Manshoon 
Join Date: May 31, 2001
Location: The Netherlands
Posts: 229
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Dramnek_Ulk:
Sword of Sharpness: This weapon is treated as +3 or better for purposes of who or what can be hit by it, even though it gets only a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls. Its power is great, however, for on a very high attack roll, it will sever an extremity—arm, leg, neck, tail, tentacle, whatever (but not head) determined by random dice roll:
Modified score
Opponent is to sever*
normal/armored 19-21
larger than man-sized 20-21
Solid metal or stone 21
* Considering only the sword's bonus of +1.
A sword of sharpness will respond to its wielder's desire with respect to the light it sheds—none, a 5-foot circle of dim illumination, a 15-foot light, or a 30-foot radius glow equal to a light spell.
These items are from book, it would be intersting if someone could make them for The game
Yuthla the Eye of the Beholder
Yuthla the Eye of the Beholder, is an adamantine torc inlaid with a
large fragment of polished amber. In the center of the amber can
seen a miniature, petrified inner eye of a beholder that appears to
beat in shifting light.
History
In the dim history of the Underdark, the drow city of Menzoberran-
zan was founded by refugees from the war-torn city of Golothaer
led by Menzoberra, the high priestess of Lolth. Following their
defeat of the dwarves of the Black Axe Clan, the drow refugees dis-
covered a massive underground cavern called Araurilcaurak
(Great Pillar Cavern). At the command of their dark goddess, the
drow settled the cavern and drove out all the previous inhabitants,
including a monstrous beholder known as Many Eyes.
The beast, also known as Yuthla, was a massive beholder rumored
to be over 30 feet in diameter with over 100 eyestalks. Drow scholars
later theorized that the monster reached its abnormal size due to the
high concentrations of Underdark radiation in that region. The schol-
ars believe Many Eyes was a variety of elder orb, given its spellcasting
ability and ability to direct scores of undead beholders (also known as
death tyrants). After a final climactic battle in which hundreds of drow
and their slaves were slain, Yuthla was destroyed.
Drow legends relate that immediately following Yuthla™s death,
Menzoberra plunged her fist within its carapace and withdrew its
still-pulsing inner eye which served as the beast™s brain and heart.
In an unholy rite of devotion to Lolth, Menzoberra petrified the
organ and encased it in a magical variant of amber. The resulting
gemlike stone was magically reduced and mounted on a adaman-
tine torc which Menzoberra wore around her neck until her death.
Menzoberra is believed to have used the artifact, referred to in the
old stories as Yuthla the Eye of the Beholder, to aid in the construction
of the new city and to clear monsters from the surrounding wilds of
the Underdark. Following Menzoberra™s death, the inlaid torc disap-
peared in the subsequent power struggle between her daughters.
Although numerous drow matriarchs have searched for the artifact in
the intervening centuries, no trace of the Eye has ever been found.
One rumor of interest relates a tale over eight decades old; a com-
pany of adventurers based in Zhentil Keep stormed an abandoned
dwarfhold deep in the Border Forest rumored to contain a long-lost
dragon hoard. After battling an entire clutch of green dragons, the
decimated adventuring band returned to Zhentil Keep with many
Yuthla the Eye of the Beholder
treasures. On a recently discovered parchment listing the loot they
recovered is a reference to a magical torc with an amber eye. Subse-
quent events indicate that this is likely a reference to Yuthla.
Descendants of the explorers became merchants and nobles of
the city of Zhentil Keep, and the magical torc apparently lay hidden
and forgotten in some noble™s mansion. The only recent reference to
Yuthla came to light in 1357 DR, the Year of the Prince, when it was
lost by a drunken Zhent noble while gambling. A noted dancer and
entertainer, Tamrithara Taless, known locally as the Gray Veil, disap-
peared soon after with her new-won treasure. The following day
Zhent authorities apparently uncovered legends about the noble™s
ihtrinketls and its reputed power when they investigated the noble™s
complaint that he was robbed, but their frantic searches never
turned up any trace of the artifact. The dancer, now thought to have
been a drow priestess in disguise, has disappeared completely
Campaign Use
The rulers of the Dales, Cormyr and Sembia are also believed to be
extremely concerned about the rediscovery of the lost artifact. Any-
one possessing Yuthla the Eye of the Beholder could destabilize large
portions of the Realms. The Zhentarim are also desperate to acquire
this artifact, which rested beneath their noses for so long, particu-
larly in the wake of their recent setbacks. If player characters were to
discover the fate of the artifact or the Gray Veil, many powerful indi-
viduals, organizations, and nations would expend great effort to
acquire the information.
