Thursday, March 5, 2015

Magic Item for LOTFP (Part 2)

Here is the second magic item that I wrote for submission to James Raggi in his latest endeavor.  I hope you find it useful (or at least inspirational).



The Carapace of Karadchazuul

The Carapace of Karadchazuul appears to be the lacquered, wooden, and highly ornamental (and hence impractical) forearm piece of a set of exotic armor.  [Similar to how the forearm piece of a set of samurai armor would appear to a European seeing it for the first time.]  It is made up of a hardened plate that fits around the forearm, connected by a supple wrist to a thumb-less glove, the back of which is protected by a hardened handguard.  It will fit over the wearer’s right or left forearm and hand.  All of its hard surfaces are covered with small spikes that slope back toward the wearer’s elbow.  The spikes are the same material as the rest and appear to have grown from the plates.

When found, the Carapace will fit a very large man, but if anyone of any size or race slides it onto their arm, it will adjust its size to fit their arm perfectly.  The first time that an individual slides it onto their arm, they will immediately and permanently have their Strength increased by one point (up to a maximum of 18).  This change will occur for every individual that tries it on, even if they immediately remove it.  There is no limit to the number of beings who will receive the benefit of this Strength increase.  Additionally, each person that tries it on will feel the very strong urge to punch someone or something.  A punch while wearing the Carapace will deal 1d6+2 hp of damage; it enables its wearer to damage items that must be struck by magic weapons.

An individual trying it on for the second time will immediately and permanently have their Constitution increased by one point (up to a maximum of 18).  This second change will only benefit the first person who tries it on for the second time—no others will receive this benefit, until 1337.5 days have passed after the first individual has done so, at which time another may experience the second and follow-on effects described below.  The individual will have an even stronger urge to punch someone or something; they must Save vs. Magic with a -4 penalty or lash out at the nearest target.

The goal of the Carapace to this point (if an unthinking, inanimate object can be said to have a goal) is to convince its wearer to keep it and use it in combat.  As its wearer uses the Carapace to inflict further damage on living things, he or she will experience changes as detailed in the table below.  (The damage will need to be tracked by the GM.  Additionally, the GM should determine in advance the ‘Additional Damage Inflicted’ in the first column.)  Note that damage inflicted by the character using a weapon held by the carapaced hand will not lead to changes—only that damage directly caused by the carapace.  Changes will occur automatically, although the stylistic details of how the change occurs are up to the individual GM, and are permanent.  If a limit to a change is reached, all follow-on changes of that nature are skipped, although penalties that may occur at the same time are not skipped.  If left unchecked, these changes will eventually lead the wearer to actually become a Karadchazuul warrior.  (See Karadchazuul description below.)


Additional Damage Inflicted by the Carapace
Change to Player Character
1
3d10+6 hp
Strength Increase
2
3d10+6 hp
Constitution Increase and Permanent Attachment (-1)
3
3d10+6 hp
AC Improvement
4
3d10+6 hp
Dexterity Decrease
5
3d8+6 hp
Strength Increase and Permanent Attachment (-2)
6
3d8+6 hp
Charisma Decrease
7
3d8+6 hp
Hit Point Increase
8
3d8+6 hp
Strength Increase and Permanent Attachment (-3)
9
4d6+5 hp
Dexterity Decrease
10
4d6+5 hp
Charisma Decrease
11
4d6+5 hp
Strength Increase and Permanent Attachment (-4)
12
4d6+5 hp
AC Improvement
13
3d8+4 hp
Arm Buds
14
3d8+4 hp
Charisma Decrease and Permanent Attachment (-5)
15
3d8+4 hp
Hit Point Increase and Rage (-2)
16
3d8+4 hp
Dexterity Decrease
17
2d12+2 hp
Constitution Increase and Permanent Attachment (-6)
18
2d12+2 hp
Charisma Decrease and Rage (-3)
19
2d12+2 hp
AC Improvement
20
2d12+2 hp
Dexterity Decrease and Permanent Attachment (-7)
21
2d10+2 hp
Constitution Increase and Rage (-4)
22
2d10+2 hp
Charisma Decrease
23
2d10+2 hp
AC Improvement and Permanent Attachment (-8)
24
2d10+2 hp
Constitution Increase and Rage (-5)
25
2d8+4 hp
Strength Increase
26
2d8+4 hp
Hit Point Increase and Permanent Attachment (-9)
27
2d8+4 hp
AC Improvement and Rage (-6)
28
2d8+4 hp
Dexterity Decrease
29
2d8+4 hp
Charisma Decrease and Permanent Attachment (-10)
30
2d8+4 hp
AC Improvement and Rage (-8)

Strength Increase – The character gains a permanent +1 addition to their Strength (up to a maximum of 18).

