Only voted Go to Comment

I like the braille idea but it seems unnessary. If the hand can see where its going, would it not also know what's on the spines? Go to Comment

A nice end for any evil wizard, is to break the control of his slave(s) and let him (them) do the dirty work. It could be well the hand of some former enemy, still remembering something from his living days. Say the villain promised to kill all his family and friends. As he kidnapped the last child, heroes jumped in. Manola should be quite powerful, and after wrecking them somewhat he decides to kill the child, and gets attacked by the hand. Depending on the heroes' condition, it could strangle him, or only delay for a short while. Go to Comment

A particually tactile hand would be able to feel the letters indented on the spines. Brail may not be neccesary. Since the person whose hand was used had to be able to read in life, they were probally well to do and possibally some sort of royalty.

Another twist could be that a person in perfectly capable of surviving the loss of a hand and an ear, but will likely be a bit miffed by whoever took them. Perhaps the one-handed man with the scarred face has an alterior motive for telling them Manola's secrets. After all, he may have an "ear" for the wizard's private life. Go to Comment

Hmmm....Perhaps Manola could die and the hand would be left alone without the ability to get out (Unless it can jump, which, I suspect, it can't) and wallowing in it's own pity. Go to Comment

It can't see where it's going, it uses it's memory to locate books. Go to Comment

+.5 for the personality the Hand has, a very nice twist to the usual happy-natured Adam's Family hand clone.

I only have a problem with the Hand dragging the big old tomes when it can't hold down paper to write... Then again, it's magic!

 

:)

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I really like this hand. Sad, indentured and friendless, at the whim of every beck and call of a maniacle sorcerer, waiting to be rescued, A veritable disembodied palm of a damsel in distress!

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what a bloody good idea. you've got the dragons begging for help on one hand and the possiblity of open warfare with humans(demi or otherwise) on the other.
- maybe you the pc's could be employed to infiltrate the enemy lands and poison their dragons. then take sympathy on them or something Go to Comment

I like this. It is really more of a campaign idea than a single scenario, since it requires a very specific game world to make it possible. The GM who runs this will need to create said world and have the players encounter both sides, so they can make this campaign altering decision.

It works well if the players are from another sphere, teleported/ travelling here for some reason. Go to Comment

Great stuff! I am working with a similar idea for the overall plot of my steampunk campaign world, though at first they don't know the secret weapon is dragons.

I'm going to keep my players thinking that dragons don't exist in this realm, so the shock of seeing a huge one with a rider and multiple gun barrels on its back is even better. Go to Comment

Only voted Go to Comment

If thieves and murderers are distinguished by their necklaces, wouldn't they just not wear the necklaces? And wear stolen ones (that have been altered to lower the chances of the original owners recognising them)? Go to Comment

It sounds as if the "real" gems are magical and change with the wearer, whereas the fake ones then would actually have to be cut by the gem-cutters. So, you could presume this is known and perhaps, those that can afford it, could have 'alarm systems' at the entrances of their places that search for the proper aura to be projected by a true gem.

To take this thought further, thieves and secret cults could have the same, allowing only those that have certain gems to be able to enter their lairs.

Where do the gems come from initially then? At birth are their destinies intertwined with a gem in some elaborate ritual. Do they always have the same gem as their parents or, depending on the fate of the child, the gem may reveal a vague future? Baby born with a certain gem shows that it will be the future ruler perhaps, or this one is destined to be a tailore etc.

Can use it to introduce the fulfilling of a old legendary poem come to life, a royal embarrassment when the king's son is show to become a simple merchant. Could the worst of the destined thieves be destroyed at birth, or is that something that only happens in life to change the gem?

For destiny's that are unwanted, there could be an entire 'religion' that studies the ruby and has good success changing the future for those parents that can afford it for their offspring. So the future can be changed and the gem change with it, but what point in the person's life will it take to make the new reality come to pass. The cult claims to be able to find the point and use it to direct as the owner wishes.

What if this cult's ways are known by evil ones? What if the cult has their own agenda and kidnaps babies born with the gems and turns them to their own devious agenda? What if, what if, what if? Go to Comment

How would the world react, if a baby is born, and its gem changes to a perfectly round crystal (no edges)? Will it be a messiah? (no edges=lowest class, will serve everyone) Will it be something like an Imperator or a god? (infinite number of edges?) Go to Comment

Random Thoughts
What is the relation between the gem's magic and the wearer's life force? Whatever, sooner or later someone makes the connection. There will be people reading your fate, healers that feel your problems and can do something through the necklace. Magic can have numerous uses, from detecting still-living soldiers on the battlefield,quickly making diagnosis to easily detecting sneaking people (with necklaces).


Some more serious use: This sounds to be quite a lawful and regulated society. Those rich would pay well for a ritual that would assign a still unborn baby a necklace, its mother carrying it. Not for show, but to know whether it is a son or daughter, or to see if there are any defects. Should the results be not pleasing, it is possible to stop the pregnancy... Whether it is against the law or in sync with it, is your decision. Go to Comment

What if the wearer was so inextricably intertwined with the necklace that if the two were separated, the person would get sick and eventually die? And for that matter, what would happen to the necklaces of people who die? Could lead to some interesting complications for grave robbers. And if like Strolen says, the necklaces reveal the desinty of the wearer, then the ruler will certainly not be pleased if some minor noble (or worse yet, a commoner!) is destined to become the next ruler. So many possibilities... Go to Comment

THAT is cool. Go to Comment

How had I missed this one? I like it a great deal. It is LifeClocks from Logan's Run plus magical destiny elements. This has so many story and game uses that I am suprised this concept is not more prevolent. Go to Comment

Well yes, but then there is the death penalty for not wearing your gem. I am sure the punishment for wearing the wrong type of gem is just as severe, if not worse. Go to Comment