[OSR] 20 Magic Items

20 Magic Items (OSR Edition)

Most of the items done in the first two of these were not very OSR, the idea is more to have a tool than to have a weapon or static bonus, so I’ll try to keep these descriptions vague to make them more osr. I know I said I was gonna write them based on spells, but Ive kind of moved towards just personalities. Looking through obscure spell lists is still a good way to come up with them though.

Looks a little more expensive than tin...

1. A sword with a steel tentacle instead of a blade, it can be used as a bludgeoning weapon. The tentacle end of the weapon can become malleable, and while it can be told what to do, it does have a mind of its own.

2. A cheap, tin ring that everyone really wants to wear, the greater the ego of the ring, the more powerful this effect is. The effect on it is fairly powerful at the moment, as two tribes are currently in a war over it.

3. A dagger that thirsts for blood, though it will behave while sheathed or otherwise covered, as soon as it feels the freedom of a naked blade, it will lunge toward the nearest warm-blooded creature (Str. to resist or sheathe), if you do not resist, you can follow along with it and soar through the air in a spectacular arc toward the victim chosen.

4. A small silver key you can stab into your body (take one damage) to open a small pocket of space large enough to hold one item. The key believes it is the key to the heart, and will try to convince you to stab it into your heart, this is a bad idea.

5. A pair of shoes that walk really fast, but only where they want to go. They are cowardly and will get you out of the dungeon as fast as possible. A good method of taking them off involves intentionally tripping yourself, then reaching over to remove the boots.

6. A pen that draws stuff for you! It is also has a 10% chance to know a random piece of information it can write down for you, this includes drawing maps or monster anatomies. They really like to seem knowledgeable, and may give you a piece of bad information if they don’t know an answer.

7. A hooded lantern that creates cones of darkness, it likes to tell visceral and depressing stories, it also tells really good, original horror stories that make the average person save vs. vomiting uncontrollably.

8. A hammer that’s really good at carpentry, structures or barriers made with it are built 25% faster and are twice as effective at what they do, as it dispenses knowledgeable advice, he does this in an overbearing manner.

9. An extinct elephant species’ tusk, with blood still on the end. The spirit inside acts as a translator between you and the dead. He's basically E-oar

10. A small wooden statue of a hawk with outspread wings that allows you to see through its eyes. It can only do this when it is mounted atop a helmet.

10. A door that never opens to the same place twice, it's very indecisive, and is not sure whether or not it wants to be used. It is the door that does this, not the frame.

11. A box that contains a random tool, the tool inside the box changes every day. If it is not replaced in the box, it will be unable to generate a new one the following day. It can be replaced meaning you can put any other random tool you happen to have in the box if the item taken out goes missing.

12. Two pieces of slate, they contain two halves of a spell. When one piece is written on, it appears on the other. If the two parts are ever matched together, they fuse and can be used to ask a random higher power 1 question.

13. A key that can be used to locate small lost objects. He has a 50% chance of getting lost on the way. They track the items in a bad Croc Dundy impersonation.

14.  A glass eye that the user can see out of as long as they are in contact with it. It can move about on its own but never in sinc with your other eye. It attempts to interpret everything as art.

15. A bag that can hold five items in one inve tory slot, but it's very picky about what it'll carry. It will only allow items with a value of 20g or higher, if anything does not meet that requirement, it will petulantly spill out all of its contents at the next inopportune moment.

16. A violin that plays itself. It can be held in a way that makes it look as if you're playing it, which it will allow, but doesn't appreciate very much. It is very good at playing and a little snobbish about it. You will probably stumple upon it by hearing its haunting melodies faintly in another room.

17. A bust of a man with an open mouth. Feeding him rations causes him to dispense delicious food. He laments on how he doesnt truly get to taste the food, and will whine incessantly at the sight of you eating it.

18. One of those childrens toys where you put the shapes in the holes, except it doesn't come with the shapes. It can turn small rocks into geometric shapes designed to fit in the holes. At least one hole is non-euclidean. Has the personality of a bored child.

19. An executioner's sword with a handle shaped like a headless man, and twisting fonts of blood emerging from it forming a cross guard. It can be used like a normal sword, but will target the head of any 'headed' enemy, Save vs. Str to resist. Whenever a 'headed' enemy is prone, attacks made with it automatically decapitate. It sings as he is used in battle, in your head, or to priests or devout followers of X religion, this manifests as an actual singing voice, to others, this manifests as a constant resonating of the blade, causing enemies to Save vs. Con or fall prone, clutching their ears. He is devout to X religion and will not let himself be swung at other members of his faith.

20. A compass that always points toward a specific location, this location cannot be changed. It can be anything from a major plot point or location, to a small decrepit, yet homely inn. It values adventurous tales and will thus will good-naturedly point you the way using the most challenging path reasonable. It talks with the voice of a GPS.

