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Minor Magic Items
- Thread starter Goblyns Hoard
- Start date
low magic items
A small charm to protect you from the attacks of normal insects. This is nice for staying in cheap hotels. Also can have adventuring usages. I once gave one to a beginning pc in one of my games. Another player was making fun of its magic, and teasing the pc about it. Some kobolds used a big old hornet nest in an ambush.... and after killing the kobolds, the pc with the charm was standing in the pissed off hornets area, laughing at the other pc's.
That player STILL teases the other about this, and its been years.
Yeah old standard bedroll that lets you sleep in full armor.
For the rich and paranoid - lightweight curtains that "snap stiff" on a command word, and have magical hardness/toughness that presents a minor obstacle to thieves. Or that attack (to subdue) anyone coming in the window from the wrong direction.
A small charm to protect you from the attacks of normal insects. This is nice for staying in cheap hotels. Also can have adventuring usages. I once gave one to a beginning pc in one of my games. Another player was making fun of its magic, and teasing the pc about it. Some kobolds used a big old hornet nest in an ambush.... and after killing the kobolds, the pc with the charm was standing in the pissed off hornets area, laughing at the other pc's.
That player STILL teases the other about this, and its been years.
Yeah old standard bedroll that lets you sleep in full armor.
For the rich and paranoid - lightweight curtains that "snap stiff" on a command word, and have magical hardness/toughness that presents a minor obstacle to thieves. Or that attack (to subdue) anyone coming in the window from the wrong direction.
jmucchiello
Hero
I don't usually contribute to these threads but my own attempt to make a few of these items stopped at 5. Too short for even one of my Two-Pagers. My theory was to make the magic items big so they might exist in larger towns that could afford not only the magic but also the storage. Imagine going into a large city and finding the streets spotless....
Cooler: This small box can keep up to 5 pounds of food or liquid cold indefinitely. Five individual compartments within the box can each hold up to one pound of food or drink no larger than a plate of food or small mug of liquid.
Mild universal; CL 1; Craft Wondrous Item, prestidigitation; Value: 4,000 gp; Cost: 2,000 gp + 160 xp. Weight: 20 lbs.
Fix-it Box: This small box can mend any rip, tear, clean break or hole in leather/fabric that is placed in the box, up to one pound in weight. The item is placed in the box. The door is closed and opened one round later. If the item can be fixed by mending it is repaired when the door opens. This item can be found in single use per day and unlimited use per day versions.
Mild transmutation; CL 1; Craft Wondrous Item, mending; Value: 4,000 gp (unlimited), 200 gp (once per day); Cost: 2,000 gp + 1600 xp (unlimited), 100 gp + 8 xp (once per day). Weight: 10 lbs.
Ladder of Climbing: This 10-foot long ladder provides anyone using the ladder a +5 competence bonus to Climb checks made on the ladder. Ladders found in high wind areas might have this effect at a higher competence bonus.
Mild transmutation; CL 2; Craft Wondrous Item, 5 ranks of Climb; Value: 2,500 gp; Cost: 1,250 gp + 100 xp. Weight: 8 lbs.
Street Cleaner: In large cities, a mule or pony will be seen drawing this wheeled cart. The teamster leading the mule or pony keeps the pace slow. As it moves it cleans a ten-foot wide, 1-foot long strip of the road, removing all debris and puddles in one round of time. The cart has a switch that can turn the effect on or off. In an hour, a practiced user can clean a 600-foot long, 10-foot wide road.
Mild universal; CL 1; Craft Wondrous Item, prestidigitation; Value: 4,000 gp; Cost: 2,000 gp + 160 xp. Weight: 100 lbs.
Warning Arch: This ornate trellis emits a beeping tone when a magic aura of moderate or stronger strength passes under the archway. Many large cities with specific magic restrictions will use these to screen travelers wishing to enter the city.
Mild divination; CL 5; Craft Wondrous Item, detect magic, ghost sound; Value: 5,000 gp; Cost: 2,500 gp + 200 xp. Weight: 300 lbs.
Cooler: This small box can keep up to 5 pounds of food or liquid cold indefinitely. Five individual compartments within the box can each hold up to one pound of food or drink no larger than a plate of food or small mug of liquid.
Mild universal; CL 1; Craft Wondrous Item, prestidigitation; Value: 4,000 gp; Cost: 2,000 gp + 160 xp. Weight: 20 lbs.
