What Are Your Unique Items?

[Loonook]

This thread really got me thinking of those cute little unique items that we all have made for various reasons, character motivations, or just the sheer cool factor. So I wanted to get a bit of information on what your favorite self-created items were. No, not some keen vorpal fire-hydrant of Endless Power... Tell me something interesting. Some items I've personally created:

A beautifully created fan made for a pacifist middleman assistant to the party, allowing them to use all sorts of wind-based powers while providing a way to cool his corpulent frame in those hot desert winds.

The marks of claws across the player's back denoted his raising from the Abyss by something... But also began to give him some unique quirks. A paladin brought back by a shadowy demonic figure... Sadly it seems this was beaten by one of my favorite series about 8 years later .

So, what cool little thing did you bring to the table? Maybe an artifact, maybe just some wondrous item, let us see the power of ENWorld .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[Dioltach]

In a Wheel of Time game I ran a while back, I introduced a dagger that allowed the wielder to see threads of Power and cut them.

In a campaign set in ancient Carthage, I gave the party the equipment of an ancient hero: gloves that could grow lions claws, a belt that added strength, a cape of flying and a hood of invisibility. The magic was powered by the user's life force: for each round that the item was activated, the character lost 2 hp.

 

[LostSoul]

I use a different method of generating magic items in my 4E game. Basically, you roll a couple times to generate some inspiration.

Here are some:

