Stencheye – Pathfinder Version

Hey there space cadets! Today I bring you my Pathfinder version of Stencheye, the big bad evil leader of the troll den in Heron Prior’s Trolls Will Be Trolls one-page dungeon. You may remember my 4e conversion (part 1, 2, 3, 4); I’m still working on it, but I’m a bit burned out on 4e at the moment and I thought this would be more fun.

Enjoy!

Stencheye, the Troll Witch                                          CR 10
XP 3200
Neutral Evil Large humanoid (giant)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 120 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +29*; see invisible/ethereal; see all directions

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DEFENSE

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AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +5 natural, -1 size)
hp 120 (6d8 plus 6d6+72) regeneration 5 (acid or fire)
Fort +13, Ref +7, Will +9;

Resistances Fire 10

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OFFENSE

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Speed 30 ft., fly 60 (good; via hex)
Melee bite +10 (1d8+4), 2 claws +10 (1d6+4)
Space 10 ft. Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 1d6+4), hexes, spells

Spells Prepared (CL 6, DC 12+spell level, 13+spell level necromancy)

3^rd: Bestow Curse, Eruptive Pustules

2^nd: Blindness/Deafness, False Life, Web, Vomit Swarm

1^st: Chill Touch, Mage Armor, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Sickening

0: Bleed, Detect Magic, Message, Touch of Fatigue

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STATISTICS

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Str 18, Dex 16, Con 22, Int 14, Wis 11, Cha 10
Base Atk +7; CMB +13; CMD 26
Feats Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Perception), Combat Casting, Ability Focus: Misfortune Hex, Spell Focus: Necromancy
Skills Bluff +3, Intimidate +19, Knowledge: arcane +17, Linguistics +4, Perception +29*, Spellcraft +17

*+4 from Alertness if familiar is in arms reach

*+10 competence bonus from robe of eyes
Languages Common, Dwarven, Giant, Infernal, Abyssal

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ECOLOGY

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Environment cold mountains
Organization solitary
Treasure robe of eyes, amulet of fire resistance

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SPECIAL ABILITIES

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Cackle Hex (Su): A witch can cackle madly as a move action. Any creature that is within 30 feet that is under the effects of an agony hex, charm hex, evil eye hex, fortune hex, or misfortune hex caused by the witch has the duration of that hex extended by 1 round.

Flight Hex (Su): The witch grows lighter as she gains power, eventually gaining the ability to fly. At 1st level, the witch can use feather fall at will and gains a +4 racial bonus on Swim checks. At 3rd level, she can cast levitate once per day. At 5th level, she can fly, as per the spell, for a number of minutes per day equal to her level. These minutes do not need to be consecutive, but they must be spent in 1-minute increments. This hex only affects the witch.

Misfortune Hex (Su): The witch can cause a creature within 30 feet to suffer grave misfortune for 1 round. Anytime the creature makes an ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, it must roll twice and take the worse result. A Will save negates this hex. At 8th level and 16th level, the duration of this hex is extended by 1 round. This hex affects all rolls the target must make while it lasts. Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day.

Patron: Plague (Ex): provides the following spells: Detect Undead, Command Undead, Contagion.

Amulet of Fire Resistance: Constantly provides the wearer Fire Resistance 10. (12,000 GP)

Robe of Eyes: This valuable garment appears to be a normal robe until it is put on. Its wearer is able to see in all directions at the same moment due to scores of visible, magical eye-like patterns that adorn the robe. She also gains 120-foot darkvision.

The robe of eyes sees all forms of invisible or ethereal creatures or objects within 120 feet.

The wearer of a robe of eyes gains a +10 competence bonus on Perception checks. She retains her Dexterity bonus to AC even when flat-footed, and can’t be flanked. She is not able to avert or close her eyes when confronted by a creature with a gaze attack.

