Ring of Hidden Morality

Ring of Hidden Morality

This golden ring comes with nine different gemstones. When a gemstone is touched and the command word is spoken, the wearer is detected as the alignment she has chosen. If a spell or magic item is used to determine the wearer's true alignment, the detector must make a WILL save at DC20. If the save is made then the wearer's actual alignment is known. If not, the wearer will be viewed as the chosen alignment. The effect lasts for one hour, and then the ring becomes dormant for twenty-four hours.

Strong illusion; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, Misdirection; Price 2,500 gp.

Hat of Belying

Hat of Belying

This apparently normal hat allows its wearer to alter her appearance as with an Alter Self spell. As part of the disguise, the hat can be changed to appear as a comb, ribbon, headband, cap, coif, hood, helmet, and so on. True Sight will reveal the wearer's actual appearance. The hat's natural appearance is that of a felted, short brimmed statute cap.

Faint illusion; CL 2nd; Craft Wondrous Item, Alter Self; Price 2,400 gp.

Pilti's Picks

Pilti's Picks

Pilti was quite the accomplished Halfling thief, last known to be active two centuries ago. Her exploits are still talked about with great favor in multiple thieve's dens, and finding her lockpicks would definitely be worth bragging rights.

In addition to acting like Masterwork Lockpicks, these picks glow with a dim, aqua-colored hue when within 5' of a mechanical trap of any sort. By moving the picks around and watching the glow increase or decrease, the picks grant the user a +5 bonus when using the Search skill in trying to find the traps.

Minor Divination; Sor/Wiz 1st; Detect Traps, Craft Wondrous Item; Price: 2000gp, Weight: ---

Magic Belts

Magical Belts

Magic belts are usually made of sturdy leather, can be found in a variety of colors (but are more often than not usually brown or black), and hold closed with a metal buckle inscribed with magical designs, symbols or sigils. As the buckle is intrinsic to the magic of the belt, if it is removed the belt will permanently become non-magical, as will the buckle. The belt will lengthen or shrink to fit the wearer.

Belt of Protection

This belt offers continual magical protection in the form of a deflection bonus of +1 to +5 to AC.

Faint abjuration; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, Shield of Faith, caster must be of a level at least three times greater than the bonus of the belt; Price 2,000 gp (belt +1); 8,000 gp (belt +2); 18,000 gp (belt +3); 32,000 gp (belt +4); 50,000 gp (belt +5).

Belt of Resistance

This belt offers magic protection in the form of a +1 to +5 resistance bonus on all saving throws (Fortitude, Reflex, and Will).

Faint abjuration; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, resistance, creator’s caster level must be at least three times the cloak’s bonus; Price 1,000 gp (belt +1), 4,000 gp (belt +2), 9,000 gp (belt +3), 16,000 gp (belt +4), 25,000 gp (belt +5); Weight 1 lb.

Belt of the Warrior

This belt offers a bonus on all To Hit and Damage rolls of +1 to +5.

Faint transmutation; Sor/Wiz 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, Magic Weapon, caster must be of a level at least three times greater than the bonus of the belt; Price 2,000 gp (belt +1); 8,000 gp (belt +2); 18,000 gp (belt +3); 32,000 gp (belt +4); 50,000 gp (belt +5).

Avok's Razor

Avok's Razor

(Note: Format follows Tome Of Artifacts. Eldritch Relics And Wonders)

Focus or Theme: Necromancy

Origin: Crafted by a necromancer to honor the God of Death

Benefits: DR 15/Good, Evasion

Spell-Like Abilities: Greater Invisibility 3x/day

Major Powers: Special - Anyone killed by the razor becomes a Haunt and must remain within 100m of the Razor at all times

Downsides: Special - The user becomes a Terror Haunt upon death and must remain within 10m of the Razor at all times

The Tale of Avok's Razor

Over 100 years ago there was a barber surgeon known as Avok. He was a simple man, but quite skilled at his trade. He was as adept at cutting hair and trimming beards as he was removing infected limbs and sewing up wounds. He was, however, desperately lonely. Despite all of his attempts, however, he remained single.

After a while, his inability to find a wife grew into contempt and hate. He had a dream one night in which the God of Death spoke to him and promised him that if he were to slay in the God's name, those that he slew would remain with him forever and keep him from ever being lonely again.

Over the next year Avok did an immense amount of research, quickly becoming skilled in the necromantic arts. Eventually he created his Razor, a small but deadly blade that would easily serve his purpose. Again and again he slew innocent women, all of which would become Haunts that were tied to the Razor's purpose. They had no choice but to obey Avok's will, which they did. When Avok was eventually caught and slain, he too became a Haunt but a more powerful version than his victims did.

Eventually an unnamed Cleric and a trio of Paladins slew Avok and his minions, sending them into the Great Void. Not realizing that the Razor was the source of Avok's power, the Cleric sold it to a wandering merchant. It was later bought by a barber surgeon, and the cycle began again.

Researching Avok's Razor

Knowledge of Avok's Razor is incredibly esoteric and difficult to obtain. Because of this, the DC is slightly higher than normal.

DC  Knowledge Available
15   The razor was made by a lonely barber surgeon that hated women.
20   The razor turns those it slays into incorporeal undead that obey the user of the Razor
25   The Razor turns the user into a powerful incorporeal undead upon death
30+   The Character learns all of the Razor's powers and the complete history

Studying Avok's Razor

Avok's Razor is a fairly normal shaving straight razor with a deeply stained and well-worn metal handle with female imagery, a blade of steel and an incredibly sharp edge. When examined closely, traces of dried blood may be found in a number of places. When held by an evil character or a worshiper of the Death God, the blade actually starts to drip blood.

