Circlet of Amplus Ater Iris
This powerful magic item was created to augment Alienists, a prestige class in the Tome and Blood.
Circlet of Amplus Ater Iris meaning 'Circlet of The Great Dark Messenger' (Amplus - great, important; Ater - dark, malicious; Iris - messenger of the gods. Thought by some to mean Nyarlathotep)
Circlet of Amplus Ater Iris meaning 'Circlet of The Great Dark Messenger' (Amplus - great, important; Ater - dark, malicious; Iris - messenger of the gods. Thought by some to mean Nyarlathotep)
Description: This delicate silver circlet features intricately crafted intertwining tentacles which hold an alien green cut gem in the center.
If the wearer of this circlet is able to withstand the constant stream of whisperings from Alien Outsiders (i.e. pseudonatural creatures and their Gods), they gain some very beneficial powers.
There is a chance that the wearer could go mad from the whisperings within 5 rounds of placing the circlet on their head. The wearer must make a Will save DC 15. Failure means suffering from the spell Insanity at 7th lvl. If successful, the circlet and wearer acclimate to one another. Removing it and placing it back will not incur another save.
The wearer can 'adjust the volume' of the whisperings, but can never tune them out completely while wearing the circlet.
The wearer is given many beneficial powers, but make no mistake, this circlet ultimately benefits the Outsiders in the end. This circlet keeps a two way open channel between the wearer and the Terrors that Tell All. Their goal is to spread their alien agenda through the wearer and eventually, whenever they feel they have met this agenda, they come to take the wearer away to their Plane and they are never seen or heard from again. The circlet remains behind for it's next unwary or power mad victim.
The circlet's magic powers work even if the person is not a mage or a mage with prohibited spell classes. These abilities are always 'on', so no casting or prep time is needed.
Beneficial Powers:
1. Mind Strengthening - +2 Will Save, +2 Int
2. Send Dreams - as 5th lvl wiz spell Dream
3. Send/Detect Thoughts -
a. Send thoughts - as 5th lvl wiz spell Sending, up to 1 mile. No components needed.
b. Detect thoughts - as 2nd lvl wiz spell. No components needed.
4. Whispered Secrets - accelerated learning.
a. Reduces time needed to learn new spells. 50% chance to cut time in half.
b. Eliminates the cross-class skill penalty.
Detrimental Powers - The price of forbidden knowledge:
1. Greater Outsider Target - The malignant Outsiders have their own agenda for mankind and uses the wearer for their nefarious purposes. Eventually, the Outsiders will deem their use of the wearer at an end. The longer the wearer wears the circlet, the more likely the Outsiders will come for them. Every player level increase gives the Outsiders a chance to come and take the wearer away, never to be seen again. The Outsider that comes to take them will be per their highest level summoning ability.
a. First time the wearer puts on the circlet - 5% chance
b. Then at each level the player gains and continues to wear the circlet, they must make a percentile roll to see if the Outsiders wish to take them away. The percentage caps off at 95%, so there is the tiniest possibility that the wearer may never be taken away (via the circlet, anyway). Chance increases 10% per level. i.e. first time wearer puts on circlet - 5% chance, wearer then advances to next level - 15% chance, the next level - 25%, etc. The person may still not be taken away if the creature that comes for them is killed, but they will still continue to increase their chance that it will happen again at their next level.
2. Accelerated Transmutation (Mark of the Outsiders) - The wearer starts to take on an attribute of the tentacled Outsiders they listen to. This can be something akin to an extra snake-like appendage, growth or other pseudonatural feature. The wearer has limited control over their new appendage, as sometimes it seems to act out on it's own...
a. This change begins to take place as soon as the person dons the circlet. A small bump or other itchy growth starts.
b. Next player level, the transformation is complete, but not apparent unless the wearer removes the circlet or is in the company of other Outsiders.
c. Finally, with the next level advance, the transmutation is complete and is apparent with or without the circlet. Measures can be taken to try and conceal it physically or with magical illusions. The change is permanent and irreversible, even if the wearer ceases to wear the circlet.
d. There is one tiny benefit to the change. You get a +2 Charisma bonus when confronting or dealing with other pseuodnatural creatures or Outsiders. This stacks with other Alienist benefits.
e. If the wearer already is afflicted with the Mark of the Outsiders (i.e. a transformed Alienist), then no other additional change is apparent.
3. Accelerated Phobia - The wearer of the circlet knows that something at sometime is out to get them. The constant whisperings gives them hints about it. However, the deluded individual doesn't necessarily believe it's their summoned servants and can transfer the fear to another creature. This occurs after the first level advancement upon wearing the circlet.
a. -2 penalty to saving throws, attack rolls and Charisma based checks when confronted with the chosen creature. This penalty stacks with other Alienist prestige class penalties.
4. Addiction - The Outsiders do not want to let go of the wearer until they are finished with them. The wearer of the circlet feels compelled to keep listening to the arcane whisperings of the Outsiders. They must make a Will save roll to remove the circlet and another to hand it over to someone else willingly. All at DC 20.
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? Responses (5)
This is a non system site. Try to convert your charts up there into something more like a description of how hard or difficult the thing is to do.
As it is, it's not great, but could be made into a workable item.
2/5
Try to describe the abilities rather than relying on game stats to tell us. It'll help you a lot around here.
Anyway... Eh. No big screaming deal. Not particularly interesting, even with a Cthulhu connection (IA CTHULHU!).
2/5.
Hey, if a part of the name is in latin, why not the whole thing? 'Corona Ampli Ateris Iridis' if I am correct... I may check the dictionary. I pretty much doubt that Nyarlathotep or whatever would speak in latin. I mean, can you imagine Cthulu coming to claim your soul saying 'Pacta sunt servanda' ?
Now, Capt'n and Agar have said it plainly enough, but still I must add: I have no
This is another item that makes you want it, to keep it, and drives you mad. And costs your soul. It is not bad though.
Yes, the Tome and Blood is a player supplement.
Now, as to the item, this isn't a DnD site, or D20 even. It is better to give a description of what the item does, some background to the item, and some suggestions of plot hooks.
The item itself... well... it's not a new idea. As Echo said, it's not bad for what it is, but it's just another one of them. You could turn it into something more interesting, however.
All in all, this is a decent item, though I am familiar enough with D&D that the details are not a problem. It relies too heavily on system specifics to describe its powers.
The Outsiders Drag Away part I would replace with Outsiders _try_ to drag them away, which would be much more interesting. They might in fact try multiple times until some great confrontation. I would also cause just about all knowledge, spells, etc, gained from this item to be tainted or otherwise problematic. Yes they work, and yes they are powerful, but there are unfortunate side effects to their use.