A light or continual flame spell cast directly on a robe of eyes causes it to be blinded for 1d3 minutes. A daylight spell blinds it for 2d4 minutes. (120,000 GP)

Viper  Familiar                                                           CR 1/2
XP 200
N Tiny animal (augmented)
Init +3; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +18

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DEFENSE

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AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +4 natural, +2 size)
hp 60 (12)
Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +8;

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OFFENSE

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Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft., swim 20 ft.
Melee bite +7 (1d2-2 plus poison)
Space 2-1/2 ft.Reach 0 ft.

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STATISTICS

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Str 4, Dex 17, Con 8, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 2;
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 11 (can’t be tripped)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Climb +11, Intimidate +8, Knowledge: arcane +11, Linguistics +1,

Perception +18, Stealth +15, Spellcraft +11, Swim +11;

Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Stealth

Familiar Abilities Alertness, empathic link, improved evasion, share spells, store spells, deliver touch spells, speak with master

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ECOLOGY

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Environment any temperate and warm
Organization solitary
Treasure none

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SPECIAL ABILITIES

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Poison (Ex) Bite-injury; save Fort DC 15; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Con; cure 1 save.

Spells Stored (Su):

3^rd: Bestow Curse, Contagion, Dispel Magic, Eruptive Pustules

2^nd: Blindness/Deafness, Command Undead, False Life, Web, Vomit Swarm

1^st: Burning Hands, Chill Touch, Detect Undead, Mage Armor, Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Sickening, Unseen Servant

0: All

Friday Round Up

Hey there space cadets! Time for a good old miss-mash of a mix-tape of a hodge-podge post!

First: new N7 operation this weekend! WOO!

Awesome things to note:

• Commondation packs are pretty easy this weekend; you only need to get ONE person to extraction on SILVER or higher; and at least ONE person on the squad must be a new class (Vorcha, Male Quarian, or Ex-Cerberus).
• Victory Pack guarantees an N7 (or Ultra Rare) weapon! So get out there and play some games!

This should be a nice, simple, fun N7 weekend, space cadets. I for one will be rolling random map/random enemy on silver and gold as I level up my soldiers, sentinels and engineers!

And now for something completely different: KINGMAKER!

My Thursday night group is currently on book 2 after over a year, I think, because a) we don’t get a lot of playtime and b) we are slooooooooooooow. In order to speed things along, we decided last night that I should go ahead and take care of the kingdom building stuff for about 12 months of game time on my own. I’m a big strategy game nerd so this appealed to me (and I’ve been basically running it for us from the get-go). The other players like the results but aren’t super into the crunch, being more interested in exploration and dealing with events/issues that arise. It’s especially hard to do the kingdom building as a group since we play online.

Thus, I went ahead and took some basic suggestions on what to build from everyone and plotted the events of our kingdom over the course of a year; and I have fairly handily busted the economy. And here is how.

SPOILERS I GUESS?

Every month your kingdom goes through four phases. During these phases you can assign new NPCs/PCs to leadership roles, acquire new hexes, try to get unrest under control, build cities/stuff in cities, and so on.

The important part is the Income phase, where you roll your economy check. It’s fairly easy to get your economy up rather high, but even so you’re not going to earn much revenue that way. This was slowing us down because we were saving to buy some big ticket items (market, town hall, etc), and it could take MONTHS to get enough income.

Then I searched a bit online and I found a clause in the Income phase that lets you sell magic items your kingdom generates for Build Points (the currency of this game structure). Since you generate magic items every month so long as you have empty slots, you can SELL them every month.

Minor magic items don’t sell for much, but when you start getting to Medium and Major items the rate of return is fairly significant; and this is on top of what you are earning with the normal Economy check.

To put it simply, I prioritized getting buildings that a) generated items and b) made OTHER magic item generating buildings cheaper, and by the end of 12 months our economy had increased it’s average income by over 800%. Pretty sexy, no?

For those of you who want to know the specific path I used:

Save money -> buy Cathedral -> buy Academy -> buy Caster’s Tower and Magic Item Shop -> go crazy.

