Steal My Idea: 6 Unique Items to Pepper into Your Game (or to Ask Your GM for)

Items and weapons are one of my favorite things to discover. Even items or weapons that use a spell effect or something already established in the system are more fun when you put an interesting spin on them. You can use them for loot, villains’ items, or things to add something unexpected. These are far less complicated and easier to slip into your game than The Ring of Exponential Value or The Rings of the Two Best Friends.

The stats for these are based on Pathfinder, because d20pfsrd.com is a free and legal resource I can link to. That means most of these are completely interchangeable with d20 and D&D 3.X. If you are using a different system, such as D&D 5e or Savage Worlds, you can adjust the numbers to match the mathematics of that system.

Cast Iron Skillet of Tasty Treats: Once per day, food cooked in this +1 magical cast iron skillet is so delicious, it gives up to three people who eat from it a bonus 1d6 they can add to any attack, attribute, skill check, or a roll to confirm a critical.

Description: The skillet appears to be normal except for the words “made with love” carved into the bottom.

Armor of the Famous Goblin Luchador Mecha-King Triasque: This size small, light armor is designed specifically to bulk up a size small creature. Consider the size small creature wearing it size medium for the purposes of a grapple. If you are using a ruleset for D&D 3.X, which denies grapplers their dex bonus to AC, make the armor heavy plate armor. Otherwise, it has the stats of quilted cloth.

Description: The majority of the armor is light and made of sturdy cloth that looks like scales. Several decorative metal plates give the armor an appearance similar to the back plating of a tarrasque.

Outer-Touched Bo Staff: This magical bo staff leaves a brief, blurred after image of the staff as you strike and twirl it around. The after image is solid, granting the user a +2 bonus to their AC. Since the after image is solid, you cannot move in the same direction you attacked in the same turn.

Description: A network of shallow grooves weave around the wooden staff. Folktales say that those are the tracks left by an unknown, time-defying creature that looked like a small worm ate away the surface of the wood, and it is the remnants of that creature which gave the staff its special power.

Knife Vision Goggles: These shoddy-looking but masterfully crafted (masterwork) goggles contain extra-thick lenses with a straight, dagger-like blade sticking out of each circle of hardened, red glass. This gives the wearer the ability to make a head butt attack for 2d4+str mod damage. Beware of critical failure rolls, for side effects may include headaches, lacerations, and stabbing yourself in the eye with the back end of a knife. Most users keep the goggles on their foreheads when they attack with them.

If Knife Vision Goggles are a bit too silly for you, try

The Helmet of the Vampire’s Apprentice: This masterwork helmet has two fangs that give the user the ability to use a head butt as an attack that deals 1d6+str mod damage. On a successful attack, the fangs draw blood from the target, allowing a vampire to drink the blood at a later time and gain health back equal to the damage the helmet did. The helmet can hold a maximum of 30 HP worth of blood, and it becomes noticeably heavier to the user. The blood sours after one hour in the helmet, removing the HP bonus a vampire can get from drinking it.

Description: The helmet has the appearance of a humanoid head that is long and oval-shaped. With the placement of the eyes high on the helmet, the wearer’s looks out through the mouth of the humanoid the helmet portrays, with the fangs above the wearer’s eyes. The helmet looks as though the face on the helmet is leaning its head back and looking down on its prey.

The Wrench of Intelligent Design: This magical wrench allows the user to apply half again her ranks in craft when building intelligent items, constructs, golems, or other objects that can gain sentience. This only applies when you are trying to build an intelligent object. It does not give any retroactive bonuses if an item created by it gains sentience.

Description: The head of the wrench resembles a brain with the opening between the left and right cerebral hemispheres. The handle resembles a spine with flexible vertebra that the user can lock into place to make it fit into odd places or to get better leverage.

I’ll have five more items next week. Enjoy these!