Another´s Releases & a Magical Bow

I am not the only one feeding the people with PWYW products. Nine Tongue Tales does the same. After I found the Elegant Fantasy Creature Generator to be rather useful and inspiring (see my future blog posts), I picked up the Elegant Fantasy Artifact Generator as well. The best way to find out if something is of use is to put to use, so I rolled up the details for six magic items.

Before I go own, I think it is fair to let you know that I am a drivethrurpg.com affiliate. While I will neither decry nor praise an item just because it is that of a competitor or because placing links to DTRPG gives me the chance to earn some extra cents if you buy something, you may decide on your own if you believe my words or not. Enough of that, let´s get back to the fun thing: creating magic items from scratch, with just a few key words thrown at you.

First thing to do according to the Elegant Fantasy Artifact Generator is to determine the item type. You may either roll a d100 (as I did six times) or pick a general categorys (Weapons; Armors; Valuables; Mundane Objects; Substances, Other Treasure; Other Odd & Peculiar Objects) and roll in the said category (d8, d12 or d20). Each entry comes with a bit of a description. I rolled a Reflex Bow (and had to look up on wiki what makes a reflex bow different from other bows), a Phylactery, a Carpet(!), an Alien Halo, a Short Spear and a Javelin.

The first thing that one has to remember when using random tables (and what EFAG reminds you about) is to re-roll results you really do not like. I wanted to create items for OSR Fantasy, so “Alien Halo” did not fit my bill. My next result was “Big Jewel”, which was fine. After already having two weapons in my six artifacts, I decided to re-roll the javelin as well  and ended up with Gloves instead. Pleased with my results, I went on. From know on, I will go through it item-by-item.

Next, you roll for the Material, for Color Details (ornaments, hues, tints, rune colors, knobs, bands, ribbons..whatever…), Who made it, How it was made, What for and of course, what Powers the artifact has. For the later, I will stick to 2 powers per item (or try to!) Here we go…

The Reflex Bow

Material: Extravagant
Colour Detail: White
Who?: Celestials
How?: Help of Undead Spirits
What for?: An insignia of power
Powers: Precious; Marking

Precious means (according to EFAG) that the longer a character looks at/uses the item, the more he or she grows affected with it. Marking... well, it marks those it is used upon or that come under its effect. A bow made by heavenly forces with the help of undead spirits… odd, isn´t it? Unless, of course, you interpret the Undead Spirits as the Souls of Matyrs. That´s what I decided to do.

The Bow of St. Parcival the Upright.

Parcival is an unlikely saint: during his life he was a bounty hunter that brought wanted men before the bailiff. He avoided to kill a wanted man whenever he could, for “I am not to judge, and I would rather risk my life than bring death to an innocent.” Daily, he prayed for guidance to the Lord, and gave the bounty to the convict´s family in the few cases that he grew a hunch that somebody he turned in had been sentenced in vain. One day, he later turned so unsure about somebody that he had turned in that he prayed and flagellated himself for days in search of an answer for his guilty conscience. On the third day, an angle appeared to Parcival and explained to him that the man that he turned in was indeed guilty. To spare himself further grueling days and nights of doubt, God had decided to gift him was a bow touched by the spirits of all martyrs in heaven. Whenever this bow would be used to aim an arrow on somebody accused in vain or wronged by the charge he was hunted for, the owner (but only him) would hear all the martyrs bewail the choice so that the owner could halt himself from firing the arrow. Those who would fire an arrow with the bow to harm somebody wronged or innocent would have their eyes become black as coal.

The bow itself is a reflex bow made of the finest wood, light in weight and with tips of bronze plated with gold. The grip is wrapped with braided, long white hair that feels like silk to the touch.

LotFP(tm) compatible stats:

Also akin to a short bow in size, the weapon has the range of a long bow and does 1d6+2 damage. It takes a Strength of 15+ to use the bow´s full potential: to those with Strength 10-14 it is just a short bow with according stats. Those with a lower Strength cannot use the bow at all.

Also not a truly a “cursed” item, the Bow of St. Parcival counts as one in regard to the desire to use and keep it. The current “owner” of the bow stays its owner till he or she dies, turns blind or decides to gift the bow to somebody with a non-chaotic alignment [which takes a Save vs. Device (-2) to do]. Afterwards, the next non-chaotic person that fires an arrow with it becomes the new owner. The “Eyes like Coal” effect is treated as a curse.

Stay tuned for the other five items!