A new spell for d20 System Games: Mystic Pogo Stick!

Mystic Pogo Stick is a 1st-level spell that was originally devised for inclusion in the forthcoming book Mystic Moot and his Magic Snoot. However, it was decided that it didn't quite fit the source material, so it was cut. (We also got rid of listing Mystic Chopper and Mystic Limousine as spells that can be cast using Mystic Body Parts, like a snoot.)

The following text is released under the Open Game License and it may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2022 by Steve Miller.

MYSTIC POGO STICK
Conjuration (Creation)

Level: Arcane (Sor/Wiz) 1

Components: V, S

Casting Time: 1 minute

Range: 0 ft.

Effect: One or more quasi-real pogo sticks

Duration: 10 minutes/level (D)

Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: No

You conjure a quasi-real pogo stick. The pogo stick can be used only by you or the one person for whom you specifically create the stick. A mystic pogo stick looks like a pogo stick covered in glitter and swirled, bright colors, but you can make it appear more mundane or spectacular as you wish.

The mystic pogo stick has a hardness of 5, and 20 hit points +1 hit point per caster level. If it loses all its hit points, the mystic pogo stick disappears. A mystic pogo stick has a top horizontal speed of 20 feet per caster level, and can propel the user up to 5 feet vertically per caster level into the air; an initiative modifier of +0, and a maneuver modifier of +1.

Users can leap onto raised areas using a mystic pogo stick, landing upright and able to successfully continue bouncing along on the stick upon making a successful Reflex save (DC10) upon landing. If the saving throw fails, they lose all actions for the rest of the round, but may choose to resume traveling on the pogo stick the following round. A character on a mystic pogo stick can take no actions other than bounce along while he or she is traveling, but if he or she has the Dodge, Improved Dodge, and/or the Mobility feat, the benefits gained are doubled.

Generally speaking, the mystic pogo stick only functions effectively on dry, hard, flat surfaces, such as pavement or flagstones. If used on wet surfaces, or packed earth, cobblestones, and other hard but uneven surfaces, the horizontal movement rate is decreased to 10 feet per caster level and the user must make a successful Balance skill check (DC12) each round of travel or the pogo stick slips and the character falls prone, suffering 1d4 points of damage and loses all actions for the following round.

The mystic pogo stick gains certain powers according to caster level. Its abilities include those of pogo sticks of lower caster levels.

   3rd Level: The mystic pogo stick can travel on wet or uneven surfaces without a reduction in movement rates (vertical or horizontal) without the need for skill checks.
   4th Level: You may now conjure up to 3 mystic pogo stick.
   5th Level: The mystic pogo stick can bounce across sandy, muddy, or even swampy ground without difficulty or decrease in speed.
   6th Level: You may now conjure up to 5 mystic pogo stick.
   7th Level: The mystic pogo stick can bounce across water as if it were firm, dry ground.
   8th Level: You may now conjure up to 7 mystic pogo stick.
   9th Level: The mystic pogo stick can ride in the air as if it were firm land, so chasms and the like can be crossed without benefit of a bridge. The phantom chopper cannot take off and fly. It can only ride horizontally across the air. After 3 rounds in the air, the pogo stick falls.
   10th Level: You may now conjure up to 9 mystic pogo sticks.
   11th Level: As the 9th level power, but the pogo stick can move across the air for 6 rounds.

Coming Soon: 'The Original Peacemaker'!

We're finalizing a new release that's been on-again, off-again since 2017 or so. (While this can be said of most of our planned releases lately, this one has been more-so than some of others.)

Given that there's a TV series currently headling the Peacemaker, we figure the time is now or never to  time to bring out THE ORIGINAL PEACEMAKER! It will collect half-a-dozen early Peacemaker tales by the character's creators, Joe Gill, Pat Boyette, and Dick Giordano and feature new d20 System content. We hope this first release will be the first of two volumes.

By way of a preview, here's draft material of some of the d20 System content that will be in the book first book. The art with this post is an unfinished draft of the cover for the projected second volume in the series, as well as panels from the comics, taken from raw scans. (As per usual, they'll be cleaned up a bit and in black-and-white in the actual book.)

 

NEW EQUIPMENT

Here are d20 System rules for some of the more unique items in the Peacemaker's armory, . All are the product of Christopher Smith's singular genius, and he will only share them with his most trusted allies.

BRAINWAVE AUGMENTATION HELMET

During his brief association with NASA, Christopher Smith had the opportunity to study some alien technology that had been recovered on the Moon. The device, which looked like a chair, allowed a person sitting in cause it to rise into the air and slowly float in whatever direction the user wished. the person in the chair could also cause small items to float in the air and even bring them to him or her, or cause them to float toward targets. 

   Smith managed to reverse engineer and miniaturize the portion of the alien device augmented human brainwaves to grant limited telekinetic and telepathic powers. He encased his invention in the helmet he wears as the Peacemaker. 

   Although the helmet appears solid, it can be collapsed into an almost flat state (just three inches in depth) and can easily be concealed in a briefcase, for example.

    Using the Brainwave Augmentation Helmet: When wearing the Brainwave Augmentation Helmet, the user can make a Willpower saving throw to either use telepathy to project thoughts to a single target within line-of-sight, use telekinesis to manipulate small objects, or fire the laser built into the front of the helmet.

   When a would-be user puts on the helmet for the first time, he or she feels like someone just crushed his or her head with a rock. The character must roll a Fortitude saving throw (DC12) or become unconscious. If the character wears the helmet for three full rounds (with a successful DC12 Fortitude save required each round), the pain stops as immediately as it began, and he or she is now attuned to the helmet and may wear it without difficulty going forward. If he or she became unconscious or removed the helmet, the process must be repeated. 

   Projecting Thoughts: The character wearing the Brainwave Augmentation Helmet must specify the target to whom thoughts are to be sent. As a full round action, upon making a successful Willpower saving throw, the character may then transmit a statement, question, or command to the target. The target hears the character's voice in his or her head, in the target's native language. The difficulty of the Willpower saving throw is DC4, with +2 added for each word sent, and +2 added for every 20 feet of distance between the sender and the target. The player must specify the message before the roll is made, and if the saving throw fails, the target does not hear the thoughts. 

    The user of the helmet can try to send messages to a target as many times as he or she wishes, with a new Willpower save required for each attempt. The target does not typically receive a saving throw to resist, but if he or she is aware of what's happening and does not want to give the user access to their head, the target's Wisdom bonus is added to the user's Willpower DC.

   Manipulating Small Objects: As standard action, the user of the helmet can flip switches, pull triggers, turn handles, or do any other manipulation of small objects within his or her line of sight. He or she can also lift small objects and cause them to float slowly in the air in whatever direction he or she wills, so long as he or she concentrates on the object.

   To use the telekinetic powers granted by the Brainwave Augmentation Helmet, the wearer must specify an object and an action. Then, he or she must roll a Willpower saving throw (base DC2, with +2 added for every 5 feet of distance between the user and the object, as well as an additional +2 for every 5 pounds of weight).

   Firing the Helmet Laser: As a free action, the user must aim the laser by looking at the target and then fire it by making a successful Willpower saving throw (base DC0). The user must then take a standard attack action and roll a ranged attack to see if he or she successfully hits the intended target. 

   The wearer can choose to just fire individual shots or cause sustained damage. The laser has a range increment of 10 feet, and it deals 3d6 points of damage (energy/piercing/heat) per shot, or 3d6+6 damage (energy/piercing/heat) per round if the damage is sustained. It also causes metal s The user can take no other actions while inflicting sustained damage with the helmet laser, and if he or she suffers damage or otherwise is subjected to a condition that can cause distraction, he or she must make a successful Concentration skill check (DC12+damage suffered) or the laser stops working. The character can attempt to reinitialize it the following round.

   To use the helmet laser to maximum efficiency, a character must possess the Exotic Weapon (Helmet Laser) feat. Otherwise, he or she suffers a -4 penalty to the ranged attack roll.

JETPACK
Peacemaker's jetpack is a marvel of miniaturization, and, is once again one of Christopher's unique inventions. It consists of a small backpack and fuel cells capable of producing powered flight for up to 6 hours. A character equipped with a jetpack can hover in place and fly at a maximum speed of 80 feet per round (good maneuverability). The speed is reduced to 40 feet if the user is Encumbered (such as if carrying another person or some heavy object).

   With the flick of a switch, the jetpack can be reset to propel the Peacemaker under water at speeds up on 40 feet per round.

