character could normally hold her breath for a minute and a half, with the Frog-Eye Helm on she could hold it for fifteen minutes instead. Note that this is heavily dependant on the amount of oxygen available in the water: A cold, clear trout stream will allow breathing for considerably longer than the bottom of a bog. The 10x factor is for the surface waters of a normal temperate-zone lake; for other areas, the Judge should adjust accordingly.

Froggly Eyes: The wearer can choose to see solely through the frog eyes on the helm. For game purposes, treat the forward 90 degree arc as being similar to normal human vision, except in black and white, 90 degrees to each side being sensitive to movement only as for the enhanced peripheral vision, and again the rear arc is a blind spot. By submerging in water with just the frog eyes breaking the surface, perhaps with a bit of mud or pond weed to disguise the top of the helm, it is possible to hide while watching what is going on, taking advantage of the frog skin feature to only surface to breathe every ten minutes or so.