Very nice. The Staff could work nicely on its own or as part of the set, and the powers mean you can put it in the hands of anyone - not too benevolent or malevolent. I could definitely imagine using this. In fact, maybe I will.... If I can fit it into my game, I'll report back.

One problem I do have, minor though it is, is that you talk about powers being linked to a Cause, but that is not described either here or in what I take to be the main submission (The Kingdom of Seven Princes). And I'm not willing to look through six other submissions to hunt it down. It's not that important to this item, though, so not a big deal, just a little nitpick. Go to Comment

As mentioned, I did indeed use this submission: brought it in as a malevolent magic item in a Buffy the Vampire Slayer game. I thought it worked pretty well, though I did have to rather dramatically alter the lore to make it work.

Still, the powers here are good and dramatic - giant snakes, assassin snakes, tempters, hypnosis, protection - all the stuff you want your villain types to have. Laurang can serve as kind of a nice boss, and Apophis as a solid introduction of sorts. The staff is definitely a neat item - it lends itself to being used stylishly, and it's kind of fun to describe.

On the other hand, using it this way kind of diminished Abraxas's ability to spread discord, even letting him talk without being specifically asked questions, so I not certain that I got the most out of it.

Still, lent itself to a good time. Go to Comment

A really cool item with logical drawbacks and such.

Only one quibble - the selection of Glaurung as a snake name. To me it is in the same bucket as naming your wizard Gandalf :)

 

Go to Comment

I'm planning on expanding the "Kingdom of Seven Princes" sub to provide biographies of each King and to better link the lore together. I might do it in short-story format, but I haven't decided yet. To try to answer your questions:

The intelligence of the summons was always there, from the moment of the Staff's creation. Linus came to rely heavily on the advice and council of the various snakes of his staff, especially when the rift between him and his brothers began to grow. Obviously not a sound idea -- enigmatic magical beings are a poor substitute for one's own family or friends in times of mental distress.

Linus became increasingly paranoid during this time, and it was he himself who began to decouple the Staff from the other King's Items. He was a master of the arcane arts, after all; tinkering with his own item was well within his abilities. The Staff did not deactivate for him before he was through because he never really abandoned his Cause -- he truly believed that he was working for the good of Adelheim, by securing his own power so that he could continue to lead in the event of his brothers' betrayal.

Once the summoned snakes began to be fed sacrifices in return for their services, however, their demeanor immediately changed. They enjoyed the change and wanted to encourage it. The unintended consequence of unlinking the Staff from the other items, therefore, was to provide the snakes with motivation to keep that distance; hence, the desire of the various snakes to cause strive within the fellowship even where none exists before. If they are successful, they get "paid" for the services that they otherwise have to render for free.

Not sure if that was entirely clear, but I'll try to work it into the sub itself when I have time. Thanks for your thoughtful comments and suggestions on many of the items in this series. Go to Comment

Fair enough. The "Cause" is kind of nebulous, since it will be different for every group. Basically, it is a sort of sworn pact all the bearers must follow. It can be anything from "We shall defend the city of Valyria" to "We shall avenge our people by destroying the Empire and its army." In this case, each prince swore to serve the kingdom to the best of his abilities and to support his brothers in doing the same. Go to Comment

I'm glad you got a chance to use it in-game. Seriously made my day to hear about it, so thanks for posting back :D Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

Well, it seems Verrin was hard on the path towards blackguard, so that might be a suitable curse on future users. This horn seems to be ideal for defending armies, not for conquerors, unless the Horn can be convinced the landgrab is justified. Maybe it sticks to the borders at the moment of its crafting. A Leonidas might use it justly, but an Alexander not.

Which leads me to the following question: was Verrin the only one of the brothers to misuse his item, or just the first? Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

A great item - this is quite interesting and has a lot of possibilities.

 

 

Go to Comment

Dossta, thanks for keeping up with this collection. Each item alone is a great sub, but taken together they are exceptional. I really like the concept and the execution. 

This horn is formidable, and I particularly like the subtle twist that could easily be the downfall of the horn's wielder, as he erodes away the inhibitions of his own men, slowly ebbing their humanity away. So far, the darkest of the seven item. I like!

Go to Comment

- Adelheim's Seven Favours

- King Mosanggar's favours/tokens/gifts

- Adelheim's Aegis (with the implication that all the items are only facets of the aegis)

- The Steward's Prizes

- The Seven Sentinels

- The Seven Keys to Adelheim

- Mosanggar's Seven Legacies

- The Princes' Birthright

- Mosanggar's Wards (as in, protective spells)

- Mosanggar's Binding

- The Prince's Circle

- The Princes' Chain (a chain is only strong as...)

- The Stars of Adelheim

- The Adelheimian Unity

- The Princes' Pledges

Go to Comment

Just one more to go after this.  I know that I didn't get them done in time for the Quest, but I still want to use the same format to keep them all consistent.

Go to Comment

Funny you should ask that. I'm developing the history of Adelheim as I go along, and so far I believe that he was the second. I'll cover that a little more in the last item, if I decide to go in that direction.

One note: the Kings' Items aren't inherently good or evil; they can be pledged to any cause under the sun. In the original case, the brothers had pledged to "protect the people of Adelheim" when they first received the items, but they could just as easily have pledged to "find a path to immortality" or "destroy the Royal House of Kremika and reclaim their ancestral lands." The GM should therefore use discretion when allowing the players to pick their cause -- it shouldn't be too broad that the players could never be tempted to go back on their word. Ideally, it will be a quest related to the overarching campaign.

And also, aside from the Skald, none of the items are really sentient. They just have a general sense of whether they are being used for the Cause, and whether or not any of the other Kings' Items have been pledged to that same Cause. It's very possible to have two (or more) competing groups who have each claimed several of the items, and desire to find the others in order to unlock their full powers. Go to Comment

Thanks for that -- it's always great to get positive feedback on something I'm working on. :)

I could use a little help, though, with choosing an appropriate name for the set. "Kings' Items" or "Artifacts" was never intended to be the final name, but I had to get something on paper. If you or anyone else has a good suggestion, please let me know! Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

This is my favorite of the "seven" quest items!

Go to Comment

Congratulations on getting Second Place in the Magic Items quest!!!

Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

5/5 LOL about the sulky item.

Go to Comment