  

PLIABLE BODY ARMOR

The Peacemaker's helmet and uniform are made from an ultralight, absorbent material invented by Christopher Smith. It feels like cotton when worn, but provides protection from normal bullets fired by handheld firearms, as well as limited protection from explosives and other damage from kinetic energy sources.

   The Pliable Body Armor does not increase a character's Defense Rating, but instead reduces damage from projectiles, explosions, and falls by 3 and converts additional damage (up 20 points) to non-lethal damage. 

   The Pliable Body Armor may be worn under regular clothing or even other types of armor. It is not breathable, however, so characters who wear it for extended periods in extreme temperature conditions will have to make Constitution attribute checks (DC11, with the difficulty increasing by +1 for each check). The character becomes Fatigued after the first failed check, and Exhausted after the second. The character becomes Unconscious after the third failed check.

STUN PELLETS

Identical in shape and size to regular bullets, and compatible with firearms of the appropriate caliber, these turn lethal weapons into non-lethal ones. This special ammunition is the creation of Christopher Smith, and he typically carries at least one firearm or magazine loaded with this type of round so he may disable rather than kill his opponents.

   When a living target is struck by a stun pellet, he or she suffers 1 point of damage, plus an amount of non-lethal damage equal to whatever the standard lethal damage would be (subject to Damage Reduction, if any). If the damage reduced the character to 0 hit points or less, he or she becomes Unconscious. Otherwise, the struck character can take no actions for the rest of the round, other than to fall prone to the ground.

NEW FEATS

The following feats can be added to the Charismatic Hero and Smart Hero bonus feats lists if they are included in a campaign.

EXOTIC WEAPON PROFICIENCY: HELMET LASER [General]

You have mastered the thought-controlled laser in the Peacemaker helmet.

   Prerequisite: Base Attack Bonus +1

   Benefit: You make ranged attack rolls with the helmet laser normally.

   Normal: Attacks with the helmet laser are made with a -4 penalty.

   
MILITANT PACIFIST [General]
You don't start fights, but you sure will try to finish them.
    Prerequisites: Charisma 14, Negotiator feat, Diplomacy 4 ranks
    Benefit: When you declare you wish to use this feat, you automatically give up initiative for the encounter, except for the following actions: 

    You must reveal yourself to potential foes, confronting them openly and free of any cover. While facing them head on like this, you must offer your foes a chance to resolve the conflict peacefully. If they choose to not take you up on the offer, you  gain a +4 bonus to hit and damage rolls, and a +2 bonus to DR/AC for the duration of the encounter.. 

    The GM may call for a Bluff or Diplomacy skill check to see if your effort to convince the enemy to resolve matters peacefully  is successful or not. If any of your allies attack the enemy while you are trying to take to them, you automatically fail, and still lose initiative.
    This feat can only be used against creatures with Intelligence of 4 or better.

The Truth?! Can you handle The Truth?!

Here's a feat for the characters who know the truth is out there, and who can find it in the most unusual places by connecting dots and finding patterns that no one else can connect or see! (The material is released under Open Game License and may be reproduced accordingly... if They will allow it. Copyright 2021 Steve Miller.)

 

CONSPIRACY THEORIST [General]
Just because they're not out to get you, doesn't mean they want to keep you from revealing the Truth!

   Benefit: Gain +2 bonus to all Bluff skill checks and Gather Information skill checks. The bonus increases to +6 on Bluff checks made when explaining why your conspiracy theories are true... because you Want To Believe.
   Special: Suffer a -2 penalty to all Sense Motive skill checks. The penalty increases to -6 when you're dealing with another character that also possesses the Conspiracy Theory feat.

And click here for a related post with items that no well-equipped truth-seeker should be without.

Also, while we're providing links, here's an evil for the conspiracy-busting PCs to investigate and stop: THE VEGAN DEATH CONSPIRACY!

The Hushpuppies: Magical Shoes of Death for the d20 System!

The Hushpuppies are a pair of magical shoes of unknown origin. They seem harmless enough, but they are actually deadly weapons that are known to have been used to assassinate three heads-of-state, nine crime bosses, and five accordion players since their first known use in 1959.

The Hushpuppies
These magical, light brown and black soled Hush Puppy shoes radiate faint Transmutation magic. They resize themselves to the feet of any adult humanoid who wishes to wear them. 

After being worn for 48 hours straight and then removed, the Hushpuppies transforms into a pair of hellhounds that breathe poisonous gas. (For each additional 12 hours they are worn before removal, the gas becomes more deadly.)

The hellhounds have standard statistics, aside their gaseous breath weapons. Each hound can breath once per round, expelling a highly noxious cone of gas with a range of 10 feet that deals 2d6+2 points of damage; 1d6 is added to the damage roll for each additional 12 hours the soes are worn. Characters exposed to gas may roll Fortitude saving throws (DC13) to suffer only half damage. The hellhounds will attack and attempt to kill anyone who is within a 30-ft radius of where they appeared, when they appeared. Unless commanded to pursue a possible victim, they will ignore anyone who moves beyond the 30-foot radius before they attack him or her.

The person who wore the shoes is immune to the poisonous gas, but must roll a Will save (DC15) on the round he kicks off the shoes and they transform. If the save is successful, the wearer may command the hellhounds for ten minutes. If the saving thrown is unsuccessful, the wearer will eventually come under attack. If the hellhounds are still alive at the end of that time, they vanish in puffs of odoriferous smoke. A Hush Puppy shoe remains where a hellhound once stood.

(The text in this post is released under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with it. Click here for details. Copyright 2021 Steve Miller)

Doppelganger Eggs

This material was inspired by Dylan Clark's horror short film "Hatched" (2021). You can watch it at the Terror Titans blog by clicking here. (Ideally, you came here from that post, as even the title of this one may be a little bit of a spoiler.)

   The game mechanics attached are for the OGL Modern variation of the d20 System, but it should be easily adaptable to most other RPGs that are out there.

DOPPLEGANGER EGGS

Doppelganger Eggs are one-shot magic items that were developed in ancient times by Atlantean Biomancers, and the art of creating them is now only known to the secretive Witchkind and a tribe of equally secretive doppelgangers (creatures capable of assuming the form of any humanoid creature they kill, as well as absorbing their most ingrained personality traits and skills) who work with them. By performing a complex ritual, a doppelganger is put into the egg. When the egg is cracked or hatches when the magic wears off, the doppelganger swiftly returns to his original size. It can then infiltrate the household into which the egg was smuggled (usually among other food items).

   The Atlanteans would use the eggs to unleash assassins and infiltrators on unsuspecting enemies, and that is how they are used in modern-times as well. 

Creating Doppelganger Eggs

Doppelganger Eggs are created using any eggs laid by a non-magical bird or reptile and a willing doppelganger. Two beings with knowledge of how to create Doppelganger Eggs and the ability to cast 5th-level spells and knowledge of the Transmutation and Necromantic magic schools must work together to create the Doppelganger Egg. Usually, the two spellcasters and the Doppelganger are long-time associates, if not actually friends, so all those involved trust each other to do the best possible job and to take care of each other if a client/customer tries to betray them or welch on a deal.

   The ritual must be performed in a specially constructed location with a permanent enchantment area used exclusively for the creation of Doppelganger Eggs and a small number of related magic items. Over the course of three hours of intensive spellcraft, a doppelganger and an egg are merge. By the end of the process, the egg is undetectable from similar eggs, except that it radiates a faint aura of necromantic magic if such is detected for. Up to four Doppelganger Eggs can be created at one time, and the ritual is prolonged by one hour for each Egg in addition to the first one. The makers of the Eggs can perform their ritual once per day, as it drains them to the point where they must have a full night rest before they can cast magic or perform rituals again.

   Doppelgangers that work with the Witchkind conform to the standard statistics in the rule book.

Acquiring Doppelganger Eggs

To acquire one or or more Doppelganger Egg, a character must first gain the trust of the Witchkind, and then they must be able to locate a very secretive group of artificers in their society since what they do is not exactly looked upon kindly by any authorities.

