Tuesday Magic Item – Monster’s Mask

“Again with the masked people,” hissed Voddick,his hand dropping to his weapon.

“And these do not seem very friendly,” answered Gollaon quietly.  “I think they are trophy hunters so they are probably after beasts rather than us.”

“Probably?”

“Hopefully.”

Monster’s Mask

These masks are plain, at least before their magic is activated, though solidly built and inscribed with magical runes.

Its magic is activated by painting fresh blood from an animal, monster or beast slain by the mask’s wearer.  The mask then takes on the visage of the creature whose blood was painted upon it.  This gives the following abilities:

• Fearsome visage, an enhancement bonus to Intimidation checks equal to the CR of the creature.
• Health of the Conquered, once a day, the wearer gains a number of temporary hit points equal to the HD of the creature, these temporary hit points last for 1d4+6 minutes.
• Power of the Blood, the wearer can use one ability tied to the head of the creature, such as gaze or breath weapon or even a bite as though the wearer was the original creature.  Using this ability uses up all of the magic of the blood and the other abilities of the mask fade.

The powers last for a number days equal to the CR of the creature or until the Power of the Blood ability is used.

Aura strong transmutation; CL 13th
Slot head; Price 75,000; Weight 1 lb
Construction Requirements
Craft Wondrous Item, fear, greater polymorph, vampiric touch; Cost 37,500

For D&D 5E:

Wondrous item (mask), very rare (requires attunement)

First paragraph as above.

Its magic is activated by painting fresh blood from an animal, monster or beast slain by the mask’s wearer.  The mask then takes on the visage of the creature whose blood was painted upon it.  This gives the following abilities:

• Fearsome visage, a bonus to Charisma (Intimidation) roll equal to the CR of the creature in dice type rounded down, CR 1-3, +1, CR 4-5, +1d4, and so on.
• Health of the Conquered, the wearer gains a number of temporary hit points equal to the HD of the creature, these temporary hit points last for 1d4+6 minutes.  Once this ability is used, it cannot be used until the wearer takes a long rest.
• Power of the Blood, the wearer can use one ability tied to the head of the creature, such as gaze or breath weapon or even a bite as though the wearer was the original creature.  Using this ability uses up all of the magic of the blood and the other abilities of the mask fade.

The powers last for a number days equal to the CR of the creature or until the Power of the Blood ability is used.

Notes: Let us get the monster theme started for October!

An Iron ‘scolds bridle’ mask from the Wellcome Collection and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).