Powers
Invoked. The wielder of the Eye of the Beholder can cast the follow-
ing spells as an 18th-level mage at will: levitate (as the 2nd-level wiz-
ard spell) and control death tyrant (as the 4h-level wizard spell). The
wielder can cast the following spells as an 18th-level mage once per
day: create death tyrant (as the 8th-level wizard spell), and tyranteyes
(as the 9th-level wizard spell).
Once per day per effect, the wielder can duplicate the effect of
each eye of a beholder. These abilities include: charm person, charm
monster, sleep, telekinesis (250-pound weight limit), flesh to stone ray
(30-yard range), disintegrate ray (20-yard range), fear (as a wand),
slow, cause serious wounds (50-yard range), death ray (40-yard range),
and anti-magic ray (140-yard range, 90° arc). The effects originate
from the torc, which must be worn to function.
Curse. The Eye naturally inspires jealousy in all who see it, and
anyone who comes into physical contact with the Eye for the first time
must make a successful saving throw vs. spell at a -4 penalty or
become completely obsessed with possessing the artifact. An obsessed
individual will do anything to obtain the Eye, and once she or he pos-
sesses it, such a person will not part with it short of death. Only a
remove curse followed by a bless spell permanently mitigates the
obsessionŠand only if cast within the first year that a being is affected.
These effects on the owner™s personality slowly fade at the same
rate as they first occurred only if the Eye is lost and the obsession magi-
cally cured, as described above. Anyone possessing Yuthla for longer
than a month become increasingly paranoid, seeing enemies and trai-
tors everywhere. The owner™s alignment slowly (and irrevocably) shifts
toward evil during the first year of possessing the Eye. (The lawful, neu-
tral, and chaotic axis of a being™s alignment remains unaffected.)
The Eye exhibits an extremely dangerous side effect. Over 30 dif-
ferent words trigger (like a magic mouth spell) a defense mecha-
nism which causes the Eye to levitate approximately 6 feet off the
ground, start spinning, and then unleash one random beholder eye
power per round in a random direction. It continues doing this for
2d6 rounds before sinking back down and becoming quiescent.
There is no known way of altering the trigger words, nor any com-
plete record of what they are. It also seems that some of these
words are integral parts of commonly employed wizard spells such
as fireball and dispel magic.
Crenshinibon the Crystal Shard
Crenshinibon the Crystal Shard is an ancient relic of chaos and evil.
This vile artifact appears as a 1-foot-long, four-sided, pulsating crystal
that is tapered like an icicle.
History
The Crystal Shard was forged by a conclave of seven liches millennia
ago in a distant crystal sphere. The forging consumed the seven;
Crenshinibon stole the magical strength that preserved their undeath
to fuel its own first flickers of life. A tanar™ri lord, Errtu, was present
at the creation of Crenshinibon, but was hurled back to the Abyss by
the burst of power that heralded the artifact™s coalescence. Errtu pre-
sumed the crystal had not survived that explosion until it stumbled
across the shard™s trail centuries later with the discovery of a crystal
tower, Cryshal-Tirith, whose pulsating heart was the exact image of
the Crystal Shard. In the interim, Crenshinibon had molded countless
bearers into iron-fisted tyrants and orchestrated military onslaughts
to deliver its purpose of destruction in many worlds. Before the fiend
could recover the relic, it was seized by Al Dimeneira, a solar of the
Upper Planes. Errtu was banished to the Abyss by the aasimon, but
the angelic being could not destroy the Crystal Shard. It burned his
skin terribly, and he was forced to hurl the relic across the planes,
hoping it would never be found.
Crenshinibon came to rest in the snow of a bowl-shaped dell
deep in the northern mountain range on Toril known as the Spine
of the World. There it lay for centuries, sought for its strength by
many evil lords, including ErrtuŠbut found by none. The Crystal
Shard was eventually discovered in the Year of the Crown (1351 DR)
by a weak-willed apprentice wizard by the name of Akar Kessel who
stumbled across the relic after being left to die in the snowy wastes
by his erstwhile allies, several wizards of the Hosttower of the
Arcane in Luskan. Under Crenshinibon™s influence, Kessel gathered
a servitor army of goblinkin, trolls, and giants. Errtu had noticed a
surge of power in the Realms hinting at the artifact™s location and
eventually managed to take advantage of a faulty summoning to the
Prime Material Plane to arrive in Icewind Dale and seize the arti-
fact. Kessel, warned of the fiend™s impending arrival by Crenshini-
bon, convinced Errtu to serve as his general with the promise that
the tanar™ri lord could seize the relic after the human died of old
ageŠa relatively short amount of time to the immortal Errtu.