   Each Doppelganger is made to order. Upon making contact, those interested in gaining one or more Egg must provide a general description of what they want to achieve with the Egg, so the Doppelganger knows who to kill and/or replace and what to do once that has been done. A mission can be a straight-forward assassination or it can be a long-term infiltration. For a relatively simple mission, the cost to acquire an Egg requires a DC18 Wealth check (with the check increasing in difficulty by +4 for each additional Egg being ordered) with the base Wealth check being perhaps as high as DC28 for a complicated, long-term intelligence gathering mission). The price can be raised or lowered if the purchaser wants to impose specific restrictions or demands upon the Doppelgangers that aren't directly related to the mission at had (such as demanding that the location and/or assumed identity must be vacated as soon as the mission is complete). The price also increases if the purchaser wants the Witchkind and the Dopplegangers to handle the placement of the Eggs.

Using Doppelganger Eggs

Doppelganger Eggs are usually placed among innocent groceries that are brought into a household or other place where a target lives. As soon as the Egg is cracked or 48 hours pass (the duration of the magic), the Doppelganger bursts forth and swiftly returns to its full size. Any characters who witness this even must roll successful Wisdom checks (DC14) or be so startled that they will not be able to take action that round the Doppelganger appears, and the Doppelganger automatically gains initiative the following round. 

   The Doppelganger suffers a -2 penalty to all skill checks, saving throws, and attack rolls for the first six rounds after emerging from the Egg, due to the physical and mental shock of recovery. As such, it will initially try to retreat if it isn't catching potential victims completely unaware.

Amazonian Artifacts: Death's Embrace

This post is the latest in our d20 Amazons post series. You can read the first one here, and you can see all of them by clicking on the "Amazons" tag at the bottom of this post.

   Although written with the d20 System in mind, these rules are easily adaptable to other, similar roleplaying games.

THE THREE PARTS OF DEATH'S EMBRACE
The exact origin of the three artifacts (which some Amazon historians refer to collectively as Death's Embrace) are unknown. Some say they were created in response to amorous fairy creatures in the British Isles and vampires in the Balkan mountains. Others say they were a gift from Athena to an Amazon who had caught the eye of Zeus.

Each of the three artifacts that make up Death's Embrace provide the wearer with magical benefits or protections, but when worn together by an Amazon, they resonate with each other to provide a collective enhancement.

   Each of the three items radiate faint magic of an indeterminate type, but that magic seems to grow more powerful if the items are brought together.

THE CUPS OF SWORDS

This piece of equipment is worn on the character's chest, but it does not provide any bonus to AC or DR. The Cups of Swords consists of two, felt-lined metal cups, linked by a small chain that is worn across the wearer's chest and fastened around her by two lengths of adjustable chain and a clasp. A 10-inch long blade projects from each cup.

   Benefits: The Cups of Swords grants the wearer a +2 bonus to all d20 rolls (attacks, attribute checks, skill checks, and saving throws) when grappling. Unless otherwise specifically stated, any successful pin means the opponent has been pulled close to the character's chest and impaled by the cups of swords, suffering 2d8+2 points of damage each round the pin is maintained.

   The Cups of Swords is considered a +2 weapon. The blades are made of magically-strengthened silver. The 2d8+2 stated above includes the bonus.

   Drawbacks: None, except the Cups of Swords and its fastening chain must be in contact with the wearer's skin or the +2 bonus to d20 rolls while grappling is lost.

THE MASK OF REVEALING CONCEALMENT

This dark green mask covers the upper-half of the wearer's face and flares to upward-facing points on either side. 

   Benefits: When held to the wearer's face, it attaches magically to his or her skin. As long as the wearer is alive, the mask can only be removed willingly by the wearer, or through the use of dispel magic, cast at 20th level or higher. (The mask could also be torn from the wearer's face with a successful Strength attribute check [DC22], but that would tear both skin and flesh from the wearer that w but see Drawbacks for what happens if such a violent act is undertaken.)

   When the mask is worn, it provides  +1 bonus to all Bluff, Hide, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot skill checks.

   In addition, the wearer may spot beings who possesses shapeshifting abilities by merely looking at them. The wearer must specify a target, take a standard action to look at it, and make a Will saving throw (DC11). If the save is successful, the character will see a faint, multicolored glow around the target indicating that it is a shapeshifter. The wearer doesn't know what type of being the target is, whether the form it is wearing is its natural form or not, or anything other than it has the natural ability to change between one or more forms.

   Drawbacks: Once applied to a wearer's face, the mask can only be removed if the wearer wishes to remove it and takes a standard action and makes a successful Will save (DC8). The mask can also be ripped or cut from an unwilling wearer's face. This causes 5 hit points of damage and leaves the one-time wearer with a scarred and disfigured face, as well as a 25% chance of suffering damage to his or eyes that causes blindness. This brutal act gives the character a -2 modifier on Charisma-based skill checks if his or her face isn't covered when interacting with NPCs.

   Whoever removes the Mask of Revealing Concealment from its wearer through brutal means is cursed, since the Amazons still retain a favored status among the now-remote Olympians. The brutalizer suffers a -4 penalty to all attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks until the mask is returned to the reigning Queen of the Amazon and the character has gained the forgiveness of the person he mutilated.

THE NECKLACE OF SAFETY

This large necklace consists of 20 unevenly shaped strips of silver and platinum on a pair of linked silver chains.

   Benefits: The wearer gains a +2 enhancement bonus to AC/DR and saving throws made to resist mind-altering drugs and environmental effects, as well as mind-affecting magic and spell-like abilities. (When appropriate, these bonuses stack with those gained from the Cups of Swords.)

   Drawbacks: This bonus does not stack with any bonuses gained from enchantments on items that must be worn or carried by the wearer.

COMBINED MAGIC OF DEATH'S EMBRACE

When all three items are worn together, Death's Embrace, the wearer enjoys the following benefits:

   *All bonuses to saving throws, skill checks, and AC/DR increase to +4. (Those from the Cups of Swords and others stack when appropriate.)

   *The Cups of Swords is considered a weapon of +4 enchantment.

   * The wearer inflicts a minimum of 2 points of damage with any melee or unarmed attack that is successful (regardless of damage reduction or immunities).

--

All text in this post is presented under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2021 by Steve Miller.

RPG-a-Day #9: The Medium

In response to today's RPG-a-Day keyword, an idea presented itself that we may already have covered in other products--sort of like the time when we accidentally re-did our idea for a magic Pho shop but with a few added menu items because we forgot we'd already had and done that idea--but here's a d20 System feat and a talent tree intended to model the idea of medium or spirit channeler who uses those talents as an adventurer or some stripe of action hero.

As with many posts here at the NUELOW Games blog, this post contains strictly first draft stuff. It flowed literally from Steve Miller's brain, through his fingers and the keyboard, and onto the blog. Any opinions or feedback you care to over are welcomed!

(All text from this point forward in the post is released under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2021 Steve Miller.)

THE MEDIUM
The Medium is a character who channels sprits of the dead, accessing their skills and knowledge as he or she needs it. The Medium is never possessed by the spirit, but is instead guided by it. Characters become Mediums in one of two ways, but they basically function the same and gain their abilities through the same feat and talents.

First Type of Medium

This Medium is born. For his or her entire life, there have been "invisible friends" and whispers on the winds that have been lending help and encouragement during hard times, and cheering the character on during times of success and joy. These voices and invisible friends are beings who followed the character into this world at birth, and they have been watching over him or her ever since. As the character has grown, the bonds with the spirits have persisted and perhaps even grown stronger. This Medium is a character who possesses the Medium Beginning Occupation.

Second Type of Medium

This type of Medium arises from a near-death experience. As a hero's soul returned to his or her body from beyond the edge of death, someone or something entered this plane, too. This spirit (or perhaps even several spirits) now exists to help and support the hero. This helpful spirit is represented by the Spirit Guide feat.

NEW STARTING OCCUPATION: MEDIUM

For as long as you can remember, the spirits have been your constant companions and friends. Now, they help you as you embark upon a life of daring and danger.

Medium

Mediums include professions such as clergy, psychics, sideshow performer, investigator, and life coach.

   Prerequisite: Age 15+, Wisdom 12

   Starting Skills: Pick two of the following skills as permanent class skills. If the skill selected is already a class skill, the character gains a +1 competency bonus on checks while using that skill. Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge (arcane lore, history, theology and philosophy), Sense Motive, or add a new Speak Language.

   Starting Feat: You gain Spirit Guide as a bonus starting feat.
   Special: You add the following feats to those you can gain when advancing in levels in your character class. Danger Sense, Foresight, Fortune Telling, Selfless, 

NEW FEAT: SPIRIT GUIDE

A bodiless being--a kind soul, a nature spirit, or some being entirely--watches over the hero and help and supports him when needed.

