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Tag Archives: Magic Items
12 Things Found in a Six-Demon Bag
Ogilvy requests:12 things that happen when you pull something at random out of a six-demon bag.
by way of Egg Shen:
Jack Burton: Terrific, a six-demon bag. Sensational. What’s in it, Egg?
Egg Shen: Wind, fire, all that kind of thing!
The six demon bag is a mixed bag. It can hold up to six elemental demons, representing the five traditional Chinese elements plus wind, which is a western element. The holder of the bag reaches in and pulls out a demon, which appears as a glowing baseball-sized sphere. She then throws it. Then something happens. Roll dice to determine if it is major or minor.
If the demon is minor, it will be extremely helpful to whoever holds the bag. It will only effect the other side in a battle. If Wang Chi were to open the bag and throw out a demon, it would be minor. If it is a major demon, it will indiscriminately destroy as much as possible according to the table below. If Jack were to open the bag, the demon would of course be major.
How do you determine major or minor? Pick some odds beforehand and roll. Of course players might not know that there’s a good and bad side, so perhaps always make the first demon minor. Up to you, DM.
Six Demon Bag Contents
| Roll | Demon | Minor | Major |
| 1 | Wood | Root Trap | Splintering Forest |
| 2 | Fire | Fireball | Firestorm |
| 3 | Earth | Fault Opens | Earthquake |
| 4 | Metal | Magnetic Storm | Lightning Storm |
| 5 | Water | Deluge | Storm or Tsunami |
| 6 | Wind | Gust of Wind | Tornado |
Deluge
A tremendous flood comes from nowhere, pushing the enemy as if from a fire hose, washing them away (if there is somewhere to drain).
Earthquake
A nasty earthquake effects the region. The center is where the bag is. There should be lots of property damage and hit points lost.
Fault Opens
A fissure opens in the ground, leading to the depths of the planet. It should be about 50 feet long and about 10 feet wide (see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ending). It should be close to the enemy leader or the strongest enemy grouping.
Fireball
A fireball that damages only enemies. Roll damage as if cast by fifth level mage.
Firestorm
A giant firestorm hits, doing one die of damage to each creature in a one-mile radius according to the level/HD each creature has (much more damage to higher levels). All who survive have a sunburn that lasts 1d4 years.
Gust of Wind
Knocks down all enemies, disarming them and possibly doing damage or putting them in harm’s way.
Lightning Storm
All creatures within one mile are hit by lightning if they have any metal whatsoever on their person. No tesla cages allowed–these are demons, not science.
Magnetic Storm
All metal used or worn by anyone within 200 foot radius, even magical metals, fly off or away from their owner and form a large Katamari ball of scrap. This applies to magical and non-ferrous metal as well as steel.
Root Trap
Roots come from the ground and entangle all ‘enemy’ creatures.
Splintering Forest
A forest erupts from the ground/floor or ceiling. Branches and vines entangle and skewer every creature larger than a medium dog. Druids take 1/2 damage automatically and are not entangled. Tree-dwelling and sylvan creatures are not effected, nor are flying creatures. This works even in the desert or arctic, but the forest may die off if not in an appropriate climate.
Storm or Tsunami
A hurricane or tsunami occurs, centered on the bag holder.
Tornado
A tornado rips through the area, doing damage to random locations in the vicinity in addition to the immediate area of the bag holder.
Belt of Fireball Skulls
First, an undamaged skull must be cleaned, inside and out. The jaws also need to be affixed to the skull with metal wire.
The skull is placed on a very hot fire. For three hours, the mage must chant to encourage the skull to take the fire in, then for another three she must convince it to shrink until it is the size of a pine cone. Both of these stages require a saving throw or intelligence attribute check to proceed. If they fail, the skull shatters.
At the conclusion of this chanting, the soul is pulled back to the skull, which then speaks with the mage, who has but a few minutes to strike a deal. In return for some favor, the soul will hold the fire in the skull. Common favors include acts of vengeance, contrition, the delivery of a message or just letting the skull see the sun set over its homeland one last time.
The favor must be accomplished within the year, but once it is, the skull becomes a fireball grenade. When the mage says hold the skull and reminds it of the favor done, the fireball automatically hits and does maximum damage at one level higher than the mage’s casting level. These can be given to others to use, but they must know the favor and speak it aloud to throw (this is the ‘pin’).
If the mage screws up the favor, or does not complete it within the year, or dies, the skull goes mad, flying around breathing fire (as a young dragon) for one turn, targeting the mage and then any random bystanders.
