Sir Eldren's Magical Items
Frustrate the Munchkin out of them!

The obligatory GeoGuide:

Scroll of History | Star Metal

Scroll of History

© 1999 Sir Eldren

This is actually two items which can be used together or seperately. It consists of the scroll to write on and its quill. When used together, the effects are greater and have a better chance of succeeding.

The scroll and quill are created by the use of a special spell, which can only be written upon a scroll and the casting of which is triggered by a spell cast upon the scroll. The spell must be written with a roc's quill, and the quill is then rolled up inside of the scroll after completion. Enchant an item is then cast upon the scroll, which triggers the written the written spell to be cast. Permanency must then be cast within 3 hours or the spell will fail and leave the scroll and quill as they were before the spells. If the quill is missing, the scroll will "fizzle" and disintigrate.

When used together, they have an 80% chance of affecting something. Simply, what is written upon the scroll is true. It happens. Simple and fun, right? Well, it has the effectiveness of a limited wish spell. There are many things that it cannot do. The difference is that some things will remain history, unchangable without another scroll or a wish. It can not raise ability scores, hit points, levels, or experience points. It has only a 5% chance at resurrecting people who have been dead for more than 4 hours. Under 4 hours it has a 45% chance.

Alone, the scroll can only affect 1d8 people/monsters per line, and can only kill monsters of 1 HD or less. One other drawback is that it only has a 50% chance of working.

The quill can be used to write upon anything and has the same effects as the scroll alone, with the exception of only a 35% chance of effectiveness.

The scroll & quill have 4d6 "charges" each. This may be the same number, or it may be different depending upon the quality of the materials, some magical effects placed on it before the enchantment, or some other wierd reason. When all tapped out, the scroll becomes a useless recording of what was written and the quill just loses its enchantment. The quill may break from wear or just not take ink anymore, too. These items can not be "recharged."

Star metal is an unusual phenomenon. Mixed in an alloy, it takes enchantments in a variety of forms depending upon the percentage of star metal in the alloy, what treatment it is given, and the stage of enchantment. It can be lesser (low % star) or greater (high % star), and has three different levels of enchantment -- raw, primed, and enchanted. Each level has different characteristics.

In the following descriptions I will use a sword, but any metal weapon will do.

Raw

• A raw star sword can absorb spells cast at the wielder. The sword must be held in a position so as to "parry" the spell. The spell energy will then slowly disipate before it will absorb another spell.
• A lesser sword can absorb up to level 2 spells, but can only hold 2 spell levels of energy.
• A greater sword can absorb up to level 3 spells, but can only hold 4 spell levels of energy.
• If the sword attempts to absorb a spell greater than it can handle or it is forced too many times to try and absorb a spell when it is "full," it will shatter with a forcible detonation from within the metal itself. This will cause dmg to everybody within a 5' radius of the wielder.
  Explosion dmg, lesser star sword: 3d10 pts.
  Explosion dmg, greater star sword: 5d10 pts.
• The usual to hit bonus is +1.

Primed

• A primed star sword can absorb spells of up to 4th level.
• A lesser sword can absorb 4 spell levels.
• A greater sword can absorb 8 spell levels.
• Explosion dmg, lesser: 5d10 pts.
• Explosion dmg, greater: 10d8 pts.
• The usual to hit bonus is +2/+3.

Enchanted

The enchanted star sword has two distinct powers. The catch is that it can only have one or the other. Never both.

Common (85% of enchanted star metal)

• The sword can absorb spells of up to 5th level.
• It can hold up to 12 spell levels.
• Explosion dmg is 12d8 pts and hits everybody within 10 feet.
• Can "return fire" an absorbed spell. This must be done within 1 round per level of the spell absorbed (3 rounds for a level 3 spell...) and will drain the spell levels from the sword.

Rare (15% of enchanted star metal)

• This sword can be preloaded with up to 10 spell levels worth of spells that can be cast once per day through the sword. The sword recharges by absorbing latent magical energy from the environment.
• There is a 1% chance each day that it will drain the enchantment from a randomly selected magical item carried by the owner of the sword.
• The sword is completely stable and can not detonate.

Star metal has been known to be used in armor manufacture and other weapons, of course. Any weapon that is not entirely metal can never be a greater weapon, and can only reach the primed level. This would include axes, spears, pole-arms, etc. Armor has about the same effect as weapons, with the drawback of not being able to "cast" spells. Armor does not detonate, but instead "fries" its wearer for maximum dmg based upon its enchantment and content. The wearer can save vs. breath weapon for half dmg.