Spirit Guide

You can call upon a helpful spirit (or spirits) in times of need.

   Prerequisite: Medium starting profession or near-death experience (must have fallen below -1 hit points).

   Benefit: Specify a skill that the hero either has at least 1 rank in, or which can be used untrained. Gain a +4 bonus to all skill checks for the duration of the encounter or time period during which you are using the that skill, as your Spirit Guide lets you tap into its expertise. Your spirit guide will aid you a number of times per day equal to the hero's Wisdom bonus.

   Special: Once per day, you may call upon your Spirit Guide to allow you to create spell effects identical to one of the following spells: Daze, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation, or Resistance. The spell effect as if from a spell by caster of the hero's character level.

   This feat is a prerequisite for the talents from the Guiding Spirits Talent Tree.

NEW TALENT TREE: GUIDING SPIRITS

While the Spirit Guide feat represents a hero's main spirit guide, the talents on this tree represent other spirits that are helpful to the hero and that share their power and knowledge with him or her.

   Spirit of Defense: You gain a +4 bonus to DR/AC for the duration of a number of combat encounters each day equal to your Wisdom bonus.

     Prerequisite: Spirit Guide feat

   Spirit of Might: You gain a +4 bonus to damage and attack rolls for the duration of a number of combat encounters each day equal to the hero's Wisdom bonus +2. This bonus stacks will all other, regardless of source.

     Prerequisite: Spirit Guide feat

   Spirit of Magic: You may cast a number of 0- 1st-, or 2nd-level spells from the Divination school equal to your Wisdom bonus each day. These spells are added to any amount of spells you can cast from class benefits, feats. or other traits. 

  Prerequisite: Spirit Guide feat

 

RPG-a-Day #3: Feat Ideas from Key Words

Here are some d20 System feats inspired by the key words for the third RPG-a-Day prompt. (I may be doing this wrong, but if you have comments or thoughts, feel free to share.)

These feats are strictly 1st-draft material that flowed straight from my head and onto your computer screen. Any comments you wish to make are welcomed. (All text in this post is presented under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2021 Steve Miller)

Grounded in Reality [General, Smart Hero]

You naturally form a strong mental image of your surroundings and are hard to fool by illusions and similar trickery.

   Prerequisite: Situational Awareness feat

   Benefit: By foregoing initiative (automatically going last in a combat, or taking a full round action), the character gains a +2 bonus to Will saves to resist illusions and all mind-effecting magic and environmental effects or creature abilities. This bonus stacks with other Will save bonuses. 

   Additionally, when re-entering a room or otherwise limited space that he or she has previously been in (even for just a moment), the character may instantly notice curious changes, like pictures on the walls changing, or furniture now standing at a different angle, or one bust of a matched set on a mantle that was there before but is now gone. The GM rolls a secret Spot check (base DC11, with any environmental modifiers that seem appropriate) for the character to notice, and then points out the possibly adventure-relevant or other curious changes in the space. 

   The character (or his or her allies) must still use other appropriate skills--such as Search or Research--to determine exactly what is going on in the area. The character with this feat gains a +2 bonus to skill checks related to the search, while granting all allies searching +1 bonuses to their skill checks.

Risk Assessment [General, Fast Hero]

You can quickly determine how dangerous a situation is and adjust accordingly.

   Prerequisite: Situational Awareness feat

   Benefit: At the beginning of a combat encounter before initiative is rolled, or before making a skill check to undertake a dangerous non-combat action, the character may take a full round action to evaluate the situation and carefully study opponents and surroundings. The character gains the full benefit of his or her Defense Rating during this round, and may take 5-foot adjustments to seek cover from ranged attacks if necessary. During this time, the character is observing foes and evaluating their skill levels and combat tactics, or performing an extra careful analysis of the risky action he or she is about to perform.

    If in a combat situation, the character rolls imitative at the beginning of the next round. The character gains a +2 bonus to all attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks made  for the rest of the combat encounter.

   If the character was evaluating the circumstances under which to perform a non-combat action, the character gains a +4 bonus to whatever the main skill check for the action is, as well as a +2 bonus to any skill checks that are immediately related to the action 

Situational Awareness [General, Fast Hero]

You are keenly aware of your surroundings and any lurking threats.

   Benefit: Gain a +2 bonus to all Listen, Move Silently, Search, and Spot skill checks.

I suppose one can say these feats belong to the Situational Awareness group. Perhaps there's an idea for a little product collecting new and existing feats and perhaps a couple talent trees in that. (Something along the lines of Feats of Seduction and Subterfuge or Feats for Those Who Carry a Badge.)

Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality

This post was inspired by "Forever and Ever" by Steve Ditko, one of four short stories that are included in the forthcoming NUELOW Games comics/RPG-hybrid book "Immortal Tales by Steve Ditko". (Some version of this material will be included in it.)

On May 23, 1568, the Italian alchemist Mario Puzzini sent messengers to his fellow practicioners of the Arts that he had successfully created an elixir of immortality. When his fellow alchemists arrived at his laboratory a few days later, however, they found the place ransacked and Puzzini and his assistant missing. Puzzini was never heard from or seen again, and the heaps of ashes found in the fireplace was believed to all that remained of his notes regarding his many alchemical discoveries--including the secret of immortality.

A few years later, rumors began to arise that the assistant, Georgio, has been spotted in different places throughout Italy and Europe. It was further claimed that he was living proof that Puzzini's immortality formula had worked--or, more specifically, immortal proof that the formula had worked. It also came to be widely believed that Georgio had murdered Puzzini and stolen his secrets and that the ashes in the fireplace was to throw pursuers off his trail. As time passed, rumors became legends, and those legends passed into near-forgotten obscurity... but well-informed alchemists continued to hold out hope that Puzzini's formula could still be found, either due to an immortal being walking the Earth.

The truth is that Georgio did indeed become immortal by drinking Puzzini's elixir. The mixture was flawed, however, and it was Puzzini himself who destroyed his lab and burned the notes and formulas; the aging alchemist was so angered and disappointed by his failure that he quit the art of alchemy on that day. He did, however, let Georgio keep the notebook containing Puzzini's final attempt at creating an immortality elixir, so that he Georgio might have a chance to perfect it, or do undo its effects.

Unfortunately for Georgio, Puzzini's notebook was taken from him by an unscrupulous mystic from whom he sought assistance during the late 1700s and he has no idea what has become of it. But maybe he can cross the paths of a group of heroes who have the skills and motivation to help free him from what he has come to view as a living Hell, and perhaps even succeed where Puzzini failed.


PUZZINI'S ELIXIR IN THE d20 SYSTEM
This section describes how to use Puzzini's Notebook to create his elixir of immortality and what happens to a mortal who consumes it. .

Creating Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality

The method for creating Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality is described in a notebook that consists of 100 pages of parchment bound within plan leather covers. The pages are covered with writing and formulas written with a spidery script. It takes 3d4+2 hours of total time, as well as a successful  (DC14) or Knowledge: Arcane Lore (DC19) skill checks to understand its content and successfully understand the content and thus apply it to the creation of Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality.

   Once the material in the notebook has been mastered, the character must have access to a well-equipped alchemist lab and at least 3 ranks in the Knowledge: Physical Sciences skill or 5 ranks in Knowledge: Arcane in order to actually create a dose of the Elixir. A successful brewing process takes a 12 hours of uninterrupted work and careful monitoring of distillation and the mixing and remixing of the liquids and two successful Knowledge: Physical Sciences (DC18) or Knowledge: Arcane Lore (DC15) skill.

   The nature of the elixir that is created at the end of the process depends on the success or failures of the skill checks.

If both skill checks fail during the brewing process, the resulting elixir has the following effect:

* The consumer must roll a Fortitude save (DC13). If the saving throw fails, the character's Constitution attribute is immediately reduced by 1 point. He or she falls very ill and is sickened for ten days, minus his or her Constitution bonus (adjusted if necessary). The character regains the Constitution point upon recovery from the illness.

If one skill check fails during the brewing process, the resulting elixir has the following effect:

* The consumer immediately becomes 2d10+10 years younger. If the elixir is consumed by a player character, the age cannot be less than the minimum starting age for the character's race, but NPCs can be reduced to infancy. The character's levels Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma attributes remain unaffected, but adjustments may have be made to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution attribute scores if the character has been reduced to young adulthood or even younger. The character ages as normal, just starting from the point to which the clock was turned back.

