NUELOW at Christmas: Day SixteenBessie Love and the Magical Mistletoe

It's the time of year when the Spirits of Christmas move across the land, randomly bestowing icons of the holidays with supernatural blessings. Among the things they empower is the mistletoe that hangs in the doorways of frisky young people.

 
During the Christmas Season of 1925, Bessie Love (silent movie star who secretly fought against supernatural evil as a costumed mystery woman), noticed that enchanted mistletoe was showing up at the parties she was attending. Even in her own house, the mistletoe that hung over the doorway to her sitting room suddenly became enchanted on Christmas Eve. 

The magic seemed to vary in strength and appeared harmless--perhaps even helpful in some cases--so it was a fairly low priority for her to track its origins. Instead, she collected the enchanted sprigs when possible and preserved them in her collection of magical artifacts. She noted they tended to regain their enchantment every Christmas Eve, even after they'd long since dried out.

Eventually, when she joined forces with Santa's Helpers to save Kris Kringle himself from certain doom in 1933, she discovered the true origin and nature of the enchanted mistletoe, even if she never did find out exactly what their full range of effects could be.

MAGICAL MISTLETOE
The Spirits of Christmas enchant random mistletoe sprigs in doorways to bestow various blessings from December 21 through January 5.

IS THE MISTLETOE MAGICAL?
Roll 1d6 to determine the nature of the mistletoe hung in the doorway.

1. Not magical, but still pretty (and a pretty good excuse for smooching).
2. Vampires may not cross through the doorway in which the mistletoe hangs, they cannot touch it, and anyone on the other side is immune to their mind-effecting powers.
3. Everyone who passes through the doorway in which the mistletoe hangs are instantly filled with a sense of comfort and joy. They receive a +4 bonus to all Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks that are done in acts of love and friendship or to defuse tense situations.

4. Unfaithful lovers feel compelled to confess their betrayal while under the mistletoe (Will save DC24 to resist).
5. Faithful lovers who kiss under the mistletoe gain the spell-like abilities of comprehend languages, discern lie and detect illusion as if they were 20th-level spellcasters.

6. Faithful lovers gain a +4 bonus to all saving skill checks, saving throws, and attack rolls made when fighting together or defending each other for 24 hours after kissing beneath the mistletoe.

--

The text in this post is presented under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright Steve Miller 2017, 2024. (If you found this material useful and/or entertaining, please support our efforts by buying one of our products at DriveThruRPG.)

Also, for the record, both images of Bessie Love in this post are as fictitious as her career as a superhero. They were made using a specifically "trained" model at OpenArt.ai.

Bessie Love and the Crown of Eternal Mastery

We once again provide a glimpse of a time when Bessie Love (as part of her secret battle against supernatural evil) perhaps saved the world... but at the very least took a powerful magic item out of malicious hands. As per usual, we translate the item into roleplaying game terms via the d20 System.

 

On Halloween, 1928, Bessie Love had her first of many encounters with evil-doers trying to harness magic and enchanted artifacts left behind after the fall of ancient Atlantis. She prevented a necromancer from harnessing the powers of the Gourdians, and, in doing so, came into possession of the Crown of Eternal Mastery. She even wore it to a Halloween Party that night--where she accidentally gained some insight into its powers. (Bessie found herself to be a better dancer than she had ever been before, as well as feeling more limber and dexterous while waring the Crown. She took this to mean that it enhanced a person's agility and dexterity. She failed to imagine the full power of the item, and she put it away in her collection of magical artifacts without ever realizing the truth.)

THE CROWN OF ETERNAL MASTERY

This is a large, elaborate headdress that consists of a caul that's covered with a complex and tangled arrangement of gemstones and pearls on strings or set into delicate platinum frames.  It represents the pinnacle of magical craftsmanship based in a fusion of the now-mostly forgotten Atlantean magical disciplines of Biomancy and Technomancy. It absorbs all knowledge and skills possessed by someone who dies while wearing it, allowing others to later access and use it as if it was their own. Each pearl contains the sum total of experience and knowledge possessed by a person who has passed on. Each gem houses not only a person's knowledge and experience but their personality as well.

   If it is subjected to methods that reveal magical auras, the Crown of Eternal Mastery is revealed to be imbued with powerful magics of an undeterminable variety. If the character attempting to analyze the item's magical aura is a skilled at creating enchanted items, he or she can make an Arcane Lore or Spellcraft skill check (DC18) to determine that there are faint undercurrents of abjuration and necromantic magic in the otherwise alien emanations.

Using the Crown of Eternal Mastery

When worn, the Crown of Eternal Mastery provides the wearer with a +2 bonus to Will saves. Additionally, the character can gain bonuses to skill checks and attack rolls for a limited time.

   Unless the character somehow gains access to ancient Atlantean means of determining the functions of magical items, the Crown of Eternal Mastery will initially seem to function at random. Whenever the character wearing the Crown makes an attack roll or skill check, the GM should roll against the following table. The character gains the indicated bonuses for the duration of the encounter; until another skill check is made; until the character falls unconscious or goes to sleep; or for six hours. The GM decides which of the three options makes the most sense in the context of when the item is triggered.

   The bonuses provided by the Crown stack with all other bonuses. The bonuses do not count for purposes of damage resistance against non-magical weapons.

d20 Roll    Result

1                +4 bonus to all Strength-based skill checks.

2                +2 bonus to all Strength-based skill checks,

                  +2 bonus to all melee attack rolls/melee damage rolls.

