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Though most of the powers of the Carpet of Contem- plation only work while it is placed on the floor before a shrine, altar or other, comparable spiritual symbol, there are a few exceptions noted below. Once positioned where people regularly kneel upon it to pray or meditate, all powers of the Carpet of Contemplation work automatically, though many only affect a person who willingly chooses to kneel upon it in prayer, meditation or other form of quiet introspection.

Constant Powers

While actively kneeling on the Carpet of Contemplation, all characters receive a +3 bonus to any Wisdom-related checks they make. They also gain a +10 bonus to any Concentration rolls involving meditation of any kind.

Surrounding the Carpet is an aura of great peace that calms and soothes those experiencing it. Characters within 20 feet of the Carpet of Contemplation receive a +5 bonus to all Will saves versus fear effects, magics that arouse strong emotions, or any non-magical attempts to control emotional outbursts of any kind. If characters are kneeling on the Carpet, this bonus stacks with other bonuses that the carpet provides. If there is no Will save for a spell causing strong emotion, characters

within the Carpet’s aura of peace receive one anyway, albeit without the +5 bonus.

Activated Powers

Every week in which a character spends at least one hour a day meditating on the Carpet of Contemplation raises his Wisdom by 1. This bonus is cumulative, and any creature can attain a Wisdom score up to 10 higher than the one with which he began, not counting magic items worn. (For instance, a character who begins with a Wisdom score of 18 could raise it as high as 28 in this manner). The individual must meditate for seven con- secutive days for it to take effect. Missing even one day disrupts the magic, and a character must start over.

This addition to one’s Wisdom score lasts as if the score was permanently raised, until the character goes one full week without meditating on the Carpet of Contemplation. Even spending one hour on the carpet per week allows the character to retain any added Wisdom he has been granted. However, any period of seven consecutive days in which a character so altered does not meditate, he loses two of the points of Wisdom he has gained, until he has returned to the same Wisdom score he had upon first encountering the carpet.

Once a character has gained all the Wisdom he possibly can from the Carpet, he may still continue to benefit. If he meditates every consecutive day for 77 more days, he gains the level 3 monk special ability Still Mind. 77 days after that, he gains the level 17 monk ability Tongue of the Sun and Moon. These abilities remain so long as the character never goes seven consecutive days without meditation on the Carpet of Contemplation. The first full week that a character is away from the carpet, he loses both special abilities and a point of Wisdom.

Consequences

The Carpet of Contemplation has many strange side effects. For example, while it helps anyone in its vicin- ity to concentrate on meditation, prayer, or personal introspection with ease, the peaceful aura of the Carpet of Contemplation actually makes it very difficult to focus on anything else. Any Concentration rolls for any purpose not related to meditation of some variety are made at a –5 penalty to the skill check within 20 feet of the artifact.

In addition, the vicinity of the Carpet of Contemplation is so terribly peaceful and relaxing that it can be difficult for characters to access powerful emotion, even when it might be useful. All Perform skill checks within 20 feet of the Carpet of Contemplation suffer a –10 penalty, and barbarians and all other characters with a rage ability must make a DC 20 Will save to rage within 20 feet of the carpet. DMs may impose other penalties to the positive use of strong emotion, at their discretion.

C A R P E T O F C O N T E M P L AT I O N A small number of people cannot readjust to being

without the carpet once it is gone. When characters that have been altered by the Carpet of Contemplation are separated from it, after they lose all the abilities the carpet granted them, they must make a DC 10 Will save or go mad, as the spell insanity.

Finally, when Kazat created the Carpet of Contemplation, it was to help himself in his own specific spiritual path. He didn’t realize until much later that when the carpet helped other people toward enlightenment, it helped them toward his — Kazat’s — spiritual path, rather than their own. Though most users of the Carpet are happy enough in their new paths in life, it cannot be denied that those who remain near it for any length of time tend to completely abandon their former lives. The change in such characters as monks and clerics is not particularly alarming, but friends of those who follow other careers in life are often concerned or skeptical about the radical alteration in behavior.

Specifically, once a character has completed his first week of contemplation, and for as long as that character is using the Carpet of Contemplation at a minimum of once per week, all experience that this character earns goes to levels in the mystic class, detailed below. Char- acters are not mentally controlled by the artifact per se, but regardless of how they spend their time outside meditation, those who make the Carpet a part of their regular existence only seem to improve their abilities in one specific direction.

