Magic Item that works like a spying device

[johnsemlak]

I would like to come up with a magic device taht is similar to the Amulet of Finding from the old X4 moduel. kThe Amulet of Finding was a device the BBEG could see through, and thus could monitor the actions of a party if they carried the item uncovered.

I wanted to think up of an item that would be a little more difficult to figure out. One the players wouldn't guess the purpose of so quickly.

I need to plant the item on a evil mage the characters may enounter.

Any ideas?

 

[Telperion]

Okay, here's my suggestion: create a pair of magical items, which don't function if they aren't activated by a command word on consecutive rounds while worn by the same person. Once the activation is done properly one item can command the other item to send non-stop visual imagery from the other's location. It only works one way though, and that's why the items should look a little different. You can also add a small amount of icing on top, just to make those magic items a little bit more attractive. The characters will notice that there are two auras, but probably won't succeed in activating the rings in a proper way for a good long time.

If this isn't too powerful, then I would go with two rings. You keep one on both of the BBEG's hands, and if anyone checks them with Detect Magic then they emit a moderately strong aura of Divination + of course the other aura as well. For that little bit of interest I would duplicate the effect of a Ring of Protection +X for one, and Ring of Sustenance for the other one. For a spell casting BBEG these are actually fairly good options, as you can most likely see, so it doesn't even seem unreasonable that he might have added these secondary effects (that are always active) once he finished with the linked Arcane Eye effect.

EDIT: of course if one of the character's can cast Identify then this won't work.

 

[RangerWickett]

Identify lets you know the most simple effect of the item, so if the spying is not the simplest, it takes a higher-level effect to find the secret spying device.

I used the following in my campaign, to fun effect. It may be a bit too high-powered for your game, and it actually wrought some havoc in my game, but I didn't mind using it.

The party went as emmissaries from one wizard academy to another, and as a great sign of trust, the headmaster of the academy they were visiting gave them a gift, a magical earring that helps detects lies. The wizard was an air mage, so the ring buzzes in your ear when it detects someone's voice sounding untruthful. I basically let it work near-perfectly (Bluff DC 40 to beat), but you might just have it grant a +10 bonus to Sense Motive checks to detect lies.

The thing is, it's a really good item, so much so that the party never thought to look into it. They just took it as a gift, were thankful they got something so useful, and allowed themselves to be eavesdropped upon by the air mage at any time.

 

[Southern Oracle]

In 3.5, identify tells you all the powers a magic item has.

Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil has a mechanical bird used by the cultists in Homlett to see people approaching the mill. You can have a similar bird shadow the party, with a chance every now and then of someone spotting the glint of sunlight off metal. My group caught the bird and carried it around with them for awhile before finally getting wise and smashing it to bits.

 

[RangerWickett]

Well bah on the 3.5 Identify. I assume you could just enchant the item twice, once with spying and nystul's undetectable aura, and the other time with detect lies (or zone of truth, or whatever).

 

[Piratecat]

Do cursed amulets of inescapable location still exist in 3.5?

 

[Deadguy]

Do cursed amulets of inescapable location still exist in 3.5?

Yeah, they're still there PC: Dungeon Masters Guide p274. And a -10 on all rolls to resist divination type spells.

 

[Squire James]

Minor artifacts are the way to go. They have several beneficial powers, and they are not subject to pesky Identify spells. It's straining believability that the BBEG would have many such items, but not if there were just one and the BBEG places it specifically for the PC's.

Example: In one of my campaigns I arranged for the PC's to gain an item called The Eye of the Drow. Its possessor gained darkvision with 120' range like a drow, and it helped scrying (in 3.5e this would convert to a -5 to the opponent's Will save). However, it also acted as "passive permission" for any Drow to scry on its possessor (acting as an Amulet of Inescapable Location in these cases). The players suspected the negative power but kept the item anyway because it was terribly useful.

 

[Liolel]

If you think that the divination aura from the detect magic would tip them off them make something like glass's of see invisibility that also would spy on the wielder. But its still doesn't protect against an identify.

 

[Silveras]

I would like to come up with a magic device taht is similar to the Amulet of Finding from the old X4 moduel. kThe Amulet of Finding was a device the BBEG could see through, and thus could monitor the actions of a party if they carried the item uncovered.

I wanted to think up of an item that would be a little more difficult to figure out. One the players wouldn't guess the purpose of so quickly.

I need to plant the item on a evil mage the characters may enounter.

Any ideas?

What you need is a new spell ... something like "Scry Link" that allows an object to act as the focus for Scrying spells. THAT becomes the basis of the item. Make it look like an identifying item for a group the PCs want to infiltrate ... a membership badge of some sort (so they expect it to be non-magical and they still want to keep it). Invest the extra creation cost in hiding its magical nature, so it does not detect as magical.

A smart BBEG will use it for a short time, knowing that the party could sell it, or otherwise change their plans to keep it, at any time. So, the BBEG will use their initial possession to study them through Scrying, learning them well enough not to need the item after a time.