Fix-it Box: This small box can mend any rip, tear, clean break or hole in leather/fabric that is placed in the box, up to one pound in weight. The item is placed in the box. The door is closed and opened one round later. If the item can be fixed by mending it is repaired when the door opens. This item can be found in single use per day and unlimited use per day versions.
Mild transmutation; CL 1; Craft Wondrous Item, mending; Value: 4,000 gp (unlimited), 200 gp (once per day); Cost: 2,000 gp + 1600 xp (unlimited), 100 gp + 8 xp (once per day). Weight: 10 lbs.
Ladder of Climbing: This 10-foot long ladder provides anyone using the ladder a +5 competence bonus to Climb checks made on the ladder. Ladders found in high wind areas might have this effect at a higher competence bonus.
Mild transmutation; CL 2; Craft Wondrous Item, 5 ranks of Climb; Value: 2,500 gp; Cost: 1,250 gp + 100 xp. Weight: 8 lbs.
Street Cleaner: In large cities, a mule or pony will be seen drawing this wheeled cart. The teamster leading the mule or pony keeps the pace slow. As it moves it cleans a ten-foot wide, 1-foot long strip of the road, removing all debris and puddles in one round of time. The cart has a switch that can turn the effect on or off. In an hour, a practiced user can clean a 600-foot long, 10-foot wide road.
Mild universal; CL 1; Craft Wondrous Item, prestidigitation; Value: 4,000 gp; Cost: 2,000 gp + 160 xp. Weight: 100 lbs.
Warning Arch: This ornate trellis emits a beeping tone when a magic aura of moderate or stronger strength passes under the archway. Many large cities with specific magic restrictions will use these to screen travelers wishing to enter the city.
Mild divination; CL 5; Craft Wondrous Item, detect magic, ghost sound; Value: 5,000 gp; Cost: 2,500 gp + 200 xp. Weight: 300 lbs.
jmucchiello
Hero
They are priced using the magic item rules. Most of them are continuous use magic effects that don't use a body slot. Nothing is over 5,000 gp and I said they were more for governments to use. Who would want their own private street cleaner?Slife said:
But can you imagine the two 'union' street cleaners wandering down a city street behind a large box that cleans at 10 feet per minute? "Larry, I'm telling you we need to put an umbrella on this thing. The sun is killing me." "Boss'll kill you if you mess up another cleaning box." "That was an accident and you know it." "Hey, you kids, get away from that dead rat! We'll clean it when we get there in a couple hours."
Nifft
Penguin Herder
Tenser's Table -- A sheet of marble three inches thick that hovers at table height. It can support up to 500 lbs. before sinking (gently) to the floor. Otherwise, its height and position are quite stable. It serves no function over that of a regular table, but it is very expensive.
Tenser's Chandelier -- An intricate design made of glass, crystal and various shiny metals, this chandelier seems to weigh nothing -- it floats where it is positioned, its thirty gemlights providing the light of thirty candles. Also, it is very expensive.
Cheers, -- N
Tenser's Chandelier -- An intricate design made of glass, crystal and various shiny metals, this chandelier seems to weigh nothing -- it floats where it is positioned, its thirty gemlights providing the light of thirty candles. Also, it is very expensive.
Cheers, -- N
All-Spice - an edible powder created with a weak glamer (a taste-based variation on Ghost Sound) that allows the powder to assume the flavor of anything the user can visualize. It retains potency for one hour, and is used to season otherwise bland meals, or to lend exotic flavors to specific dishes.
Fragrant Stone - a chunk of soft stone that wears away over a weeks time, exuding a strong fragrance all the while, much like incense. (The effect can be diminished by placing a metal censer over it, with only small holes for the scent to escape, but the default scent is quite strong, eye-wateringly so to someone who holds it to their nose and takes a deliberate whiff.) The scent is chosen at the time of creation and cannot have any special properties (skunk, troglodyte or ghast stench are not options, for instance, nor are poisonous gases!).
Lambent Stone - an item of stone or metal of up to five pounds that has a Continual Flame *and* a Mage Hand-like effect upon it. When held aloft and released, it will float where it is placed, and maintain it's position with up to 5 lbs of force. Anyone with a Strength of 1 or higher can deliberately move the item around, and it will similarly remain wherever they 'place' it. In vogue among nobles, and in certain temples, these items are often exquisitely crafted with royal insignia or diefic holy symbols, and can be far more expensive, depending upon the materials used in construction and the amount and quality of any artwork that went into it's decoration!
