Saturday, June 22, 2024

OSR: Modern Magic Items

This is a post intended for my modern occult setting, or any urban fantasy-inspired one.  These are magic items you could find in a bin or hidden in your senile grandfather's attic, long forgotten but still potent.  
Lucky Dice:

A trio of purple foam dice, covered in velvety felt.  The pips are white.  Holding the dice makes you feel confident.  Also, no matter where they fall, they will always return to the owner's pocket after enough time apart.  

Abilities:
- When you roll a die, if you don't like the result, 1/round you may reroll that die.  However, you must use the new result.
- 3/Day, you can add +1d6 to any die roll you make.  Alternatively, you may subtract -1d6 from any die roll you make.

White Rabbit's Foot:

A rabbit's foot, smelling of stale biscuits and strong tea.  Fainty, coppery undertaste.  Feels very heavy and holding it gives you a soft, warm feeling.

Abilities: 
- At the beginning of the day, roll 3d20.  At any point, when you roll a d20, you may replace the roll with one of the pre-rolled d20s.  The White Rabbit's Foot can store up to 3d20.    
- Whenever someone rolls a d20, 1/round, you can steal the result of their roll and replace it with one of the pre-rolled d20s.  You may then replace another roll with the one you have stolen.  
- Every time you roll a "1" as one of your d20s at the beginning of the day, decrease the number of d20s you roll by one.  Do this each time you roll a "1" at the start of each day, until you roll 0d20.  At that point, you are cursed.  

The White Rabbit's Curse:

You are cursed with bad luck.  Whenever you roll a d20 in opposition with someone else, if they roll lower than you, you must swap results with them.  Ex: If you roll a "10" and they roll a "5" you take the "5" and they the "10".  If their result is better than yours, nothing happens.  

Additionally, every time you roll a "1" on a d20, you suffer a Critical Failure.  This means that something truly awful happens to you.  

The only way to break this curse is to find White Rabbit and give him back his foot or beat someone in a game of chance (while still cursed).  Cheating is permitted.  

How to Destroy the White Rabbit's Foot: 

Use the White Rabbit's Foot to smash 6 mirrors on Friday the 13th, move it under 4 ladders, spill salt on it, open an umbrella over it while indoors and let a black cat cross in front of the person carrying it.  Then burn it.  Alternatively, give it to a powerful Wolf or Dog spirit.  The latter method won't destroy it, but will keep it contained for at least 1d20+10 years.

Attempting to destroy it in any other method will fail and bring a catastrophic amount of bad luck down on those who attempted such methods, which inevitably results in something awful happening to them, like being struck by lightning, a building collapsing on them or being drowned in a freak non-water flood, such as the great Molasses flood of January 5th, 1919.

Neckbeard's Blade/Katakuri/Nippon Blade:

A sword that resembles a cheap mall-ninja katana, yet despite seemingly made of flimsy metal and overwrought plastic decorations, it is indestructible, bending but never breaking, warping but always returning to it's normal shape.  You'll look absolutely ridiculous with it until you use it to hack through someone like butter.

EGO Weapon:
If you have a CON or CHA less than 9, you can wield this weapon.  However, wielding this weapon will rob you of your ability to behave appropriately around women, especially beautiful ones.  You will view all women as damsels in distress that need to be saved and will devote yourself to serving your "ladies".  You also must save to avoid making awkward passes or inappropriate comments.
If you have a CON and CHA greater than 15, you can wield this weapon.  Doing so will allow you to unlock the weapon's second ability.  
If you have a CON or CHA between 10 and 14, you cannot wield this weapon.  In your hands, it will only be a useless cosplay weapon that does 1 damage on a hit.  You also have a 2-in-6 chance of losing it every time you leave it unattended for more than 8 hours.  If you do lose it, the sword will not be found.  It has vanished, gone in search of a worthy wielder.   

Abilities:   

First:
- 3/Day, the wielder of the sword can teleport up to 100' as a free action on his turn, as long as he teleports within 10' of an enemy.  

