The Colony - Some Items

The party in my PBEM game, The Colony, started at 3rd level, and to my mind, characters that have gained that much experience should have a magic item or two. Here are a few of the starting items from the game. We're using Labyrinth Lord, so most of this still should be easy to translate to other D&Dish systems. I've included the character names with each item  for people reading along with the game.

A Few Bits of Magic

More magic items are always a good thing, right? Here are a few things the party in my Wilds game found during their adventures. I thought I'd already posted these, but I don't see them anywhere. I did write up some of the older items, the Sword of Bees, the Steadyhand Ring, and the Dwarf Kettle a while back. Without further ado, here are three new items that can be used in most any OSR-style game.

Steadyhand Ring

Another magic item from my Wilds play-by-email game. With the party back in town, they're spending some time trying to figure out what the magic items they've found do.

Steadyhand Ring
This battered brass ring feels heavy in the hand. It is a plain band, but the inner surface is inscribed with a faint pattern of oscillating lines. When worn it steadies the wearer's hand, granting a +1 to hit bonus with missile weapons and a +5% bonus to find / remove traps and open locks attempts. It takes several hours wear for the ring to attune itself to a particular wearer's personal aura. Swapping resets this attuning process.

Now let's see who from the game notices this post. Gather information check anyone?

The Steadyhand Ring is one of seven items in Items of Power Volume Three, available on DriveThruRPG.

The Dwarf Kettle

Finally, the players in my Wilds game have figured out what the iron kettle they've been lugging about does! Now I can post it for everyone.

Dwarf Kettle

This iron kettle was made by the Dwarfs long ago, though it's plain shape and lack of adornment make this hard to discern. When a command phrase is spoken (Kettle Cook - in Dwarf), the kettle transforms whatever liquid it is filled with into a rich, warm broth, just right for sipping. Consuming one cup of this broth is equivalent to a full meal. The kettle can be activated twice per day.

• The kettle holds four servings.
• Anyone consuming a serving regains 1d4 HP.
• Broth produced cannot be stored for more than one hour.

Short and sweet!

The Dwarf Kettle is one of seven items in Items of Power Volume One, available via DriveThruRPG.

The Sword of Bees

This is the sword Raúguey, from my Labyrinth Lord Wilds game has. Figured I'd post it here, since he finally discovered what it does.

Sword of Bees
This two-handed sword is plain but quite sharp. It has the following characteristics:

• +1 weapon
• It emits a low buzzing, humming sound when used in combat.
• Any natural 19-20 attack roll causes a swarm of bees to swirl out of the weapon's blade, surrounding the struck foe. These bees cause no damage, but distract and blind the enemy, who suffers a -2 penalty on all actions, and a -4 morale penalty for three rounds.
• Any natural 1 attack roll causes a swarm of bees to attack the wielder as above.
• Bees are glittering gold unless a fumble is rolled, in which case they are a sickly green.

The Sword of Bees is one of seven items found in Items of Power Volume Three, available on DriveThruRPG.

Vault of Eternal Sleep

The Vault is cut from a single block of a mysterious, deep-blue stone, origin unknown. It is a perfect nine-foot cube, with a single square opening three feet wide cut in the center of one face.

The Marionette Glove

This item is a single, gaudy glove, made from a mishmash of red, yellow, and blue silk strips and panels. A dozen or so strands of heavy, black thread hang from the fingertips and palm of the Glove, each about six inches long. The Glove's cuff is decorated with fine embroidery done in black and silver thread, and careful examination will reveal a command word written in ancient script hidden in this stitching.

Blade of Reflection

The Blade of Reflection is a long, broad-bladed bastard sword. It is fitted with an unadorned, straight guard of blueish steel and a pommel of the same material. The grip is rough black leather wrapped with copper wire. The blade is fashioned from an unknown material, a substance that appears to be pure, polished silver, but rings like fine crystal when tapped. The Blade's cross-section is a flattened hexagon, and its edges never show any sign of wear or damage. The weapon is about 55 inches from tip to pommel.

Magic Item: The Sun Globe

This magical object is a three-inch globe of polished amber, shot through with twisting veins of some deep blue stone. It emits a faint radiance at all times, and once its secret is unlocked it can be commanded to do any of the following:

The Prophecy Urn

This object is capable of providing potent portents, prophecies and predictions. The Prophecy Urn is three feet tall. It's bulbous, two-foot wide base narrows to a slender neck culminating in a flaring mouth. A pair of looped handles of polished brass flank the Urn's neck. The Urn is made from some black metal, smooth and polished to a glossy sheen, but this material is only visible within the object's neck. The exterior of the Urn is sheathed in a leather and fur casing made from the preserved facial skins of dozens of creatures, both natural and unnatural. Specimens include a sad-looking human, a snarling badger, a tiny praying mantis, a haughty cat, a twisted imp, a scaly lizardman, and many more. Each face is a fine example of the taxidermist's art, eyes replaced with flecks of colored stone or glass, teeth carefully carved from ivory or stone, features given form by carefully placed beneath the skin. The Urn is both large and heavy, moving it requires the efforts of two strong men.