52 Weeks of Magic - 17 of 52 - Missile Mirror

The Missile Mirror is a handy defensive item for spell casters, although any character can benefit a little from it.

The mirror is about 4" in diameter and has a rune of a satyr in a sun on the back. The front is concave and silvered. Used as is, the reflected image is distorted. It is intended that the user "black" the silvered surface over a candle, place it on a tabletop and fill it with water. This produces a crystal clear reflection. The device reveals some of it's magic by repulsing the candle black on command. The black residue forms a small pellet and can be dumped out. It can be used to make paints, inks, dyes or cosmetics. The pellet will have a value of one copper, so it is not a good source of money but will replace a candle or few.

Possession of the Missile Mirror will improve the owner's AC by 1. Anyone can benefit from this. Holding the Mirror out towards missile fire will improve a spell caster's AC by 3 (total). Additionally, spell casters will have a 40% magic resistance to magical missiles AND if successful at foiling such an attack, it has a 20% chance of reflecting the spell back on the caster.

Foiling magical missile attacks uses one charge. Reflecting magical missile attacks uses two charges. The Missile Mirror has 16 charges. The rays of the sun are a visual indicator of these charges and will pit and dent when a charge is used. If all of the charges are used up, the Missile Mirror will still provide a -1 to AC for simply having it and will still be a useful mirror.

The Missile Mirror can be recharged by a silversmith of great ability. By repairing the pits and dents on the rays, they are restoring a charge. While the mirror can be damaged by abuse, an attempt at recharging it will never damage it. Failure to restore a charge causes the smith's patch to bubble and hiss before being absorbed into the mirror's structure. The materials needed to repair each ray is 20 silver pieces or a like-sized slug, bar or ingot. The makeup of such repair materials doesn't matter, only the size or volume counts. Some people use spoons.

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	26	Coming Soon	27	Coming Soon	28	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments. 

52 Weeks of Magic - 16 of 52 - Defender's Boss

The Defender's Boss is an unusual magic item. When found, it is approximately 4 inches around. It has an image of a lion painted on it and has a loop on the back as if it belongs on a chain or necklace. If worn in this fashion, it will improve the wear's AC by 1. If the wearer is a fighting type (ranger, paladin, cleric, etc.) who can normally use a shield, the Defender's Boss can be willed to grow to a maximum of 4 feet in size and it will act as a +1 shield. This is in addition the previous benefit of 1, for a total of two.

If the boss is used correctly and placed in the center of a shield, it will fuse to it and that shield will now be +3 and always magical. The shield will have the same ability to grow or shirnk as a the boss does.

If the shield is destroyed either by magic or a massive force, the Boss in entitled to it's own saving throw and if it succeeds, it will pop off the destroyed shield and be ready for use again in one day. If a smith or armorer attempts to remove it, it will respond to their desires and come off in their hands. No tools required nor will it lose it's powers.  

If this device is used by an assassin class character, it will not confer the bonus to AC for mere possession nor will it operate as a normal shield. When an assassin attempts to use it as a shield, it will grow to a full five feet in diameter forcing them to hold it with both hands or drop it. If held in this fashion, it will provide cover AND a +2 to AC. While recalcitrant to use by assassins, it will shrink or grow on command. 

If the boss is rammed into an opening smaller than it's diameter when fully deployed, the shield will squirm so that the boss is facing the character. If the shield is destroyed trying to expand, the boss will fall off the holder's hands. It does not want to be lost. Doing this will cause the item to lose it's magic for 7 days. 

If the lion symbol is painted over, any damage to the shield or boss will cause the paint to blow off, reveling the lion. 

Navigation

Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item	Week	Item
1	Magic Lamps	2	The Rat Bag	3	Emulous Cursed Sword	4	The Cloak of Peaceful Repose
5	The Cowl of Death	6	Scimitar of Smiting	7	The Symbol of Sol Invictus	8	The Equi Phalera
9	Libertatem	10	Sorrow	11	Aemilla Carna	12	The Obice Cardeam
13	The Gnollish Rattlebone	14	Bands of Roland	15	Shape of Memory	16	Defender's Boss
17	Missile Mirror	18	Stone Horse	19	Staff of Eyes	20	Helm of Aware Airs
21	Potion of the Lionhearted	22	The Unnamed Potion	23	Whispering Wings	24	Monk's Bane
25	Token of Infi	26	Coming Soon	27	Coming Soon	28	Coming Soon

Now, the commercial. I have a little book called Zero to Hero: Uncommon Commoners, over at DrivethruRPG. I am obviously thinking of writing another and Gnolls might be the subject. Please let me know what you think in the comments. 

