Four Unique Magic Items
Every hero craves magic items. There is, of course, a place in any game for the trusty +1 longsword or potion of healing. Some magic items, though, are more notable than others. Unique magic items breathe depth and flavour into a campaign. While every hero craves magic items, every hero lusts after the unique items that set them apart from the common adventurer.
This week's Sunday Supplements presents four unique magic items drawn from the last year of posts.
Bag of Vile Darkness
Unique Magic Item
Tens of thousands of years ago, the inhuman artificer philosopher-priests of doomed Draken-Nar mastered non-Euclidian geometry and built immense, sanity-shattering fanes to house terrible and alien beings brought forth from the Eternal Void.
From their mountainous realm upon a vast and distant island, they carried out unspeakable research and sent out their sail-less stone galleys to explore and plunder the world. But the priests of Draken-Nar delved too deeply into forbidden things and learnt too much. They uncovered secrets that no mortal should know.
In a single day and night, their once great and terrible civilisation was scoured from the world by a thick grey bilious fog that billowed forth from its fanes and high temples. The fog destroyed everything not of stone or metal that it touched, erasing the blasphemous horror that was Draken-Nar. It was as if the gods themselves had decided that the world would be a better place without Draken-Nar.
And yet fragments of this peerless, pre-human kingdom survived the magical cataclysm. A few of its greatest priests and wizards escaped upon the wings of powerful spells or by employing cunningly wrought implements and devices of the most curious sort. Some lingered on in the world for a while before falling prey to time’s remorseless onslaught or the vengeful assaults of fearful savages. Other survivors returned to the ruin of their home to scavenge what they could from the lifeless wreckage. In this, they were successful, for the philosopher priests recorded their lore on thin sheets of specially prepared, all but unbreakable bronze. The secret to crafting such sheets was lost in Drakon-Nar’s fall, but imbued with extra-dimensional properties, each could hold staggering amounts of lore. Other, more powerful sheets held entire demi-planes within; such places could be prisons, homes or secret refuges. Yet other sheets, spell-trapped and hidden, were used to store lore deemed too dangerous for even the philosopher priests to know.
Thus, do scattered fragments of Draken-Nar’s hideous lore yet survive to the present day. The foolish or the power-crazed seek out such fragments for their own personal ends. Few such quests end well, for calamity and misfortune hound most such folk; only those loreseekers with certain arcane protections can hope to emerge unchanged and unscathed from contact with Draken-Nar’s terrible legacy.
Bucard’s Wondrous Carpet
Unique Magic Item
The supple threads and weave of this centuries-old flying carpet are in pristine condition and as bright as the day they were first spun. It is a work of art, and its pattern beautifully depicts a tranquil blue sky studded with wisps of cloud.
This four-foot-by-six-foot carpet can carry up to 600 lbs. and seat two human-sized individuals. Named for its most famous owner, the dashing bard and holy warrior Bucard, the carpet featured in some of his most memorable adventures.
Additional magics, beyond the ability to fly, have been woven into this carpet. The carpet has three command words: the first, actava, activates or deactivates the carpet, while the second, destrona, causes it to roll or unroll. In its rolled form, the carpet shrinks to the size of a head scarf and can be worn as such. The carpet’s final command word, tostra, brings into being a bubble of protective energy akin to that of a tiny hut, but one that only holds two individuals, atop the carpet. This final power can be used once a week.
Dayle's Magnificent Tapestry of Seeing
Unique Magic Item
Set in a gilt frame and comprising a multitude of silver, gold, platinum, copper and silken threads of many hues, Dayle’s Magnificent Tapestry of Seeing is a thing of wondrous beauty and wondrous power. Crafted by the half-elven artificer Dayle Adamar Krisidor, the tapestry took almost 20 years to complete.
Dayle wove great divination magics into the very fabric of the tapestry. Imbued with the powers of farsight, the tapestry is a potent scrying device that can reveal much. In a similar fashion to a crystal ball, it can display scenes of other places—its multitudinous threads rearranging themselves to reveal the desired scene or location.
A skilled and iron-willed wizard can use the tapestry to see events happening almost anywhere in the world. The tapestry also has a limited ability to pierce the weave of the universe and to scry—sometimes with but partial success—other planes of existence.
Some wizards who have used the tapestry assert that even greater powers lurk within. Some claimed to be able to see things that others could not see or to read the thoughts of those depicted within the tapestry. A few wizards have even managed to command the tapestry to show scenes that it displayed many years ago, giving rise to the suggestion that it might have a memory of sorts—and, perhaps, even sentience.
Ring of Gushar
Unique Magic Item
This platinum band holds a translucent, glimmering ruby of startling size and clarity. Close observation of the gorgeous gem reveals that its luscious hue seems to throb subtly. An even closer observation made by the wearer reveals that the gem pulsates in time with their heart rate.
The Ring of Gushar is a legendary, cursed magic item that is nevertheless much sought after by warriors and heroes. Once placed on a wearer’s finger, the Ring of Gushar cannot be removed, and the wearer cannot benefit from healing magic of any kind. In addition, the wearer loses one hit point a day to the ring. (If remove curse is cast on the wearer, they can remove the ring, but they can never again gain its benefits.) Some wearers also report being plagued by terrible, strange dreams, an insatiable hunger and, sometimes, even an aversion to bright lights.
However, great power—that many heroes have deemed worthy of these drawbacks—lurks in the ring for the Ring of Gushar is a fabulously rare ring of vampiric regeneration. The ring bestows healing equal to one-half the damage the wearer deals in hand-to-hand to their foes. This damage must be dealt with a piercing or slashing weapon.
The Ring of Gushar also holds a terrible secret: its flawless ruby holds the soul of the master vampire Gushar Krav. Gushar’s soul—sentient and aware—powers the ring and ever-hungers for release. Gushar feeds on the wearer—the daily hit point loss is a mark of Gushar’s feeding. If the vampire’s feeding reduces the wearer’s hit point total to zero, Gushar is free to reenter the world and possess the wearer’s body.
Ashlarian (proper noun) of Ashlar; Campaign (noun) a connected series of adventures; Component (noun) a constituent part; Legendry (noun) a collection or body of legends; Lore (noun) knowledge and stories about a subject
Thank you for reading the Sunday Supplement; I hope some of this week’s Campaign Components make it into your game or sparks your creativity.
Want the Markdown Files? Every member of our Patreon campaign gets the markdown files for the new-look Sunday Supplements to make it even easier to add them to their campaign.
Remember, Everything is Better with Tentacles!