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• These (10th) Boots of Swimming are made of a strange black leather. They are completely waterproof. When immersed in water, they turn into flippers. They allow the wearer to swim as fast and as easily as if he were walking on solid ground. They also allow the wearer to hold his breath for up to an hour.
• (7th) +2 Longbow of Ice. Crafted by archons, this bow is made of ice and lacking a string. When held it allows the wearer to ignore bitter cold. When "drawn", the bow fires bolts of ice that can either pierce (vs AC, 2(5) dmg) or immobilize the limbs it hits (vs. Ref, 2(4) hits + limb is frozen).
• (8th) Girdle of Desert Sands, a leather girdle made by Arkhosian artisans. It grants a +2 bonus to checks made against desert terrain hazards, a +2 bonus to defenses against desert terrain hazards, and the wearer's feet don't sink into sand or any other fine particulate matter.
• sickle of strength made by ancient drow for shadow
  (10th) +2 Sickle of Shadow Strength
  M blade is always a matte black, never giving off a reflection
  M concealed as easily as a hairpin
  H strengthens night vision by one step (normal -> low-light -> darkvision)
  H while cloaked in shadow, strength is increased to the greater of 18 or +2
• maul of strength made by Shangar, The Uncrowned, a primordial of chaos and rebellion, cursed by creation
  (9th) Shangar the Uncrowned's +2 Maul of Earth Shattering
  H pulverizes stone & earth at twice the normal rate, dealing crits to earth elementals
  H grants the skill Cannot be Caged: You gain great strength when trying to cast off bonds
  C in order to activate the powers the wielder must destroy a creation of stone
• (13th) +3 Leather armour of spell theft: This elf-crafted leather armour was made by a brash elf wizard whose community was under seige by powerful drow magics. The armour strengthens the wearer's resistance to magic (+2 Will and Fort), and it "learns" any arcane spell cast against the wearer. Once "learned", the wearer can remove the spell from the armour and transcribe the spell into a spellbook or scroll. However, the elf who created this magic item reached too far; when a spell is removed from the armour, a group of spiders spawns somewhere in the same hex. The spider's total XP value equals the XP value of an encounter of the removed spell's level.
• (9th) Gloves of Will-Breaking: These drow-made gloves are crafted from spider silk yet as strong as steel. When worn, they grant the wearer the skill Pain Breaks the Will: You have great skill with any torture implement held in your hands, and you can break the will of anyone under your knife. In addition, when attempting to subdue someone, you can strike as hard as you want and you will never land a killing blow - but if the gloves believe the target would be a valuable slave, they will not allow you to land a killing blow.
• (8th) Iron Girdle of Authority, a heavy iron girdle with the symbol of Asmodeus. When worn, the Girdle causes submission in others, granting a +1 bonus to Reaction rolls; a +2 bonus to Will Defence; and the skill "The Iron Hand of Authority: When you exert your authority over another, you gain great strength. Your strength is increased by 2 or to 18, whichever is greater, and your hands become as hard as iron. You can bend iron and crush rocks and your unarmed attacks deal 2 hits damage."
• (8th) Elixer of Necrotic Protection: This elixer is always cold to the touch. It was made by the Necromancers of Vumerion to aid acolytes in the control and hunting down of loose undead. It forever grants the drinker a feeling of unease whenever undead/necrotic energy is nearby, increases speed by +2 when fleeing from undead or necrotic energy, and grants a +5 bonus to defences against undead/necrotic mind-control.
• (9th) Bane's Elixer of Beast Mastery: This foul-smelling liquid is stored within an iron vial engraved with the symbol of Bane. Drinking it forever grants the the ability to communicate with animals, the skill Beast-Master: You can tame any beast; but beasts tamed with this skill turn to Bane - evil, obsessed with war and conquest.
• (10th) +2 Periapt of Baphomet: This periapt, crafted by minotaurs from congealed demon-blood, grants a +2 bonus to Fort, Ref, and Will defences. In addition, when worn, the wearer can gain sustenance from any sort of raw meat, their nails grow into claws (improvised weapon, prof +3, 1d6 damage). The peripat grants two powers, one of which can be used once every five minutes: the wearer can transform into a creature of savagery for five minutes: size increases to large, horns grow from the head (Str +4, hit: 4(7) dmg), strength increases to 21 or +2, whichever is greater; or the wearer can transform into a creature of wrath: immediate reaction, when bloodied or hit when bloodied, make a basic melee attack against the character who hit you. The periapt is cursed: when the wearer is in stressful, emotionally-charged social situations, the periapt will attempt to transform and control the wearer (1/encounter, +15 vs Will, hit: transformation occurs and the character is controlled by the DM (save ends); first failed save: the effect lasts five minutes)
• (11th) +3 flail of serpentine transformation: this shimmering emerald-green flail appears to have been made to resemble a serpent - the handle and chain the serpent's body, its head fanged. When held, the serpent springs to life and writhes in its wielder's hand: this weapon was not forged, but created by the Primordial Bryakus, the Father of Serpents. The serpent acts as a +3 flail and has a terrible power: when the teeth of the serpent penetrate a creature's skin, a poison is injected into their system (+17 vs Fort). Over the next 30-50 minutes (1d4+2x10) the target is transformed into a chaotic evil snake, the type of which depends on the target's level. The target, once transformed, obeys the commands of the wielder.
• 6th scroll of secrets made by angels for obedience
  H the Supernal Word of Truth - allows someone to learn the Word, if fluent in Supernal and studied for a week (DC 19 check to learn); once learned, the character can compel another to speak truth to a question
• 7th sickle of will made by erathites for civilization; cursed with community
  M when you cultivate plants with the sickle, you enjoy it; allows NPCs to work at PC rate
  H any raw herbs cultivated by this sickle are instantly transformed into ritual components
  C the powers do not function unless the wielder works with the sickle in a settlement at least one day per week
• 8th feet of jumping made by nerath for expansion; cursed with community
  M never fatigued from walking
  M terrain modifiers for overland movement are halved
  H can make great leaps; jump at double speed
  C the powers only function while the character is protecting their settlement
• 9th morningstar of will made by ancient drow for slavery; cursed with worship
  H characters subdued by this weapon become loyal to the wielder
  H can forge blood oaths as per the ritual, but requires a strike that draws blood
  C gains the oath "Seek the death of elves and eladrin at every opportunity"
• (10th) +2 bloodseeker drake hide armour that was made by Bael Turothian armourers out of the hides of many bloodseeker drakes who were slaughtered while driven into a blood frenzy. While worn, the armour grants the toughness and ferocity of bloodseeker drakes: +2 Fort, allows a blood frenzy once every five minutes (situational modifiers to melee and thrown attacks), prevents bleeding, and it allows the wearer to fight on even if past 0 hits.
• (5th) The Eye of Stone: A large, translucent green stone run through with veins of purple that seem to writhe when not looked at directly. The Eye has but one power: if someone spends five minutes staring into it while underground and in the dark, it will reveal a secret (as Consult Mystic Sages, with a modifier of +22). When this is done, it will steal a secret from the user in return determined by the DM. It may choose to impart this secret on any it has made contact with, no matter the distance; it can be appeased by an execution by pressing, with the Eye being the last stone placed.
• 10th holy symbol of corruption made by devils for exploitation; cursed with corruption
  M food always tastes too sweet
  M always look clean-cut
  H learn weaknesses
  H convince others to give into their weaknesses
  C when mercy is shown, bad things happen; some sort of disease, and cruelty is the only way to get rid of it
• 11th leather armour of mimicry made by deephold dwarves for mining; cursed with community
  P allows the wearer to take the form of an umber hulk once per day for up to five minutes: HP unchanged; AC 29, Fort 27, Ref 14, Will unchanged; speed 5 burrow (tunneling 2); darvision, tremorsense 5; claw melee 2 atk 1/2lvl+13 vs AC, 10 dmg; str 26, dex 8, con 20
  C there is a cumulative 1-in-6 chance each time the power is used that 3000-3499 XP worth of umber hulks will hunt down the wearer
• 12th rod of vampirism made by dragons for sloth
  M mage hand at-will
  M tenser's floating disk w/o components or ritual caster
  P draws the will of the creature into the rod, dominating it (+17 vs Will); only one will can be held at a time, releasing the other when used on a new creature
• 13th greatclub of strength made by angels for war
  H 18 or +2 strength, whichever is greater
  P can demolish any fortifications, like the horn of jericho
• (21st) Armour of the Dread Golden Dwarf: This +5 wyrmscale armour was crafted by deephold dwarves long ago for their dreaded emperor. Made from the golden scales of Io after Erek-Hus, the King of Terror, killed the god of dragons with his wicked axe, this armour has a dread power: when donned it allows the wearer to read the secret fears and desires of anyone within 5 miles (+29 vs Will) simply by concentrating on that person. The armour bears a curse; it needs to have its wearer hoard away valuables for good (one RMTP of the wearer's level per week, never to be used again) else its effects may fail or be warped.