Spurred by the Shard™s malignant intelligence, the self-styled
Tyrant of Icewind Dale then turned his army against the humans of
the Ten Towns and the dwarves of Clan Battlehammer in his bid to
carve out an empire. Kessel and his army were eventually defeated by
the humans and dwarves of the region with the aid of several adven-
turers who later formed the Company of the Hall. Crenshinibon was
buried under half the snow on Kelvin™s Cairn, entombed with the late,
unlamented Kessel by an avalanche of its own creation.
Campaign Use
The Crystal Shard is endowed with an utterly evil, power-craving
intelligence that serves the cause of pure chaos. It is still actively
sought by many fiends of the Lower Planes, including Errtu, though
that tanar™ri lord has been exiled from the Prime Material Plane after
its defeat by Drizzt Do™Urden. Any of these evil beings will seek out
the artifact if an opportunity presents itself.
Although Crenshinibon was defeated, it was hardly
destroyed or even particularly well-hidden. A skilled wizard
employing widely known spells could locate the Crystal Shard
and retrieve it from its icebound tomb. Alternatively, the heat
radiated by the artifact might cause it to slowly sink through
the snow until it falls into a deep-running stream. Fate might
then bear the artifact into the Underdark to be discovered by
some powerful denizen of the Land Below. If the finder bears
the artifact south, it could reappear in the hands of a subter-
ranean tyrant anywhere in the Realms. Player characters
might then be forced into confronting the rapid rise of an
empire in the depths that threatens the surrounding surface
worldŠfor Crenshinibon needs exposure to the sun to
employ most of its powers.
Powers
Crenshinibon is an enigma: a force of darkest evil that draws its
strength from that which good-aligned beings find most preciousŠ
the light of day. For every hour of daylight the Crystal Shard (or
Cryshal Tirith if it contains the artifact) is directly exposed to the
light of the sun, Crenshinibon absorbs 12 power levels of energy.
The artifact can store a maximum of 144 power levels at any one
time, and additional exposure to the sun has no effect. Every two
hours, Crenshinibon slowly loses two power levels. (The energy
simply dissipates.)
The relic burns power levels to create spell effects at its bearer™s
will at a cost of one power level per level of a spell effect. Although
spell effects can be maintained at night, no new spell effects may be
created by the relic while the sun is completely below the horizon.
When spells are cast, the ambient light of the sun diminishes as the
relic actually steals its radiance.
Crenshinibon is sentient, with an effective Intelligence of 19, Wis-
dom of 18, and Charisma of 18. It is 100% magic resistant and immune
to psionics and physical attacks. The relic prefers weak, indecisive
bearers as they are easier to dominate. It desires to conquer and com-
mand and has an insatiable hunger for absolute power.
Constant. Crenshinibon burns any creature of good alignment
who physically touches it with bare skin for 1d10 points of damage
per round. Even while wearing leather or metal gauntlets, a good-
aligned bearer suffers 1d6 points of damage per round.
The ultimate perversion of light, Crenshinibon radiates warmth
with an ambient temperature of approximately 80° Fahrenheit. It pro-
vides the benefits of a ring of warmth to anyone holding it in direct
contact with his or her skin.
Invoked. The bearer of the Crystal Shard can create and maintain
magical towers known as Cryshal-Tirith at a cost of 24 power levels per
day. A tower is created from a duplicate of the Crystal Shard that splits
off from the actual artifact and expands into a gigantic edifice when
the bearer (or someone she or he gives the duplicate shard to) invokes
it with the command ioIbssum dal abdur.lm These incredible fortresses
can serve as a shelter and home for those who dare to wield the arti-
fact. Each Cryshal-Tirith can teleport without error (itself and all items
and beings within it) at a cost of 12 power levels at the will of the
bearer of the Crystal Shard, who also chooses the destination.
Each incarnation of Cryshal-Tirith has four palatial square-walled
floors constructed of smooth, strong crystal. The first is entered via a
dark hallway and serves as the main chamber of the tower and guard
post. Stairs lead up from the back of the chamber to a small platform.