The 3 Toadstools and #tenmonstersetting

Shane Ward, over on MeWe suggested a great starter idea for world building. Pick a book then pick 10 monsters to populate your world. On Shane's blog, The 3 Toadstools, he added a 10 categories based on feedback from the MeWe community:

1. semi-intelligent humanoid
2. undead
3. ancient fey race 
4. giant/ogre/troll race
5. great wyrm or lizard
6. aerial
7. Aquatic
8. dimensional  
9. classic mythology
10. chthonic

I grabbed my classic red book and came up with the following list: 

1. Orc, many tribes in the mountains. 
2. Wight, found on the plains. They inhabit burial mounds. 
3. Pixie, live on the edges of forests and will turn over characters to the Sprites within if there is trouble.  
4.  Ogre, a large semi-nomadic tribe. They trade fresh food to the Lizard men. They have a tiny range from north edge of 'Potumus Bay to the Grand Plateau in the mountains. They winter on in the caves at the edge of the Grand Plateau.  
5. Black Dragon, only one and he inhabits a lonely crag. He eats orcs and hippos and avoids men and ogres. 
6. Sprite, typical fey folk who are nicer than Pixies who live just outside their forests and meadows. Slightly more organized than Pixies, they can dish out what approximates for justice according the fey if someone messes with the Pixies or Sprites.   
7. Lizard Man, a single tribe located on, in and around a high tarn. Relatively peaceable, they will trade metals for fruit.  
8. (None in the book) I selected a Djinni. Actually, a family of Djinn. Two boys, three girls and mom and dad. They live below the dragon's crag. They guard a cave which leads to the realm of air, but no one but Djinn can see the gate. 
9. Pegasus. A seemingly, a singular creature. They live far to the north, beyond the mountains and a few get blown off course from time to time. While lost, they will visit the many tarns and lakes in the area. They have no fear of humanoids and can sometimes be found grazing with domesticated horses on the plains.  
10. Giant Ants, a pest of urban settings. They often invade towns in the spring, via sewers. A massive headache to clean out. 

9 out of 10 creatures from one book isn't bad. It totally works for my Peninsula of Plenty campaign. I can't wait to get these ideas into that world. 

World Building with Worldographer

I'm working on a new map for the Peninsula of Plenty campaign using Inkwell Idea's Worldographer. The software is remarkably easy to use and makes the whole experience of world building a wonder rather than a pain. I went whole hog on this purchase and selected the $99.00 bundle plus Hexographer 1E World Style Icon Set. 

Right now I am tinkering with the different icon sets and have a mishmash of icons. I hope to correct this and work entirely with the 1E World Style set for everything. 

One of the nicest parts of the software is that once you have your geography set, where towns, rivers and road go make more sense. I've blogged about the 'Potamus Bay area before, but didn't realize how much was missing from the region. I detailed just a handful of settlements, but I envisioned an area that was both old and wild. That means more, but smaller settlements. The map now displays six settlements around the lake. A navigable river cause most people to refer to the lake as a bay, it actually is a lake next to a bay. 

The southern most ruins is actually a double ruin. There was massive wooden manor house that had been burned to the ground, but a smaller stone folly remains largely intact. It has been settled by kobolds. They call themselves Tribe of Minwan after their king. Thirty-six miles to the west is the largest settlement in the area ruled by a Gerent. The area is nominally controlled by the Empire, but due to the lack of luxury, the local ruler is permitted to rule as he see's fit. Along the western edge of the lake are two manors, one which supports a town and the other which is a fortified house. On the eastern side, the north-most habitation is a small village which has sprung up around a miller and blacksmith family. The tiny house on the southeast of the lake is an ancient fortified house made of stone. It is tiny but well populated. 

All this information basically wrote it's self as I used the software to make improvements to ideas I had kicking around in my head.