Magic Item Ecology

     Magic items really just spells trapped in mundane objects. They don’t want to be trapped there, but there’s nothing they can do about it. If it’s a young magic item, it’ll probably want you to free it, it will also probably refuse to be used. There are some magic items that are fine with being magic items, those belong to the church though, and they would never let a heathen use them.

     Older magic items are either resigned to the fact that they are trapped, or are completely insane. No, seriously, if you intend for a magic item to be a particular spell, roll to see whether or not it’s an insane one, it’s probably mutated.

     You can talk to a magic item, but you need to coax it out first. Only once you’ve been able to successfully reason with it can you use its magical abilities.

     Magic items are generally some of the oldest spells to exist, mostly because they’ve been left untouched for so long, and if they’re not insane, they might have quite a bit of insight into the past. Don’t listen to the insane ones though, they’ll corrupt your mind, make you question why you’re even here.

How This Works In Your Game

     This doesn’t mean magic items are literally just items that cast spells, they basically have effects that make sense based on what the spell is combined with what they are. But you can't just have them use their effect on command unless you have some kind of agreement. Usually, you have to convince them to use their powers.

     Insane magic items are mutated spells, but they probably still think they work like they’re supposed to, If they tell you this, they are lying.

A List of Magic Items

These spells were taken from Skerples' 100 Orthodox Wizard Spells, and I plan on making a magic item for all of them in a separate post, but for now here's five:

Format:

[Spell Name][Item Type]

[Sanity][Personality]

[Ability]

1. Wending Bolt Shield

    Insane Bloodthirsty, will bash itself against creatures it sees

    Can fly out of your hand and bash itself into the nearest creature within ten feet, it can take any  

    path to do this.

2. Roaring Flames A Golden Bonsai

    Insane (obviously) an arsonist, it will always be muttering and distracting you.

    It can cover itself with fire, this fire is as bright as a torch, but will deal 1d6 damage to anyone   

    holding it.

3. Heroic Leap Dagger

    Sane Has an over-inflated sense of justice, naive, wants to slay a dragon.

    The dagger can jump 20' in any direction at high velocities and stab into creatures, make a strength 

    check to hang on.

4. Embroider Deed Tapestry

    Sane Very knowledgeable of the church's past, but impartial toward them, eager to tell stories.

    It reweave's its threads to tell tales told to it in the past, any story told to it will be remembered, 

    and it can play it on command, you can also ask it to tell a story, and it will happily do so.

5. Embed Memory Bottle

    Insane Hungry, it's always hungry... And it only wants that hunger to be satisfied.

    The bottle stores and mixes memories, and then give them back (If you can convince him). He 

    currently has a memory of some blasphemy, along with whatever other weird things you can come 

    up with, meaning you will have to pass the bad memories off to some poor peasant before using it.

Magic Items: 10 more rare/magic items for your players to steal.

Hey, remember the first one of these posts I made more than a half a year ago? You know, when I said that I would make four more of them? Well, here's the second one.

1. Souldrain: A magical sickle, it drains the enemies morale. For every successful attack this weapon makes against a sentient being, they take one point of wisdom damage, once they lose all their wisdom, they go insane. After facing this weapon, you can recover any wisdom damage received along with a long rest.

2. Expanding Fungus: A purple fungus held in a glass jar. It feeds on microorganisms trapped in the air, such as dead cells (dust), this causes it to rapidly expand when exposed to any place where it has food (anywhere where life exists). It cannot feed off of humans in a way drastic enough to kill them, though it will destroy the first few layers of skin, leaving you itchy due to all the fresh exposed skin. It is impossible to walk through, and will suffocate anyone who is trapped inside it (there is no air in there, only Co2), it is good at blocking off doorways quickly.

3. Book of Advice: It looks like a four page paper pocket manual, bound together by a brownish-red string. In reality, it's a trapped demon. It dispenses valuable advice when you need it, while also hinting at the fact that it is a trapped demon. It wants you to free it, and to return all of its favors, you kind of have to.

4. Ace up the Sleeve: A magically enchanted playing card that shows whatever you want on the face.


5. Monocle of Seeing: Faintly outlines all creatures with a golden glow, every time you're hit, save to prevent it from falling onto the floor and breaking.


6. Pointer Ring: It's a laser pointer, except it's a magical ring. Animals are compelled to chase it around. Maybe it would be useful for presentations?


7. Ring of Falling: The opposite of a ring of feather fall, it makes you fall faster, and hit the floor harder. It makes a short drop deadly, such as stepping off of a carriage. You probably shouldn't use it yourself, but maybe give it away?


8. Fixed Pin: Its a pin, but when you press the pinhead, it floats in place. It can stab through anything that a normal pin could, such as paper.


9. Everlocked Doorknob: It's a doorknob, it's always locked, any attempts to unlock it fail, magical or otherwise. You could move it by dismantling it, but what's the point?


10. Ring of water Breathing: While you wear it, you can breathe water, but you can't breathe oxygen. Too much usage can cause lung issues.