Second: 
- 3/Day, the wielder of the sword can cause the blade to gain an impossible sharpness that will allow it to cut through anything non-magical or non-living.  If an object is too large for the blade to emerge from the other side, the wielder can make a STR check.  On a success, the blade shears through the object anyway.  

4D Glasses:

A pair of green and black 3-D Glasses, seemingly made of flimsy plastic, yet it is impossible to break them.  Gives off a faint aura of energy, like you're carrying a sightly radioactive alloy in your pocket.  

Abilities:
- 3/Day, the wearer of the glasses can look into the future to see the outcome of an action.  He does this by asking the Referee "How will an action go?" or "What happens if I do X"?  The Referee will then have them roll for that action.
- If the wearer then takes that action, the Referee should have him roll again.  If he rolls lower than the foreseen result, the wearer may use the foreseen result instead.

by elleblink
Nekomata's Ears:

A headband with a pair of realistic looking black cat ears.  If you have long enough hair, they look like cat ears coming out of the top of your head.  They'll make you look cute if you're cute, but if you are brutish and violent looking, they just look vaguely ridiculous.

Abilities:
- You gain retractable claws that you can extend, causing your unarmed strikes to do 1d6+Atk sharp damage.  
- You gain the ability to speak to Cats as if you shared a language.  Cats will also treat you as an honorary Cat, extending to you privileges* that humans do not get.
- You gain advantage on any roll made to climb a surface soft enough that your claws can penetrate it.  If it's softer than wood, your claws can pierce it, if it's harder, they cannot.

Cat Quests:

When you first put on the Nekomata's Ears, nothing will happen.  However, if you wear them for at least 1 week a senior Cat will come to you and present you with a quest.  If you complete this quest you will receive a Feline Boon.  You can choose not to complete the quest, but if you fail to do so, you will need to apologize to the Cat and make recompense before it will give you another quest.  

What is your Quest?

1d4
1- Help the Cat reclaim some territory that rightfully belongs to it.  The disputed territory is currently occupied by 1d4 [1= Some rascally teenagers who are using it as a place to party; 2= A couple of stray dogs are hanging out there; 3= Another Cat has claimed it and won't give it up without a fight (or a bribe); 4= Something legitimately horrible and dangerous that escaped from a Carver's lair, a Nest of Pale Crawlers, a Monstrous Dog, etc.]
2- Help the Cat write a love-poem for the beautiful but cold-hearted Molly (she-cat) that lives nearby.  Your quest-giver has a good heart, but couldn't write a sonnet to save his life.
3- Chase off a monster that is frightening the Cat.  The monster is 1d4 [1= A big, noisy dog that slobbers all over everything.  Actually really friendly; 2= A bunch of construction workers working nearby with power tools; 3= An Investigator is attempting some very ill-advised experiments with a Cloud Elemental, an illegal fusion of Water and Air.  This is causing localized thunder and strange weather phenomena; 4= Something legitimately horrible and dangerous (See above for potential examples).]  
4- Bring the Cat something delicious.  Specifically, it wants 1d4 [1= A specific (rare, expensive or magical) type of fish, as fresh as possible; 2= Luxury dog food; 3= It wants you to steal the food of another Cat is doesn't particularly like and bring it here so it can eat it's rival's food; 4= A bowl of breakfast cereal, but with fresh blood instead of milk.  Also milk, but on the side.]

What Feline Boon are you offered?

1d6
1- 3/Day, you can reduce falling damage by 1d6+[your level].
2- 3/Day, you can jump up to 10*[STR modifier]' vertically or twice that horizontally.
3- You learn the 'Pounce' maneuver.  If you take a running start and leap at someone, you do +1d6 weapon damage on a hit and the other creature must save or be knocked prone.  However, when you do this, if you miss, you are knocked prone and collide with whatever was behind the target when you pounced.
4- You gain the ability to see in low-light like it was bright light.  However, there must still be some light, you still cannot see in complete darkness.  Your eyes also shine like a cat's.    
5- You have advantage on Perception rolls based on hearing and scent.  You also gain the bonus to any roll made to track a creature via scent.  
6- 3/Day, you can instantly clean yourself off and appear clean and pristine, as if you just took a bath.  For the next 10 minutes after using this ability, you have advantage on any CHA checks or reaction rolls.  