3                +4 bonus to all Dexterity-based skill checks

4                +2 bonus to all Dexterity-based skill checks,

                  +2 bonus to all ranged attack rolls.

5                +4 bonus to all Constitution-based skill checks.

6                +4 bonus to all Intelligence-based skill checks.

7                +6 bonus to all Craft skill checks.

8                +4 bonus to all Wisdom-based skill checks.

9                +4 bonus to all Charisma-based skill checks.   

10              +6 bonus to all Perform skill checks.

11              +4 bonus to attack/damage with bladed melee weapons.

12              +4 bonus to attack/damage with blunt melee weapons.

13              +4 bonus to attack/damage with thrown weapons.

14              +4 bonus to ranged attack rolls.

15              +8 bonus to all Knowledge skill checks.

16              +8 bonus to all Perform skill checks with instruments.

17              +8 bonus to Acrobatics and Perform (Dance) skill checks.

18              +8 bonus to Hide and Move Silently skill checks.

19              Roll twice on this table, ignoring and re-rolling additional

                  results of 19. Gain both benefits.

20              Gain instant knowledge of the purpose of the Crown

                  and how to properly use it.

Whenever the character is under one of the benefits of the Crown, he or she feels like some unseen presence is there, watching. The GM should also secretly roll 1d6. On a "6", the character hears a faint voice, a barely audible whisper that is so faint the character can't hear what is being said. The third time the character hears the voice, he or she is finally able to discern the words: The voice is explaining how to use the Crown of Eternal Mastery.

Using the Crown of Eternal Mastery Properly

The character wearing the Crown of Eternal Mastery may attempt to invoke its powers once per round. To do so, the character takes a standard action, and the player rolls a Willpower saving throw (DC11). If the roll is successful, the player declares which of the following benefits the character gains:  

   * +4 bonus to all attack rolls, and a +4 bonus to all skill checks under the physical attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution).

   * +4 bonus to all attack rolls, and a +4 bonus to all skill checks under mental attributes (Intelligence, Wisdom).

   * +4 bonus to all attack rolls, and a +6 bonus to all skill checks under the Charisma attribute.

   * +6 bonus to all Demotions, Disable Device, Hide, and Move Silently skill checks.

   * +8 bonus to all Knowledge skill checks.

The bonuses lasts for six hours, or until the character chooses another set of bonuses. The bonuses also end if the character falls unconscious or goes to sleep while wearing the crown. (See "Drawbacks of the Crown of Eternal Mastery", below, for more.)

   If the Will saving throw to properly activate the Crown's benefits fails, the GM rolls on the table of random bonuses.

Drawbacks of the Crown of Eternal Mastery

If the character falls unconscious or goes to sleep while wearing the crown, one of the personalities in housed in the gems takes control of the character's body. The character retains all physical attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution), but the Charisma attribute is temporarily reduced by 2 points. Mental attributes (Intelligence and Wisdom) are replaced by those of the controlling spirit. The possessing spirit has access to all of the player character's memories and skills, as well as well as its own. The spirit is motivated primarily by a desire to keep the player character safe and help him or her to succeed. (Whether the GM plays the character while it is inhabited by a different spirit is up to the GM.)

   If the player character dies while wearing the Crown of Eternal Mastery, his or her spirit is instantly absorbed into one of the Crown's gems and is added to the preserved knowledge and skill mastery preserved within it.

Destroying the Crown of Eternal Mastery

Any method that will destroy a normal magic item will destroy the Crown of Eternal Mastery. However, 1d6+2 angry ghosts emerge from the Crown and attack those who are attempting to destroy it. 

--

All text in this post is presented under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2022 by Steve Miller. 

Bessie Love and the Mist Maiden's Kit

It time for us to reveal another chapter in the secret life of actress/adventuress Bessie Love. As is our habit, we translate the magical artifacts she encountered during this adventure in d20 System roleplaying game rules.

--

 In October of 1928, Bessie Love traveled to Seattle, WA. She was her way to what was rumored to be the most haunted lighthouse in the world on Devastation Point, but the night her train pulled into the Seattle station, a series of brutal murders began. Someone was stabbing and mutilate young, beautiful, and free-spirited women... someone who seemed to simply dissolve into the rain or mist after performing the hideous deed. The killer eventually claimed eight victims and became known as the Seattle Creeper.

Love eventually tracked and defeated the killer, discovering that she was a librarian whose fiance had cheated on her with several women and then jilted her at the altar. The woman had a vast amount of arcane knowledge, which she used to acquire a trio of stealth-enhancing artifacts collectively known as the Mist Maiden's Kit, and then went on her murder spree. 

After defeating the murderous woman, Love added the artifacts to her collection. She would, on occasion, use the Mist Maiden's Kit during her investigations since its potential drawbacks were minor and more inconvenient than dangerous. 

Bessie Love wearing the Mist Maiden's Kit

d20 SYSTEM RULES

The rest of the text in this post is released under the Open Game License, and it may be produced in accordance with those terms. 

The Mist Maiden's Kit

In 1924, a young couple, Carlton Jamieson and Lisa Svensen decided to become "rum-runners" and smuggle illegal liquor from Canada and across Lake Erie. The couple already ran an "underground railroad" that smuggled criminals and other people on the run across the Lake Erie from Cleveland and into Canada, so was a small thing for them to expand into a new and lucrative area.

