Sorcerers and mystics trained in these modern times will undoubtedly find some of wliat they read here surprising or puzzling, for many of the items described on the following pages create effects that simply cannot be duplicated using today's sorcerous or mystical spells. Rest assured that I liavc made no errors in my descriptions. Magic before te Second Cataclysm was much more powerful than it is now, and neither priests nor wizards chafed under the limits we do.
Jaclyn's catalogue of magical items is divided into various sections: alchemical mixtures, magical writings, rings, rods, staves, wands, and other items. Each section's introduction explains some characteristics all the items share, such as particular requirements for use. Wherever a certain item's characteristics differ from those indicated in the introduction, the distinction is noted in its description.
The description of each arcane object indicates whether Jaclyn considers it a trinket, a treasure, or an artifact, as defined in the Book of the Fifth Age, Chapter Two.
Using the Items
Most of the items detailed in Jaclyn's catalogue require a hero using them to perform an action to
activate themusually the easy Reason or Spirit action mentioned in Chapter Five of the Book of the Fifth Age. The action ability depends on whether the item's power is sorcerous or mystical, and opposition applies only if the item's power is targeted at a resisting individual. If an item has more than one magical power, a separate activation action is usually required to use each one.
The effects of the items described in the sections that follow do not take effect automatically. An item's magical power takes effect only after one of the following has occurred:
- The item's user, a hero, succeeds in his action to activate the item (or one of its specific powers), overcoming any opposition from resisting characters intended as subjects; or
- The intended subject(s) of the item's effect, a hero or heroes, fail to avoid the powers of an item in the hand of a character; or
- The item is specifically described as operating automatically or at the user's will; or
- The Narrator decides that the item's power takes effect, if no heroes are involved as either users of the item or subjects of its power.
Only one of the above choices normally should occur in order for an item's magical powers to take effect. In other words, once a hero succeeds in his action to use (activate) his item of magic (with the intended subject opposing the action where necessary), the effect takes place. The Narrator does not have to then determine whether the subject resists the effect - the attempted resistance is reflected in the character's opposition to the hero's activation action.
The only exception involves hero vs. hero situations. When a hero intends to use an item of magic against another hero, the user must first attempt an action to activate it. If he succeeds, the intended subject attempts to resist. Both heroes may oppose each other's action in this case.
Terminology
An item of magic is "activated" when its user succeeds in the action described above or when the item automatically engages on its own.
Items described as affecting one or more "individuals" or "creatures" can work against any of the races or groups defined in Chapter Six of the Book of the Fifth Age. However, an item that affects "people"
works on the hero races or hostile nonhumans only.
References to magical items' effects covering areas such as a "large room" or various sized groups of individuals correspond to the categories in the tables in Chapter Five of the Book of the Fifth Age.
Certain items allow users to attempt "free" combat actions - a reference to any action that does not allow the opponent a counterattack. When heroes face such weapons, they must attempt a defense action with no chance to attack.
Alchemical Mixtures
In ages past, the wizards of Ansalon created a wide variety of magical brews. elixers, and oils that bestowed temporary magical effects on people who imbibed or applied them. Alas, the departure of the gods after the Chaos War created a subtle magical ripple in the fabric of the world that turned most of these into pure water or lamp oil. Still, a few of the more unusual such substances proved resistant to the chaos ripple and liave survived with their powers intact.
Alchemical mixtures usually require no special training to use - one simply applies them, and their magic is released.
Unless noted otherwise, anyone can use an alchemical substance - even a hero with Reason or Sprit codes of "X" - by merely spreading it on the skin, eating or drinking it, or whatever is required.
Branchala's Paints
Enchanted pigments blessed by Branchala, god of music and tlie arts, typically come in small ceramic pots bearing flute or harp drawings. Each pot holds a syrupy liquid that gives off yellow and green sparkles if shaken or stirred. When applied to a surface with a stylus or brush the pigment magically creates any object in three dimensions, as long as it can be depicted in two dimensions. The paint creates only normal, inanimate objects, not creatures or magical items, although it can create plants.
The user need not be a skilled painter, but must have some familiarity with magic.
One jar of Branchala's paint, considered a trinket, contains enough pigment to create an inanimate object the size of a small room, or many smaller objects. A jar can produce a single object roughly equal in volume to two dozen humans, at maximum.
The user can depict precious or valuable objects, such as gemstones or jewelry, but such items only appear at a glance to be valuable: Gems turn out to be made of cut glass, jewelry of tin or brass, and so on. Otherwise, any object created has the normal characteristics that the real thing would have. A ladder will hold a hero's weight and a hole will actually be a hole.
Creating objects with this paint requires a Reason code of at least "C."
Dust of Appearance
Fine, metallic dust of appearance coats any creature or object it touches, rendering an invisible subject completely visible, and forcing it to remain so for a short time. Things coated with the dust cannot disappear in any fashion until the effect wears off a few hours later, though the subject's ability to move or fight remains unimpaired.
Tossing a pinch of this dust, a trinket, into the air coats every creature or object within personal and melee range of the user. A pinch of dust blown straight ahead through a tube settles on creatures and objects in front of the user, within personal, melee, and near missile range.
