Saturday, December 30, 2006

Totem of Prowess - Varied Wondrous Item

Totem of prowess: These totems are made from the skull of a creature with the ability to use a spell like or supernatural ability. It is painted or carved with invocations to the spirit of the creature it came from, binding part of their soul to the totem, and putting it in command of the wielder.

Each totem is keyed to a different kind of supernatural or spell like ability, and has a different power level. When carried in the left hand of a creature with hands, or worn around the neck of a creature without, a totem of prowess adds a bonus to the difficulty checks of the ability it is keyed to.

For instance, a totem made from the skull of a succubus might add +2 to the DC of the charm monster spell like ability of a mind flayer who wields it. Often totems are made by supernatural creatures who lead groups of their own from the skulls of their predecessors, in order to boost a spell like ability common to them. The Ogre Mage Ovomin owned the skull of Tethyrium, her mother, which allowed her to throw a fridgider cone of cold.

The market price of a totem of prowess is the bonus squared, multiplied by 1,000. A totem can boost the DC of two or more powers. The market value of such a device would be the number of boosts it granted added together, plus 50%.

Caster Level: 5th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, creator must be of he same race as item’s donator, or Spell Focus in a relevant school; Market Price: 500 gp (+1), 2,000 gp (+2), 4,500 gp (+3), 8,000 gp (+4), 12,500 gp (+5); Weight: 1 lb.

NPC Gear: +2 totem, 5th
Treasure Value: +2 totem, 6th

Math: cost of a resistence bonus to all saves, across the board, is bonus squared *1,000. I price limited resistences (+1 to a single save type) as bonus squared*1,000. A bonus to the save of a single spell like or supernatural ability must be worth less than an across the board save.

No comments: