The Iron Poem
A silk vest in sea green and yellow made loose and light to be worn over armor. When it gets wet it becomes as hard as a chain shirt while staying just as light as silk.
The Green Song
A long chain shirt masterly crafted with a pattern of large shell-shaped rings and smaller connecting circles. When wet it becomes a white silk shirt with a silver pattern embroidered exactly like the pattern of the rings.
Known in stories as the Twins, these were meant to be worn together. Once worn by a great pirate captain, they have been long separated and lost.
Hmmm, clothing/armor themed today? Okay, here's an old groaner:
ReplyDeleteCoat of Arms - This voluminous leather duster is inexplicably furnished with four sleeves. Anyone trying it on will find themselves suddenly sprouting arms to fill any "extra" sleeves (usually two, but amputees will be getting extra benefits here) as long as the wear the garment. It will fit comfortably over all but the bulkiest of armor and the magic involved will temporarily modify clothing and armor worn beneath it to accommodate any changes in physiology. All alterations reverse themselves when the coat of arms is removed.
Mechanically, having an extra pair of hands won't grant extra attacks or spellcasting ability but will allow the wearer to use noncombat actions with them. You can attempt to climb while still fighting at full effect, perform sleight of hand tricks, use potions or oils on yourself, or anything else the GM agrees to. You can also hold more items at once, and reloading crossbows or similar ranged weapons becomes much easier. All "extra" arms are treated as though they were part of the normal allotment of limbs so they benefit from strength enhancements, suffer pain and injury if damaged, and share quirks the wearer may have like ambidexterity, double joints, etc.
The coat will also let you wear two sets of magical gloves (but not extra magical rings) at once. Beware though, items currently carried or worn by "extra" limbs will simply vanish when the duster is removed, reappearing only when it's next put on - which might not be by the same person.
Thanks for sharing! Your parenthetical notes for the coat make me think of the difficulty I often feel while creating magic items, balancing the qualities of something easy for players to understand (a coat that gives you extra arms) with how it might affect your campaign (will they get extra attacks, wear extra rings, etc.) I strive for something cool and evocative I can convey in a few sentences, but I admit some of the items I've posted might be hard for DMs to adjudicate.
ReplyDeleteActually envy you for your brevity. I'm too mechanically-minded and prone to being verbose, if you somehow hadn't noticed already. :)
DeleteThanks, there is value in thoroughly exploring something and laying out explicit mechanics. I think I aim more for the evocative because I'm assuming it would be easier for people from all different systems to adapt these items to their own games. But in some cases it might mean I'm shifting work from me to them :)
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