Avok's Blade detects as both evil and necromantic. Even those without magical detection abilities will find themselves uneasy around the razor, and animals such as dogs and cats will actually bark or hiss at it before attempting to get away. 

Powers of Avok's Razor

When grasped, the new owner will feel a dark affinity toward the Razor. That night, the user will have a dream where a black, inky void tells him of the powers of the Razor and how to utilize them. The user's personality will remain the same, but every night he will have the same dream again and must make a WILL save (DC20) to avoid changing their alignment to Neutral Evil. They will also become obsessed with gaining a wife, even if already married.

Using Avok's Razor

The Razor is used to slash in melee combat, bust used most effectively by surprise by slitting the throat from behind. In the hands of anyone other than the Razor's owner it will act like a simple straight razor doing 1d4 damage. The owner, however, treats the blade as being +2 To Hit and doing 1d6+2 damage.

Constant Powers

The Razor grants a DR of 15/good to the user, as well as the Evasion ability.

Activated Powers

Three times per day the user of Avok's Razor can use Greater Invisibility

Consequences

Those slain by the Razor gain the Haunt template and are under complete control by the user and must remain within 100m of the Razor. If the owner is slain he gains the Terror Haunt template and must remain within 10m of the Razor.

Using Avok's Razor in a Campaign

Avok's Razor is a cursed magic item, and is a great way to introduce a Jack The Ripper aspect to the campaign.

Adventure Seeds

Shave and a Haircut, 6 copper...

Women have begun to disappear in town, only to turn up dead the next morning. All of them have had their throats deeply slashed. No one knows who is to blame, and the City Watch can find no information out as to who might have murdered the women.

Destroying Avok's Razor

Avok's Razor can only be destroyed if it is tossed by a relative of a victim into a cauldron of melted mythril. The cauldron must have been blessed beforehand by a cleric of at least 15th level.

Cursed +1 Shield of Dragon Attraction

Cursed +1 Shield of Dragon Attraction

It is said by the most learned of scholars and sages that, due to truly unknown aspects of magic, sometimes a magic item can become cursed simply due to the actions of it's owner. This shield is one such item, and cursed it truly is. Pray to whatever Gods you believe in that you should never happen upon it.

This shield seems to be attracted to individuals that demonstrate great stupidity, pigheadedness or simpleminded actions. This doesn't include beings with actual mental deficiencies or low INT scores, just beings that do something so incredibly stupid that the gods themselves would facepalm.

For all intents and purposes, this is a normal +1 shield. Aside from some wear and tear, it is quite sturdy and will function normally. That is, until a true dragon or any member of a draconian species comes within one mile (1.6km). Then, they will be instantly drawn to the user with an irresistible urge to kill him and destroy his remains. There is no saving throw or magic resistance against this compulsion. 

Against the user of this shield, dragons have the following bonuses:

• Bonus to all Skill rolls equal to their hit dice
• Bonus to hit and damage on all melee attacks equal to their hit dice (example - 7hd = +7 To Hit and Damage with all physical attacks)

• Bonus AC equal to their hit dice (example - 14hd = +14 to AC as a Competence bonus)

• If the dragon is killed by the user or his companions, the dragon will somehow fall on or impact against the user in some way causing damage equal to it's original unwounded Hit Points. The user is allowed a REF save (DC 20) against this effect, but the Save has a penalty equal to the dragon's HD. This will occur no matter what actions the user takes, even up to going etheral or astral, teleporting away, running underground into a confined space, etc.

These effects are only against the user of the shield, not his companions, pets, random strangers, etc. For everyone else, the dragon is treated normally.

A disturbing secondary effect of the shield is that no matter what shield the user carries, it will morph into the cursed shield within 24 hours. It can be an iron buckler or a +5 Heavy Fortification Mythril tower shield and it will still turn into this atrocity. There is no save or magic resistance against this effect either.

The only way to be rid of this shield is to perform multiple acts of great intelligence and wit. What these may be is up to the DM, but they must show great acumen and reasoned thought on the part of the player. Remove Curse, Alter Reality, Wishes or even the powers of the gods themselves can not eliminate this curse without the player showing great judgement on their part.

~~~~~

DM Note: This item was actually born out of incredible stupidity.

I was running a D&D campaign that was taking place in a snowy wilderness, and I had a full compliment of players. The party was dealing with strafing attacks from a huge white dragon. The party's mage manages to kill the dragon in the air at the start of another strafing run, and I was all set to describe the dragon impacting against the snow, taking out trees, etc. All of the players yell that they're getting out of the way of the incoming dragon corpse... well, all but one actually, which I'll call S.

S was somehow convinced that he could just stand there and brace himself and that the characters that ran were cowards. The other players were yelling at S to get the hell out of the way, but his only retort was "The dragon won't hurt me, I have a +1 Shield." He said that in a really snotty voice, too. Multiple times the other players tried to get him to move, but he refused to budge (and kept being a little bitch about it as well).

Ok, S. You wanna' stay there? Let's do this. Let's play.

Pausing the game and going online, I worked out the mass of the dragon, the speed it was flying at, the force in newtons that it would hit with and converted that into HP damage based on other very similar attacks and effects listed within several WotC rulebooks (including D20 Modern).

(20,000 lbs, diving Spd 400 which converts to 333 ft/sec or 227mph, hits at 15,343 N)

His character was a pink smear on the glistening snow. All of his equipment, including several valuable magic items and a suit of elven chainmail, was destroyed. One item, however, survived. His +1 Shield.

I've included this shield in every single game I've played since. It's become so infamous that my players will warn new players or visiting friends against claiming any +1 Shields that they happen to find as random treasure. You'll never find a single character carrying a +1 Shield; they would rather go without a magic shield or wait until they find a more powerful one than to risk even the slightest chance of their new shield being this shield.

Fear the DM you irritate.