Minor Artifact – The Butler Did It

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In response to Jeff’s Gameblog:

Freamon’s Magic Butler

The party has found a three-foot wood-and-metal figure with human proportions, a porcelain face and the dapper clothes of a city gentleman. Under its clothing, on its chest is a silver plate with an inscription:

Presented with great humility and devotion.

Your Eminence asked if I could, and finally I have.

All it takes is a little magic.

Yr. Most obedient servant,

Freamon, Vulture Peak, 237

When found, this figure will be a simple large doll. Once in the presence of any magic items for an hour or more, it will activate. The first living sentient creature to touch it becomes its master. Unbidden, it will tirelessly sew, sharpen, repair, cook, polish, pack and perform other minor tasks for its master. If handed an object weighing less than 5 pounds, it will hold or carry it (this includes torches). It cannot communicate, but can follow minor orders having to do with its duties. It will not disarm a trap, move ahead of the party or perform any action the PC’s should be doing themselves. It simply will not understand such requests.

The figure is powered by nearby magical items, which it drains of magic over time. For shorter adventures, it should probably drain a random magic item of its master or a companion at the rate of +1 per day (a +2 sword becoming a +1 sword overnight, for example) or one spell disappearing from a scroll. For longer campaigns, this can be extended to a week. The DM should choose a rate of magic drainage that will cause some frustration without immediately giving away the source of the problem. Items nearest the butler are drained first. Items in the surrounding environs are drained last. If no magic is present, the butler powers down and is reset. When it is back in the presence of magic items, it might find a different master.

The butler will also invoke the following powers on behalf of its master, whether bidden or not. The DM will need to decide how that works and how obvious it is to the player. These powers should drain additional magic from nearby items.

1 x I ___
1 x II ___
1 x IV ___

Note: for the life of me, something is telling me that there’s already an artifact like this somewhere in AD&D 1e. I’ve googled the heck out of it. If you know of something really similar to this, post a comment so I can revise it.

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