If no skill checks are failed during the brewing process, the resulting elixir has the following effect:

* The consumer immediately becomes 2d10 years younger. The age cannot be less than the minimum starting age of a player character of the consumer's race.

* The character no longer ages, and is immune to all aging effects, natural and magical.

* The character is immune to all physical harm from any source, including radiation, toxins, and poisons. As soon as he or she is about to take damage, the character immediately becomes insubstantial. He or she remains in this state until the source of the potential physical harm is no longer dealing damage.

* The character is seized with a lack of ambition and is disinterested in improving him- or herself. He or she has a 50% penalty on all earned experience points (round down).

* The character is drained of creative impulses and finds it hard to focus on intellectual matters. He or she has a -6 penalty to all Craft, Knowledge, and Perform skill checks. The character has a -2 penalty to all Bluff, Intimidate, Hide, Search and Spot skill checks.

*The effects of the elixir persist for 10d100+100 years. Once its duration ends, the character begins to age normally and all penalties to experience point gain 

Creating an Antidote to Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality

Creating an Antidote to Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality requires access to a well-equipped alchemy lab, or a well-equipped modern chemistry lab with either access to Puzzini's original formula or a sample of the correctly brewed elixir to analyze. 

   If a character is starting from Puzzini's formula, he or she must first successfully reverse engineer it. This requires 2d6+4 hours of intensive research, as well as a Knowledge: Arcane Lore (DC14, reduced to DC11 if the character has 5 or more ranks in the Knowledge: Physical Sciences skill). If the skill check fails, the character cannot create a successful antidote until gaining an additional rank in the Arcane Lore skill; at that time, he or she can try the skill check again. (However, the character must still spent six hours of uninterrupted work, distilling and mixing liquids in order to create a sweet-tasting but otherwise unremarkable potion.)

   Once a successful formula has been devised, it takes six hours of uninterrupted work, distilling and mixing liquids, as well as two successful Craft: Chemical skill checks (DC12). The end result is one dose that, if consumed within 24 hours of its creation, will end neutralize Puzzini's Elixir of Immortality and all of its effects. The character once again ages normally, can suffer injury and death, and is no longer subject to any skill check or experience point penalties.

--

If there's any interest whatsoever, we can provide some random adventure outline generation tables involving where Puzzini's journal can be found. Just let us know.

Three Lost Artifacts of the Amazons

This post is part of a series of posts for d20 System games. Click here for background on and character creation rules for the Amazons.

The Amazons have dwelled in extra-dimensional cities scattered across Earth for more than 10,000 years. During that time, a number of powerful artifacts left behind by the Olympians for their use have gone missing, either due to disaster, theft, or mistakes. The Amazons are eager to recover these items and store them safely in the temples they maintain in honor of the Olympians. This post describes three of them.

CRONUS' SICKLE

Amazonian legend holds that Cronus' Scythe is the last example of a weapon created to fight the Time Eaters. These monsters fed upon the very fabric of time itself and if the ancient Olympians hadn't hunted them to extinction, the Universe would have unraveled and all life doomed. 

    Cronus' Sickle was brought to Earth by the leader of the first Olympian expedition to Earth, just in case they encountered a Time Eater. It remained part of the Olympians arsenal on Earth for millenia, and when they withdrew, they left it with the Amazons in case a Time Eater should threaten them in the future.

   There were at one time thousands of these weapons, but they reportedly crumble to rusty flakes when they deal a deathblow to a Time Eater. Legend has it that there was one such scythe for every Time Eater that was known to exist No one knows if there's any truth to this, but the Amazons believe it is the last of such weapons that remains in existence.

   Cronus' Sickle went missing in November of 1944 when the Amazons were temporarily forced to abandon one of their settlements in Germany after it was discovered by Nazis.

   Cronus' Sickle has a 14-inch, curved, highly polished steel blade mounted on a 10-inch handle made of lacquered hard wood. 

Powers of Cronus' Sickle

The following are the attributes of this magical artifact.

Standard Powers: Cronus' Sickle is a +3 melee weapon that deals base 1d6 slashing damage. It is a light weapon that belongs to the Simple Weapons Proficiency group.

   When a target (that isn't a Time Eater) is struck by Chronus' Sickle for the first time in a combat, it must roll a Will Save (DC18) or be subjected to the effects of a slow spell as cast by a 20th-level caster. Each following successful strike prompts a Fortitude Save (DC12) that, if not successful, causes the target to suffer double damage, as a surge of temporal energy flows through the target and into the weapon, taking with it some of their very life force. (Immortals, Witchkind, and characters with the Fast Healing feat have a +2 bonus to the Will save.)

   If a Time Eater is struck by Cronus' Sickle, it and the Sickle are destroyed instantaneously, the Time Eater bursting into hundreds of bright specks of light that disperse in the area as they blink out of existence, while the Sickle crumbles to flakes of rust and sawdust. The wielder must roll a Fortitude Save (DC18) or be struck by a temporal energy backlash that either ages or makes the wielder younger him or her, or makes him or her younger. See the table below.

1d12 Result    Number of Years Age Changes

1                     1d6+10 years younger

2-5                  2d4+10 years younger

6                     1d4+8 years younger

7                     1d4+8 years older               

8-11                2d4+10 years older

12                   2d10+10 years older

Amazon-Specific Powers: Amazons gain a +4 bonus to resist the temporal energy backlash when destroying a Time Eater with Cronus' Sickle.

TALARA, THE WINGED SANDALS

The Talara (also known as the "Winged Sandals") is a pair of golden sandals that feature ankle straps wiith stylized, ornamental wings. They were created by an Aeromancer named Hermes who died during the final battles between Atlantis and Olympus. They were briefly in the possession of the Amazons during the Olympian evacuation of Earth, but they were lost during the chaos.

   There have been rumored sightings of Talara over the millennia, and they have usually been associated with mysterious disappearances or deaths.

Powers of the Talara

The following are the attributes of this magical artifact.

   Standard Powers: When a user finishes securing the straps around his or her ankles, he or she immediately feels almost weightless. The character is actually floating a fraction of a millimeter above the surface upon which he or she is standing or walking, and this provides a +8 bonus to Move Silently skill checks for as long as the sandals are properly fastened and worn. Additionally, the sandals provide the effects of a pass without trace spell (no saving throw) as if cast at a 20th-level effectiveness.

  If the character says "Talara" while the wearing the winged sandals with the straps secured, he or she is subjected to the effect of a fly spell (no saving throw) as if cast by a 20th-level caster. The character immediately shoots upward at maximum speed, slamming against the celling if indoors (which causes the spell effect to end, whether the character lives or dies from the sudden impact). If outside, the character continues to ascend at maximum speed until the spell duration ends, or until the character takes control by focusing his or her will (successful Will save, DC21). An attempt to control the sandals can be made each round, and once the character has control of the magic, it is as if he or she is subject to a normal fly spell. If the character is airborne when the spell's duration ends, he or she will plummet to the ground.

   Once the pass without trace and/or fly spell effects have run their duration, they cannot be invoked again until the next sunrise and the sandals are exposed to sunlight.

   Amazon-Specific Powers: Amazons need to roll a successful Will save of only DC11 to control the fly effect created by the Talara. This is in addition to, and a modification of, the benefits enjoyed by non-Amazons.

TEROTOS, THE WINGED HELMET

Terotos (also known as the Winged Helmet) is a simple, bowl-shaped helmet that is adorned with a pair of stylized wings. It is made from a silvery metal that never tarnishes. It was created by an Aeromancer named Hermes who died during the final battles between Atlantis and Olympus. It came into the possession of a line of Amazons during the Olympian evacuation of Earth, but was lost nearly 2,000 years ago when a group of Amazons on an expedition to the outside world were killed during the volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii. Its current location is completely unknown, and any believed sightings have turned out to be false.

Powers of the Terotos

The following are attributes of this magical artifact.

   Standard Powers: The wearer of the Winged Helmet enjoys a +4 bonus to all Search and Spot skill checks. The wearer also enjoys the benefit of a find traps spell once per day, automatically spotting the closest trap within line-of-sight and 120 feet.

   If the character says "Terotos" while wearing the Winged Helmet, he or she is subjected to the effects of a haste spell as if cast at a 20th-level effectiveness. Once the haste effect has run its duration, it cannot be invoked again until the next sunrise and the helmet is exposed to sunlight.