Characters do not notice that this is happening and believe fully that they are following their lifelong dreams. After a character has spent at least one week away from the carpet, she notices discrepancies between the time she has spent in monastic seclusion and her normal self. If a character leaves the influence of the Carpet before gaining any given level in mystic, the experience points earned between the levels are not entirely wasted, but they take a 10% cut before they can be applied to the character’s regular class.

Ambient Effects

Any time it is placed in a building which contains a shrine, altar or comparable spiritual symbolism, the Car- pet of Contemplation alters itself to look as if it belonged there. The next time anyone sees it, the artifact is lying right in the center of all spiritual life in a given building, looking as if it had always been there (DC 30 Spot check to notice that something has changed). Both the change in appearance and the movement to the floor before the altar (or the largest altar if there is more than one) always take place without anyone seeing the change, possibly through some sort of temporal distortion.

Between shrines, the Carpet continues to look however it did at its last home. It does not change again until it finds a new altar to enhance.

If the Carpet of Contemplation finds itself outside or in a building that does not have a shrine, people who walk by within 20 feet have strange thoughts pop into their heads. Those who spend a great deal of time in buildings where the carpet could find the sort of home it seeks find themselves pondering how to acquire the Carpet for their own church, temple, monastery, or even home shrine. Those who live or work in a non-religious building where the Carpet is housed begin considering the logistics of building some kind of meditation or worship center somewhere within the walls, whether or not they are normally spiritual people.

There is no compulsion in these thoughts. Characters can ignore or dismiss them with ease, but the ideas continue, seeming to the characters very much as if they had come up with them on their own, until the carpet finds a new home. With a successful DC 30 Sense Motive check a character notices some outside source is supplying these thoughts, but are unable to determine its nature.

Similarly, once the Carpet has placed itself in a lo- cation that allows its full powers to function, anyone who walks on the Carpet of Contemplation or within a foot of its edges thinks that kneeling down to meditate would be a great idea. Again, there is no compulsion, and characters who would never think such a thing are likely to ignore the impulse completely.

If the Carpet of Contemplation is in danger, such as close to open flame, everyone within 20 feet thinks of saving it. If there is no one to hand, or if the Car- pet is abandoned, it can hide itself until the danger passes. This power is similar to its power to change its appearance and location. This may involve temporal distortion, or perhaps the artifact has access to some sort of pocket dimension. In any case, the carpet simply isn’t “there” until the danger has passed. The Carpet can disappear faster than any threat presents itself, unless the danger takes a free action or less to cause its harm.

If someone is watching, the Carpet can replace itself with another, mundane carpet from the same building (and therefore the same decorative style), requiring a DC 20 Spot check to notice the switch. Once gone, the Carpet of Contemplation cannot be found until the source of danger is removed from the area, even if this means it must effectively disappear from reality for centuries or more.

Reactive Traits

Any spell intended to harm the Carpet of Con- templation must take a free action or less to cast. Any slower spell, the Carpet can avoid with ease by disappearing.

Using the Carpet

of Contemplation

in a Campaign

Since PCs are usually on the move, it is difficult to have the Carpet of Contemplation in a campaign on any kind of long term basis. The artifact simply does not function out on the road. It is, however, useful as the goal of a long- term quest. It is a very difficult item to find, so a party can have many different adventures while searching for it. The carpet is also appropriate for almost any level of play, depending on how it is used.

Adventure Seeds

Menacing Monastery

The Carpet of Contemplation cares nothing for align- ment, and can easily be used for evil as well as good. The most recent dwelling the Carpet has found for itself is a monastery of evil monks (now evil mystic monks). The monastery is rapidly growing into a formidable army, even converting many of the good folk of the countryside with its aura of serenity and understanding.

By accident or design, the PCs uncover the source of the monastery’s appeal and must sneak or fight their way into the dark shrine to steal the Carpet of Contemplation. Without the Carpet, half the army deserts and go back to their normal lives, while the rest lose some of their carpet- enhanced power may begin fighting amongst themselves. The PCs must then decide whether to destroy the carpet or transport it to a more constructive spiritual home.

The Search for the Holy Carpet

More than a simple adventure, the Carpet of Con- templation can actually be used as the basis for an entire campaign. The PCs could start out as a group of mystics from whom the Carpet has been stolen. Determined to return it to their home sanctuary, the PCs set out in quest of the carpet and much adventure ensues.