Spinner’s Coin of Minor Fortune

Aura faint universal; CL 5th
Slot —; Price 6,000 gp; Weight —

DESCRIPTION

This heavy, palm-sized coin is composed of dull gold and aged silver, etched with concentric rings of numbers and symbols that seem to subtly shift when not directly observed. At its center stands a skeletal figure clad in flowing wizard’s robes, its hollow gaze fixed forward in quiet judgment. In one hand, it holds a finely detailed longsword; in the other, a shorter blade - a shortsword - the two weapons balanced with deliberate symmetry, as though representing choices of reach, risk, and consequence. Its posture is neither threatening nor benevolent - merely certain.

As a standard action, the wielder places and spins the coin upon a flat surface, declaring one of the following categories: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, or d%. The coin spins longer than it should, emitting a faint metallic hum before settling on a result.

Each result corresponds to a specific effect, with odd numbers imposing a –1 penalty and even numbers granting a +1 bonus. All effects are luck bonuses or penalties and last for 1 hour.

The coin may be used up to 5 times per day. Each use beyond the first within the same hour imposes a cumulative –1 penalty on all saving throws for the duration, as the wielder’s connection to stable fate begins to fray.

If a creature is under three or more simultaneous effects from the coin, they must succeed on a DC 13 Will save or become shaken for as long as at least one effect remains.

STACKING RULE - FATE ACCUMULATION

All bonuses and penalties granted by the Spinner’s Coin of Minor Fortune stack with themselves, even if they affect the same statistic.

Each spin creates a separate 1-hour effect, and all active effects combine cumulatively.

• Multiple bonuses stack normally

• Multiple penalties stack normally

• Bonuses and penalties to the same statistic offset each other

These effects are treated as luck bonuses and penalties, but explicitly stack with themselves, overriding normal stacking rules.

Each individual effect expires 1 hour after it is created, potentially causing totals to shift over time.

The coin does not track totals for the wielder. Those who rely upon it often develop meticulous habits… or descend into quiet, muttered arithmetic.

EFFECT TABLES

d4 - Core Combat Fate

Roll	Effect
1	–1 to attack rolls
2	+1 to attack rolls
3	–1 to Armor Class
4	+1 to Armor Class

d6 - Saving Throws

Roll	Effect
1	–1 Fortitude saves
2	+1 Fortitude saves
3	–1 Reflex saves
4	+1 Reflex saves
5	–1 Will saves
6	+1 Will saves

d8 - Skill Aptitude

Roll	Effect
1	–1 Strength-based skill checks
2	+1 Strength-based skill checks
3	–1 Dexterity-based skill checks
4	+1 Dexterity-based skill checks
5	–1 Intelligence-based skill checks
6	+1 Intelligence-based skill checks
7	–1 Wisdom-based skill checks
8	+1 Wisdom-based skill checks

d10 - Adventuring Utility

Roll	Effect
1	–1 Perception (Spot & Listen)
2	+1 Perception (Spot & Listen)
3	–1 Stealth (Hide & Move Silently)
4	+1 Stealth (Hide & Move Silently)
5	–1 Mobility (Jump, Balance, Tumble)
6	+1 Mobility (Jump, Balance, Tumble)
7	–1 Concentration
8	+1 Concentration
9	–1 Use Magic Device
10	+1 Use Magic Device

d12 - Combat Edge

Roll	Effect
1	–1 melee attack rolls
2	+1 melee attack rolls
3	–1 ranged attack rolls
4	+1 ranged attack rolls
5	–1 melee damage
6	+1 melee damage
7	–1 ranged damage
8	+1 ranged damage
9	–1 combat maneuvers
10	+1 combat maneuvers
11	–1 critical confirmation rolls
12	+1 critical confirmation rolls

d20 - Threads of Fate

Roll	Effect
1	–1 all attack rolls
2	+1 all attack rolls
3	–1 all damage rolls
4	+1 all damage rolls
5	–1 Armor Class
6	+1 Armor Class
7	–1 all saving throws
8	+1 all saving throws
9	–1 all skill checks
10	+1 all skill checks
11	–1 initiative
12	+1 initiative
13	–1 caster level checks
14	+1 caster level checks
15	–1 spell DCs
16	+1 spell DCs
17	–1 opposed checks
18	+1 opposed checks
19	–1 to all rolls
20	+1 to all rolls

d% - Twisting Fortune

When using the d% option, the wielder spins the coin three times:

1. First spin determines the tens place: 10–90 or 00

2. Second spin determines the ones place: 1–10 (10 = 0)

3. Third spin determines the effect category (chosen die)

The third spin determines the effect as normal; the percentile result modifies it.

d% Results

Result	Effect
01–25	Modifier becomes ±2 instead of ±1
26–50	Duration becomes 2 hours
51–75	Apply two results from the chosen category
76–90	Effect targets nearest ally instead
91–00	Effect targets nearest enemy instead

SPECIAL RULE - FATE RESONANCE

If the same category is rolled twice, the modifier increases to ±2, but duration is halved.

If opposing effects cancel, the coin emits a faint metallic chime.

LORE

There exists a peculiar class of magical objects that do not seek to empower, protect, or destroy - but rather to negotiate. The Spinner’s Coin of Minor Fortune belongs to this subtle and unsettling lineage. It offers no promises, makes no bargains, and yet invites constant use through the most insidious mechanism imaginable: choice without control.

The skeletal figure engraved upon its surface is depicted not as a reaper, but as something more curious - a robed practitioner, armed with two blades of differing reach. Some interpret this as a representation of calculated choice: the longsword for measured action, the shortsword for immediacy and risk. Others suggest a darker reading - that no matter which path one selects, both are merely instruments in the same skeletal hand.

A more troubling theory has emerged among certain scholars: that the coin does not influence fate at all. Rather, it records what was always going to happen… merely revealing it a few seconds early. If this is true, then each spin is not a gamble, but a glimpse - a minor unveiling of inevitability, disguised as chance.

CONSTRUCTION

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, guidance, resistance, augury;
Cost 3,000 gp + 240 XP

Kelwyn’s Notes…

Ah… yes.

I wondered when I might encounter one of these again.

Not this exact piece, of course - no, this is a far more… embellished incarnation - but I recognize the principle all the same. There was a time, you see, when objects such as this governed everything. Quietly. Absolutely. Small numbered instruments, spun or cast upon tables, determining outcomes for beings who, at the time, lacked the awareness to question them.

Beings… rather like myself.

Before I became… otherwise.

It is a curious sensation, to stand on this side of the mechanism. To observe it, rather than be subject to it. What was once an unseen authority has here been made manifest - given weight, form, and just enough honesty to be mistaken for fairness.

But do not be comforted by that.

This coin does not grant fortune. It does not even decide it. It merely performs the same function its predecessors always did - presenting an outcome with the quiet implication that it could have been otherwise.

I assure you… that implication is doing a great deal of work.

I find the skeletal figure’s armament most telling. Two blades, differing only in reach, held with perfect balance. A longer path and a shorter one. A cautious decision and an impulsive one. And yet, both reside in the same hand… suggesting, perhaps, that the distinction is less meaningful than one might hope.

Which leads us, inevitably, to the more unsettling conclusion.

It is entirely possible that the coin is not influencing fate at all.

It is simply… remembering it slightly sooner than you do.

“My dear patron… the distinction between chance and intention is, in my experience, largely a matter of comfort.”

Yes.

Once, I would have called this a tool.

Now?

…I believe it is closer to a mirror.