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[jcayer]

In our last 4e campaign, I gave the rogue a pair of gloves. When he put them on, they grew into claws and couldn't be removed. He had a couple small negatives to some skills, but he sure felt bad ass walking around with them.

The really neat part was after I gave them to him, I asked each player what they saw when I described what happened. Every single one saw a different kind of claws...very cool.

 

[steeldragons]

Seem kinds dull compared to some of these others...but here's a couple.

"Dweomrild", magic longsword +2 with a jeweled hilt. Different gems in the hilt glow in the presence of different types/schools of magic.

Gave a thief character a set of modified boots of elvinkind where in addition to moving silently, once per day, they would leave footprints of any other kind of humanoid (the PC was a dwarf so this came in rather handy for some schemes of his).

Oh, and there was a druid's cudgel (the business end carved to look like a big horned ram, of course) that was, essentially, a ring of the ram.

 

[Wik]

I've been doing this a lot in my current Dark Sun campaign.

There was the obsidian longsword that had the ability to add psionic cold damage to attacks - at the cost of psionic power points or wisdom damage. And you couldn't "turn it on or off", but had to make saves to decide whether to control the effect. The first two times it was used, it knocked our bard to a wisdom of 0, but killed the foe it was up against!

There is a magical necklace that, when activated, makes the wearer invisible. However, while invisible, the wearer has a hard time distinguishing her surroundings, and seeing living creatures - essentially, she takes a penalty to perception checks. Also, the last time she used it, someone (or something) was able to see her... and whisper voices to her...

A cloak that can be changed to look like any sort of clothing or armour, although anything it seeks to emulate is obviously fake/prop costume. It boosts the wearer's charisma and voice, although anyone who hears the wearer speak can automatically pick out any lie or mistruth the wearer says.

A staff that was seemingly struck by lightning. It makes lightning attacks better, but also serves something as a lightning rod. Did I mention it's addictive to use?

 

[Aeolius]

Loads of daggers, lately.

I introduced a fleshwarper's dagger. It had two blades and a handle wrapped with golden thread. When used for fleshwarping, the threads would unravel, not unlike thread in a sewing machine. The dagger was also intelligent and had learned the trade of fleshwarping from its last owner.

And then there was the crystal dagger that stored souls, not unlike a demi-lich gem. When the dagger was used to kill someone, it stored their soul in its pommel. The soul remained there until a new soul was collected, in which case the stored soul was transferred into the recently slain body (which could then be raised with the stored soul within it).

Or perhaps you would prefer D'naeli's Stairwell, a traveling apothecary that resembled a burlap bedroll. On one side, the apothecary had dozens of small pockets and pouches containing everything from simple herbs to ghost tears. On the other side, the design of a crude door had been stitched. Knocking on the door with a specific pattern opened an extra-dimensional space - the stairwell.

The stairwell resembled a typical spiral staircase made of stone. The lower half was flooded and contained numerous wooden traps in which animals were held in stasis. The grout, here, glowed with an eerie blue light.

Passing through a chilling azure mucus revealed the air-filled upper portion of the stairwell - the root cellar. Here numerous fruits and vegetables grew, illuminated by glowing golden stones in the ceiling and fed by a small recirculating brook running down the stairs. Flowing vines clung to the walls.

