Suggested level: middle (4th-8th) This mask is made in a classical style, with its mouth ever open and always screaming. A slight whistling noise and low pressure air zone always seem to accompany the wearer. Though not as horrific as the true Green Devil Face, the mouth of this mask contains a one-way portal to the Elemental Plane of Air. Anything mouth-sized that is placed in the mask’s mouth is whisked away, which is a great party trick with food, napkins, or balls of string. It may also work with evidence, like a small dagger. This means that fingers (or tongues?) placed within the mask’s mouth are severed, and not able to be retrieved. This can lead to some horrific accidents, so most buyers are cautioned before purchase. However, the additional influx of matter into the Elemental Plane of Air does cause issues for its inhabitants, and having a Djinn Calipha visit to see why people are littering her palace with food scraps, could make for an interesting side-adventure. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 4 September 2018) Categories All Suggested level: high middle (10th+) This masquerade mask bears the baroque likeness of an ornamented skull, with fine brass and gold work on the forehead, as well as tiny diamonds and pearls. Its teeth glisten like real bone, and the eye sockets seem to hide actual holes with nothing behind them. While worn, the wearer is treated as a living creature for any effects which harm or detect undead, allowing them to evade detection. It also allows them to taste and digest food and drink, and feel sensations peculiar to the living, like their heart beating and the hair on their skin standing at end. Its use is known to be addictive for those who wear it, but it does come with a weakness- the undead loses any damage reduction, regeneration, or fast healing ability it had, and cannot restore damage while the mask is worn. (Originaly posted on Game Masters Stash on 3 September 2018) Categories All A masquerade ball needs to have lots of people at it, otherwise it’ll feel oddly deserted. While there are plenty of unremarkable lesser nobles and so on filling the space, here are some interesting ones you can use to populate any masquerade ball you use. 1. Lady Lamistam, a very flatteringly-dressed woman in a silver gown and a chaste Nymph’s mask, looking for a prospective husband. She is looking for someone interesting, and an adventurer (especially one who is well-off) would be perfect. 2. Lord Geristan, drunk general. He is a wealthy and powerful man, used to being obeyed, and behaving like a boor. He is wearing a lion’s head mask and his official uniform, and it is not hard to tell who he is. He is drinking heavily and being rude to anyone who crosses his path. 3. Aethonwynn, a tall woman in a shimmering silver-scale gown down to her palms, with a lifelike dragon’s head mask. She is a dragon, magically polymorphed and exploring human society. She is finding the behaviour at the masquerade quite fascinating. 4. Brizqualyn Arkenar, a well-dressed and slender man in a porcelain mask. He is secretly a Drow exploring the surface world from a nearby base, and is looking for any information on the city’s defenses. 5. Squire Rhurnik, wearing gossamer silver armour and pretending to be his master, Sir Arthudos. He is seeking any information on who saw his master last, as he has been missing a week. 6. Tarramissi, a woman with a realistic Tiger’s head, with animated eyes and articulated jaws and teeth. She is actually a Rakshasa hunting for prey, and is potentially the most dangerous creature here. 7. Lumnock, a Gnome ambassador dressed in an adorable and realistic costume as a Deep Dragon. He is very much not appreciating being picked up and told how cute he is, and is wondering how quickly he can leave or if he can change his costume somehow. 8. Marikshmi, a broad-shouldered and no-nonsense woman who appears to be dressed in tribal warpaint and skins. She is receiving lots of attention, and would really like to be left along, as she is hunting for a vampire which killed many members of her tribe. She doesn’t know why everyone is dressed up, and is finding this all very frustrating. 9. Asfendhia, a gaunt woman wearing a slightly-broken mask and a blood-spattered ball gown. It looks rather scandalous and chic, but was actually taken from a woman on her way to the ball. Asfendhia is a vampire, seeking sanctuary for the night, and a new place to lair. She knows she is being hunted by Marikshmi, and is desperate to evade her. 10. Fugush, a jolly and classily-dressed rotund Orc wearing an Orc mask with ridiculously over-the-top tusks and a leering smile. He is making his way through the crowd from the kitchen, gladhanding and back-slapping, and making sure everyone is enjoying the exquisite foods he made. The food truly is amazing, although he enjoys joking that the food is made from human testes, or eyeballs, or whatever will shock his conversation partners. 11. Yaxilipoh, a refuse-bin which speaks to people. Yaxilipoh is a civilized mimic, and enjoys speaking about his ‘job’ to anybody who will listen (and hopefully, toss away some food scraps, which he has found a surprisingly successful tactic with youngfolks). He does caution anyone not to put their hands in him, unless they’re not too fond of them, but makes for a very curious conversation partner for the evening. 12. Siegierd Frenhilda, a barbarian ambassador from the far North lands. She is dressed in striking crimson silk, with an ogre-skull headpiece. She is proud, and enjoys making her way through the crowd and surprising those who think her unable to be subtle. She just prefers bluntness (and also has several daggers strapped in interesting locations on her body). (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 2 September 2018) Categories All A masquerade ball is a time-honoured tradition allowing people to shed identities and inhibitions, and share revelry for the night. No-one can be trusted to be as they appear, and sometimes the darkest devils do the brightest faces put on. Here are some ways you can use a masquerade ball in your games. Firstly, everyone attending needs a costume. For a basic masquerade mask and nothing else (bare minimum, generally acceptable for the hired help), costs will run 1 to 5 gold pieces (depending on decoration), and will cause others to generally ignore you unless you pass holding drinks. A fancy mask and basic costume will run the wearer 20-100 gold pieces, and will gain their wearer a +2 circumstance bonus on any Charisma-based interaction checks made during the ball. This might include a fancy dress, or costume as an animal or magical beast. An exquisite costume runs from 200-2,000 gold pieces, and will definitely be remembered, granting the wearer a +5 circumstance bonus on any Charisma-based interaction checks made during the ball. This might include rare materials such as giant spider silk, some minor enchantments to make sections glow or glitter or smoke, and so on. A truly fantastical costume costs a minimum of 5,000 gold pieces and has no upper cost bracket, often made from cloth-of-gold, diamond dust, beams of moonlight, a bound Elemental forming the structure of the costume, and anything that your heart can dream of (and afford!). These costumes will be remembered for years afterwards, and grant the wearer a +10 circumstance bonus on any Charisma-based interaction checks for the night. Of course, the costume itself isn’t everything- your ability to mingle, and dance, will earn recognition as well. Anyone who is able to show off during a dance, whether a simple Ring or Square dance, or a more complicated couple dance, will definitely fit in, and may add a further +2 circumstance bonus on interacting with anyone they’ve shared the dance with. Now, someone hosting a masquerade ball will definitely have security on hand, so it’s a poor idea to start a fight there (unless you have an exit strategy), but it’s also a place where people are unlikely to have weapons or armour on hand, which may make it a good place to confront a foe (or it may be a place that a foe might confront you!). As an interlude, a masquerade ball makes for a nice change of pace from dungeon-delving, and lets your players explore high society and high intrigue. It’s a time when you can let down your guard (or maybe not?), and enjoy something really different. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 1 September 2018) Categories All |
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