Magical Masks

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Masks are not mere adornment in this city - they are language, status, shield, and confession all at once. From the grand revelries of La Fête Humide to the shadowed wanderings of La Nuit de Jack Errant, nearly every soul passes beneath painted porcelain, carved wood, or stitched leather at some point in the year. A mask allows a dockhand to speak as boldly as a noble, a priest to walk unseen among sinners, and a criminal to vanish into celebration without suspicion. In the thick, humid air where secrets cling as stubbornly as sweat, identity is fluid, and truth is often worn rather than spoken. To refuse to mask is to stand exposed - not just in face, but in intent - and few in the city are brave, or foolish, enough to do so.


Mask of the Courteous Veil

Aura faint enchantment; CL 3rd
Slot face; Price 2,200 gp; Weight 1 lb

DESCRIPTION

This delicate half-mask is crafted from lacquered porcelain and painted in soft ivory tones, with faint blush at the cheeks and lips eternally poised in a polite smile.

While worn, the Mask of the Courteous Veil grants a +5 competence bonus on Diplomacy checks. Additionally, once per day, the wearer may reroll a failed Diplomacy check, taking the second result.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, eagle’s splendor
Cost 1,100 gp + 88 XP
Materials powdered pearl, lacquered porcelain, a drop of honeyed wine blessed during a public celebration

LORE

In the crowded salons of the river courts, words carry more weight than steel. The first of these masks were crafted for envoys who found themselves navigating fragile alliances between merchant princes and veiled priesthoods.

It is said the mask does not merely enhance charm, but remembers courtesy - echoing the practiced tones of a hundred past negotiations. Wearers often report that even insults seem to soften as they leave their lips, reshaped into something palatable.

However, prolonged use can blur sincerity. Those who wear the mask too often may find themselves unsure whether their kindness is genuine - or merely another performance for the unseen audience of the city.

Mask of the Gutter Shadow

Aura faint illusion; CL 3rd
Slot face; Price 3,000 gp; Weight 1 lb

DESCRIPTION

A dark leather mask, matte and worn, with narrow eye slits and subtle stitching resembling closed eyelids.

The wearer gains a +5 competence bonus on Hide checks. Additionally, once per day, the wearer may use disguise self (self only, duration 10 minutes).

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, disguise self
Cost 1,500 gp + 120 XP
Materials tanned alley-cat leather, soot from a chimney that has seen a crime, a shard of smoked glass

LORE

Born in the back alleys and canal walkways, these masks are favored by smugglers, informants, and those who prefer not to be remembered.

Legend claims the first mask was sewn from the scraps of a thief who vanished mid-chase, leaving behind only footprints that stopped abruptly in the mud.

In the humid dark of your city, shadows cling thick as velvet. The mask does not create darkness - it teaches the wearer how to belong to it. Some say that if worn too long, the city itself begins to forget you, one face at a time.

Mask of the Reveler’s Breath

Aura faint transmutation; CL 3rd
Slot face; Price 1,800 gp; Weight 1 lb

DESCRIPTION

A brightly painted festival mask adorned with feathers, beads, and tiny bells that softly chime with movement.

The wearer gains a +4 competence bonus on Perform (dance or oratory) checks. Additionally, the wearer may ignore the effects of fatigue for up to 10 minutes per day (need not be consecutive).

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, bear’s endurance
Cost 900 gp + 72 XP
Materials vibrant feathers, cane sugar resin, spiced rum reduced over flame

LORE

These masks are inseparable from La Fête Humide, where music rises with the mist and dancers collapse only when dawn burns the fog away.

Originally crafted for performers who refused to stop, the mask carries the rhythm of drums long since silent. Those who wear it often feel their pulse sync with distant, phantom music.

Yet there is a warning whispered among old performers - the mask does not understand restraint. It only knows celebration. Many who push too far find themselves laughing long after their bodies beg for rest.

Mask of the Penitent Whisper

Aura faint divination; CL 3rd
Slot face; Price 2,500 gp; Weight 1 lb

DESCRIPTION

A pale, expressionless mask carved from driftwood, its surface etched with tiny, nearly invisible script.

The wearer gains a +4 competence bonus on Sense Motive checks. Once per day, the wearer may gain a +2 insight bonus to AC against a single opponent for 3 rounds after successfully identifying them with Sense Motive.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, detect thoughts
Cost 1,250 gp + 100 XP
Materials driftwood from a river funeral, ash from burned confession scrolls, holy water from a shadowed shrine

LORE

Among certain masked congregations, confession is never spoken aloud. Instead, sins are written, burned, and worn.

These masks are said to whisper fragments of truth to their wearers - not full revelations, but instincts. A twitch, a hesitation, a lie half-formed.

Those who rely too heavily on the mask may begin to distrust spoken words entirely. In a city of masks, truth is already rare - the Penitent Whisper ensures it never comes easily.

Mask of the Jack Errant’s Grin

Aura faint enchantment; CL 5th
Slot face; Price 4,800 gp; Weight 1 lb

DESCRIPTION

A carved wooden mask depicting a wide, mischievous grin, painted in bold colors that never seem to dull.

The wearer gains a +2 luck bonus on all saving throws. Additionally, once per day, the wearer may treat any single d20 roll as if they had rolled a natural 10 before modifiers (declared before rolling).

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, good hope
Cost 2,400 gp + 192 XP
Materials wood from a lightning-struck tree, carnival paint, a coin flipped and never caught

LORE

Worn during La Nuit de Jack Errant, this mask honors the trickster who walks between fortune and ruin.

Stories say Jack never wins outright - he merely turns disaster into something survivable, and survival into something worth laughing about.

Those who don the mask often feel a strange confidence, as though fate itself is willing to bargain. But Jack is no savior. Luck given is luck borrowed, and the city always collects its debts - usually when the music stops.

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