If you do 1dX+1 Cat Quests, you will be approached by a Senior Cat, either a Cat Noble or a Cat of a naturally higher rank, such as a Tiger.  This Cat will present you with a new Cat Quest.  If you complete it, you will be granted a Greater Feline Boon.  

What is your Quest?

1d4
1- Steal a treasure from a nearby enemy.  The treasure is 1d4 [1= A magical herb; 2= A magical toy; 3= A trophy taken from a defeated enemy; 4= Something small and worthless that used to belong to the Cat Noble.]  
2- Help the Cat humiliate another Noble Cat.  The Cat Noble in question is arrogant and annoying- do something that makes him look bad, weak, silly or something alike.    
3- Help the Cat negotiate and come to an agreement with another creature.  The creature in question is 1d6 [1= A higher ranked Cat; 2= A powerful Bird; 3= A ghost; 4= A Cat Ghost; 5= A Wizard; 6= A Pale Crawler.]
4- Drive off an enemy.  The enemy is 1d4 [1= A fallen Cat, corrupted by sin; 2= A pack of dogs, organized into a noble court around a Dog Duke; 3= A Hellhound; 4= A hostile Ghost].     

What Greater Feline Boon are you offered?

1d4
1- The ability to transform into a Cat.  3/Day, you can transform into a housecat.  While in Housecat form you can do anything a normal cat can do, but keep your intelligence and charisma.  You cannot do anything a Cat could not do, such as talking or casting spells.  You remain a Housecat for 1 hour or until you choose to transform back.
2- Ambusher.  When you attack a creature from stealth, on a hit you do +2d6 damage.  
3- Terrifying Yowl.  3/Day, you can emit a terrifying screech.  All enemies within 50' must save or be frightened of you.  
4- Stealth.  3/Day, you can cloak yourself in an aura that muffles sound, suppresses your scent and makes you harder to see.  This gives you advantage on stealth checks for 10 minutes or until you do something loud and dangerous, like making an attack, screaming, breaking something, etc.  Direct sunlight will also burn this aura away within 1 minute.   

Meteor Mitts/Gold Star Gloves:

A pair of red boxing gloves, tied together and marked with a golden comet logo on the back of the hand.  No identifiable brand or logo can be seen.  When worn, you faintly remember long hours training with a white-haired coach who pushed you hard, made you the man you are today.  

Abilities:
- Grant the wearer the ability to make fist attacks that do 1d6+ATK damage when wearing the gloves.  
- 3/Day, the wearer can make a fist attack against a humanoid enemy.  On a hit, that creature must save.  On a failed save, that creature is knocked unconscious. On a success, it takes +1d6 damage.  This may not work on certain types of enemies, such as Constructs, Undead, etc.  Additionally, any creature with HD more than 2x the wearer's current level has advantage on the save.  Creatures with HD more than 3x the wearer's current level are immune.
- 1/Day, the wearer can unleash a vicious flurry of 2d6 punches at one enemy or any amount of enemies they can face.  The wearer should roll once per enemy targeted and use that roll for each attack targeted against that enemy.     

from mommy-labs.com
Magic Foil:

A roll of aluminum foil that only contains a tiny amount of foil.  When not being used, it is always found inside a battered cardboard box labeled as "Terry's Magic Tin!"  Other labels on the box proclaim the various esoteric properties of the foil, claiming it can do anything from flipping burgers to curing cancer.  

Abilities:
- The foil on the roll can be taken and folded like paper into any shape you can imagine.  When it has taken on the form of that object, it can function as that object.  Ex: You fold the foil into a sword and it becomes a sword.  You fold it into a lockpick and it becomes a lockpick.  Etc...
- There is always enough foil to cover the inside of a medium-sized bathtub.  Referee's Discretion applies on how much this exactly is, or if the user has enough to fold into a specific object.  
- The foil can only be folded into something that could be made of metal.  It has no other magical properties.