Cathedrals halve the cost of Academies, Academies halve the cost of Caster’s Towers and Magic Item Shops. At this point you should have enough districts and enough items to be selling one Major and several Medium items every month, generating a TON of BP.

If you REALLY want to break your game, you can repeat that in multiple cities. I don’t recommend this, however; as with any strategy game, breaking the economy can make everything else a bit of a joke, and that can suck out a lot of the fun.

The cool thing about this path for us is that it made sense story wise, too; we have a good mix of Gods that we want represented (and a big Cathedral seems a great way to do that), our party wizard really wanted a tower, and Academies/Magic Item Shops are good for bringing in trade.

But I also made sure we built taverns and breweries and a garrison and a jail and so on, trying to flesh out the city.

All in all I found it to be an enjoyable exercise; it remains to be seen if our DM approves it or decides he needs to tone things down (which would be fine).

My suggestion to other DMs out there who are worried about this breaking their Kingmaker game is this: put a “cooldown” on magic items.

• Minor Items refresh every month.
• Medium Items refresh every two months.
• Major Items refresh every four months.

That should keep things from getting TOO out of hand while still allowing this to be a viable (and I think necessary) strategy to build up the economy of the kingdom. It also makes sense thematically, since it takes longer to craft things with higher GP values.

Kingdom building aside, I am enjoying Kingmaker as a whole. One of the big challenges in the game is that the story is (for a while) very open and sandboxy; and it will take some good flair from the GM (and a certain mindset from the players) to REALLY get into it. But it works perfectly fine as a weekly hex-crawl, too, which is how we play it. Just expect to do a bit more work than normal to get people invested in the world.

Finally, I’ve been preparing to run the introductory module for the Eclipse Phase quick-start rules.

Eclipse Phase is AWESOME. Crazy transhumanist dystopic hard sci-fi setting with a lot of flair and flavor. Mechanics are simple on the surface, deep as you get into things (from what I can tell). The best part is it’s all Creative Commons licensed! That’s right, the core book is FREE! CRAZY!

It’s good stuff, and I’m excited to run it for my Monday group (who have never played before).

One of the things I’ve been doing to get ready is to flesh out the very bare-bones scenario they give you in the quick-start rules; it’s a great framework, but it needs a bit more meat to be run properly I think. When I’m all done and have finished running it, maybe I’ll do a post about my process and reaction to it … until then, here’s hoping it goes smoothly!

That’s all for now space cadets, have a great weekend!

COMMENTORS: SURPRISE ME!

Dungeon Hacking

Justin Alexander wrote a cool piece (and a follow up) about modeling a hacking system similar to the one found in Deus Ex: HR in a d20 game. This got me thinking: could the same mechanical structure be applied to a different purpose? In this case, interrogating/talking to the denizens of a dungeon?

One of the challenges faced in creating a living dungeon is information; who has it and who does not. Say we take a dungeon populated by a tribe of goblins who have displaced and enslaved a tribe of kobolds. If the PC’s capture one of the residents of the dungeon, how do we as GMs keep track of what information said resident has?

By applying the structure Justin came up with to dugeon dwellers instead of computers, we can create a simple structure to keep track of who knows what.

Basics:

First, we must come up with a list of information, similar to a Knowledge or Gather Information table.

The DCs represent Intimidation or Diplomacy checks needed to acquire the relevant information.

DC 12	This mine used to belong to the Daggerfang kobolds before goblins took over.
DC 12	The goblins arrived two months ago and killed the Daggerfang Chief.
DC 12	Many Daggerfang’s were killed or ran away; the remaining kobolds have been enslaved to work the mine.
DC 12	Some of the goblins are bored and have been fighting amongst each other
DC 15	The goblins are from the Ripear tribe, a bigger force in the surrounding region know for their riding skills.
DC 15	Big Mama, the leader of this group of Ripears, killed Chief Daggerfang in single combat.
DC 18	The goblins have been driving the kobolds really hard to mine whatever they can. The results are sent out every three days.
DC 18	Big Mama is always guarded by her two handmaidens, a priestess and an insane alchemist.
DC 20	There is an old vein that has been collapsed by the goblins, but still contains a gobln sized secret passage hidden in the rock.
DC 22	When ore and gems are sent back to the Ripear tribe, the goblins only have a token force left in the mine; the kobolds would easily outnumber them.
DC 25	Big Mama is Chief Ripear’s personal consort.
DC 28	Chief Daggerfang was not killed; he was crippled and Big Mama keeps him around for entertainment.