Carlton and Lisa were both from families who were long-time practitioners of sorcery and they used their arcane knowledge to facilitate their smuggling ventures, be they transporting humans or booze. Lisa had crafted a number of items that augmented stealth while Carlton enchanted their boat to travel more quickly and quietly across the waters. Although young, Lisa was already renowned for her ability to transform or conceal items or beings, and had earned the nickname "The Mist Maiden." (It was a small irony that Lisa was an expert at stealth magic, since she loved being fashionable and loved being the center of attention.)

Sadly, the couple's magic was no protection when hardcore gangsters decided they wanted to take over their operation, and killed Carlton while sinking the boat. A heartbroken Lisa used her magical gifts to take revenge on those who murdered her beloved. She used the same magical tools that had once helped her avoid detection while smuggling to gain access to those who murdered Carlton and execute them.

When the last man involved with the murder was dead, Lisa wished that she could be reunited with Carlton, and she dissolved into mist, leaving behind only the stealth-augmenting artifacts she was wearing--the Galoshes of Stealth, the Raincoat of Protection, and the Rainhat of Hiding. Each of the three items have a magical effect when worn, but their individual magical auras combine to provide the wearer with the ability to dissolve herself and all things worn or carried into vapor and then later reversing the process.

The Galoshes of Stealth

This is a pair of tan rubber overshoes that can be fastened to protect the wearer's calves as well. (During the 1920s, it was fashionable for young women to leave their galoshes unfastened, with the tops either folded or flapping loose.)

   The Galoshes of Stealth protects the wearer's feet (and lower legs, if properly fastened) from any liquid she might step in, up and including lava. Additionally, the wearer can move through any type of terrain and leave neither footprints nor scent. Tracking the subjects is impossible by nonmagical means.

The Raincoat of Protection

This is a black-trimmed, tan raincoat that's covered in a delicate, floral pattern that conceals the magical runes powering the item's enchantments. The pattern matches that on the Rainhat of Hiding.

   The Raincoat of Protection grants the wearer a +2 to AC/DR, as well as a +4 bonus to saving throws made to resist effects and damage from element-based spells and abilities. Finally, once it is brought out of the rain, it is immediately dry and clean.

The Rainhat of Hiding

This is a black-trimmed, tan rainhat that's covered in a delicate floral pattern that conceals the magical runes powering the items enchantments. The pattern matches that on the Raincoat of Protection.

   The Rainhat of Hiding grants the wearer a +4 bonus to all Hide skill checks and a +4 bonus to Move Silently checks. The bonuses are lost if the wearer intentionally calls attention to him- or herself, such as making an attack, a loud noise, or waving around a flashlight or bright object. The bonuses can be restored if the character can duck out of view of watchers.

   Like the Raincoat of Protection, this item is immediately dry and clean once it is brought out of the rain.

Combined Powers of the Maiden's Kit

When worn together, the three items give the wearer the ability to turn into a cloud of fine mist that is roughly the same shape and size as the character when wearing the Maiden's Kit. In order to transform, the wearer must take a full round action to will herself to assume a misty form, and make a successful Willpower saving throw (DC8). If the check fails, another attempt can be made the following round.

   Once transformed into mist, the character gains the following benefits:

   * Gains +20 bonus to all Hide checks when outside in the dark, and a +10 bonus if inside in the dark. If someone were to  Is completely undetectable through normal means when in mist or fog.

   * Can do anything a cloud of mists can do, such as flow through a crack under the door or a window. The character leaves a very faint trail of moisture.

   * Can move across the surface of water at the same movement rate as if on solid, even ground. (The character cannot enter the water, however.)

   * Immune to physical attacks, but also cannot make attacks or cast any spells, defensive or offensive.

   * +4 bonus to all saving throws against effects and damage from magical and supernatural attacks.

The transformation ends if the character loses consciousness, is subjected to an anti-magic field, dispel magic (at a 20th-level caster strength), or takes a full round action to will herself back into a solid state with a successful Willpower saving throw (DC12). If the Willpower roll fails, the character remains in her misty state for 1d12+2 hours before finally becoming solid again.

--

For a complete index to all of Bessie Love's adventures that have been revealed here at Shades of Gray, click here.

RPG-a-Day #5: Throne

Continuing with the RPG-a-Day Challenge... while detailing another trophy from the Love Collection.

THE THRONE OF JUDGE MARSTON THE MERRY

In late 1927, silent movie star Bessie Love, in her secret life as a warrior against supernatural evils, squared off against and defeated a cult leader who not only trying to recruit Hollywood studio bosses to his twisted cause, but also tried to eliminate Bessie before she became a threat to his goals--and that was his mistake. From the ruins of his hideout, Bessie and an ally salvaged the ridiculously high-backed upholstered chair he had sat in while commanding his followers. Due to the presence of arcane symbols subtly included in the design of upholstery, Bessie was certain the chair held powerful magic. Although it radiates very faint magic, 

   Bessie was not able to discern the chair's purpose until after she had moved to England, where an occult historian recognized the chair as the creation of Judge Edward Marston, a judge from a rural part of Northern England who lived from 1802 to 1873. He held his judgeship from 1844 through 1860. Common history records him as a fair-minded man who put the law ahead of such things as wealth or accidents of birth and the social status and clout that came with it, as well as a man who enjoyed parties--both hosting and attending. Secret histories record him as a skilled artificer, who created, among other things, objects to help him excel as a lawyer and judge. Few details are known about his creations, and even fewer are known to still exist. (Aside from the chair, Marston is known to have created a magic gavel and judge wig, the purpose of either of which is unknown.)

