The Ravensfriend

Okay, I tried to resist, but failed my save miserably. I am just impressed with Richard Morgan's The Steel Remains and its sequel The Cold Commands. Also there is this:

The hero of both books is Ringil Eskiath, a war veteran who wields the blade Ravensfriend. The Ravensfriend was forged for him by the alien and immortal Kiriath. Its full name is something like:

I am welcomed in the home of ravens and other scavengers in the wake of warriors. I am friend to carrion crows and wolves. I am carry Me and kill with Me, and die with Me where the road ends. I am not the honeyed promise of length of life in years to come. I am the iron promise of never being a slave.

 I just have to do this sword as a magic item for Lotfp:

The Ravensfriend is a very sharp sword that can be drawn nearly instantly from its scabbard. It has the following powers:

• It grants a magical +1 bonus to hit. In terms of Lotfp, that is huge. I am not planning on having any magic that grants a larger bonus.
• The blade is very sharp and does double damage, i.e. 2d8.
• The blade can be drawn and an attack made without any penalties.
• The wielder is immune to all charm spells and effects. That's the bit about "the iron promise of never being a slave."
• The wielder will not be attacked by ravens, carrion crows and wolves. They recognize the blade as provider of food. Again, see name.

The wielder of the Ravensfriend must "do the right thing" (as per the alignment righteous). Not neccessarily as a knight in shining armor, but using those means that come most naturally to him. As long as he is trying his best and getting somewhere, the Ravensfriend will not desert him. If he shirks away from this duty, the referee has two options: let the character roll a save vs. magical device. If he fails, he has to do the right thing (as determined by the referee). Or, the Ravensfriend will not grant him powers any longer.

Note: I am not satisfied with the negative effect of the blade. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

The Book of Stone

This grimoire consists of thin stone sheets harvested from the trees in the Stone-Cold Forest. Within the pages are densely etched with dwarven runes. The book contains five 5th level spells that any magic-user or tiefling can learn: major creation, passwall, stone shape, transmute rock to mud and wall of stone.

The real treasure, though, is the treatise on building stone galleys, an art currently lost to the dwarves. If dwarves hear of a character possessing the book, they will stop at nothing to acquire it. They will try to buy, steal or rob it.

But that is not the worst. The grimoire is as cursed as any other. Each time someone learns a spell from the book, he has to save vs. magical device. If the save is failed, the character is turned into a dwarf of equal level losing his spellcasting abilities. The victim can be saved by casting a remove curse on him.

The Sword of 100 Deaths

A long sword burnished black, glinting with a hint of silver. It does 1d8 damage and grants no bonus to hit. But, any creature hit by the sword must make a save vs. poison or be instantly slain. It's soul bound into the sword. So there is no way to resurrect a person while the sword is still whole. The lost dweomer might get around this limitation.

For any wielder, the sword will 99 times. The 100th death is the death of the wielder. After slaying the 99th victim, each time the sword hits another person, the wielder must save vs. poison or die. His soul is then absorbed into the sword.

Of course clever players would probably only use the sword, when it really counts. But alas, escaping the curse is not that easy. Each time the wielder is reaching for another weapon, he must succeed at a save vs. magical device at -5. If he fails, the weapon he grabs, is the Sword of 100 Deaths. Of course, this effect also means that it is extremly difficult to separate the wielder from his weapon.

The Book of the Pale Moon

"As the uncaring gods warred in Heaven, the Moon was cracked and flung to the Earth. A great upheaval followed as the shards of the moon struck the cities of dwarves, rent the nations of elves and drowned the kingdoms of men. All that had been built was shattered. All that had been gathered was scattered.


Today, the world knows nothing of the Fallen Moon, the skies are empty save for distant stars. The oceans are shallow and the tides sweep the land. Yet dwarves, elves, men and tieflings prevail. But some, those born with seething sorcerous blood, look up to the sky, at the poisonous pale green moon glaring down on them. Ever full, never half, an accusing eye directed at their sins of wizardry and chaos."
- From the Book of the Pale Moon, written in the 2nd century of the Era of the Leaden Dawn by the magic-user Aglemore the Lunatic

Note: The Book of the Pale Moon is a grimoire containing the magic-user spells: summoning, force of forbidment, howl of the moon, strange waters II, seven gates, contact outer sphere, weird vortex and witchlamp aura.

Once per day, the owner of the book may cast any one of the spells contained in the book as a magic-user of his level. After casting the spell, he must make a saving throw vs magic at a penalty. The penalty is the difference between his current level and the minimum level required to cast the spell (if he is of higher level, this can become a bonus). If he fails the save, he will dream poisonous dreams of a pale moon. He will thrash and howl in his sleep and cannot be woken until dawn. Such a sleep is not restful at all. A magic-user or tiefling will not be able to prepare spells, and all his rolls on that day will be at a -2 penalty.

The spells in the grimoire can be studied and copied normally. This will not having any ill effect.