Next Steps

After you develop the information table, you need to apply the following things to the creatures that populate the dungeon.

Information Threshold: Each denizen has an Information Threshold. Any check over this number only reveals information of the Threshold and below.

Unique Information: certain creatures may know one or two pieces of information above their Threshold that can be revealed with a high enough check.

Networking: some dungeon denizens might not have information over their Information Threshold, but know who does. Diplomacy or Intimidate checks that get their attitudes to friendly or helpful cause them to reveal this information.

This can be done during prep or on the fly. I recommend applying Information Thresholds to large groups of dungeon residents ahead of time.

Example

A goblin guard has an Information Threshold of 18, knows about the secret passage (Unique Information), and knows that his boss Grablemouth can tell them more about Big Mama (Networking).

One of the kobold miners (a non-combatant) only has an Information Threshold of 12, but they DO know one of the surviving kobold warriors has more information (Networking).

Final Thoughts

By applying this to the NPCs in your dungeons, you can easily figure out who knows what if the PCs decide to talk to or take someone alive.

This also works well for townsfolk, castle residents, soldiers, etc.

COMMENTORS: Thoughts? Criticisms? Critiques?

Artificer – An Alchemist Archetype

Artificer

Artificers are a group of alchemists who pursue the art of magic item creation over the more traditional discoveries of their contemporaries. They believe in the flexibility and power of a good set of scrolls or a wondrous item, and are typically well received in larger communities.

A dwarven artificer and his homunculus.

An artificer has the following class features. (The alchemist base class can be found here)

Item Creation (Ex)

An artificer is a master of crafting magic items of all kinds. At first level, the artificer receives Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.

At 3rd level, and every two levels thereafter, the artificer may select one item creation feat they meet the prerequisites for.

Additionally, an artificer can create potions, spell-trigger and spell-completion items of spells not on their extract list. The Spellcraft DC to do so is 20+2x the caster level of the item.

This ability replaces Brew Potion and Discovery.

Trapfinding (Ex)

As the rogue ability.

This ability replaces Poison Use.

Trap Sense (Ex)

An artificer has an intuitive sense that alerts them to danger from traps. At 2nd level, an artificer gains a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks by traps.

At 5th level, and every three levels thereafter, this bonus increases by one to a max of +7 at 20th level.

This ability replaces Poison Resistance.

Metamagic Spell Trigger (Ex)

At 6th level, the artificer gains the ability to apply a metamagic feat they know to a spell trigger item (typically a wand). They must have the appropriate item creation feat for the item they are using (Craft Wand for wands, etc). Using this ability expends a number of extra charges from the item equal to the number of effective spell levels the metamagic feat would add to the spell.

For example, an artificer can quicken a spell cast from a wand by spending five charges (one charge plus four additional charges, since Quicken Spell increases a spells effective level by four). The Still Spell feat confers no benefit when applied to a spell trigger item.

This ability cannot be used on a spell trigger item that does not have charges (such as a strand of prayer beads).

This ability replaces Swift Poisoning.

Metamagic Spell Completion (Ex)

At 10th level, an artificer gains the ability to apply a metamagic feat they know to a spell completion item (generally a scroll). They must have the appropriate item creation feat for the spell completion item they are using.

Doing this is difficult, and the artificer must make a Spellcraft check with a DC of 20+(3 X the modified level of the spell). For example, applying the Empower Spell feat to a scroll of cone of cold, creating a 7th level effect, has a DC of 20 + (3 X 7), or 41. An artificer can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + their Int modifier.

