Artifacts and Truth

[Hammerhead]

In my current D&D game the players have struggled to acquire a powerful magical argument called the Mirror of Shenkara that shows the truth. The truth about people is shown in this mirror. Through the group's quests for the artifact, it has been suggested that knowing too much of the truth, especially about one's self, is very dangerous. When they were given the Mirror by an elderly WuJen, she cautioned them to never look into the mirror . She said that she did when she was young, and regretted it ever since.

After being warned by just about everyone in existence not to look into the mirror, three of my players are chomping at the bit to have their characters look in. Forbidden fruit, I guess. Any ideas on how to resolve this? I hadn't really planned for the PCs to be so eager, and I hoped to have time to figure out what one of them might see.

I was thinking of going with a relativistic answer, where the character sees what everyone else who has ever met him thinks of him; such a viewing could very well shatter his mind

Does anyone else have any ideas? I'd especially prefer ones that don't permanently incapacitate their characters....Thanks!

 

[Shayuri]

Suggestion: This is an artifact, which everyone knows can be dangerous as a side effect of being powerful. In addition, they've had NUMEROUS warnings and cautions what NOT to do.

If they do it...hose them good.

For the truth is this!

The strong man is weak in the eyes of the truth.

A wise man, foolish.

A smart man, stupid.

A hale man, sickly.

A quick man, clumsy.

A liked man, despised.

Against the absolute Truth, those things a mortal might...in the infinite smallness of their perception...consider their best features can be seen as they truly are. Devastating weaknesses. How strong is Truely Strong? Stronger than any mortal! Compare yourself to it, and see your strength as weak!

Thus, pick out their best single attribute. If they have more than one attribute that's the same value, choose the one that's most important to the PC.

And adjust it so that it's now their worst attribute.

If they're VERY lucky, there may be a way to fix this. It shouldn't be easy though. A mere restoration shouldn't be enough. A wish or Limited Wish might help...at least temporarily.

Artifacts are bad mojo though. When one comes with an instruction sheet, you FOLLOW it. Or else.

 

[jmucchiello]

"As you look away* everything you saw fades from your mind. Thinking about it, you regret looking into the mirror."

* Throw in a will save (DC infinity) here so they can believe there's more to it.

(Oh, and I can't believe you didn't think there wouldn't be half the party chomping at the bit to look in the mirror. Players always do the opposite of what you expect.)

 

[BiggusGeekus]

In the book "Taran Wanderer" by Lloyd Alexander, the hero travels to find a mysitc "Mirror of Lunet" which does exactly what you describe, it shows the truth about the viewer. The twist is only discovered at the end when we find out that the mirror isn't magical at all. It's a psychological thing.

Unfortunately, I'm guessing your players would lynch you if you tried that.

Shayuri has some good ideas. I'd run with them. If you want to be a true Rat Bastard you could also toss on a penalty to enforce the truth of the mirror. So a fighter with a 20 strength gets shown as weak and the PC gets a -1 STR penalty. You did warn them, after all.

 

[der_kluge]

Something that might depress me would be to know that I am completely and utterly alone in the universe. Or, that Earth is the only planet with intelligent life.

I would hate to think that.

Or, for a religious person, that their god doesn't really exist as they think they do. Or, that their motives aren't as righteous as they thought. For the non-religious, showing them that a god really does exist, and really does have a master plan for them.

It should be consistent within your group.

 

[der_kluge]

Oh yea, this is a wicked cool idea, btw.