A secret door hides a second stair that continues up to the second
floor, a comfortably adorned sleeping chamber. A stair leads to a
landing opening onto the third floor of the tower. This room, known
as the Hall of Scrying, is filled with numerous magical scrying
devices, including dozens of mirrors, and a grand crystal throne. A
small ladder leads to the fourth floor which houses the Crystal Shard
(or a duplicate) and a single mirror. The relic (or duplicate) levitates
in the center of this small chamber, powering Cryshal-Tirith and any
other spell effects employed by the bearer.
Cryshal-Tirith and its occupants are invulnerable to all forms of
external magical, psionic, or physical attack. No magical or psionic
effect cast within Cryshal-Tirith can affect the bearer of Crenshinibon
unless she or he so desires. All spell effects cast at the tower are
reflected back at the caster. Only a creature not native to the plane on
which Cryshal-Tirith is currently located or those allowed by the
bearer of Crenshinibon (or by the artifact itself) can locate the
entrance to the towerŠan invisible door opening onto the first floor
of the tower.
The bearer of the Crystal Shard can destroy any Cryshal-Tirith at
will. The tower then collapses into a mound of black stonework that
slowly disintegrates into dust. This also occurs precipitously if the
artifact runs out of power levels. Anyone trapped in a tower during its
destruction is instantly crushed to death.
Both Cryshal-Tirith and the Crystal Shard can pulse with a burst of
blinding light that temporarily blinds any sighted creature who
observes the pulse for 1d6 rounds. This ability does not cost any
power levels. The Crystal Shard also, without draining power levels,
functions as a maximum strength ring of telekinesis.
Crenshinibon enables its owner to cast numerous spell effects as
an 18th-level wizard. Spell effects issue from the bearer if Cryshal-
Tirith is not close by, but otherwise issue from the tower itself. All
spell effects (except for those of the enchantment/charm school)
appear as a ray of blindingly bright light.
The Crystal Shard can act as a powerful instrument of destruction.
Its bearer can cast any offensive wizard spell from the school of invo-
cation/evocation at a cost of one power level per spell level. All such
spells have unlimited range, but are effectively limited by the horizon.
The relic can also serve as a means of manipulation; its bearer
can cast any enchantment/charm spell at a cost of one power level
per spell level. In addition, the Crystal Shard serves as a rod of ruler-
ship for its bearer without needing charges. Few bearers have known
that every 10 successful uses of the wizard spell domination through
Crenshinibon™s magic permanently lower both their Wisdom and
Intelligence by 1 point.
Crenshinibon can act as a powerful tool for scrying. The magical
mirrors located on the fourth floor of Cryshal-Tirith function as crys-
tal balls. The bearer of the Crystal Shard can cast any wizard spell
from the schools of lesser or greater divination or employ the rod of
rulership functions through the mirrors at a cost of one power level
per spell level.
If a mirror is removed from Cryshal-Tirith, it can function as a
two-way communication device between the bearer of the Crystal
Shard in the mirror room of Cryshal-Tirith and anyone who stands in
front of the remote mirror. Simply standing in front of the mirror
alerts a bearer of the Crystal Shard that communication is requested.
By stepping through a tower mirror, it is possible for the owner to
travel to a remote mirror.
The shard also facilitates magical transportation of a more con-
ventional sort. Its bearer can cast any wizard translocational spell of
8th level or less (as adjudicated by the DM), including dimension
door, teleport, teleport without error, and gateway at a cost of one
power level per spell level.
Curse. Initially Crenshinibon communicates with its bearer via
subconscious suggestions in a fashion similar to the 5th-level wizard
spell dream (or its reverse, nightmare). After 1d4+1 years of molding
its owner™s personality and goals, Crenshinibon can communicate
silently to its owner while she or he is awake. Although the relic can-
not force its bearer to sleep, it can cast suggestion on its bearer as an
18th-level wizard at will. These spell effects can affect the bearer of
the Crystal Shard regardless of any normal immunities. While the
bearer is awake, she or he has a normal saving throw vs. spell, but
while asleep his or her saving throw suffers a -6 penalty.
Crenshinibon™s irsuggestionsll always advance its plans to foment
chaos and evil and to extend its dominion over a larger and larger
area. Effectively Crenshinibon can force its bearer to do anything it wishes through repeated use of suggestion spells. Finally, Crenshini-
bon chooses its bearer and cannot be coerced to perform any taskŠ
it can reject and withhold its powers from a bearer if it decides to.
|
Whoa! That took up like 1/2 a page, how long did it take you to write this?? 
|
05-27-2001, 08:05 AM
(someone resurrect the powerful magic thread too!
Similar Threads
