A Simple Crown for Saunders

I was always fascinated with the artifacts in the DMG, but there was always a problem with them. They were written for someone else's campaign, plus they were essentially cursed. And often world-breaking. 

I often make up artifact-level magic items for my campaign. In general, they are more of a McGuffin of limited utility rather than The Ring of Power. I really suggest using the artifacts in the DMG as a guide rather than items to be selected. 

The Crown of Saunders is one such item. The Kingdom of Saunders is a tiny place. Its main claim to fame is that the wisdom of the kings has allowed it to remain stable for centuries. This is the power of the Crown, the actual crown worn by the king. 

Saunders' main problem is that its princes usually fall prey to the men around the king, the type of men who always gravitate to power. Every prince has always been remembered as a horrible little prick, who, upon ascending the throne and donning the crown, suddenly had a change of heart and became wise and kind. 

This is the Crown's doing. It has the following magic: 

Reverse Alignment (once in a lifetime),
Immunity to Charm,
Allows the spell ability of a 9th-level Magic-User, 
Confers on the owner the ability to sing, swim, ride horses, and dance exceptionally well. 
Confers the ability to speak and understand many languages. 
Confers a +1 to Charisma, up to 19.  

The first 3 powers require the wearing of the crown. If someone other than the king wears the crown, they will experience the alignment reversal, but not gain any of the other abilities. Those are reserved for the king. 

The DM should make up a list of spells for the crown as if a Magic-User were getting ready for travel, not combat. These can be cast once per day, but only if the crown is worn. These extra spells require no study or a spell book. Should the king actually be a Magic-User, that person can cast their own spells or one of the ones the crown "knows", but they cannot exceed the casting limits of a 9th-level caster. They don't get to cast extra spells. The Magic-User is required to study if they wish to cast a spell from their own spell book as per normal. 

The next three powers are conferred to the proper owner of the crown, not someone wearing it or holding it. It is impractical to wear the crown all the time, especially when dancing or horseback riding. The Kings of Saunders can perform all of these tasks ridiculously well, but I will leave the actual bonus up to you. I will note that drownings and riding accidents never happen to the Kings of Saunders; it's like they are Olympic-level athletes. Hubris is still possible, but unlikely. 

DMs should select up to 3 languages for the Crown to confer to the King, based on your campaign setting. In my setting, these are "evil" languages that a King typically wouldn't study due to the stigma. 

Several wily kings have historically used the alignment-reversing power of the crown to "pardon" a politically motivated criminal by placing the crown on their head. This will force the alignment change, turning an evil or chaotic person into a lawful or good citizen. It greatly reduces the likelihood of reprisals and problems for the king.  The utility of this is dubious, as the reverse of neutral is still neutral, and so is reversing the alignment of someone who is acting out of logic or belief. On many occasions, this trick of "pardoning" has actually caused more problems for the king than it solves. 

So, here you have it. A very neat and powerful item that could, but doesn't have to be game-breaking. I will have a second historical post as to how this Crown was created. It is unusual because the Crown's gambit of powers are also unusual. 

Happy News!

This is a weird and happy update. 

Back in March of 2022, I received a bit of bad news. Amazon ended my Associate account. This ended an important source of revenue for my website. It also caused a headache; I had to go back and remove all affiliate links to Amazon. Well, as painful as it was, an agreement is an agreement. 

Last month, I vaguely mentioned this in a post, and amazingly, Amazon reached out to reinstate my account! This is great. I really appreciate the extra effort and being invited back to promote items I already use. 

So, we are back on with the Amazon Ads. As I previously stated, all ads will be clearly marked. I am in the process of going back through some (limited) posts to re-add previously removed ads. 

Since it was so painful to remove said ads, I have no intention of slapping ads into a ton of old posts. You will mostly see these appear in book reviews and posts where I specifically mention Amazon as a source. I am 100% certain you will see ads on books, just like you do for DriveThruRPG. I am much less likely to plug in an ad where a casual mention of Amazon is made. 

I like my sources of goods to be diversified, and you should, too. If I say a brand name and you see it somewhere else, by all means, use that other source. Be loyal, don't be inflexible. 

The Travelling Box

File under things I have done and should have done. Way back in 2020, I posted about a game by GDW called Striker. I assured myself that I would read and review it. That didn't happen. What really happened was I stuck the box in a drawer and moved it to the garage. 

That was a win because when the house burned a year later, I found a desk full of game books in the garage, which did not burn. 

Fast forward four years. 

I still haven't read this one, but I should. 

One of the problems with old games is that the cardboard boxes often fall apart, regardless of whether they are exposed to fire or not. This box is ok, but in a few years, it won't be. I cannot tell you how many games I have without boxes. This cramps my style of reading and reviewing things. 

However, I now have a laser cutter, which is also contributing to my lack of reading and reviewing. Funny how hobbies battle with each other. Here is my grand plan: Make boxes for games. 

This box is designed to fit the small booklet games that were so popular decades ago. The exterior dimensions are 6 1/4" (15.8 cm) x 9 1/4" (23.5 cm) x 1 3/4" (4.5 cm). The bottom panel has reinforcing teeth, and the lid has a backplate to prevent flex. 

This is a prototype, but once I have the design down, I plan to sell them on my website. I need to tweak the design a little. As you can see, it is a tiny bit too small for the modern hardback books that are common today.

I also had a friend ask if I could felt the interior, to prevent rattling. That means I need to make the box a smidgen larger. And learn how to apply the felt. Once I am 100% with my dimensions, I'll see how good my painting and staining skills are after all these years. 

These boxes have lift-off lids, which I like, but I will probably design two with wooden hinges and a fourth with metal. I need to set a clear goal and stop fidgeting with the design like I did in the picture to the left.  

I hope to have these for sale on Ko-Fi by September 1st. In these few weeks, I need to get a lot done.