The root cellar was also the home of Glaucus the caretaker. Glaucus was an animated object, an ornate scarab that once had served as a demon's amulet to an alu-demon. In a secret chamber concealed behind a trellis overgrown with hops, Glaucus had been regrowing his mistress as a simulacrum.

 

[Asmor]

I've recently decided on a new strategy for magic items, what I call the no numbers rule.

In a nutshell, magic items can't use numbers.

It's a bit more nuanced than that. I could certainly have a sword called the Thousand Fangs, or a bell that summoned nine herons. But I'll never give out a +1 longsword, or boots that give +5 to your acrobatics.

I came up with this rule a few months ago, but I've only recently had a chance to put it into play. Tuesday night I actually gave my players the very bottle mentioned in that thread you linked. A while back, I gave one of them a sword called Fragarach (which I found out about in the awesome [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Hounded-Iron-Druid-Chronicles-Book/dp/0345522478]Iron Druid Chronicles[/ame]). I got rid of the whole cutting-through-any-armor effect, but basically if the player points the sword at someone's throat then they're unable to move and compelled to answer any question truthfully.

 

[Evilhalfling]

these are really inspiring!
One from the beginning of my new campaign, one from the end of the last.
+1 Bow of Bees: rare.
This bow is striped in yellow and black. When fired it makes a sound like angry bees. When the powers are used the arrows transform into bees.
Critical Hit: +1d10 damage
Encounter (healing surge)** (standard action) make a ranged basic attack, for normal damage.
Effect: the target and each adjacent enemy take a -2 to their next attack, before the end of the turn.
Daily (free action) an opponent benefiting from cover or concealment, loses concealment or cover, and grants you combat advantage for the triggering attack.

The Spear of Zargon (artifact)
made from the horn of the immortal slime beast. The shat of the spear is made from unearthly wood.
It functions as a +5 spear.Its physical damage can be converted to acid.
Slime Wave (daily) close blast 3, acid and poison.
drawback- the first time the wielder is bloodied each encounter, the wielder and 1 adjacent target take 10 ongoing poison (sv ends)

(created by players, after they destroyed Zargon's temple in buried cydoniea, the horn was only semi-sentient It hated everyone. The wielder would feel a strong dislike or suspension of anyone they met for the first time. The horn could also inflict Slimy Doom on anyone it stabbed or its wielder (l23 disease) but the PC wielder was immune to disease already, and in the 2 sessions he had it nothing that was stabbed escaped alive (1d3 days incubation).

 

[wingsandsword]

In an old 2e campaign, we had The Great Bottle.

Kind of a plain name, but it was an artifact-scale bottle, think something kind of like a genie's bottle. A combination magic weapon, base of operations, and mega-dungeon. It was given to us by our NPC patron: an epic-level wizard who was in the process of attempting divine ascension. Apparently it was thousands of years old and had been through a number of owners in that time.

It looked like a large and ornate "genie's bottle" crafted of brass with many gems and fittings of precious and exotic metals. Instead of a stopper, the top of the bottle had a set of six rings that fit over the lip.

The bottle itself was virtually indestructible, and if swung as a weapon essentially counted as a +1 Mace. That was the most mundane and pathetic under-use of it's powers though.

If you wore one of the rings, as long as you were within 30 feet of the bottle you could will yourself to enter the bottle, and instantly teleport inside. Once inside you could only leave through the portal room in the top floor, which held a one-way portal to the outside world (even if wearing a ring, it would only work inside the top level of the inside)

The bottle was a vast extradimensional space, the size of a large city. The insides were laid out like the shape of the bottle, and upon entering you'd be at the lip of the bottle. The top part of the "neck" was outfitted like a palace. Luxurious and comfortable, with any amenity you could want. Adventurers found the libraries, forges, workshops, laboratories, gymnasiums and training halls to be particularly useful.

Going to deeper levels you got into much of the neck being empty storage space: warehouses and such. Further down the bottle, there were warded and sealed doors. Passing through them into the levels that hadn't been cleared of monsters yet, it was a mega-dungeon of dozens and dozens of levels each the size of several city blocks. Most of the monsters were fairly mundane, but apparently a previous owner had something of a zoo in there, leading some parts to have exotic and very dangerous creatures wandering around in some parts.

In the campaign, swinging it as a weapon almost never happened, but it became our main base of operations for the rest of the campaign, and if the DM was stumped for an adventure or we just wanted to beat up monsters and let off steam we could just go and clear out another level of the bottle-dungeon.