   The Throne of Judge Marston the Merry was so nicknamed by close friends. Marston first created it when he was named judge, and he always sat in it while presiding over his court and passing. After he retired, he reupholstered the chair, and it then sat at the head of the banquet table in his manor's great hall--and just as he had presided over his court from it, he spent the rest of his life celebrating with his friends from it. 

   Marston died childless and his will divided his holdings and property among 12 different families of close friends or individuals he thought worthy. It is unknown how the Throne of Judge Marston the Merry ended up in the United States, let alone in Hollywood.

   Bessie Love initially had kept the Throne with most of the artifacts and magical souvenirs she collected during her adventures, but once it had been determined it was basically harmless, she moved it to her dining room.

Powers of the Throne of Judge Marston the Merry

When a character is seated in the throne, he or she gains a +10 bonus to Sense Motive skill checks, as well as a +10 bonus to Fortitude saves made to resist all resist all toxins and poisons.

Drawbacks of the Throne of Judge Marston the Merry

None.

Bessie Love, seated in the Throne of Judge Marston the Merry

After the Throne of Judge Marston the Merry became a fixture in Bessie Love's dining room, the small-framed Bessie delighted in having drinking contests with men and women who should be able to keep their liquor far better than she (because, as the saying goes, if you're not cheating, you're not trying). She would also tend to question suspicious characters in that room, while seated in the chair.

   After Bessie Love's death in 1987, the Throne of Marston the Merry returned to the United States and it presently stands in the study of a New York City-based mystic who is known as the Sorcerer Supreme.

The Lighthouse at Devastation Point

We've turned an old map of a lighthouse into an adventure location. This is strictly first-draft material, going from the brain, to the fingers, through the keyboard, and onto the screen. Feel free to leave comments and suggestions. 

Generally speaking, the content in this article is usable with any roleplaying game system, although there are some specific references that are for the d20 System, or other systems that resemble or are based on D&D. 

DEVASTATION POINT AND THE LIGHTHOUSE
For centuries, ships crashed upon the jagged coastline near Port Defiance, and no approach was more dangerous than that near Devastation Point. After the lighthouse was built, the number of ship wrecks subsided, but then that structure and the windy promontory upon which it stood became the center of strange deaths and disappearances.

   Lighthouse keepers committed suicide, killed their families, or were themselves killed by their wives. Entire families disappeared without a trace, sometimes with signs of violence having been done, other times it looked as if they were in the middle of a normal day and just walked out, leaving all their belongings behind. Further, as time passed, more and more tales of hauntings and mysterious happenings in and around the lighthouse.

   Many attempts have been made to identify and eliminate or put to rest the evil spirits or ghosts that haunt the lighthouse and the promontory--and a growing number of paranormal investigators have died or vanished during these attempts. Other psychics and ghost hunters have seen their reputations destroyed or careers ended when they've declared the lighthouse free of ghosts, only to have the hauntings resume and more lives be lost.

THE HAUNTING OF DEVASTATION POINT

Devastation Point Lighthouse is a focal point of necromantic energy that is drawn here through two sources--a dark artifact that was incorporated into the housing of the lighthouse's refractor; and the restless spirits of a coven of sirines who were murdered as construction began on the lighthouse.

   The eddy of magical energy is so strong that not only is there a very good chance that anyone who dies within the walls of the lighthouse, the residence attached to it, or within 10 meters of the structure in any direction, will join the many ghosts that haunt the place. Similarly, until the ghostly sirines are destroyed and the artifact removed from the lighthouse, the hauntings will never cease.

THE HAUNTINGS IN GENERAL

The following apply to all the hauntings in the lighthouse and attached structure, as well as the immediate surroundings:

  * The hauntings occur between sunset and sunrise, or when the fog is so thick that visibility is less than 5 feet.

   *. Each room in the structure has 2-3 hauntings. The haunting, or lack there-of, in any given room on any given night, is random. Sometimes, multiple hauntings may overlap in the same room. Entities may pursue the living from the rooms they are first encountered in, resulting in a battle against an increasing number of hostile spirits. The GM can roll a check for a haunting each time a new investigator enters a room, or he can just roll when the first or last one enters. A roll should be made whenever an investigator comes or go from any given room.

   * If spirits and ghosts in the lighthouse and its immediate surroundings are destroyed or otherwise exorcised, they may return on the night of the next full moon.

   * The only hauntings in the lighthouse proper are on the ground floor and on the upper and lower galleries at the tower's upper levels. Climbing the tower, however, presents dangers as well.

   * The restless spirits of three regular sirines and the sirine priestess who led them haunt a cave deep below the promontory. It is only visible from the ocean's surface when the tide is at its lowest.

SPECIFIC HAUNTINGS

Roll 1d4 to see what hauntings paranormal investigators or ghost hunters encounter while exploring the Devastation Point Lighthouse and immediate surroundings between sunset and sunrise, or during heavy fog. Creatures always vanish after being defeated, no matter how solid they seemed. They same is true of any damage they did to their environment--although damage done by investigators to the house remains. If a spirit is exorcised or destroyed, and rolled again, it is treated as a "Nothing" result. Creatures always vanish after being defeated, no matter how solid they seem 

THE RESIDENCE

This two-story structure is attached to the Lighthouse. It can be accessed through the Front Door (see Front Door and Vestibule) and through the door on the side of the Oil House (see Oil House). Both doors are locked, and they keep relocking on their own volition, unless the investigators break them outright.

