Dungeon Fantasy Magic Item Backstory Contest

[HunterS]

*CLOSED* It's time for another Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game Kickstarter contest *CLOSED*!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Dungeon Fantasy Character Backstory contest! We had a ton of great entries.


You've told us your character, but what is their quest? What pieces do they treasure? What drives them to these dark dungeons to slay monsters? The magic items!

Create, name, describe, and come up with a backstory for a Dungeon Fantasy RPG magic item, and post it here to enter. Maybe it's a rod of immeasurable power, or a crown to bend minions to your will. Perhaps you're more of the weapon variety, and prefer to hunt magic swords. Whatever your imagination comes up with, give it a name and story to can enter!


Entries are limited to 150-300 words. Limit one entry per person. If the Kickstarter funds, one winner will be chosen randomly among the entries to receive a copy of the Dungeon Fantasy RPG boxed set. Additional prizes may be chosen randomly depending on the amount of entries. Contest runs until Thursday, September 29.

[simply Nathan]

Fetch the Magic Boomerang

In ages long past, there was a wizard fascinated with boomerangs. Upon having some imported to play with when he'd become wealthy enough to own a tower of his own, he became immensely frustrated.

"This is not right at all!" he said, "None of the boomerangs hefty enough to cause harm will return like they ought to!"

So he set about enchanting all these boomerangs to return when thrown like they are supposed to. He sold off all of them at the second-hand rates because he was a little bit of a fool with his money, naming the one that remained Fetch because he was amused by the thought of it being like an invisible dog bringing back the stick after he threw it.

As the enchanter grew in experience, so did Fetch. He eventually died and the boomerang was found by an adventurer, who kept it until he died and it was claimed by another adventurer and so on for hundreds of years.

There's little telling how many new enchantments Fetch may have picked up over the years, but sometimes it makes the sound of a barking dog when thrown with particular force.

[Dammann]

Uros's Jump Arrows
A quiver of arrows created for Uros, a legendary Mountain Elf Scout, helped him fight an many-eyed monster deep beneath Black Mountain called the Karrosul. The Karrosul had a strip of eyes that circled most of its head, and a band of armored tentacles that could whip up to parry incoming arrows as quickly as Uros could release them.

Uros discovered a narrow blind spot from which he could land his arrows, but the Karrosul turned around in combat so often that he had trouble remaining in that blind spot. His first encounter with the beast resulted in the death of his adventuring companion, Timophey, and Uros swore to destroy the Karrosel and avenge his fallen friend. After a quest to a temple in the sky, he returned with a quiver of arrows that held the key to repositioning himself quickly where the Karrosul couldn't see him.

Uros's Jump Arrows teleport the archer to the spot where they strike after one second. Controlling one's facing after hitting a spot with one of the arrows requires a successful Body Sense roll. A failed roll results in facing a random direction. Uros had to learn to keep his orientation and quickly fire a mundane arrow before using another Jump Arrow from his magic quiver to zip to the monster's blind spot. Uros used most of the arrows before blinding enough of Karrosul's eyes to defeat him, but somewhere, deep in the Mountain Elves realm, the remaining arrows await a hero who needs to be somewhere else fast. Are more to be found in the temple in the sky? What strange aerial creatures guard those arrows? Sages can only offer Uros's legend as a clue to where one can find the arrows that helped defeat the monster that could see in (almost) every direction.

[A Ladder]

Macros. The Bulwark of Annoyance.

Macros is a large tower shield, rectangular and made of a metal the color of iron. The metal is polished to bright reflection and would have been a good mirror if the “face” of the shield was not an oversized depiction of a very cross orc. This orc’s face juts out from the front of shield slightly and moves, talks, and has a personality (if you could call it that). Macros is an extremely grumpy, stubborn, and complaint filled being. But Macros is immediately loyal to whoever wields him, being the ultimate alley in getting his master superior comfort, rations, or pay over anyone else. Plus he enjoys insulting those he deems beneath his wielder and himself (read: everyone else). When left alone, Macros will treat the last person he was strapped to as his master.

This shield’s power is that it weighs almost nothing. Macros telekinetically holds himself up so that his master’s arm does not get tired. (He spitefully makes himself extra heavy if others try to move him). The shining surface can also blast the area with an intense flash of light, blinding those in front of the shield’s face, at the cost of some of the wielder’s energy. He also bites those he gets bashed into. Macros, if ever consulted, is an encyclopedia of magical knowledge and can even detect if other objects possess magical properties.

Macros was once an orc sorcerer who enjoyed using his magical powers to bind others to his will. He ultimately captured a genie forced it to grant him a wish: immortality. The genie twisted Macros’ command by turning him into a magical shield where he would be forever alive but also always at the compulsion of the entity which wielded him.