These are often worn as part of a necklace, belt, bone bikini or other ridiculous fantasy getup.
Note: This is a first level spell with a casting time as mentioned above. One need not know the fireball spell to make one.
Sword of Rusting
This very jealous +n sword will begin to rust a player’s other ferrous metal weapons after 24 hours (including arrowtips if applicable). One item per day will rust to complete uselessness the moment it is drawn or hefted to strike a blow.
Baubles of Doom 2 – The Drum of Judgement
The drum may only be played by the righteous. This block of wood has wedges and faces carved into it, so that striking the top of the drum sounds one of four notes. Should the player have strayed from the moral code of the drum, one of the notes will fail. Should one of the notes fail, a consequence is determined by random roll. A failed note should be accompanied by descriptions of sudden silence, as if the world stood still and took notice. This should be ominous. The player of the note will immediately remember any and all offenses committed and understand that punishment is coming to the entire party. It’s probably best if the party does not know.
Should the player sound all notes correctly, the spirit of the drum will grant one great boon to the party. If the DM cannot think of a good boon (such as find our way home, the mountain pass melting early, the dragon lose their trail, etc.) then the voice of the drum will ask the party what their common desire is and it will be granted, at discretion fo the DM. The spirit does not seek to twist the words of a request, as would a devil, but it is rather unsophisticated and literal.
Note 1: AH – This measures the moral condition of the character in relation to the sky, particularly bird, bats and creatures that live in trees, such as monkeys. Should the character have committed any offenses against the sky, the note will fail and d100 giant bats will pursue the party any time they are above ground on within a cave.
Note 2: KU – This is the note of the ground. If the character has spilled the blood of any earth creatures smarter than, say, a mole, the party will be pursued by a 10HD earth elemental/doppleganger. This avenging spirit will follow the characters and catch them off guard when they are underground.
Note 3: MO – This is the note of the ocean. Should the player have offended the ocean or its spirits, all water in the party’s possession will violently sublimate into steam.
Note 4: SAH – This note represents the tribe, race or community who created this artifact (up to DM) so that any serious offenses to that group will cause the note to fail. The party will then be pursued by 2d6 x 10 agents or members of that group, who will arrive in 2d4 hours. The pursuers will not stop until the entire party is dead or the offense has been undone, the dept paid or the karma purified.
This item was inspired by an item I found just a few minutes ago looking over the Metropolitan Museum of art’s Heilbronn Timeline of Art History.
Stubborn Treasure Chest
The party finds a small box that will only open in one specific location in your campaign world. When the party tries to open it anywhere else, a ghostly face appears over the lid and tells the party that the chest may only be opened in a location x leagues, miles or feet away. It will then say a number before it disappears, which starts at 20 and counts down each time they attempt to open it.
Jewelry Casket, 1857. By Pietro Giusti. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
The players may attempt to open the chest only 20 times. On the 21st attempt, it will teleport back to where it was found (50% chance) or to the spot where it can be opened (50% chance). Attempting to open it with a wish spell will have the same effect. Lesser spells have no effect.
This was inspired by a real product, that uses a GPS-based lock that will only open in one location on earth. Be sure to read the article to see how the recipient managed to solve the puzzle. It shouldn’t take anywhere near 20 tries, unless you place the special spot underground.
Baubles of Doom 1 – The Queen of Assassins
If your campaign world has chess (and it should be or how are you going to put the obligatory chess puzzle in your mad wizard’s tower) then why not use this little piece?
Chess is a popular game among the nobility and the educated classes. The game is played slightly differently in different regions, but it’s mostly the same everywhere. An interesting innovation of unknown origin has been making the rounds. It’s called a “queen” and it replaces the “general,” a fairly useless piece.
These queens are enthusiastically introduced to players by traveling scholars, merchants and diplomats from a nation to the south. Their Queen is a co-ruler with her husband, which is quite scandalous up north. She has had chess sets with queens made to be given to royals, bishops, wizards and professors. Her agents visit, present the gift and explain how the new piece works. It is being adopted eagerly, and it improves (and shortens the playing time of) the game.
Each of these black queens is a tiny stone golem that will respond to a specific phrase. If the phrase is said during a game, that night the piece will animate into a small stone golem and kill the set’s owner, family and any witnesses. This phrase could be said by anyone, even someone who is not playing but is nearby.
Each of the white queens magically transmits any sound it hears during a game to a clairaudient in the Queen’s employ.
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