The Immediate Surroundings (Ground Level)

1-2: Nothing.

3: The faint sounds of several female voices, harmonizing a haunting tune.

4. Characters must roll Will saves (DC8). If failed, they feel as if something is watching them. They also think they catch a flicker of light from the top of the lighthouse tower.

The Front of the Residence (Ground Level)

1. Nothing.

2. Spot skill check (DC5). They see movement in the widow above the main entrance.

3. The faint sound of children's laughter is heard from somewhere inside the house.

4. The sound of a concertina is heard from within the residence, and lights glow faintly in all visible windows. The music and glows stop as soon as the front door is opened.

The Front Door and Vestibule  (Ground Level)

1. Nothing.

2. The Front Door must be forced (Strength check DC11) or broken down.

3. The Front Door locks itself, as soon as investigators leave or enter.

4. There is a bright yellow oilskin hat and coat hanging on a hook. They are sprayed with blood. They vanish when touched.

The Hall  (Ground Level)

1. Nothing

2. One of the investigator's thinks he sees someone darting up the stairs. Another thinks he heard the sound of the person's footsteps.

3. The sound of a man and a woman happily chatting, intermingled with the sound of knives and forks on dinnerware heard from the left (the "Dining Room").

4. The sound of a woman sobbing is heard from the right (the "Parlor").

The Dining Room  (Ground Level)

1. Nothing.

2. A ghostly man and woman in their 20s, dressed in 19th century garb are having dinner. If approached, they attack the investigators. They are ghosts. If left be, the scene fades after 1d4 minutes.

3. A ghostly family of a father, mother, and two young boys, dressed in early 20th century garb, are having dinner. If approached, they solidify into ghouls and attack. If left be, the scene fades after 1d4 minutes.

4. The faint sounds of a man and woman arguing, while a young child cries, are heard. If an investigator uses magic or technology to examine the room, two poltergeists attack.

The Parlor (Ground Level)

1. Nothing.

2. A strong smell of pipe smoke and faint sounds of men chatting is in the air. This persists for 1d4 minutes, the fades away.

3. The sounds of rhythmic creaking can be heard from the room above. After 1d4 minutes, a woman is heard crying out, then all sound stops.

4. A woman in 19th century garb is sitting in an easy chair, sobbing with her face in her hands. If approached or otherwise disturbed, she turns into a banshee and attacks.

The Kitchen (Ground Level)

1. Nothing.

2. A mouthwatering smell of delightful food is strongly in the air. After 1d2 minutes, investigators must roll successful Fortitude saves (DC11) as the odor suddenly turns foul and rotten, or be sickened for 1d4 minutes.

3. 1d4+2 knives appear spinning through the air. They deal 1d4 points of damage each and have a +2 bonus to attack rolls. Each knife goes inert after two successful hits on investigators.

4. A ghastly scene of a battered, blood-soaked woman in a torn slip, who is shrieking as she chops with a meat cleaver at a prone man in dark clothes. Both are in their mid-30s. She is a ghost and attacks any investigator who approaches her. She has a +4 attack bonus against male investigators. The scene fades after 1d4 minutes.

The Sitting Room (Ground Level)

1. Nothing.

2. A creaking sound is heard from the ceiling, as if someone is pacing around in the room above.

3. Investigators must make Will saves (DC8). Those who succeed feel like there's a presence in the room. watching them. Those who fail are filled with blind rage toward the male character standing nearest to them. They attack that character with murderous intent for 1d4 rounds, after which they fall unconscious. When they revive, they don't remember what they did.

4. A bearded man sits in an easy chair, reading a fairy tale to three young girls who are seated in a halfmoon shape on the floor in front of him. If approached, they solidify into ghouls and attack. If left be, the scene fades after 1d4 minutes.

Oil House (Ground Level, structure that connects the residence to the lighthouse)

1-2. Nothing.

3. The room feels strangely hot. There's a faint smell of something burning that grows stronger over a couple of rounds. Then the door to the outside bursts open and a man on fire, screaming and flailing, bursts in, promising to take the investigators to Hell with him. He is a small fire elemental.

4. There's a sudden crash overhead and a muscular man in a lighthouse keepers uniform comes crashing through the ceiling. Investigators near the center of the Oil Room must roll Dexterity attribute checks (DC13) or take 2d4 points of damage from the impact of the falling body and debris. The body, the wreckage, and the damage to the roof and ceiling vanish after 1d4 rounds, but not the injuries to any investigators. Characters gain a cumulative +4 bonus to the Dexterity skill check each time they experience this haunting.

Hall (Upper Level)

1. Nothing

2-3. A body plummets past the window facing the lighthouse tower, crashing onto and through the Oil House roof with a terrible sound of breaking wood and tearing flesh and bone. If the investigators look out the window or run downstairs to check the damage, it's as if nothing happened.

4. The sound of clapping and someone playing a hurdy-gurdy while a woman sings "What Shall We Do With a Druken Sailor" drifts up the stairs from below.