   Amazon-Specific Powers: Amazons enjoy a +8 to all Search and Spot checks. The Amazon also enjoys the benefit of a find traps spell, at a 20th-level effectiveness. It can be used three times per day, and is invoked at will. The number of find traps spells available resets every sunrise and if the helmet is exposed to sunlight.

TALARA AND TEROTOS WORN TOGETHER

In addition to the benefits and effects described above, when worn together the Talara and Terotos bestow the following benefits:

   *When the word "Talara" is uttered, the wearer is subject to a normal fly spell, in complete control from the beginning and without the sudden upward launch.

   * The pass without trace remains in constant effect while the items are worn, unless ended through a powerful-enough dispel magic or an anti-magic field.

   * +4 bonus to saving throws to resist all electricity-based spells, as well as those based in the elements of air and water.

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All text in this post is released under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. 

OGL Cuties: Character Creation Rules and Class

You've heard of the Netflix sensation and gift to the world's pedophiles! Maybe you've even seen it! Now, here are character creation rules inspired by it. Make Cuties! Sing and dance and twerk! Beat the living hell out of pedos! (Well, maybe or maybe not. Hopefully, you will find this post contains some interesting and fun rules, even if its creation was sparked by a truly terrible movie.)

OGL CUTIES

By Steve Miller

(with some stuff borrowed from L.L. Hundal)

OGL Cuties uses the d20 System rules and it can be applied to any variant of that game. The Cuties character class is designed with the OGL Modern rules-set in mind, but it is easily adaptable to other variants. 

   The rules here allow for the creation of child characters who have been thrust into the world of adults much earlier than most. They may not be the equal of their adult counterparts, but they have skills and abilities that set them apart from their peers--depending on the campaign, these can. (Uses for this material is to create characters who are students at an arts academy or sidekicks to superheroes. Or the campaign can focus on 11-year-old twerkers. But we like the other suggestions better, especially the superhero sidekick one. That way, the Cuties can "graduate" to the Super Hero character class.)

   All text in this post is released under the Open Game License, and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms.

CHARACTER GENERATION

The basic process for character generation is familiar to experienced d20 System players. The range of character ages are from 8 to 14, while attributes range from a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 16. Additionally, the only character class available is the Cuties Class. This class only has four levels, and characters must multi-class as they "grow up" and move on from being child performers to being adults. (Cuties characters start out "weaker" than most player characters, but they emerge into adult world stronger through their experiences.)

The Steps

1. Determine Your Character's Age.

    Roll 2d4+6. The result is your character's age in years.

2. Determine Your Character's Attributes

    Roll 2d6+4 six times. once each for Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, assigning individual results to whichever ability you wish.

3. Choose a Race.

    We are assuming Cuties are Human, but any player character race that's allowed in the campaign could conceivably be used with GM permission. (Some adjustment to Step #1 may be required, however.)

4. Select Starting Occupation (if used in rules-set)

    Cuties are limited to a choice of the following Staring Occupations: Celebrity, Creative, or Student. The age requirements are disregarded.

4. Select Starting Skills and Allocate Skill Ranks. 

   (See the Cuties class description for class skills.)

5. Select Starting Feats. 

    All Cuties have the Simple Weapons feat. Cuties also have two additional starting feats, at least one of which must be from the Cuties bonus feats list. (See the Cuties class description for details.)

6. Record Starting Hit Points

    All Cuties have at least 6 hit points when they are created at 1st level. This number may be increased by starting feats and the Constitution bonus.

7. Apply 1st-level benefits from the Cutie class (including selecting the 1st level talent).

8. Finishing Touches.

    Jot down some notes about your character's appearance, personality, likes and dislikes, family and home-life, and so on. GMs can also consider using this optional system to randomly generate the character's race.

    

THE CUTIE CLASS

Cuties are children who work in the entertainment business as performers, be they acrobats, actresses, actors, or dancers. They are destined for greatness, either onstage or offstage, bringing joy to the world and possibly fighting evils in the world.

The Cutie

Restriction: This class can only be selected at 1st level, and only as part of the Cutie character generation process.

Key Ability: Charisma or Dexterity.

Hit Die: 1d6

Action Points: Cuties gain a number of action points equal to 5 + one-half their character level, rounded down, at 1st level and every time they attain a new level in this class.

Class Skills: A Cutie's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Computer Use (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Handle Animal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Strength), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (all, pick individual groupings separately) (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (none), and Tumble (Dex).

Also, the starting occupation the character selects can provide additional class skills to choose from.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x2.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table 1: The Cutie
Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Class Features	Defense Bonus	Reputation Bonus
1st	+0	+1	+1	+0	Talent	+1	+0
2nd	+0	+1	+2	+1	Bonus feat	+1	+1
3rd	+1	+2	+2	+2	Bonus  ability points	+2	+1
4th	+1	+2	+2	+3	Bonus skill points	+2	+2

Cutie Class Features

The following are the class features of the Cutie class.

   Talent: At lst level, the Cutie gains a talent from one of the following trees. The character must meet all prerequisites before selecting the talent.

   Command Animal, Increased Speed (see the Fast Hero class), Insightful (see the Dedicated Hero class), Magical Transformation, Too Dumb To Die,

   Starting and Bonus Feats for Cuties: During character creation, the Cutie selects at least one feat from the following list. At 2nd level, the Cutie gains an addition feat from this list. The character must meet all prerequisites before selecting the feat.

Acrobatics, Alterness, Animal Affinity, Athletic, Attentive,  … But Don't Fall Down, Baby Roll, Bad Idea, Calm Animals, Creative, Dancing Queen, Feets Don't Fail Me Now!, Finger Gun, Fast Healing, Ghost Spotter, Lucky, Nimble, Run, Stealthy, Weaponized Smirk 

   Bonus Ability Points: At 3rd level, the Cutie gains four ability points that must be immediately assigned to any of the six abilities. No more than three points may be assigned to a single ability, and no ability may be raised above 18 using these points.

   Bonus Skill Points: At 4th level, the character gains a total number of bonus skill points equal to (6 + Int modifier)x2. These skill points must be allocated to skills immediately. They can be used on skills to which points have already be assigned, or to acquire new skills. Level restrictions apply.

CUTIES 4th LEVEL AND BEYOND

As should be obvious, Cuties will need to multi-class in order to keep progressing. Standard classes that build more effectively on the Cutie class are the Charismatic Hero, Dedicated Hero, and Fast Hero from OGL Modern, or other classes that draw on Dexterity- and Charisma-based abilities, such as Bards and Rogues. (And, as mentioned above, Cuties can serve as a lead-in to a superhero campaign, as the characters graduate from being Bucky, Wonder Girl, and Robin to being Captain America, Wonder Woman, and Batman when they adopt the Super Hero character class.)

Bessie Love and the Silver Key (for d20 System and D&D compatible games)

Film historians and lovers of silent movies remember Bessie Love as a petite and radiant star who lit up the screen every time she appeared. However, she led a secret life that few ever knew about, and even fewer could ever imagine. 

   For 25 years, from 1925 until 1950, Bessie Love traveled throughout the world, battling all manner of supernatural evil, from worshipers of the Elder Gods through vampire cults and even a few demon-possessed would-be arch mages. She performed her heroics under the code-name Love Bug, and she typically wore a set of artifacts that gave her an edge in her battles, but sometimes she relied on her charm, wit, and unfailing courage to carry her through... and a pair of large sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat to hid her identity. (Click here to read about how Bessie Love became the Love Bug.)

In this post, we unveil Bessie's involvement with strange happenings that were famously fictionalized in short stories by H.P. Lovecraft and E. Hoffmann Price. (As always, we translate this material for use in d20 System games, our own way of fictionalizing the fantastic.)

BESSIE LOVE AND THE SILVER KEY

By late 1932, Bessie Love had all but abandoned her acting career and had thrown herself completely into the battle against supernatural evils. She spent a few weeks in March of 1933 doing nothing but pouring through notes and a diary that had belonged to an evil sorcerer she had defeated, and she found repeated references to a house on the outskirts of Boston, Mass. that was either haunted or the location of magical gateways to other worlds. 

   The papers chronicled Archmage Alain Cartier, who fled from France to America during the 1690s and changed their name to Carter. Over the past two hundred years, the sprawling Carter family home and estate had been the sight of many strange events, which the sorcerer attributed to residual effects from summoning performed by the Carters, or to full-fledged gateways to other dimensions and the realms of Elder Gods. Within the past ten years, the most recent heir to the family fortune, Randolph Carter, had mysteriously vanished in 1922; people residing in the house had likewise vanished or suffered mental breakdowns, including associates of the sorcerer who had gone to investigate the house; and a reading of Randolph Carter's will in 1927 had been violently interrupted by some thing.

