Tuesday Magic Item – Gloves of the Oracle

Voddick sat on the steps of the shrine.  “I have never understood the desire to learn the future.”

“Agreed,” said Gollaon pouring wine for the both of them.  “If it is ill-fortune, you will go crazy trying to avoid it.  If it is good, you will not enjoy it as much because you expect it.”

Voddick nodded and took the cup.  “Though I am amused by the fact we are visiting blind seers.”

Golloan laughed.  “I had not thought of that.”  He raised the wine cup to his friend.  “To the future.”

“The future.”

Gloves of the Oracle

These gloves are made of thin and supple leather, most are stained and worn, but very little can damage them seriously.  The interior is written with prophecies in dark ink that can never be read for if the gloves are turned inside out, the writings always remain on the inside.

Short Review – Nymphs (Gostor)

Gostor – Nymphs: Minor Goddesses, a new race for D&D 5E, by Jean-Philipe ‘JP’ Chapleau provides exactly what it promises, the race of nymphs, nature spirits or the most minor of goddess, inspired by Greek Mythology in a playable form.

A short background of the place of nymphs is followed by the types of nymphs.  A few paragraphs on using nymphs and four paragraph length adventure seeds

Nymphs, as presented here, have three playable subtypes: underworld, forest and waterway, while wild nymph and hags are noted for story reasons, and sky nymphs appear as monsters.  They seem balanced though all, naturally, have some magical abilities.They are supported by two backgrounds, whose features need clearer definition of how they should be used, and one new feat, which really seems more aimed at NPC nymphs as it makes the character an ally of hags.

Two new “monsters” round out the product, sky nymphs (which oddly, cannot fly) and wild nymphs, both which have a very minimal descriptions outside their statblocks.

While this product achieves its aims, there is so much more it could have done.  It only allows for female nymphs, for example, while males would have another name there is no reason for nature spirits to be confined to one sex.  Some tables for suggested characteristics to go with the backgrounds and a magic item or two would have really solidified the usefulness of this product.  As it is, it seems of more use to a DM than players, but even then it would have been nice to have had more support material.

Note that the link above is an affiliate link and any purchases made through it will give me a small amount of reward, for which I thank you.

Tuesday Magic Item – Knife of Letterlocking

Gollaon toyed with the slender blade. “Well, are we committed to resigning?”

Voddick sighed heavily and nodded.  “This is not the war for us.”

“And the other thing?”  Gollaon tapped the knife on the letter.

“Yes, send it.  The Queen needs to know what is being done in her name.”

“As long as we both agree.  As it will likely lead to trouble for both of us.”

Voddick nodded again.  “Sometime even we must do the right thing.”

Knife of Letterlocking

These knives are usually slender and easy to pack away (or to conceal) but their primary purpose is not combat but to aid their owner in securing their letters from molestation.  Their blade are made of fine razor edged steel and ofttimes have a highly decorated hilt.

PinkCat: Running in the Shade “The Corporations are Your Friends” (A different sort of SR campaign report)

To understand what is going on here, you had best read the first PinkCat: Running in the Shade post, but short summary, this is a campaign report for our Shadowrun campaign set in NorCal through the filter of a cartoon made by one of the team members.

Episode Thirty-Nine: The Corporations are Your Friends

Guest Starring: DoubleUp and Tora.

On a trip to the local mall (Mall-U-Want) Pink and her friends stumble upon a corporate recruiting fair, all the Ten Big GigantoCorps are there (Big Pyramid, FutureYou, Hollywood!, Mars MassiveTech, RedRyu and so on) along with many smaller companies.

The episode is essentially a PSA about how corporations work, what they do and what is good and bad about them.  It is mostly evenhanded but contains some backhanded slams about how the GigantoCorps abuse their powers when dealing with people.

The episode ends with Pink and friends staggering out of the mall under the weight of all of the promotional things there were given by the corporate recruiters.

What really happened:

New Magic Item – Traveler’s Safe Meal Kit

Voddick unrolled the leather sheet and with a snap it hardened and curled up at the edges. 

“I do like that touch,” observed Gollaon, who was making do with a battered borrowed plate.

“You could have gotten one for yourself,” said Voddick.

“Well, there was that hat . . .”

“And that charming lady . . .”

“And that handsome young man . . .”

Traveler’s Safe Meal Kit

This item consists of four parts: An eating knife, a spoon, a rectangle of leather or heavy cloth and a thick metal disk.  The rectangle rolls into a cone and the knife and spoon can be stored inside with the disk acting as a seal.  Unrolled, the rectangle assumed the strength of metal at a gesture or command word, the disc expands into a cup in the same manner, another command returns them to their transportable state.

Tuesday Magic Item – Portable Porter

“Sometimes it is not so bad working with wizards,” said Voddick as he watched the magical manifestations carry and load the goods for the journey.

“Truth,” replied Gollaon with nod.  “But at some point on this journey, we will be doing that same task.”

“Without doubt.  But we are not doing it now and for that, I am grateful.  Now let us see if we can get another drink before we leave.”

“Excellent plan.”

Portable Porter

These bowler hats are well made and inevitably black, hidden under the interior lining are the runes and inscribed spells that power their magic workings.

Worn, the hat provides a +4 resistance bonus / +4 natural armor bonus to resist physical attacks and traps that target the top of the head.

But it is more useful when placed on the ground and a command word spoken, then a servant rises to fill the hat,  It will follow the orders of the person who placed the hat, though it cannot initiate violence or even defend itself.  Treat it as an unseen servant with a Strength of 4 and a +1 bonus on Craft and Profession checks that can only be used for aid another checks.  The servant may be summoned for up to nine hours each day but each summoning uses at least one hour no matter for how short a period the servant is used for.

Aura faint conjuration; CL 5th
Slot head; Price 2,750; Weight 1 lb
Construction Requirements
Create Wondrous Items, bull’s strength, fox’s cunning, mage armor, owl’s wisdom, unseen servant; Cost 1,375

For D&D 5E:

Wondrous item (hat), uncommon (requires attunement and see below)

First paragraph as above.

Worn, the hat provides advantage to saving throws to resist physical attacks and traps that target the top of the head suffer disadvantage on their attack.

But it is more useful when placed on the ground and a command word spoken, then a servant rises to fill the hat,  It will follow the orders of the person who placed the hat, though it cannot initiate violence or even defend itself.  Treat it as an unseen servant except that it has AC 11, 1 hit point, and a Strength of 4.   It can help on tool proficiency checks if directed to by its summoner.  The servant may be summoned for up to nine hours each day but each summoning uses at least one hour no matter for how short a period the servant is used for.

While the Portable Porter requires attunement, a person may be attuned up to three of them that only counts a one item for the limit of attuned items.

Notes: I was off at a trade show the last couple of days and having someone to help carry things would have been helpful on several occasions.

Photo by Wonderlane and used under the CC BY 2.0.