Bed Room (Upper Level)

1. A damp and musty smell grows strong in the room. Investigators in the room must roll successful Will saves (DC12) or suddenly be underwater and feel like they are being dragged deeper into the depths. They must immediately roll successful Fort saves (DC14). The investigators who failed the Will saves find themselves in the room, just as suddenly as they felt like they were in the water. They are soaked to the skin with salt water, any electronic equipment carried is damaged beyond repair, but  otherwise they are fine. Those who failed Fort saves suffer 1d4+2 points of damage and are sickened for 1d4 rounds while they cough up sea water. The whole process barely takes a round. The room and everyone else in it remain dry. (Characters may avoid the affect of this if it is rolled additional times by leaving the room as soon as the air stars to grow musty and damp. Cruel DMs can roll initiative for the effect and the players, to see if they manage to escape.)

2. A bare-chested young man stands with his back to the room, gazing out the window. He is a ghost, and if approached he attacks the investigators. He fades away after 1d4 rounds otherwise.

3. A young woman in a gauzy nightgown stands with her back to the room, gazing out the window. She is a ghost, and if approached she attacks the investigators.

4. A couple is having sex in the bed, causing it and the floor to creak. They get increasingly loud in their excitement. After 1d4+2 rounds, they start to melt into brackish water, soaking the bed and the floor. If approached or otherwise disturbed, they turn into small water elementals and attack the investigators, soaking the room. One round after the couple melts or are slain, the room is perfectly dry again.

Room (Upper Level)

1-2. Nothing.

3. The mutilated bodies of two young boys lay in a bloody, tangled mess on the floor. If disturbed, they animate and attack as half-strength Ghouls. If left alone, they fade away after 1d4 rounds.

4. Three girls in their late teens, wearing old fashioned nightgowns sit around a small statue of some strange creature. They are holding hands and chanting. If the scene is viewed for more than 1d4+1 rounds, witnessing investigators must roll successful Will saves (DC12) or become filled with such intense and overwhelming fear that they must flee the building. They must roll successful Dexterity checks (DC18) or tumble down the stairs and suffer 2d4+2 points of damage. If the chanting girls are approached, they turn into succubae and attack. If left alone, they fade away within 1d4+2 rounds.

 

THE LIGHTHOUSE

As previously mentioned, the Lighthouse has few hauntings, but is possessed by a different sort of supernatural danger. 

   It is accessed through a doorway in the Oil House, and a circular staircase allows investigators and ghost hunters to climb to the Lower Gallery and Upper Gallery at the top of the tower. 

   As the stairs are climbed into the tower, characters pass five landings. They must roll Will saves at each one. At the first landing, the Will save is DC8. Each time a Will save is failed, the DC increases by 2, so if all five Will saves are failed, the final roll is at DC18.

   With each failed saving throw, climbers feel an increasingly level of self-doubt and a feeling that whatever they want to try to achieve in life will always fail. At the same time, they have a feeling that if they make it to the top of the lighthouse, maybe there can be hope yet. (If players wonder, GMs shouldn't hesitate to let them know that thoughts like these are not typical for their character--well, unless the character has been an emo with self-defeatish tendencies up to this point.) 

   If the character fails the fifth Will save, they are consumed with the idea that there is no point in living anymore and that they must end it all by leaping off the top of the tower. The character climbs all the way to the Upper Gallery where he or she may roll one final Will check (DC14) before leaping to their near-certain doom of 10d6 points of damage. 

   If another player character tries to stop the despairing investigator at any time on the way up the tower, he or she immediately snaps out of the spell and realizes that something was affecting his or her mind and emotions. Additional Will saves must still be made as described above (with the base reset to DC8), but even awareness of the influence the lighthouse has on those who climb it does not negate it.

   The saving throws only have to be made during an ascent. Characters may safely descend from the top of the lighthouse via the stairs... assuming the gallery ghosts don't get them...

Lower Gallery (Lighthouse)

1. Nothing.

2. A grizzled old man in a lighthouse keeper's uniform stands and looks out over the sea. If left alone, he fades away after 1d4 rounds. If approached, he turns into a Gargoyle and attacks.

3. Three girls in their late teens, dressed in 19th century clothing, stand side-by-side at the railing, looking out. If left alone, they fade after 1d4 rounds. If approached, they turn into Harpies and attack.

4. A young man and woman, dressed in early 20th century garb, are arguing and fighting. The man declares that if he will kill her before he will let her leave. If the characters watch the scene unfold, the struggle results in the man and woman falling over the railing and disappearing. If anyone tries to intervene, the couple attacks the would-be mediator. They are Ghosts.

Upper Gallery (Lighthouse) 

1. Nothing

2. The upper gallery shudders and creaks and shakes and bends beneath the investigators feet. They must roll Reflex saves (DC11) or tumble from the Upper Gallery to the Lower Galler, suffering 1d6 points of damage. If this occurs more than once, additional Reflex saves are DC8.

3. The lamp suddenly blazes to life, turns and sweeps a powerful beam of light across the investigators. Each person on the Upper Gallery must roll a Fortitude save (DC15) or be blinded. The blindness lasts for 2d4 days, during which the impacted characters' eyesight gradually returns to normal. Blind characters who attempt to climb down the steep stairs of the lighthouse must descend at 1/3 their normal movement rate and roll five different successful Dexterity checks (DC8), one for each landing. A failed save means the character has tripped and fallen down a stretch of stairs, and suffers 2d6 points of damage. If the character tries to descend at his or her normal movement rate, the Dexterity check is at DC14.

4. As the result of 3, but the light is also searing hot. Characters who fail their Fortitude saves suffer 1d6+2 points of heat damage.