This ability replaces Poison Immunity.

Legendary Artificer (Ex)

At 20th level, the Artificer has truly become a master of magic item creation. They now create magic items at a rate of eight hours of work per 10,000 gp of the base price, with a minimum of eight hours spent working on the item. Scrolls and Potions who’s base prices is 1000 gp or less take two hours to craft.

Additionally, the artificer expends 1/3rd of the base price in resources instead of 1/2 when crafting magic items.

This ability replaces Grand Discovery.

*Editors note: this archetype creates dead levels. Due to the caster level requirements for Item Creation feast, however, it is necessary to switch from 2nd level and every even level thereafter to 3rd level and every odd level thereafter.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #14 – One of Five

Hey there space cadets! Check out the first in the series here!

NAME: One of Five (small +2 fire resistance moderate fortification champion hide armor)

Aura Strong abjuration; CL 13th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, protection from evil, resist energy, limited wish; Price 54,165 gp; Identify Spellcraft DC 28

DESCRIPTION: This suit if hide armor is sized for a gnome or halfling. A tower, with banners streaming from its battlements, is etched on the chest piece, and a simple symbol for fire is etched on the pauldrons.

Anyone who wears the armor has fire resistance 10, and a 50% chance of negating any critical hit or precision based damage. Additionally, any good-aligned creatures with the challenge ability (such as cavaliers) or the smite evil ability (such as paladins, half-celestials, and creatures with the celestial creature template) gains an additional benefit. When worn by such a creature that uses a challenge or smite ability, the wearer gains a +2 sacred bonus to AC against attacks from the chosen opponent.

HISTORY: One of Five is one of five suits of hide armor crafted by a master armorer named Filiu. Filiu built these suits for a band of cavaliers who had made a name for themselves defending her country from a variety of threats.

The adventurers were planning on leading an assault against a fire giant stronghold, with the hopes of slaying their leader and putting an end to raids coming from the mountain. They ordered these suits of hide armor in the hopes that it would give them an edge in the fight (and a cool look).

It took her the better part of a year to complete the enchantments. The cavaliers had been fighting off patrols, skirmishing with the giants, and gathering intel in the meantime, and once the armor was finished they launched their attack.

Two weeks later they returned, having lost two of their number but bringing the fire giant king’s head with them. They retired soon after, selling this particular suit of their armor to fund the resurrection of their fallen comrades.

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: 10,005 copper pieces in a heavy gold coffer worth 1000 gp, and One of Five. This horde is suitable for any CR 9 creature that uses standard treasure.

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Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #13 – Eclipse

Hey there space cadets! Check out the first post in the series here!

NAME: Eclipse (+3 Bastard Sword)

Aura Moderate evocation; CL 9th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, blind-fight, darkness; Price 20,495 gp; Identify Spellcraft DC 24

DESCRIPTION: This bastard sword is a very well-balanced weapon made of superior steel, with a worn leather grip. When drawn, it sheds silvery light (reminiscent of moonlight) like a torch. Due to the blade’s exceptional craftsmanship, it swings quickly and surely despite its weight.

Once per day, the wielder of Eclipse may (with a command word) turn the light it sheds into darkness, as the spell, centered on the weapon. This effect lasts for9 minutes, or until dismissed (a free action). If the wielder has the Blind-Fight feat, he or she does not need to roll for concealment caused by this effect.

HISTORY: The bastard sword Eclipse is one of a series of weapons bearing the same name, each created by an Oracle of the dark tapestry named Orien. Cursed with clouded vision, Orien had spent many years training to overcome his limitations in combat. He was in many ways a better fighter than his longtime companion, an Inquisitor, and one of his favorite tactics was to lure his foes into a location where sight did not present much of an advantage (shade, caves, darkened alleys, etc.).

Later in his career, Orien began a study of weaponsmithing, and his proudest accomplishment was a line of weapons he called Eclipse. Each weapon shed light, much like the light of the moon and stars Orien worshiped. But in a unique twist, each weapon could also invert that light, creating a pool of darkness, a great advantage to those trained to fight with more than their vision.

