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Friday, February 27, 2009

Circlet of Mental Mastery

I found this collection of items tucked away in an old folder during my RPG scanning project. Originally these items were used by Borgyl, an evil cleric pursuing lichdom, to maintain contact and control of his extensive demi-human army. Borgyl had established himself in a rift valley bordering a desert wasteland and had quite the army, including hundreds of trolls and ogres and thousands of orcs. No, I don't really know how he fed them all. I know he turned the fallen into an army of thousands of undead skeletons and zombies.

Circlet of Mental Mastery - This plain gold headpiece is the controlling element of this array of magic items. It is imbued with Superb enchantment / charm magic, allowing its wearer to communicate with and influence the actions of anyone using one of the lesser items. The wearer of the circlet gains the following powers and abilities:
  • Telepathic communication - The wearer can contact and send messages to anyone wearing one of the lesser items in the collection. This communication is one way, though each type of lesser item allows a differing amount of feedback when contacted. This power can be used at will.
  • Suggestion - The wearer can cast a magical suggestion upon anyone they contact (Good test of will to ignore). Suggestions that directly cause harm to the target will be ignored, but other suggestions will be treated as if they were the target's own very good idea. This power can be used five times per day. Suggestions last until completed.
  • Attunement - The wearer can attune any of the lesser devices to a specific wearer, allowing them to make use of the device's powers with no further instruction. This power can be used five times per day.
  • Detection - The wearer is instantly alerted when any non-attuned user attempts to activate a lesser device. Detection will reveal the general location and general intent of the device's user. This power is passive and continuous.
All powers of the circlet have a near infinite range. The item bears an intrinsic curse, causing the user to seek out and make use of all the lesser devices to expand and enhance their personal influence and domination.

Black Medallions - Simple black disks carved with a star-burst pattern and fitted with a silver chain, these are the least of the lesser devices connected with the Circlet of Mastery. Wearing an attuned Medallion enables the Circlet's owner to communicate with the wearer. A Medallion wearer can send a general sense of status (all is well, danger, etc.) along with a location, either when contacted or at will, up to three times per day. There are 144 Black Medallions.

Silver Bands - These items are plain silver rings engraved with the same star-burst pattern as the Black Medallions. Wearing an attuned Band enables the Circlet's owner to communicate with the wearer. A Band wearer can send a brief message (a dozen words) along with a general sense of status, either when contacted or at will, up to three times per day. The wearer of a Silver Band can also share any received Suggestion with up to three others, just as if the wearer of the Circlet had issued it. Communication with the Circlet's owner can be made three times per day. Suggestion can be passed on once per day. There are 12 Silver Bands.

Silver Scepters - These Scepters are the most powerful of the lesser devices. They allow full communication between the attuned user and the Circlet's wearer up to three times per day. In addition the Scepter's user can contact the wearer of any lesser device and communicate with them directly up to three times per day. A Scepter user can share any received Suggestion with up to three others, just as if the Circlet's wearer had issued it. Suggestions can be shared up to three times per day. There are three Silver Scepters.

Each of the lesser devices radiates Good enchantment / charm magic. If the Circlet is in use when any lesser item is tested the Circlet's owner will be aware of the location and general intent of the item's user.

5 comments:

Josef Mieszko said...

man - this is fantastic!
the curse is a bug/feature?
a bad-guy tool-kit!

Mark Thomas said...

The curse was a feature based on the origin of the circlet. It originally controlled a Skeletal Warrior (a la Fiend Folio) and Borgyl stole and reworked it for his own purposes. I generalized it a bit in the write up here.

nanobri said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
nanobri said...

Interesting stuff on here. Sometimes I'll think of random cool RPG related ideas, but I never thought to make a blog out of it. Keep up the good work.

Cheers,
-nanobri of http://nanobri.blogspot.com

Mark Thomas said...

Thanks! Glad it's useful (or at least interesting enough that you're reading).