The POWER:

A keyboard, red and glossy, with no visible brand name and more settings than you can shake a stick at.  It never runs out of battery and seems to radiate an aura of power.  Being near it is like standing near a blazing campfire, while reaching out to touch it will make every hair on your body stand on end.  

Abilities: 
- Allows the user to cast spells as per a 'Free-Form Wizard'.  The user can do this by making a roll as if they were a spellcaster.  The user must be able to touch 'The POWER' and hit the keys to trigger this ability.  
- If the user can think of and play a song that reflects what they want, then the Power will give them +4 to their roll to cast the spell, unless the song is one of the ones listed in the "Greatest Hits".
- If any songs from the "Greatest Hits" list is played, it triggers that effect instead.  The POWER will only allow 3 of the "Greatest Hits" to be played in one day.  Others played after that will have no effect.  

Greatest Hits:

If the user plays...

- "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio: All police or any other LEOs within 1d10 miles of the user all decide to take a coffee break for the next hour, or until something loud and noticeable draws their attention.  The user and every criminal within 1d10 miles knows this.  
- "Amazing Grace" by John Newton: All those unjustly imprisoned within 1 mile are set free.  All those who are justly imprisoned or serving a just punishment will instead receive a vision of Heaven or Hell, depending on their relationship with God.  These visions last 1d10 minutes and are life-changing.  
- "I'm Still Standing" by Elton John: Any of the user's allies who are above half HP are restored to full HP.  Those who are below half are raised to half HP and those bleeding out or dying are instead healed to 1 HP.
- "Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi: The user will suddenly receive a sudden break, a bit of help from a stranger, a stroke of good luck or something that could be divine intervention if you squint at it.
- "Jukebox Hero" by Foreigner: The user suddenly becomes impossibly skilled as a musician and for the next hour can play any instrument and gets +4 to any roll made to perform with it.  
- "I Need a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler: A powerful ally will suddenly appear to aid the user in whatever their current situation is.  
- "Master of Puppets" by Metallica: All those within 1 mile will suddenly find their superiors in rank and status irresistible to resist.  All those within the radius must succeed on a save to disobey an order.
- "Yankee Doodle" by Richard Shuckburgh: Causes all firearms to do +1d6 damage for 1 hour.  Additionally, all creatures get +1 to Atk and Defense rolls, as well as damage, if they are fighting an oppressive government or agents of said regime.  
- "Living Dead Girl" by Rob Zombie: Causes one female creature within 100' who has died to be returned to life.  This only works if the creature's soul hasn't moved on.  If the body is pristine or almost entirely undamaged, she will return to life as a living creature.  If her body is damaged, she will return as a Ghoul.  If it is severely damaged, she will return as a Zombie.  
- "Dog Days are Over" by Florence and the Machine: Causes the world to change.  It causes the current situation to come to an end in as natural, but swift a way as possible.  Play this one at your peril.     

by Spacey-Xannabelle
Psychic Television:

It looks like an old CRT TV, battered and old, but still functional.  However, it possesses one unique trait.  It has a small satellite dish on top of it, instead of any other form of connection.  It must be plugged in and connected to some form of TV service to display video.

Abilities:
- The Psychic Television can hear and understand everything you say.  It is fully intelligent and helpful.  
- 3/Day, it can answer any question you ask it.  It will respond by rapidly switching through the channels, splicing together words that the people on the TV are saying to "reply" to you.
- It will also sometimes randomly respond to queries, questions or desires presented to it or near it.  Ex: "If you're discussing how the orphanage will be shut down unless they can get $5,000 dollars by the end of the month, it will direct you to a local battle of the bands competition with a financial prize for first place.  Or if you're trying to evade the police, it will show you cop shows to remind you of how the police think and what they look for.

by Haco1

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