This particular Eclipse was wielded by Orien’s Inquisitor companion, and was donated to their church upon the Inquisitor’s death. Many agents have wielded it in the years since, and it has become something of a collectors item. How it ended up here is a mystery, but perhaps the church might know more …

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: 900 gold pieces in nine leather pouches, and Eclipse. This sample horde could belong to any CR 7 creature that uses standard treasure.

Editor’s note: I specifically didn’t mention any Gods in the description above so as to keep this item setting neutral. Feel free to substitute any deity who may be connected to the Dark Tapestry in your campaign setting (or to stars, night, darkness, the moon, or another similar domain).

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Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #12 – Coplamak

Hey there space cadets! Check out the first post in the series here!

NAME: Coplamak (+5 huge Heavy Mace)

Aura Strong evocation; CL 15th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor; Price 50,336 gp; Identify Spellcraft DC 30

DESCRIPTION: This 10 foot long, 8 inch thick wooden pole is reinforced with copper bands. One end is wrapped in leather and has a strap; at the other end, a heavy stone ball is securely fastened. It weighs around 32 lbs altogether. Given the size and balance, it looks like it’s was created for a Storm Giant or something of similar size.

HISTORY: Coplamak is an ancient heavy mace, created by a Storm Giant priest named Taştan.

During the mythic era, when giants walked the earth and orcs, elves, dwarves and the other humanoids were just beginning to come into being, the storm giants of Gökyüzü were warring against the devils of the Nine Hells. The conflict had been raging for centuries, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Taştan, a warrior priestess, was the leader of the Gökyüzü church, and one of their mightiest warriors. Frustrated by her foe’s natural resistances to sword and hammer, bow and blade, fire and acid and many energies besides, Taştan desired a weapon that would instil fear in her enemies and give her people an edge.

Many prototypes were created. Some were instilled with holy energy; some aligned themselves with the wielder; some exploded with frost and silver flame upon striking a creature or object. She used cold iron, steel, stone, bronze, mithral, adamantine, dragon bone … and rejected them all. Each had a single element in their favor, but none accomplished her goal.

Frustrated, Taştan communed with her gods for a year and  a day. The war waged on, and the giants, bereft of one of their most powerful soldiers, began to give ground. The Gökyüzü high command begged her to return, to fight, to help, but she refused.

In the end, the priestess had an epiphany. She looked around her chamber at all of the discarded ideas, the formulas worked and re-worked and abandoned, the countless hours of thought, and she realized that she was simply trying to hard. She realized that sometimes, simplicity is the key to greatness.

So she forged Coplamak, and she forged it with such skill and precision that despite being made of stone and wood, despite having no unique properties or powers, it was and remains her greatest work. And when she finished Coplamak, she took it up and strode into battle and laid waste to an army of devils, their natural resistances as nothing before its might.

Coplamak did not win the war, but it did turn the tide. Since that day, all giants revere it as an example of the perfect weapon, and seek to wield it themselves.

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: 9,000 gold pieces in a dragonskin sack, a complete set of the Harmonious Figures of Kan-Le (each a statue of a monk, approximately 1 foot high, in a unique pose; when collected, the depict a lost kata of the Kan-Le style; individually they are worth 1500 gp each, together considerably more), and Coplamak. This sample horde could belong to any CR 17 creature that uses standard treasure.

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Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #11 – The Grandfather Clock

Hey there space cadets! Check out the first post in this series here.

NAME: The Grandfather Clock

Aura Overwhelming transmutation; CL 21st; Slot none; Weight 175 lbs

DESCRIPTION: The Grandfather Clock (sometimes referred to as the Aeon Clock) is a tall, heavy clock hewn out of a single piece of wood. The clock face is carved from a large piece of bone and features two spindly hands. It is crude, ancient, and has a seamless door with no obvious handle. The interior reveals a void of darkness, in which swings an infinitely large pendulum of bone. Looking inside causes you to go mad, as the insanity spell, unless you succeed on a DC 30 Will save. The clock never needs to be set, and once you have heard it, the tick, tock sound seems to linger with you no matter how far away you are from the clock.