Constitution Increase – The character gains a permanent +1 addition to their Constitution (up to a maximum of 18).

Permanent Attachment – The character must Save vs. Magic (with Penalty as indicated in parentheses) or the Carapace is permanently attached to his arm.  It cannot be removed from the character’s arm in any way.  If the arm is amputated or if the character is killed, the Carapace will consume the arm in its entirety.  (How this consumption occurs is up to the GM.)  The Carapace will then return to the form in which it was originally found.

Armor Class (AC) Improvement – The character gains a permanent +1 to their natural Armor Class (to a maximum of 6 points better than natural AC for that race).  These changes occur as the character’s skin grows tougher, first thick and leathery, and then hardening into an insect-like carapace.  With each 2 points of increase in Armor Class, any clothing or armor worn by the character will cease to fit, and the character will have to obtain new clothing and armor.

Dexterity Decrease – The character loses a permanent -1 to Dexterity (down to minimum of 8).

Charisma Decrease – The character loses a permanent -1 to Charisma (down to minimum of 6).  These changes occur as the character’s appearance changes toward that of a Karadchazuul (see below), and the character begins to lose the ability to appropriately interact with beings other than Karadchazuul.

Hit Point Increase – The character gains an additional 3 hp (up to a maximum of 50).

Arm Buds - Two buds will form on the character’s rib cage, one on each side, a few inches below his or her arm.  Each bud will grow into a full arm in 2d4 weeks.  The arms are smaller than the character’s original pair, but otherwise resemble his normal arms.  If the arms are amputated, they will regenerate in 2d4 weeks.

Rage - The character must Save vs. Magic (with Penalty as indicated in parentheses) or fly into a Rage.  A character in a Rage will attack everyone around him (friend or foe) for 1d6 rounds.  While in a rage, the character will attack solely using the Carapace.  Upon completion of the Rage, the character must Save vs. Magic (with a penalty identical to that which caused the rage).  If the Save fails, the character will feel a strong urge to do everything in his power to continue forward with the transformation, i.e. use the Carapace as his preferred weapon over any other.  The character may not necessarily abandon the party or thwart their plans.  As its transformation continues, however, the chance that the character will abandon the party increases (10% increase at each subsequent Rage).

Each 2d8+2 hp of damage inflicted by the Carapace after the 30th step will lead to another instance of Rage, with an increase in the penalty to the Saving Throw (-9, then -10, etc.).  Eventually, the character will choose to abandon the party.  At that point, it becomes an NPC controlled by the GM.  One week after that, it will complete the transition to Karadchazuul.

Karadchazuul
The Karadchazuul is an alien race, not native to this material plane.  It is bipedal and walks upright, although it has four arms.  Its entire body is covered in a thick, segmented carapace; its face vaguely resembles that of a lobster.  It is intelligent although it can only communicate with a series of clicks and hisses.  Nothing is known of their culture or society or if they even have such things; none beyond individuals created by the Carapace have ever been encountered.

For the karadchazuul that was created by the Carapace, it remembers others of its kind, although it doesn’t know where they are from or how to return to them.  Two weeks after it forms, it will amputate one of its main arms, thus creating a new Carapace of Karadchazuul.  The amputated arm will grow back in 2d4 weeks.  If the karadchazuul is killed, one of its main arms will likewise form a new Carapace of Karadchazuul.

In combat, the karadchazuul attacks with each of its claws.  Its statistics are as follows:

AC 4; HD 8d8 (50hp); # of Attacks: 4; Dmg 1d6+2/1d6+2/1d4/1d4.


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