THE SIRINE CAVE

At some point, we'll reveal something about these placce and the creatures that haunt it, too, as well as how to break the curse on the Devastation Point Lighthouse.

WHAT ABOUT THAT "DARK ARTIFACT"?

Oh, we'll almost certainly get to this one soon. Perhaps it'll even be Bessie Love who recovers it...

--

IF you enjoyed this post, you can encourage more of the same by commenting and/or getting some NUELOW Games products over at DriveThruRPG. It gives us encouragement to know someone is out there, reading and reacting.

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

--

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!

 

From The Love Collection

In the early 1920s, Bessie Love was one of America's most popular movie stars, known for playing charming and energetic young women in everything from bizarre comedies to dark dramas. By 1925, however, her life became increasingly consumed with a secret battle against supernatural evil. (You can read the background details here.)

   Love acquired a number of magical artifacts during the 25 years she protected the unsuspecting world from darkness, which experts in the field of the occult and supernatural have dubbed the Love Collection. Today, we describe another two artifacts from the Love Collection. As is our habit, we also provide d20 System rules so you can use them in your games.

DIMOND'S COMPASS

Named for Edward Dimond, an American sorcerer and investigator of crimes who lived in 17th century Mass., at first glance this appears to be a malfunctioning compass with a magnetic needle that jerks from pointing in one direction to another without cause, which seems to point anywhere but North, and may even start spinning wildly without warning. It is rendered even more useless by the fact that what can be assumed to be the cardinal compass points are marked with curious symbols that are dissimilar to any earthly civilization, current or extinct. It radiates a faint aura of Divination magic.

   Although it bears his name, Dimond did not know where the compass came from. It was given to him as payment, when, as a young man, he proved a ships' captain innocent of murder by uncovering evidence that proved the merchant accusing him was the true killer. The seaman claimed he had found the compass in a ruined city, on an uncharted island that he had never been able to find his way back to since. Dimond carried it on his person from that day forward, as he believed it was imbued with a spirit of justice and that God had meant for him to have it and to guide him on his quests for truth. 

   Dimond's Compass passed through many hands before coming into the possession of Bessie Love; it was gifted to her, as it had been to Dimond, by a young werewolf whom she had proven innocent of murder in 1928 by exposing the witch who had been using magic to control him. All who have owned it have stated that it has either shown the way to great treasures, stores of lost knowledge, or evidence that exposes villains set on harming the innocent. 

   The fact is that Dimond's Compass can do all things those who have possessed it claim it can. It was created by Lemurian artificers, in the Time Before Time when the dark gods and their servants wrecked havoc across many planes.

   Using Dimond's Compass: A being must hold the compass in his or her left hand. It performs one of three functions related to directed the user to finding items, magical or mundane. All the would-be user has to do is hold the compass and focus his or her mind for one round one what he or she is seeking. The compass remains set by "default" on whatever it was last used for. It has a range of 3,200 feet, and if the object sought is not within range, the compass jerks between several directions, spins wildly for a moment, then stops. The compass cannot find items that are inside extra-dimensional spaces like a bag of holding. There is no limit to the number of times a character can try to use the compass to find the direction to an item. 

   The functions of Dimond's Compass are as follows:

   * Detect Magic: The compass points to the object or being with the most powerful magic aura or abilities within range that is closest to its current location. If there are multiple objects or beings within range, it prioritizes the closest item or being. (For example, the compass will point to a 3rd-level spellcaster over a 1st-level spellcaster; a +2 sword over a +1 sword; an artifact like the Silver Key over a +4 dagger, even if the dagger may seem more powerful if subjected to an analyze or detect magic spell; and a succubus over a 13th-level spellcaster. But if a man carrying a +1 amulet of protection is standing across the room, and a demonlord is across the street carrying the Sword of Dimensional Sundering, the compass will indicate the +1 amulet of protection.)  

   * Find Magic Portal: The compass points to the nearest magic portal within range. For the purpose of Dimond's Compass, a "magic portal" is a permanent gateway between one location and another, whether the remote location is 12 miles or 12 realities away. Such portals can appear to be doorways, pools of water, wells--anything that someone might pass through or dive into and emerge from.

   The compass locks onto the closest portal first, followed by the most powerful, so the indicated direction my change if the user is in an area where several portals are close together. (For example, the compass will prioritize a portal that takes those who pass through it to Valhalla over a portal that goes to Vermont if they are an equal instance from the user; but it will indicate a portal that goes to a place in the Dreamlands over a portal that can go to anyone of 100 locations depending on the will of whoever steps through it if the portal to the Dreamlands is closer.)

   The compass does not reveal any objects or command words that are needed to open a portal, or to control where it leads to if it has various destinations.

   * Locate Object: The user visualizes a general item or a a specific object that he or she is familiar with, has been described to him or her, or was an important part of an event with which the user is familiar, through personal experience or detailed witness accounts. The compass points unerringly in the direction of the nearest general item sought, or the location of the specific object. If the user is standing exactly above or below the item's location, the compass needle twitches, swings to the opposite cardinal point, twitches again, then swings back to the original direction. If the item moves out of the range of the compass, the needle begins spinning wildly, but it will indicate the correct direction again once the item is within range.

   Note: There is an overlap between the detect magic and find magic portal functions. The compass will detect a magic portal as a magic item if one is located nearby while it is trying to find magic items. Bessie Love never realized that Dimond's Compass could not distinguish between the two, as it's a weakness that rarely becomes a factor.