Once a day, The Grandfather Clock can stop time for one hour. You must be within line of site to the clock and speak a command phrase (“proin tempus”). This functions as a time stop spell, except you cannot cast spells or use spell completion or spell trigger items while time is stopped. Time stops for you and any entities you are touching when you speak the command word (up to 21 people). After the hour is up, you (and any who were touching you when time stopped) return to normal relative time, no matter your distance from the clock. You can return to normal time as a free action, but cannot use the clock again for one day, even if you end the effect early. Additionally, every time you use the clock there is a cumulative 10% chance that you attract the attention of an Bythos Aeon who appears before you to demand an explanation for your tampering with the time stream.

HISTORY: The Grandfather Clock was first created by the inscrutable Aeons. It is a physical representation of the time stream itself, and seems to surface during critical turning points throughout the history of the multiverse, almost as a physical embodiment of cataclysmic change and the infinite possibilities of the time stream.

Because of the potential abuses by any entity who uses the clock, the Aeons guard it very closely, and continually monitor the time stream for ripples indicating that the clock has been activated. Deities (particularly those with dominion over time) also watch The Grandfather Clock, and may intervene if they deem it necessary.

The Grandfather Clock is effectively part of the time stream itself, and therefore it cannot be destroyed without undoing time itself. Attempting to break the clock (with a hammer, or dropping it off a cliff, or lighting it on fire, using a shatter spell, etc) simply causes it to disappear, only to reappear in another random location on a random plane 1d10 days later. To fully destroy the clock, you must enter the time stream and travel to a nexus point, where all past events come together and burst into an infinite number of futures, and smash the clock with a cold iron hammer. It should be noted that doing so may irrevocably destroy the planes and all reality as it is currently known or understood, and that any individual attempting to do so will draw the attentions of very powerful outsiders and gods.

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: The Grandfather Clock should never appear as part of a random treasure horde. If it is in the lair of a randomly encountered monster, it should be for a purpose; typically because whoever finds it will somehow be instrumental in shaping the future of their world.

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Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #10 – Krampus Bag

Hey there space cadets! This series is all about magic items for your game table. Most will be Pathfinder, but a few from other game systems may crop up from time to time.

Each item will have a unique name, history, and treasure horde in which you may find it, as well as relevant crafting information and cost.

The goal of this series is to present a number of helpful and interesting items GMs can drop into a treasure horde or have ready for that random encounter on those days where you just don’t have a bunch of prep time. Or, maybe the item will spark a bit of story or an adventure!

NAME: Krampus Bag

Aura Moderate conjuration; CL 9rd; Craft Wondrous Item, rope trick, secret chest; Price 2,000 gp; Identify Spellcraft DC 24

DESCRIPTION: A Krampus Bag is a large burlap or leather sack tied with a frayed rope. They are sometimes fitted with straps like a backpack. The bag never weighs more than 5 lbs.

The interior of a Krampus Bag is an extradimensional space big enough to fit an adult sized halfling comfortably. The bag can carry up to 100 lbs of material. Like a bag of holding, if the bag is overloaded it ruptures, and anything (or anyone) inside it is destroyed forever. Unlike other extradimensional spaces, creatures placed inside the sack can breath normally.

HISTORY: The Krampus Bag is a tool reportedly used by the legendary Krampus, who once a year terrorizes naughty children in remote communities.The Krampus steals children who have misbehaved or disobeyed their parents and spirits them away in one of these bags, leaving the child alone far away from home. Other reports claim that the Krampus eats the children, and still other stories claim it will bring them home again after they’ve had a good scare. What can be said for certain is that these bags are unique among extradimensional spaces in that a Krampus Bag allows creatures placed inside it to breathe normally.

It has gained some popularity in halfling and gnome communities as a great way to hide or play pranks on people.

