Magic item ideas

[Blue]

Last session we had a big battle in an "undervault" in a Archmage sponsored arcane school that floats circling the spire of Starport (as it fell earthward as the lightning reservoirs were co-opted by the big bad). These were items that effectively grad students could get permission to sign out to study with approval of the Magisters or Academs. They are dangerous enough to keep out of the hands of most students but not deadly, stable enough to be stored, and unusual or interesting enough to study. An example would be three petrified dragon eggs (White, Black and Green) that we supposedly enchanted in a previous Age by a wizard who had been apprenticed to a one-time apprentice of the Wizard King that were a focus of the battle.

Anyway, almost everything in the undervault was trashed (thanks to poltergeist spirits inhabiting it and attacking the characters), but one of the characters did make his way out with two items (unrelated to each other) and I'm looking for interesting ideas on what they may be. I had physical descriptions of a bunch of items to get possessed but not magical powers worked out since I expected most of them to be destroyed.

The first is a crystal sphere that you can't see through, but casts rainbows with any light much like a prism.

The second is a four foot tall candlestick made of an unknown metal(?) that gleams brightly in even the least light.

As items to study they need to be unusual; think more "wondrous items" from D&D then magical adventuring gear. I don't want to go into character specifics - these should be odd and not fitted. But the player who got them is wonderfully crafty and creative, so something open-ended with more imaginative uses are perfect. I'm looking around champion or adventurer level items. (Characters are just hitting 3rd but having an oddball non-combat-focued item at champion level would be a fun fit, and it's still early enough level-wise that they have to worry about quirks taking them over.)

Any ideas for the braintrust?

 

[Balesir]

One of my favourites (suitable for the candlestick, maybe) is an item that can be commanded (using a key word or phrase) to become locked stationary relative to some other object (like the earth, to pick a fairly "vanilla" one). Even if the item is in "mid air" when the command is uttered, it locks in space and will not move (you can either specify a Strength or make this absolute, for real fun ).

Variants allow a ritual to "attune" the item to something else; when the command is made it is now locked relative to the thing it is attuned to. This might work in both directions: i.e. the thing it is attuned to might become "anchored" by the item...

 

[Blue]

I've been a fan of the ole' immovable rod myself, and that's exactly the type of interesting items I'm looking for - clever use can be really cool, but they aren't directly dangerous or super powerful.

I am hoping for ideas more in theme with the items though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

A leather bag that lets the holder grab up and store his own shadow.

A lacquer box containing a levitating set of Pythagorean solids, each 2" across and made of electrum mesh. They smell of ozone.

Edit: just realized you want powers, not new items.

The sphere adds or subtracts colors. When it is full, it is black, and can add colors to any item. When it is empty, it is clear.

 

[Balesir]

The sphere can be used to help analyse other items. When light emanating or reflected from any object passes through the crystal, the resulting spectrum has missing or altered colours depending on the object's properties and affiliations. Only the sun actually produces a complete "rainbow".

If the candlestick has a lit candle mounted in it, whenever a creature that has not been introduced to it steps into the candlelight it begins to keen and glitter brightly.

Magic items in the light of a candle in the candlestick glitter like the stick itself.

The crystal globe actually is connected to the prismatic dragons, and allows the holder to speak draconic when in the presence of a (non-metallic) dragon.

The candlestick may hold a candle and light an area as you would expect, but when it is removed and the candle snuffed out, the light lingers for as long as the candle burned for. This also happens if the candle simply burned down.

The candlestick holds but a simple candle, but lights a large area as if it held a full lantern when it does so.

How many ya want?

 

[Blue]

A leather bag that lets the holder grab up and store his own shadow.

A lacquer box containing a levitating set of Pythagorean solids, each 2" across and made of electrum mesh. They smell of ozone.

Edit: just realized you want powers, not new items.

The sphere adds or subtracts colors. When it is full, it is black, and can add colors to any item. When it is empty, it is clear.

Ooh, I like these. If you don't mind I'll use them next time I need something.

Though we already have some shadow wonkiness going on. One of the character's Unique is that he stole these heavily magical chains, and their shadow locked onto him and stayed when he gave the chains to the "buyer". Now the chains are non-magical and he's heavily hunted. The chains also figure prominently, though close to 20 years earlier, into other character's Unique.

 

[Blue]

Gorgeous Balesir!

Too many good ones with the sphere. You mentioned analyzing affiliations and I immediately thought about it showing Icon relationships of all those close. Another direction for what to analyze is that in this game we've woven an animist / Kami background into many things - Koru Behemoths are literally walking mountains animated by their overwhelmingly strong spirits. Living Dungeons are animated by their Kami, twisted by the same madness poison that chased the dwarves out of the underworld (and twisted the Derro), etc. Linking it to that works. (Another take on this is Jim Butcher's Alera Codex stuff. Good reads, if not quite as distinctive as his Dresden Files.)

On the other hand, we have a whole campaign arc with dragons going and the party is on their way to Drakkenhall via a dwarven inventor's questionable skyship traveling in the Overworld. So having the colors of the sphere work with that has a lot going for it.

 

[Balesir]

Glad you like them. I like the kami thing with Koru Behemoths and Living Dungeons - I might steal that one myself

 

[Samloyal23]

A crystal monocle. Anyone looking through it gains a vision of the effects of the last spell a caster seen through it memorized.

A love-seat. When two people sit on it they know if the other person is attracted to them or not and whether or not it is just sexual.

A mortar and pestle. The pestle animates and grinds any herbs in the mortar on command.