A coated creature or object remains visible for one hour. While the effect lasts, anything coated with dust cannot "disappear" in any fashion. The subject cannot become invisible, cloak itself with illusion, or travel to another dimension. For example, the dust renders a ring of projection ineffective (see
"Rings").
Dust of appearance usually is found in tubes or packets. To randomly determine how many tubes or packets a hero might find at once, his player draws five cards from the Fate Deck. For every Moons card, he draws one extra from the deck. The player then totals the values of all the cards drawn - Dragons cards are considered Ones regardless of their face values - to figure the number of containers his hero found. Each container holds one pinch of dust.
Dust of Disappearance
A pinch of sparkling, multicolored dust of disappearance, sprinkled carefully over a creature or object, renders it completely invisible to both normal and magical sight. Only dust of appearance reveals the invisible subject while the effect lasts.
The user of this trinket must spend one minute carefully sprinkling a pinch of dust over the creature or object to be rendered invisible. A single pinch of dust covers one creature or object of roughly human size.
The subject becomes invisible instantly and remains so for one hour. No form of sight, no matter how magical or acute, reveals the invisible creature, though dust of appearance instantly cancels the effect.
A creature sprinkled with the dust can move, attack, and use magic freely. Opponents cannot detect the subject by sight, though individuals with Perception scores of 6 or higher or those with acute nonvisual senses might detect the subject if they come within melee range.
A hero sprinkled with dust of disappearance must attempt an easy Reason (Perception) action to remain unnoticed, repeating it every ten minutes if the other remains nearby. Even if an opponent notices the invisible hero and attacks, the latter can try to evade the assault in lieu of attacking. Evasion requires an average Agility (Perception) action. If the action fails, the invisible hero still can defend himself
normally.
Heroes defending against a counterattack from an invisible foe suffer a -4 action penalty.
Certain conditions can make invisibility useless; see the "ring of invisibility" description for details.
Dust of disappearance usually comes in small packets and can be found in the same quantities as dust of appearance.
Dust of Tracelessness
Magical dust of tracelessness powder seems like fine, gray sand. When thrown into the air, it can make a small chamber look as through is has been abandoned for years. If sprinkled along a trail, it makes even the softest ground appear smooth and untrodden.
Sprinkled indoors, this trinket can make a large room look dirty and neglected, just as though unused for at least a decade. A thick layer of normal dust covers everything in the chamber, and cobwebs cling to every corner (if appropriate for the climate). Several pinches can disguise larger spaces. One pinch of dust can make a length of passage look similarly disused.
Used outside, a pinch of dust can hide tracks left by up to ten individuals of human size and their mounts or vehicles. The area of effect begins where the user stands and extends for a mile back along their trail.
Indoors or out, dust of tracelessness leaves no magical evidence behind. Its magic is instantaneous.
This dust typically comes in small packets. To determine randomly how much dust a hero might find at once, his player draws five cards from the Fate Deck as described under dust of appearance.
Mishakal's Healing Balm
The cool, soothing unguent known as Mishakal's healing balm looks as blue as a clear summer sky and has a pleasant smell that reminds me of wildflowers and sunshine, though no two individuals ever seem to agree on exactly what the balm smells like. However, this fabulous substance docs heal wounds, cure disease, and detoxify poisons.
One dose of this treasure, when applied to a wound or swallowed, removes any disease, including parasitic infestations, from a living thing. The creature or plant treated with the balm recovers fully in ten minutes to ten days, depending on how advanced the disease was. Minor or merely troublesome ailments, such as common colds, disappear in ten minutes. A chronic malady, such as leprosy, takes ten days, as does any disease that has advanced to its terminal stage.
Mishakal's healing balm also neutralizes poisons in the same way it cures diseases. An individual who has died from a toxin can be restored to life if someone applies the balm within five minutes of death.
Named for the goddess of healing, this balm restores up to three cards to a wounded hero, as necessary.
To heal wounded nonheroes, the Narrator or a player draws two cards and adds their face values together to figure the number of Endurance points restored to a creature or character. Any Hearts card drawn allows an extra draw, but any Dragons card is considered a One, regardless of its face value.
One application of this balm serves only one function: healing disease, poison, or wounds. The person applying the balm chooses the effect.
Magical Writings
In the years before the Second Cataclysm, Ansalon's wizards created a vast body of temporary magical writings that essentially put many spells of High Sorcery into portable form. Unfortunately, the magical ripple that destroyed most of Ansalon's alchemical mixtures also erased every spell scroll on the
continent. Spellbooks remained unaffected, but the arcane formulae tliey contained seemed increasingly irrelevant as the years progressed without High Sorcery. Today, spellbooks are merely a reminder of the
lost magic of a bygone age.
A few other magical writings also survived. Some scrolls that contained defensive magics more potent than simple spells remained intact, and I have cataloged these below. It may seem strange, but any literate person can make use of these powerful protection scrolls just by reading the words.