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: A Krampus Bag filled with 1378 silver pieces, 500 copper pieces, 200 gold pieces, and three scrimshaw carvings of fish (worth ~20 gp each). This sample horde could belong to any CR 5 creature that uses standard treasure.

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Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.

Jandor’s Magic Item Series #9 – Shatterproof

Hey there space cadets! This series is all about magic items for your game table. Most will be Pathfinder, but a few from other game systems may crop up from time to time.

Each item will have a unique name, history, and treasure horde in which you may find it, as well as relevant crafting information and cost.

The goal of this series is to present a number of helpful and interesting items GMs can drop into a treasure horde or have ready for that random encounter on those days where you just don’t have a bunch of prep time. Or, maybe the item will spark a bit of story or an adventure!

NAME: Shatterproof (+4 light fortification sonic resistance heavy steel shield)

Aura Strong abjuration; CL 13th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, resist energy, limited wish; Price 43,170 gp; Identify Spellcraft DC 28

DESCRIPTION: Shatterproof is a sturdily built heavy steel shield with reinforced leather straps. It’s slightly bigger than the average heavy shield, but weighs no more. The front is emblazoned with a picture of a stone tower.

Shatterproof provides sonic resistance 10, and when a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on the wearer, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and damage is instead rolled normally.

HISTORY: The original creator of Shatterproof has been lost to time. The shield is ancient, and much of it’s history is forgotten. But one warrior named Shatterproof and  catapulted the shield into the realms of the legendary, and that warrior was a half-orc named Sar.

Sar was a striking figure; tall, imposing, powerful, deadly. Gaining renown for deeds no mortal could hope to match, the half-orc is the central figure in many a tall tale. The details differ, and the tales grow more exaggerated as time goes by, but all hold a kernel of truth.

One such story gave rise to the name Shatterproof. Sar was travelling the broken lands, and was set upon by a spine dragon. This dragon had been carving  a swath of destruction, sundering towers, killing livestock, and eviscerating all who stood before it.

Sar had recently obtained a new shield, and was still testing it’s usefulness, when the dragon approached. The two did battle, for even when caught by surprise Sar was a warrior to be feared. The battle raged for hours, and in the end both retreated, injured and exhausted, to fight another day.

In this battle, Sar found that the spine dragon’s shouts were somehow muted, reduced in power, particularly when the shield was brandished; and a blow from an errant claw that should have disemboweled the warrior caused a fairly minor injury instead.

Emboldened, and wary, Sar continued travelling, purchasing equipment and learning of the attacks along the way. Resolving to deal with the problem, the warrior tracked the beast, and finally came upon its lair.

Inside, Sar waited, and when the dragon returned they again did battle. But the beast was cunning, and it lured Sar into a trap. Sensing that the shield afforded Sar special protection, the dragon trapped the warrior in a narrow space. Using one of the items from its horde, the spine dragon attempted to shatter Sar’s shield, hoping to gain the upper hand.

When the spell fizzled and failed, Sar leaped upon the spine dragon and slew it. Thereafter, the warrior called the shield Shatterproof, and it saved Sar’s life time and time again.

SAMPLE TREASURE HORDE: 3000 gold pieces in a fine leather sack, six hand-woven antique rugs (a bit frayed, each fastened with twine) worth ~100 gp each, and Shatterproof. This sample horde could belong to any CR 13 creature that uses standard treasure.

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Now for the legal stuff:

This supplement uses trademarks and/or copyrights owned by Paizo Publishing, LLC, which are used under Paizo’s Community Use Policy. We are expressly prohibited from charging you to use or access this content. This item is not published, endorsed, or specifically approved by Paizo Publishing. For more information about Paizo’s Community Use Policy, please visit paizo.com/communityuse. For more information about Paizo Publishing and Paizo products, please visit paizo.com.

Sources Used: Core Rulebook and Ultimate Combat

Jandor’s Magic Item Series by Anthony Borzotta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.d20pfsrd.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-use.