Coalstone (from an old Dragon magazine) - a diamond is 'regressed' by magic so that it emits heat (and weak pressure, enough to make it tricky to hold, as it tends to skitter about if not gripped securely) as the diamond slowly turns back into a larger lump of coal! It generates 1 hit point of Fire damage if held for a full round, but inflicts no harm on a briefer contact. The heat it generates is sufficient to cook over, and it produces this heat for 1 day / gold piece value of the diamond (losing 1 gp value / day) before reverting back to a lump of cold coal.
Cooling Fog - creates a bank of fog that is barely knee high and covers a 10' square. This is a stationary effect once created and lasts until it knows the touch of sunlight (and so could be effectively permanant, under the right conditions). The fog is not adequate to provide any sort of cover or concealment, but exudes a constant chill that keeps the temperature in the area only a few degrees above freezing. The effect is used in basements to create cool storerooms for perishable goods. While the fog rises only about a foot off the ground, the cooling effect extends a full 10' up from the ground.
Insignia Pendant - this finely crafted talisman is always created very specifically for a certain noble family or church official, producing an Arcane Mark effect when it is pressed to a document by a designated personage. (This individual need not be a specific individual, and is usually defined to function for any person within a certain positionc *role,* such as 'only the King,' or 'only the High Priest.') The mark produced can be readily identified as being the genuine mark of that personage, and is fiendishly hard to 'forge,' as the same Wizard who created the initial Insignia Pendent must be forced (or paid) to create a duplicate. Savvy Wizards may well refuse a commision to create such an item, after one Wizard was killed by the ruler who had commisioned an Insignia Pendant from him to avoid the potential of his royal mark ever being duplicated...
Ghost Masks - popular with nobles in a certain decadent locality, these fine porcelain masks are polished with a fine glaze, and sometimes have fanciful images painted upon them. (In Waterdeep, a priesthood was known to cover theirs with a paper thin sheen of silver on their outer surface giving them a reflective appearance.) The mask is featureless, and has no holes for eyes, but is weightless, nearly insubstantial and all-but invisible to the wearer once set into place, allowing the user to see through it despite it's lack of eyeholes, and breath or speak unimpeded (although it does slightly obscure vision, giving a -1 to Spot and Search checks while worn, and it slightly obscures the users voice, giving a +1 to Disguise or Bluff checks to conceal one's identity). As an added feature, the mask also has a Mage Hand effect, causing it to hold itself in place with a Strength of 1, and so requires no straps or fastenings.
Animated Cloak - this cloak moves to drape itself across the wearers arm upon mental command, or flares out dramatically, also at it's users mental direction. One noble lady had a cloak with a 'ruff' of peacock feathers that rose to frame her head in a majestic display upon her mental command, but this was an expensive variation. Dancers who entertain the richest clients sometimes have sheer silken scarves that move around them sinuously, like serpents.
Service Set - depending upon the culture and traditions, this can be either a tea service set of bone china, a brass coffee pot and cups, or a bottle of elven wine and set of delicate fluted crystal goblets. In any event the magic is the same, the bottle / coffeepot / teakettle float around the table filling the glasses / cups at the mental direction of the one who last touched the bottle / pot. In the case of coffeepots or teakettles, they also heat their contents magically. More expensive sets include the Mage Hand spell upon the individual cups / glasses as well, and they all swirl through the air and settle themselves before their guests at a mental command as well. Some practice is required before a person can do this gracefully, and it could be an expensive disaster if a neophyte tries to make too many glasses fly around the table at once... Both line of sight and line of effect are required, and the items cannot be moved quickly enough to harm anyone, requiring a full-round action from the 'user' to cause them to move around. They cannot move more than 10 ft. from the user, and are typically kept in a cabinet close to the table where they are to 'perform' their function.
Magic Chalk - this six inch piece of chalk is thicker than expected and quite sturdy, for it's composition. At the holder's mental direction, it 'writes' a glowing trail of faerie fire that lasts for one hour. It can be stopped and started as a free action, allowing a skilled writer to form words and letters as quickly as he could with an ink pen. The faerie fire could be 'written' down on cloth, paper, stone, metal or even flesh, but is most dramatic when it is used upon the very air itself, leaving glowing 'words of fire' hanging in the air! When written upon a solid object, the letters move with the object, but if engraved upon a non-solid (air, water, sand, etc) the letters 'hang' in place, despite the unstable nature of the surface. Each piece of Magic Chalk is good for about 300 words worth of text, shrinking by one inch / 50 words enscribed, until it is worn away.