It also seems clear that a few very potent magical tomes also survived into the present day. The powers attributed to these writings generally involve revealing eldritch secrets that can greatly expand or sap the reader's very soul. I have not examined any of these tomes myself and, as I have no reliable accounts of their effects, I have not included them here.
Anyone who can read and speak can use a magical protection scroll; the scrolls use a magical cipher that most people can understand. Heroes can read protection scrolls if they can read normal writing or if they have Reason codes of at least "C." The ability to read protection scrolls does not necessarily mean the hero can read normal writing.
Most scrolls of defensive magic create spherical effects that protect the reader and anyone standing nearby. These effects are always centered on the reader and move with him. The reader's companions could lose the benefit of the protection if they move away from the reader and, likewise, another creature can gain the scroll's benefits by moving close to the reader.
Though almost anyone can read a protective scroll aloud and enjoy its effects, only people with Reason or Spirit codes of "A" can scan a scroll to learn what its effects will be. Studying a scroll to discover its function does not trigger its magic.
A scroll can be used only once. When someone invokes its power, the writing on it disappears, leaving behind a sheet of blank, nonmagical parchment.
Unless noted otherwise, reading or studying a scroll takes one minute.
Scroll of Acid Protection
The incantation inscribed on a scroll of acid protection shields the reader from all manner of corrosive substances for a short time.
The reader of this trinket becomes immune to all acidic and corrosive attacks for ten minutes or until subjected to 100 acid damage points, whichever comes first. All acid attacks should be resolved normally while the protection is in effect to determine how much acid damage has accumulated. Once the protection effect ends, the reader becomes fully susceptible to acid once again, though he suffers no damage retroactively. Protected heroes still can suffer mishaps when resisting acid attacks.
Scroll of Cold Protection
A scroll of cold protection creates a bubble of protection the size of a small house. Anyone within it can withstand the coldest temperatures on Krynn, from the depths of the Icewall Glacier to the most frigid Kharolis mountaintop. A person so protected also becomes highly resistant to magical cold attacks and cryomantic breath.
The reader and up to twenty-five others can fit inside the sphere created by this treasure. Affected individuals become immune to the effects of non-magical cold and receive a +12 action bonus when
resisting magical cold attacks (including dragon breath). This protection lasts one hour.
Scroll of Electromantic Protection
The magical passages recorded on a scroll of electromantic protection create a bubble about the size of a small room. Anyone within it becomes impervious to all electromantic attacks.
This trinket's reader and up to ten others can fit inside the defensive sphere. Everyone protected becomes completely immune to all forms of electricity, including dragon breath. This protection lasts five
minutes.
Scroll of Elemental Protection
A scroll of elemental protection creates a barrier that keeps some elemental creatures at bay. However, very powerful ones can ignore tlie barrier, and large numbers of them can overwhelm it enough to let some get through.
Elementals are beings composed purely of one of the four classic elements: air, earth, fire, or water.
They usually appear on Krynn as the result of a summoning spell or device - like this treasure.
The scroll of elemental protection creates an invisible sphere about the size of a small room. Up to ten human-sized creatures can join the reader inside the sphere. Everyone within it can move normally and can make missile attacks or cast spells out of it. However, melee attacks against foes outside require attackers to leave the protection.
The sphere keeps up to 36 Physique points worth of elementals at bay; the monsters are unable to enter or reach into the protective environment (for instance, to make a melee attack). A single elemental with more than 36 Physique points can ignore it. Should multiple elementals encounter the sphere, it keeps out the weaker creatures before stronger ones.
The sphere moves with the reader, but if the reader ever deliberately rams an elemental in an attempt to damage it or push it away, the protection collapses. The sphere created by the scroll lasts for thirty minutes if not brought down sooner.
Scroll of Fire Protection
A scroll of fire protection creates a bubble the size of a small house. Those inside can withstand any amount of heat, from blistering desert sun to fiery dragon breath.
The reader and up to twenty-five others can fit inside the defensive sphere created by this treasure.
Everyone within it becomes completely immune to all forms of heat and fire, including magical ones.
Scroll of Gas Protection
The incantation recorded on a scroll of gas protection creates a bubble about the. size of a small room.
Anyone inside it becomes impervious to all forms of noxious and deadly gases.
The reader and up to ten others can fit inside the defensive sphere produced by this treasure. Everyone so protected becomes completely immune to all harmful clouds and gases, including smoke and gaseous dragon breath. The effect, which lasts ten minutes, does not dispel the cloud. Opaque gases still block
vision.
Scroll of Magic Protection
The powerful scrolls of magic protection create a small, invisible sphere of antimagic when read. No spell, magical item, innate magical ability, or magical breath functions within it. The spliere does not destroy magic within it, just temporarily negates it.
The antimagic bubble generated by this treasure is about the size of a small room, large enough to hold five people plus the reader. It is centered on and moves with the reader. No magical effect can move into, out of, or through the protective barrier. Enchanted items in it lose all their magical properties until
The antimagic bubble generated by this treasure is about the size of a small room, large enough to hold five people plus the reader. It is centered on and moves with the reader. No magical effect can move into, out of, or through the protective barrier. Enchanted items in it lose all their magical properties until