   After reaching out to the lawyers managing Carter's estate under an alias, Bessie traveled to Boston, spent a few nights in the house, and searched it using Dimond's Compass, an artifact she had acquired during a previous adventure that points toward the most powerful magical item or source in the general vicinity. When she first started using it in the structure, she thought either the entire manse was magical or the device was not working properly. She soon realized that several of the home's doors were enchanted, and with that awareness, she was able to locate a powerful magical artifact in the master bedroom--a key that had fallen behind a set of dresser drawers in the master bedroom.

  The key was a silver skeleton key that was six inches long, with a bow nearly the size of Bessie's palm that was shaped like an oddly tangled arabesque design. Resolving to start researching how this key might connect to the magic in the house, Bessie intended to spend one more night in the Carter House. As she slept, she had a strangely vivid dream. In it, she was on a windswept cliff, gazing down upon a sprawling city of domed palaces and twisting spires. Overhead was a sky that swirled with ever-changing, vibrant colors. A robed and hooded figure stood next to her, nothing but inky shadows within the hood where his face should be, and he held the silver key she had found in his gloved left hand. He handed her the key, stating that it would unlock portals that opened to other times and dimensions, and warned her that just as she could pass through to those other places, so could the beings dwelling there come through to our realm.

   When she woke up that morning, Bessie felt certain that her dream had been caused by her finding the silver key. She took it to one of the magical doors in the house and saw the key's ward and bits reshape itself to fit the keyhole. She inserted the key, picturing in her mind the landscape she had seen while sleeping, unlocked the door, and...

   Bessie found herself looking out onto a barren plain under the colorful sky from her dream. The door she unlocked should have led to an interior room deep within the house, yet here she was, looking at an alien landscape--and the wind blowing from it drove a chill through her body.

   She closed door, certain that she now understood the workings of the silver key and the enchanted doors throughout the house: Whoever turned the key decided where the door went--or maybe caused the door to lead to one of several possible locations, and beings could come and go from that location. She felt she now had an explanation for both the "hauntings" and the mysterious disappearances that had taken place in the house.

   To test her theory, she took the key to an immense, ornately carved set of double doors at the back of the house's study. They sported detailed images of medieval peoples and a village in a forest. She turned the key, expecting to see another landscape, but instead a crowd of angry, torch-carrying men, led by an armored, axe-wielding man, burst through the door even before she had fully opened it. 

   "Tis another witch," the armored man bellowed, pursing her as she scrambled backwards and away from the door. "We have found the path to their lair of deviltry!"

   Fighting off the torch-wielding mob, and dodging wild swings of the armored man's axe, she made it back to the bedroom she was staying in--and the pistol she kept there. She shot the armored man in the chest as he lunged at her one final time--and he dissolved into a spray of colorful sparks and blinked from existence. The torch-wielding mob behind him panicked and fled back the way they came, setting drapes and bookshelves ablaze as they went. Bessie, meanwhile, gathered her things, barely escaping the Carter home as it was consumed by flames.

   Several days later, Bessie returned to the ashy wreckage that had once been a grand house, together with the attorneys for the estate. To her surprise, the ornate wooden doubles door still stood, stained with soot but otherwise untouched by fire, now tightly shut with the silver key still inserted in the lock. She bought it from the lawyers on the spot, and they were happy to not only put the troubles of the cursed house behind them, but to have some additional funds to distribute to the heirs.

   Bessie had the door and the silver key shipped to California where she teamed with psychic Dane Rudhyar to predict where the Silver Key might cause the door to open to. They identified and visited six different locations--both in the past and in the present. Bessie, however, found herself haunted by increasingly disturbing dreams, so she put the Silver Key inside a bag that made magical items inert. (Nicknamed Murphy's Pouch, it was another treasure she picked up during her adventures.) 

   When Bessie permanently relocated to England in 1935, she had the door from the Carter House installed in her home there, seemingly as just an object of art that went from the drawing room to nowhere but onto a solid wall... but if opened with the Silver Key, it was a portal to so much more.

Bessie Love in 1937, posing by the door saved from the ruined Carter House

*-*-*

The rest of the text in this post is released under the Open Game License, and it may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2020 Steve Miller. 

MURPHY'S POUCH

The history of this item is unknown mostly unknown. Bessie Love recovered it Murphy's Pouch from the disintegrating body of a vampire she'd just defeated, and she named the item after him.

   Murphy's Pouch is to be a small purple felt pouch with gold-colored draw strings. It radiates faint Conjuration magic. If the pouch is opened, the magic radiation become stronger. When someone looks inside the pouch, it appears to be empty. If someone reaches into the pouch, they discover it is much larger than it appears--and the person's and arm can reach deep into an inky darkness that seems to writhe and pulsate at the pouch's bottom. Once the person pulls back, the pouch once again appears normal and empty.

   If a person is brave enough to feel around in the darkness, they will quickly grab one of the items it contains, and if the person knows what they are reach for, that particular item is found just about immediately. While the pouch was in Bessie's possession, she kept the following items in it: A folding knife with a silver blade, a fully loaded Baby Browning pistol, a vail of holy water, a vail of dried wolfsbane, a small gold cruxifix and the Silver Key.

   Using Murphy's Pouch: This item functions like a bag of holding, except it can only contain up to 12 individual items that each are no more than 5 inches in length, take up no more than 5 cubic inches of space, and which each weigh no more 5 pounds. Also, if a sharp object, or some other item, that could damage the integrity of the pouch's extra-dimension space, it vanishes without any effect. Similarly, any items beyond the maximum number of 12 that are inserted into the pouch vanish and cannot be retrieved.
   To retrieve an item from the pouch, the user must visualize it. Otherwise, a random item will be grabbed and retrieved from within the pouch.

   If player characters come into possession of Murphy's Pouch, the GM must make a list with 12 slots, numbered 2 through 12. Each item placed within it is assigned a number, and the GM should roll d26 against the table to see what object is found within if a character isn't seeking something specific. If a number is rolled to which no item is assigned, the next lowest numbered object is retrieved. When items are placed in the bag, the GM can either roll randomly to see where they are placed on the list, or he can merely fill the table in order from lowest to highest. If one item is removed and another is put into the pouch before it is returned, the most recent item takes its number on the table.

   Drawbacks: There are no drawbacks to using Murphy's Pouch, but magic items and artifacts placed within the pouch are treated as if they have ceased to exist. Any ongoing effects the items or artifacts may have been powering end. Once removed from the pouch, the items return to their normal functions.

THE SILVER KEY

The Silver Key was in the possession of a family of wizards who claimed to trace their linage back to ancient Atlantis. They have gone by many names over the millennia, but most recently, they had gone by Carter. Family legends are unclear as to whether the Key was created by a member of the family, or if it had been wrested from the grasp of an Elder God, but it had been a cornerstone of their magical efforts. For a thousand years, the skilled spellcasters and artisans of the family were famed for their explorations of other realities and their ability to build permanent doorways between this universe and others: No dimension was too remote or too alien for them to access. Although many of the extra-dimensional doorways they created could be opened through a variety of means, the Silver Key could also unlock them all.

   The last member of the Carter family to have attempted to understand and master his family's ancient practices, Randolph Carter, vanished without a trace in 1922. According to an elderly servant, he last saw him studying a large silver key, but no trace of it could be found either--until Bessie Love located it in 1933. Randolph Carter's fate remains a mystery.

   The Silver Key is, in truth, an artifact that is as old as the multiverse. It was created by the Outer God Nyarlathotep, as the dimensions were forming, so that he could travel through them easily. The Elder Gods wrested it from him and gave it to a group of their mortal servants, so that they, too, could travel between realities.

   Although the Key occasionally morphs into other shapes, depending on what being is holding it, it usually appears to be a brightly polished, silver skeleton key. It is six inches long and sports a bow roughly the size of a woman's palm, shaped like an odd tangle of arabesque characters. The key wards and bit are sharp and can be used to saw through rope or leather, or inflict shallow cuts on a person that are painful but not life threatening. It radiates a strong aura of Transmutation magic.