[khorboth]

Ricky’s persistent daggers:
Four plain throwing knives in a black leather bandoleer designed to be worn across the chest. They may be used in melee as small knives dealing +2 damage. When throwing, the user may decide to release one two, three or all four as a single ready action. Once released, the enchantment takes over their flight. The daggers fly toward the designated target up to 100 yards away, attacking with a skill of 12 but ignoring range penalties. They always aim for the torso and inflict 1d imp on a successful attack. Any which are blocked or parried will circle around to attack again two rounds later. A dodge (or block with a wooden shield) which succeeds by two or more results in the knife being stuck in a suitable material such as wood or earth. If freed, the knife will resume the attack. The holder of the bandoleer can order all knives back to the bandoleer at any time, though individual control is not possible. Those which are stuck must be retrieved manually. Each knife will continue until it has struck, become stuck, or is called back to the bandoleer.

These were created by the wizard Shando in an effort to win magical duels. The thought was to distract his opponent with flying daggers while his slower spells had time to complete. Unfortunately for Shando, they were ruled to be weapons and therefore unusable in the duel. In his anger, he threw them over the wall of the compound. From there, the history of the knives is unknown until they reappeared in the hands of a thief named Ricky who mostly used them to distract opponents until his much larger adventuring companions could be brought to bear on a foe.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Acorns of Floramorphosis

These odd looking acorns were created by the elven arch-Druid Celendreil. Celendriel, a hermit who despised outsiders interfering with her nature meditation. After one particularly annoying evening Celendriel sat down and created buckets of these magical acorns (all she had to bind the spell to). Now instead of answering questions she'd simply throw an acorn and the person would be instantly turned into a beautiful, green tree. This solved both of her problems at once: no outsiders, but no killing them either and it gave her a nice new tree. Training the local squirrel population to use the acorns, the Forest of Forgotten Souls quickly garnered its name and has been avoided since.

The acorns can only be used once, but throwing them activates their magic so that the next person that touches them turns into a tree (as per Plant Form Other) except it requires a Remove Curse or Plant Form Other spell to be cast to reverse.

[Bruno]

Shock and Awe

This pair of Balanced, Fine, Orichalcum javelins have a mysterious provenance, rumored to be the handiwork of a great dwarven craftsman empowered by an airy spirit whoes heart he captured (by romance or by trickery, the stories do not say).

Both are fancifully decorated, counting as Ornate +3. Shock is edged in electrum and the javelin head is in the shape of a stylized lightning bolt. Awe is gilded, and the javelin head portrays the sun, with the blade formed from the suns rays being twisted together.

In combat, Shock and Awe have dazzeling features. Neither can be parried or blocked, only dodged. Once either hits or misses, it disintegrates and reforms in its wielders hand on his next turn, instantly ready.

Shock transforms into a lightning bolt when hurled, coursing across the battlefield with a flash and a bang. Whatever it strikes suffers Linked 2d burning damage with the Surge, Arcing enhancement (Psionic Powers page 20), and it produces a Thunderclap (as per the spell, Magic page 171) with itself as the subject.

Awe transforms into a blast of sunlight when hurled, with the fury of a thousand desert noons. The entire line of hexes between the thrower and whatever it finally strikes are lit as per the Sunlight spell (Magic page 114) for one minute. Whatever it strikes suffers Linked 2d tight-beam burning damage, and it produces a Flash (as per the spell, Magic page 112) with itself as the "caster".

Shock and Awe together are a 13 FP Power Item. They cannot be separated for long; at the stroke of noon if they are not in the posession of the same person, both Shock and Awe vanish with a Flash and a Thunderclap.

[mehrkat]

The Silver Avery

A small bird's cage about the size of a nice lantern with a handle at the top. Swirling inside of it are tiny images of birds and other flying creatures (no one is quite sure whether its real birds or just images) When you open up the avery and give the name of a bird within the cage it lights on your hand and as it leaves the cage grows into the normal sized bird of its type.

The bird seems to be a relatively average member of its species it lives and breathes. The bird is under the command of the holder of the cage and the cage holder can perceive through its senses the bird at will. The bird can last until the sun changes from night to day or from day to night (depending on when the bird was pulled).

Each flying creature in the cage has its own name and hunting for the names can be adventures in and of itself as there are believed to be dragons and griffins and perhaps even more wondrous creatures within the cage.

Relatively known to history or the names of the hawk, dove, duck and owl. there are legends of a pegasus, griffin and a dragon to be found within the avery.

[(E)]

Talented weapons (tools)

Warrior mages are a rare breed and they are the only people with the right combination of skills to create talented weapons. The enchantment to create a talented weapon requires more than just mystical ability. The creator must also possess the martial skill they wish to instill in the weapon.

Effects
A talented weapon grants it's user a bonus to a technique(s). An Orcish warblade may grant a bonus to aggressive parry for example.

Rumours exist of blades that can endow the carrier with a complete fighting style.

(I know the rule is only one entry per person but here are a few that didn't make the cut. Colchian Staff and the Maellock)

[sir_pudding]

Key of Everwinter

This key can be used on any locked container or portal. When the lid or door is opened, instead of whatever is actually within, a gale-force blizzard wind comes roaring out. It must be shut against the force of the wind, at which point it returns to normal.

Strangely, the key itself is decorated with a relief of nymphs and satyrs cavorting in a sunny glade and every once in awhile some peice of frozen debris is blown out with the wind, such as flower petals, that speak to a time before the key opened only to a blasted frozen wasteland.