Ghost Mail - sometimes a noble *knows* that he isn't in any danger, but is expected to attend a function in the ceremonial armor of the family, or an aging priest wishes to project the appearance that he is still sturdy enough to wear his old plate armor, but simply cannot. Other times, a foolish heir simply can't be bothered to put on his armor, and pays the price in vulnerability for his comfort... This pendant creates the illusion of full-plate armor over the wearer, a full-sensory illusion that includes sight, sound and touch, but the image is weightless and non-restrictive to the 'wearer,' allowing him to move unencumbered, at the expense of being unarmored. It can be worn over typical clothing, or even light or medium armor (some may 'compromise' by wearing a mithral chain shirt under the guise of much sturdier armor), but not heavy armor, as heavy armor is too bulky and 'shows through,' wrecking the illusion. The armor appears immediately when the amulet is donned, and vanishes as quickly if the amulet is removed from the wearer. Each pendant only projects the image of a single suit of armor, almost invariably the ceremonial full plate of some noble line or notable priesthood, although this armor does resize and reshape itself to fit most humanoid wearers, regardless of gender, race or size (S, M, or L, it does not resize for larger or smaller users).
Fragrant Stone - a chunk of soft stone that wears away over a weeks time, exuding a strong fragrance all the while, much like incense. (The effect can be diminished by placing a metal censer over it, with only small holes for the scent to escape, but the default scent is quite strong, eye-wateringly so to someone who holds it to their nose and takes a deliberate whiff.) The scent is chosen at the time of creation and cannot have any special properties (skunk, troglodyte or ghast stench are not options, for instance, nor are poisonous gases!).
Lambent Stone - an item of stone or metal of up to five pounds that has a Continual Flame *and* a Mage Hand-like effect upon it. When held aloft and released, it will float where it is placed, and maintain it's position with up to 5 lbs of force. Anyone with a Strength of 1 or higher can deliberately move the item around, and it will similarly remain wherever they 'place' it. In vogue among nobles, and in certain temples, these items are often exquisitely crafted with royal insignia or diefic holy symbols, and can be far more expensive, depending upon the materials used in construction and the amount and quality of any artwork that went into it's decoration!
Coalstone (from an old Dragon magazine) - a diamond is 'regressed' by magic so that it emits heat (and weak pressure, enough to make it tricky to hold, as it tends to skitter about if not gripped securely) as the diamond slowly turns back into a larger lump of coal! It generates 1 hit point of Fire damage if held for a full round, but inflicts no harm on a briefer contact. The heat it generates is sufficient to cook over, and it produces this heat for 1 day / gold piece value of the diamond (losing 1 gp value / day) before reverting back to a lump of cold coal.
Cooling Fog - creates a bank of fog that is barely knee high and covers a 10' square. This is a stationary effect once created and lasts until it knows the touch of sunlight (and so could be effectively permanant, under the right conditions). The fog is not adequate to provide any sort of cover or concealment, but exudes a constant chill that keeps the temperature in the area only a few degrees above freezing. The effect is used in basements to create cool storerooms for perishable goods. While the fog rises only about a foot off the ground, the cooling effect extends a full 10' up from the ground.
Insignia Pendant - this finely crafted talisman is always created very specifically for a certain noble family or church official, producing an Arcane Mark effect when it is pressed to a document by a designated personage. (This individual need not be a specific individual, and is usually defined to function for any person within a certain positionc *role,* such as 'only the King,' or 'only the High Priest.') The mark produced can be readily identified as being the genuine mark of that personage, and is fiendishly hard to 'forge,' as the same Wizard who created the initial Insignia Pendent must be forced (or paid) to create a duplicate. Savvy Wizards may well refuse a commision to create such an item, after one Wizard was killed by the ruler who had commisioned an Insignia Pendant from him to avoid the potential of his royal mark ever being duplicated...