   Using the Silver Key: The Silver Key attunes itself to whoever holds it or keeps it on their person for longer than one round. The Silver Key allows its user to unlock gateways to other dimensions, planes of existence, and even other points in time. Such gateways are usually constructed to appear like normal doors, window shutters, or even manhole covers. When the Silver Key is used to open one of these, it instead gives access to far more remote places. (See "Enchanted Doors", below, for details.)

   A person who has been attuned to the Silver Key for six days or more can recognize an enchanted door by sight: The door will appear to glow as if it had been subjected to a detect magic spell. The further away the door takes those who pass through it, the brighter the glow. (An enchanted door that takes someone to the Council Chamber of the Ancient Immortals on Mount Fuji will not glow as bright as the one that can take characters to the City of Ulthar in the Dreamlands.)

   A character's ability to see enchanted doors is lost as soon as his or her attunement to the Silver Key ends. To become unattuned to the Silver Key, the character must either allow another person to hold it for more than a round, or place it in an extra-dimensional container like a bag of holding. The character's attunement to the Key is also lost if he travels to a different plane or dimension than where the key is.

   The Silver Key also opens any door that is secured through magical means, such as wizard lock, or with some form enchanted mechanism. It reshapes itself so that it can be inserted into any lock, and, once turned, the door opens. If the door has no lock, or is locked in a manner that does not feature a traditional keyhole, knocking on it with the Key will cause it to open. The Key has no effect if there is no enchantments securing it.

   The Key may also lets the person who is attuned to it for six days or more know where an Enchanted Door leads before opening it. The GM rolls a secret Wisdom attribute check for the character; if it is successful, the character may gain some insight about the door. 

   If the door leads to a single time and/or place, the character receives a mental flash of what lies beyond. If the door leads to. The player should roll a successful Wisdom attribute check to clearly understand the image. A failed roll results in a general sense of unease if some hellish place lurks on the other side.

   If the door leads to several possible places and/or times, the character sees a jumble of images in the mental flash. A Wisdom attribute check with a -2

   Drawbacks: For as long as the character is attuned to the Silver Key, he or she will have strange dreams. The first dream is always of a hooded figure who hands the character the Silver Key while issuing the following warning: "This key unlocks doors that may go to many places. The person who turns the key may determine where the doors lead. But beware. Once a door is opened, it becomes a portal that can be entered or exited. And do not pass through a door you have unlocked with the key, lest you are certain that you intend to cross the threshold with your complete body and soul--or you may lose one or both. And be aware: No mortal can pass through the Ultimate Gate intact."

   The dreams of the hooded figure occur every night. Some nights, the dreamer and the figure watch some of the worst moments of the dreamer's life unfold, with the figure saying that the Key could allow the dreamer to go back and change that moment. Other times, they witness horrible events that have yet occurred, with the figure likewise declaring that the Key could let the character stop the event from happening--if it used on the right door. On other nights, the dreams involve strange and nightmarish places and worlds that the dreamer can barely comprehend. As time wears on, the dreams even seem to start to bleed through to the person's waking hours, as he or she will sometimes seem to catch sight of the hooded figure out of the corner of his or her eye, or in distorted reflections on various surfaces, looming over his or shoulder--but the figure isn't there when the character turns to look.

   Every night the character has the Key, the GM should roll on the following table to see what dreams the character has and if his or sleep is restless enough to have an impact on the following day.

1d6      Dream/Effect

1.          A pleasing scene from the past. No effect.

2.          Visit to a strange place. No effect.

3.          Visit from a dead friend or relative with a dire message. 

             -1 to all saving throws and skill checks.

4.          Relive a horrible event from the past. -2 to all
             saving throws and skill checks.

5.          Visit to a strange, horrific realm. The hooded

            offers dire predictions about the future. -4 to all 

            saving throws and skill checks.

6.         Visions of monsters and monstrous people

            committing horrible acts. -4 to all saving throws 

            and skill checks.

For every four days the character owns the Key, +1 is added to the result of the d6 roll. A modified result of 6 or more is treated as a "6". The majority of the dreams should turn out to either be revelations of events that have happened--evil deeds that someone wants to keep hidden--or foretellings to brutality and tragedies that are coming. (The character can either learn of this through direct adventures, or through the news media. Eventually, the character will hopefully understand the he or she can act on the dreams, if he or she can tolerate them.)

   After 24 days of owning the Key, and being sent dreams, the character gains Foresight as a bonus feat.

FORESIGHT [Minor Power]
You have the ability to see a fraction of a second into the future.
   Benefit: You gain a permanent +2 adjustment to all initiative rolls.

ENCHANTED DOORS

Scattered throughout the world are enchanted doors that can be unlocked and passed through by using artifacts like the Silver Key. Some have existed since the time of Atlantis and the gods walked the Earth, others are more recent creations, such as the bulk of the ones in the Carter House.

   Enchanted doors are usually found at the end of blind alleys, corridors in buildings that serve no purpose, or on exterior or interior walls. In such cases, if the doors are opened without the Silver Key (or with whatever means the creator established for accessing the door's enchantment), the door opens onto a solid wall, or, at best, a shallow space or shelves just a few inches deep. If opened with the Key (which can open any enchanted door, always), the space behind the door instead becomes a dimensional portal that can take characters who step through it to other places, times, and even dimensions. Some enchanted doors lead to a single fixed locations, others take those who step through them to a random place.
   Although referred to as "enchanted doors", the enchantments that makes them can be placed on any item that covers an opening that allows beings to enter or exit a location, such as doors, window shutters, or drapes. The only requirement is that they must conceal what is on the other side when they are closed.

   When a character passes through an enchanted door, unless he or she is entering into another structure, there appears to be a free-standing door (or window, or whatever the door's physical component is) that more often than not appears to be surrounded by faintly glowing mist. The door remains open for 1d6+1 minutes, then the magic cuts off. Unless someone who passed through possesses the Silver Key or knows the ritual to open the door, characters are now stranded on the far side of the magical passageway. (Although the door is not visible to regular mortals if there is no physical part to it at a destination point, the bearer of the Silver Key, or a character using the true sight spell or similar abilities, can see a faintly glowing outline of the enchanted door. The Silver Key, or appropriate ritual, can still open it.)

   The physical manifestation of an enchanted door can be destroyed using whatever means destroys a non-enchanted version of the door's physical manifestation. The magic gateway, however, remains, even if it now invisible and mostly inaccessible. A person bearing the Silver Key will be able to see these now formless dimensional apertures as magic auras hovering in the air, or overlaid on walls or floors if a new structure has been built where something else once stood.  He or she can cause these to open with the Silver Key, but otherwise such dislocated magic portals typically remain inaccessible to anyone but gods. (On the days of the Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice, All Hallow's Eve there is a 1% chance every hour of these portals opening at random and letting being pass back and forth for 1d6 minutes. At the exact moment of a total lunar or solar eclipses, there is also a 1% chance a gateway will open for 1d6 minutes.

   When open, such magical conduits from one place to another can be seen by all beings within a 5-foot radius of it, even those who cannot normally see. A frameless enchanted door appears like a brightly glowing streak of light on the same plane and of roughly the same size as the mundane portal it was once tied to. There is no way of telling where a disconnected enchanted door leads for anyone but a god or the owner of the Silver Key. Those stranded on the far side of a randomly opening enchanted doorway are stuck there until it opens randomly again, they find another way back to where they started from, or the Silver Key is used.

Using Enchanted Doors
We recommend that the GM should always have an adventure purpose and a destination for where an enchanted door can take characters. Nonetheless, for those who like to run adventures off-the-cuff, or who might need a little help in deciding the nature of an enchanted door, we offer this random table to determine where one might lead.

2d6     Nature of Enchanted Door

2         Passage to a demonic plane

3         Passage to an alien planet

4         Passage to the Dreamlands

5         Passage to a Home of an Elder God

6         Passage to the Past, same location

7         Passage to the Past, different location

8         Passage to the Future, same location

9         Passage to the Future, different location

10       Passage to the Home of a Great Old One

11       Passage to the Past, on an alien planet

12       Passage to 4d6 different places and times

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If you feel like this post is ending suddenly, you're right. It's not so much that this idea is fully explored, so much as this post is getting really long. Maybe what we need to do is create an actual product... perhaps it could be called "Bessie Love and the House of Doors"? Is that something anyone would liked to see?

Meanwhile, you can click here to read more about The Secret Life of Bessie Love, as well as get more ideas and magic items for use in your d20 System games!