Deth Muncher
2014-02-20, 07:56 PM
Hello all! Many moons ago, I had tried creating a class to emulate the copycat effects of game characters like Kirby, Mega Man and the like. It dawned on me recently, however, that it would be much, much easier to do this with an item than with a class, so without further ado...
The Blue Mage's Gauntlet
Before you sits an odd metal gauntlet. It seems much heavier than it actually is - though cumbersome looking, almost as though it were a tiny metal barrel with a glove fitted at the end, it weighs next to nothing because of the compartment that opens up on the side, though what it could hold is unknown.
The Blue Mage's Gauntlet is a rare piece of artifice, allowing the user to access special abilities from slain monsters. Despite being made of metal, it confers no Arcane Spell Failure chance to any casters who might use it, and requires no particular training to use, apart from a 24 hour attunement period. Finding the catch to open the compartment on the gauntlet requires a DC 20 Search check. Anyone can wear the gauntlet, although accessing the special ability of the gauntlet requires a command phrase, written in Orcish on the inside of the compartment.
If a properly prepared piece of monster (referred to henceforth as a trophy) is placed within the compartment, the user is able to, once per round, as a standard action, call upon a Supernatural, Extraordinary or Spell-like Ability intrinsic to the monster's race, with the exception of spellcasting - that is to say, if a user had a dragon's eye, it could access that dragon's breath ability, tail sweep, and so on, but not any spellcasting levels that it may have had in life. (This obviously also excludes abilities gained from class levels.) A trophy is properly prepared by expending 3000gp x the monster's HD in special taxidermy-related things, as well as the standard ten minutes plus DC 15 Profession (Taxidermy) check to harvest the trophy and the DC 20 Profession (Taxidermy) check to prevent the trophy from rotting. (See: Metamagic Components (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/metamagicComponents.htm), subsection Monster Parts.)
Someone using the gauntlet may not access any abilities which have a Caster Level higher than their own HD. Abilities granted by virtue of a monster's body, such as good eyesight, or flight, have no caster level and thus may be used by anyone. If someone using the gauntlet uses an ability which requires a body part that the user does not have, such as the "pulsating black orifices" Aboleths have which secrete their mucus, the effect takes place from an analogous part on the user (in the above example, the user could make a spit attack). If an ability requires body parts which have no analog on the user, ghostly phantom versions of those parts appear for the duration of the effect - which allows certain physical attacks, like tail sweeps, to maintain their original range. Movement speeds are at the same speed as the gauntlet user's standard movement or the movement speed in the monster's Monster Manual entry, whichever is lower. If the gauntlet user wishes to persist a non-combat effect, such as different movement modes, or enhanced eyesight, they may do so by spending another standard action the next round - this is to prevent someone falling out of the air, or falling off a wall.
Should a gauntlet user be wealthy enough to have more than one trophy to use, swapping trophies is a full round action that provokes Attacks of Opportunity. Quick Draw reduces this to a Standard Action, still provoking Attacks of Opportunity.
Special Caveat: Shapeshifting
The Blue Mage's Gauntlet may temporarily grant phantom limbs to a user, but cannot physically change the user's shape. Should a Polymorph or other size-changing effect be triggered, the gauntlet will be unusable to the former user, either by the user growing larger and breaking the gauntlet, or by growing smaller and being unable to wear it. None of these transformations are complete, as they stop the instant the user is unable to wear the gauntlet. This results in hideous deformaties and strange hybrids. These effects are irreversible by mortal magic. Certain scholars propose that these gauntlets may have been the origin of certain species, like the owlbear, or chimera.
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This is obviously an artifact, though it realistically could be used at lower levels. There are some silly ways to break this at lower levels, like taking a Bat (which has 1/4HD) and getting free infinite flight for all of 750GP, but that still requires HAVING the artifact, which unless it is given to the character as an heirloom or something, should effectively be impossible.
The Blue Mage's Gauntlet
Before you sits an odd metal gauntlet. It seems much heavier than it actually is - though cumbersome looking, almost as though it were a tiny metal barrel with a glove fitted at the end, it weighs next to nothing because of the compartment that opens up on the side, though what it could hold is unknown.
The Blue Mage's Gauntlet is a rare piece of artifice, allowing the user to access special abilities from slain monsters. Despite being made of metal, it confers no Arcane Spell Failure chance to any casters who might use it, and requires no particular training to use, apart from a 24 hour attunement period. Finding the catch to open the compartment on the gauntlet requires a DC 20 Search check. Anyone can wear the gauntlet, although accessing the special ability of the gauntlet requires a command phrase, written in Orcish on the inside of the compartment.
If a properly prepared piece of monster (referred to henceforth as a trophy) is placed within the compartment, the user is able to, once per round, as a standard action, call upon a Supernatural, Extraordinary or Spell-like Ability intrinsic to the monster's race, with the exception of spellcasting - that is to say, if a user had a dragon's eye, it could access that dragon's breath ability, tail sweep, and so on, but not any spellcasting levels that it may have had in life. (This obviously also excludes abilities gained from class levels.) A trophy is properly prepared by expending 3000gp x the monster's HD in special taxidermy-related things, as well as the standard ten minutes plus DC 15 Profession (Taxidermy) check to harvest the trophy and the DC 20 Profession (Taxidermy) check to prevent the trophy from rotting. (See: Metamagic Components (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/magic/metamagicComponents.htm), subsection Monster Parts.)
Someone using the gauntlet may not access any abilities which have a Caster Level higher than their own HD. Abilities granted by virtue of a monster's body, such as good eyesight, or flight, have no caster level and thus may be used by anyone. If someone using the gauntlet uses an ability which requires a body part that the user does not have, such as the "pulsating black orifices" Aboleths have which secrete their mucus, the effect takes place from an analogous part on the user (in the above example, the user could make a spit attack). If an ability requires body parts which have no analog on the user, ghostly phantom versions of those parts appear for the duration of the effect - which allows certain physical attacks, like tail sweeps, to maintain their original range. Movement speeds are at the same speed as the gauntlet user's standard movement or the movement speed in the monster's Monster Manual entry, whichever is lower. If the gauntlet user wishes to persist a non-combat effect, such as different movement modes, or enhanced eyesight, they may do so by spending another standard action the next round - this is to prevent someone falling out of the air, or falling off a wall.
Should a gauntlet user be wealthy enough to have more than one trophy to use, swapping trophies is a full round action that provokes Attacks of Opportunity. Quick Draw reduces this to a Standard Action, still provoking Attacks of Opportunity.
Special Caveat: Shapeshifting
The Blue Mage's Gauntlet may temporarily grant phantom limbs to a user, but cannot physically change the user's shape. Should a Polymorph or other size-changing effect be triggered, the gauntlet will be unusable to the former user, either by the user growing larger and breaking the gauntlet, or by growing smaller and being unable to wear it. None of these transformations are complete, as they stop the instant the user is unable to wear the gauntlet. This results in hideous deformaties and strange hybrids. These effects are irreversible by mortal magic. Certain scholars propose that these gauntlets may have been the origin of certain species, like the owlbear, or chimera.
-------------------------------
This is obviously an artifact, though it realistically could be used at lower levels. There are some silly ways to break this at lower levels, like taking a Bat (which has 1/4HD) and getting free infinite flight for all of 750GP, but that still requires HAVING the artifact, which unless it is given to the character as an heirloom or something, should effectively be impossible.