Ghost Masks - popular with nobles in a certain decadent locality, these fine porcelain masks are polished with a fine glaze, and sometimes have fanciful images painted upon them. (In Waterdeep, a priesthood was known to cover theirs with a paper thin sheen of silver on their outer surface giving them a reflective appearance.) The mask is featureless, and has no holes for eyes, but is weightless, nearly insubstantial and all-but invisible to the wearer once set into place, allowing the user to see through it despite it's lack of eyeholes, and breath or speak unimpeded (although it does slightly obscure vision, giving a -1 to Spot and Search checks while worn, and it slightly obscures the users voice, giving a +1 to Disguise or Bluff checks to conceal one's identity). As an added feature, the mask also has a Mage Hand effect, causing it to hold itself in place with a Strength of 1, and so requires no straps or fastenings.
Animated Cloak - this cloak moves to drape itself across the wearers arm upon mental command, or flares out dramatically, also at it's users mental direction. One noble lady had a cloak with a 'ruff' of peacock feathers that rose to frame her head in a majestic display upon her mental command, but this was an expensive variation. Dancers who entertain the richest clients sometimes have sheer silken scarves that move around them sinuously, like serpents.
Service Set - depending upon the culture and traditions, this can be either a tea service set of bone china, a brass coffee pot and cups, or a bottle of elven wine and set of delicate fluted crystal goblets. In any event the magic is the same, the bottle / coffeepot / teakettle float around the table filling the glasses / cups at the mental direction of the one who last touched the bottle / pot. In the case of coffeepots or teakettles, they also heat their contents magically. More expensive sets include the Mage Hand spell upon the individual cups / glasses as well, and they all swirl through the air and settle themselves before their guests at a mental command as well. Some practice is required before a person can do this gracefully, and it could be an expensive disaster if a neophyte tries to make too many glasses fly around the table at once... Both line of sight and line of effect are required, and the items cannot be moved quickly enough to harm anyone, requiring a full-round action from the 'user' to cause them to move around. They cannot move more than 10 ft. from the user, and are typically kept in a cabinet close to the table where they are to 'perform' their function.
Magic Chalk - this six inch piece of chalk is thicker than expected and quite sturdy, for it's composition. At the holder's mental direction, it 'writes' a glowing trail of faerie fire that lasts for one hour. It can be stopped and started as a free action, allowing a skilled writer to form words and letters as quickly as he could with an ink pen. The faerie fire could be 'written' down on cloth, paper, stone, metal or even flesh, but is most dramatic when it is used upon the very air itself, leaving glowing 'words of fire' hanging in the air! When written upon a solid object, the letters move with the object, but if engraved upon a non-solid (air, water, sand, etc) the letters 'hang' in place, despite the unstable nature of the surface. Each piece of Magic Chalk is good for about 300 words worth of text, shrinking by one inch / 50 words enscribed, until it is worn away.
Ghost Mail - sometimes a noble *knows* that he isn't in any danger, but is expected to attend a function in the ceremonial armor of the family, or an aging priest wishes to project the appearance that he is still sturdy enough to wear his old plate armor, but simply cannot. Other times, a foolish heir simply can't be bothered to put on his armor, and pays the price in vulnerability for his comfort... This pendant creates the illusion of full-plate armor over the wearer, a full-sensory illusion that includes sight, sound and touch, but the image is weightless and non-restrictive to the 'wearer,' allowing him to move unencumbered, at the expense of being unarmored. It can be worn over typical clothing, or even light or medium armor (some may 'compromise' by wearing a mithral chain shirt under the guise of much sturdier armor), but not heavy armor, as heavy armor is too bulky and 'shows through,' wrecking the illusion. The armor appears immediately when the amulet is donned, and vanishes as quickly if the amulet is removed from the wearer. Each pendant only projects the image of a single suit of armor, almost invariably the ceremonial full plate of some noble line or notable priesthood, although this armor does resize and reshape itself to fit most humanoid wearers, regardless of gender, race or size (S, M, or L, it does not resize for larger or smaller users).
Last edited:
Jeysie
First Post
Not sure if it qualifies as "minor" enough, but... my DM once let our Ranger buy a portable magical kitchen with dishes, spices, utensils, and a small oven and "hotplate" that gave a +2 to all Craft (Cooking) checks. She took great glee in creating culinary masterpieces whenever the party camped for the night.
Peace & Luv, Liz
Peace & Luv, Liz
The utilitarian kind of item that I think would be most useful and desireable to a medieval person would be Jars of Preserving, large clay jars that prevent grain within from going bad, growing mold, or being eaten by pests. Something like 80% of such farms yields were lost to such things.
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