ASHER'S PEDESTAL

This artifact comes in two parts--a square pedestal made of lacquered oak and African blackwood that stands roughly four feet, and a two-foot-tall alabaster statuette of a handsome woman in ancient Egyptian garb and striking a twisted dance pose. Both the pedestal and statuette exude a strong Art Deco ascetic. 

   Asher's Pedestal was created by sculptor-turned-wouldbe-movie mogul Grayson Asher. He came to Hollywood in 1920 and began making movies featuring elaborate sets and costumes. Although not an attractive man, he was known for always having a starlet on each arm. He also had an uncanny ability for turning rivals and outright enemies into friends with surprising ease. The secret to his charm could be found in the pedestal and the alabaster statuettes he would display on it in his office at Asher Film Company.

   Asher's initial effort to get established in the film business was not as successful as he wanted--he had money, and skill as an artist, but he lacked charm, so he could not convince top talent to work for him. One night, the demon Orias appeared to Asher and showed him how he could have all the most talented men and women at his beck and call, as well as at his feet. In exchange for Asher's soul, he showed the demon showed him how to create and enchant Asher's Pedestal and the statuettes that function with it.

   The top of the pedestal contains a well-hidden secret compartment that is two square inches in size. The statuette also has a secret compartment, the opening to which is under the bottom of its base. When certain items belonging to a person are hidden respectively in the pedestal and in the statuette, and the statuette is placed on the pedestal, the person to whom the items belonged falls becomes infatuated with the person who hid the items. This infatuation can be developed into full-blown love and undying loyalty with even the smallest kindness or hint of returned affection. Even if the statuette is later removed from the pedestal, the person remains under the magical influence until the item tied to him or her are removed from the statuette and pedestal or the statuette is destroyed. The affection the enchanted victim felt gradually fades.

   It is possible to have multiple people under the sway of Asher's Pedestal. The pedestal's compartment can be packed full of small items, but each victim enchanted by the artifact must be represented by a statuette.

   In 1926, Asher tried to get Bessie Love to star in a big-budget, costume comedy set in Ancient Egypt. He wanted Bessie to play Cleopatra. The offer and the role both seemed attractive to Bessie, but as she looked into Asher and his personal life (as had become her habit since taking up her fight against supernatual menaces), she became suspicious: too many actors and crew associated with Asher's productions had either killed or tried to kill each other, or had suffered mental breakdowns. Her investigations let her to a chance confrontation with Asher in his office--as Dimond's Compass pointed her to the Pedestal and the dozen statuettes on display in his office--while he was meeting with the demon Orias. During the ensuing battle, most of Asher's statuettes were shattered and Asher himself killed. Orias claimed his soul as he lay dying, and Bessie rebuffed the demon's offer to pick up where Asher left off. She took Asher's Pedestal and the statuette that had been prepared to dominate her, and she added them to her collection of occult trophies and souvenirs. 

   Using Asher's Pedestal: Asher's Pedestal is used to subject targets to a permanent effect identical to the charm person or charm monster spell. The user must spend at least 10 minutes within 10 feet of the target, and manage to obtain a small object that they have carried on or close to their body for at least six hours at a time, as well as some of their hair, a nail-clipping, or some bodily fluid. The user must then create a statuette that represents the target. This statuette need not be a literal representation of the target, nor particularly skillfully made, but it must represent how its maker views the target on some level. It must be made with a compartment that can contain the hair or other part of the target, or the piece of the target can be incorporated directly into the statuette.

   The small item belonging to a target must be placed in the secret compartment in the Pedestal, and the statuette containing the actual part of the target's physical body must be put on top of the Pedestal. The magic is then activated, and the target must roll a successful saving throw (Will save DC28, magic resistance does not apply but any saving throw bonuses do). The saving throw must be re-rolled every day at sunset where the Pedestal is located until the character either fails it, or the statuette is removed from the Pedestal or is destroyed. Once the saving throw is failed, the target is subjected to a charm person or charm monster spell (whichever is appropriate for the target).

   The effects of the Pedestal remain permanent until the item belonging to the target is removed form the Pedestal or the statuette, the statuette is destroyed or moved more than 100 feet from the Pedestal. The target is freed from the enchantment and the feelings toward the user will gradually fade. If the removed statuette is once again put on the Pedestal, the target must once again make successful saving throws or come under the item's sway again.

   To locate the secret compartment in the Pedestal, searchers must make a successful DC18 Search skill check, or DC28 Spot skill check to notice the covering and figure out how to open it.)

   Drawbacks to Using the Pedestal: If a victim is kept ensorcelled for three months and/or at the point the third victim is put under a user's sway, Orias appears (in his favorite human form as a very handsome and fit black man) and informs the user that he must either release the target or allow Orias to corrupt them to serve his wishes. He promises the user that no harm will come to the victim--other than their soul may damned forever. If the user refuses, all enchantments immediately end and anyone who was under the sway of the Pedestal comes to hate the user deeply and with near-fanatical intensity.

   Destroying the Pedestal: No special requirements are needed to destroy this artifact.

--

If you enjoyed this post, you can encourage us to create more like it by giving us feedback in the comments section. And if you REALLY enjoyed it, you should consider getting some of the booklets we've released through NUELOW Games. It will encourage us to make more! One smart choice would For a Song and a Dance--which spotlights more of Bessie Love's trophies, among other things.)