Five Magic Items For Illusionists
by James C. Boney; copyright 2013 by the author
As a teenager, one of my favorite PCs was an illusionist...
Arbiddance by name... who reached a dizzying 14th level before he
drew the Death card... and that was that for Arbiddance. In the process of
play, I learned the tricky nuances of running an illusionist PC , but I also
learned that the character class gets the short end of the magical stick in the
game rules; yeah, sure, he has some neat spells, but the gist of play revolves
around your imagination in thinking up new illusions to baffle the stupid and
spook the superstitious. In the scheme of things, the illusionist fell way
short of the magic-user in terms of love and attention from the rules makers.
A survey of the OSRIC rules shows zero, that's right... ZERO
magic items that are strictly the domain of the illusionist (well, other than a
measly 10% of scrolls found... and that seems almost an afterthought). Even items one would think to be exclusive to
the character class... dust of illusion, wand of illusion, marvelous
pigments, pipes of sounding, deck of illusion, etc., are shared with other
character classes, particularly his cousin the magic-user.
This is unfair, but perhaps understandable. The class itself is rarely played; while the
magic-user has a myriad of “fire and forget” spells at his command, the bulk of
the illusionist's arsenal are spells that trick, deceive and mislead... and
several must be kept up over a period of time.
Nonetheless, it's only fair this neglected class should get a few
magical items restricted to its use only... after all, the illusionist surely
operates on magical principles different from that of the garden variety
magic-user, otherwise, the illusionist would have to have his own read
illusionist magic spell in order to read his own spell books (and we all
know what a silly idea that is)!
To work toward filling this gap, I present five magical
items usable only by the shadowy class.
Their usefulness varies according to situation and player cleverness!
Book of Shadows: this ponderous tome is written in
the illogical script favored by illusionists and details arcane concepts and
exercises peculiar to that class. An
illusionist reading this work and faithfully following the directions given
therein for one month will gain enough experience points to place him midway in
the next level. Only one reader at a
time is possible due to the subconscious connection that develops between
reader and work, and once the rise in level is complete, the work will fade
into a column of black smoke and disappear.
The illusionist can make use of this magic item only once in his
career. A magic-user reading this
complex and confusing work will find his INT lowered by 1d3 points until a
remove curse is cast upon him; other classes attempting to make use will make
no sense of it but suffer no ill effects.
Bracelets of Charming: appearing as twin bracelets of
silver inlaid with strands of platinum, when worn these items enable the
illusionist to charm (as per a charm person spell) a human or demi-human
into believing the wearer is the target's ideal person. In the eyes of the target, the illusionist is
physically, mentally and spiritually the greatest person alive. The illusionist can keep up to three targets
on the leash at any given time. The
illusionist can release a target with no ill effects, but if the charm is
somehow broken (through a dispel magic or by ordering the target to perform a
suicidal or self-destructive act, for example), the target is immediately
released and will seek to injure or kill the illusionist. Only one set of Bracelets can be worn at a
time and cannot be worn in tandem with other bracers or the like.
Shadow Staff: at first seeming to be a gnarled
quarterstaff of unusual weight, in the hands of an illusionist of at least 6th
level, the Shadow Staff will shift its appearance to that of a heavy shod
staff, blue-black and with 7 runes moving up and down the length in a seemingly
random pattern. The wielder has at his command the following seven powers,
usable by touching the appropriate rune, as follows:
Light (no charge used)
Fog Cloud (1 charge)
Paralyzation (by touch; 2 charges)
Shadow Monsters (2 charges)
Summon Shadow (2 charges)
Veil (2 charges)
Prismatic Spray (3 charges)
Upon discovery, the Shadow Staff will have 20 charges and
may be recharged by casting any of the listed spells.
Shards of Deception: formed from shattered diamonds,
2d10+5 of these items are found at a time and are kept in a small pouch marked
with cryptic sigils. When a number of
them are pulled out of the bag and thrown on the floor, they will project the
same image envisioned by the illusionist prior to activation. The effect is similar to a mirror image spell
and last up to 2 turns before fading away.
Thus, the illusionist could create multiple images of himself, monsters,
or whatever he is visualizing at the moment he reaches into the bag. Once the
spell is finished, the shards dissolve into a fine dust and cannot be used
again; the bag itself cannot be refilled... the number initially found inside
is the final number of shards that can be pulled from that bag.
Zelvena's Strange Gem of Company: not a dungeoneering
tool (though who's to say...), Zelvena's Gem is favored by illusionists sick of
having their inn rooms tossed by thieves while away. This small blue gemstone glows with a reddish
inner light and has 2d8+2 charges. When
activated, it emits a low level babble of voices apparently in conversation...
occasional sniffs and other assorted noises indicating that a room is occupied
if one were to listen at the door. If a
listener were to knock on the door or attempt to open it, the conversations
will cease and a reaction chosen in advance by the illusionist will come into
play... a voice answering “go away and come back later” or perhaps the mumbled
syllables of a spell being cast. The
Strange Gem can only be recharged by an illusionist casting an audible glamor
spell. If the Strange Gem's charges are
drained, the inner light will fade out and the item will become a pretty 500gp
gemstone.
