Nebuul
2017-04-23, 01:49 PM
Sorry, I posted this in the wrong forum before :-)
Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment is a set of cursed items, always found together in a large, very ornate ironwood chest with mithril trim. When a party opens the chest, they find inside of it one item for each party member that will be of extraordinary usefulness. For example, a fighter with a non-magical sword might find a +2 keen longsword. A wizard might find a metamagic rod, etc. The only limitation is that the items cannot be something that becomes useless when it runs out of charges. The items are always appropriate for the power level of the party, with a caster level +/- 1 level for each member.
Upon a single member of the party taking an item out of the box, the entire party becomes afflicted with a powerful curse which cannot be removed by any traditional magical means short of direct divine intervention. However, with enough research or use of legend lore, the party can discover that the curse can be removed if they perform Gong's Great Adventuring Play to a crowd of at least 500 spectators. The play can be found inside the same chest, but only if a person is looking for it. It is encouraged for the DM to utilize the performance to test the resolve of the players: The show must go on! For example, some scenes might require the death of a key character or characters. Once the performance is concluded, all "dead" characters are instantly returned to life without any ill consequence, as though the performance had not happened, excepting that the curse has been lifted.
If the performance is abandoned, the players will incur The Wrath of Gong -- all of the characters' gear will be instantly de-powered and turned into prop items of inferior quality (-1 quality penalty on weapons, -1 quality penalty to ac on armor). Any item that comes into possession of a character suffering from The Wrath of Gong is likewise instantly affected. A complete repeat performance of the show will return all items to their original state.
Once the curse is finally removed, the items found from Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment are revealed to be simple prop items, functioning as normal items without any enchantment whatsoever.
The true magic item here is, of course, the ironwood chest with the mithril trim. It is an artifact-level item and tends to be found in dragon treasures and other sufficiently impressive hoards to make such a tremendously useful cache be less suspicious of a find.
The Curse:
Anyone in possession of an item from Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment is at all times surrounded by appropriate theme music for whatever activity they are currently undertaking. If the entire party is together, the music is appropriate for the activity of the party as a whole. The music is of loudness equal to that of a standard symphony orchestra. This accompaniment is divinely powerful and cannot be silenced by any means.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, anyone afflicted by the curse cannot hear the music. So the party cannot hear their own accompaniment. For example, if a rogue is cursed, then as he sneaks up behind enemies, there will be a symphony playing classic theatrical "sneaking" theme music.
Moving silently is impossible when cursed. Moreso, any creature capable of hearing gets an automatic listen check at 300' dc 15 to hear the party coming. Any creature capable of hearing is additionally treated as having blindsense 150' with regard to cursed party members only.
If a cursed player uses any sort of sound-based effect that requires non-cursed targets to understand or hear to be effective, there is a 50% concealment chance of failure per target due to the symphony drowning out the important parts. Roll for each target individually.
If a target is under the effect of a compulsion spell such as suggestion and hears a verbal command, there is a 50% concealment chance that the command is misinterpreted because some words are not heard.
Bard song and performances are particularly affected by this, as there will be a 50% chance that the song will have the opposite effect on non-cursed targets. So performances might move opinion down categories instead of up, might demoralize instead of inspire, our vice versa. Roll once for the entire crowd.
Items from Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment can be lost or discarded. They function as normal-quality non-magical items when used by anyone other than a cursed party member. Discarding an item has no effect on the curse. Additionally, if any item in Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment is destroyed or depowered (such as by Mordenkainen's Disjunction), the curse is not lifted but the item is successfully and permanently affected. The items cannot be repaired or replaced, so doing such a thing to an item effectively removes any benefit from the accompaniment without affecting the penalty.
Magic item specifics:
This thing is made by some god for his own personal enjoyment/torment of mortals. If you want to give it value and caster level stats, that's fine, but it's intended for planned use by a dm as a plot device.
The chest radiates artifact-level divine enchantment magic. If opened, the items within radiate appropriately for the item that is created. It is possible to discover the nature of the chest by researching it before items are removed, just as it is possible to research it after an item is removed and the curse is in-play. The gods are, after all, encouraging mortals to look before they leap!
Additional Notes:
No person can ever receive more than one item out of the chest in their lifetime
The items do not change/update as characters advance
If players add additional enchantments to items from the chest those enchantments might be lost when the curse is lifted because the items become normal quality. Weapons, for example, must be masterwork to hold enchantments. If the reduction in quality of an item makes it unfit for holding an enchantment, any XP costs are instantly refunded, but all material/gold costs are lost forever
The accompaniment's effect on verbal-related tasks a player might try extends to all verbal interactions that might require a dice roll such as skill checks (diplomacy/bluff/intimidate/gather information/etc) as well as any sound-based spell, spell-like ability, supernatural ability, or extraordinary ability. If the target is required to hear and/or understand anything sound-based from the character, it is affected
Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment is a set of cursed items, always found together in a large, very ornate ironwood chest with mithril trim. When a party opens the chest, they find inside of it one item for each party member that will be of extraordinary usefulness. For example, a fighter with a non-magical sword might find a +2 keen longsword. A wizard might find a metamagic rod, etc. The only limitation is that the items cannot be something that becomes useless when it runs out of charges. The items are always appropriate for the power level of the party, with a caster level +/- 1 level for each member.
Upon a single member of the party taking an item out of the box, the entire party becomes afflicted with a powerful curse which cannot be removed by any traditional magical means short of direct divine intervention. However, with enough research or use of legend lore, the party can discover that the curse can be removed if they perform Gong's Great Adventuring Play to a crowd of at least 500 spectators. The play can be found inside the same chest, but only if a person is looking for it. It is encouraged for the DM to utilize the performance to test the resolve of the players: The show must go on! For example, some scenes might require the death of a key character or characters. Once the performance is concluded, all "dead" characters are instantly returned to life without any ill consequence, as though the performance had not happened, excepting that the curse has been lifted.
If the performance is abandoned, the players will incur The Wrath of Gong -- all of the characters' gear will be instantly de-powered and turned into prop items of inferior quality (-1 quality penalty on weapons, -1 quality penalty to ac on armor). Any item that comes into possession of a character suffering from The Wrath of Gong is likewise instantly affected. A complete repeat performance of the show will return all items to their original state.
Once the curse is finally removed, the items found from Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment are revealed to be simple prop items, functioning as normal items without any enchantment whatsoever.
The true magic item here is, of course, the ironwood chest with the mithril trim. It is an artifact-level item and tends to be found in dragon treasures and other sufficiently impressive hoards to make such a tremendously useful cache be less suspicious of a find.
The Curse:
Anyone in possession of an item from Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment is at all times surrounded by appropriate theme music for whatever activity they are currently undertaking. If the entire party is together, the music is appropriate for the activity of the party as a whole. The music is of loudness equal to that of a standard symphony orchestra. This accompaniment is divinely powerful and cannot be silenced by any means.
Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, anyone afflicted by the curse cannot hear the music. So the party cannot hear their own accompaniment. For example, if a rogue is cursed, then as he sneaks up behind enemies, there will be a symphony playing classic theatrical "sneaking" theme music.
Moving silently is impossible when cursed. Moreso, any creature capable of hearing gets an automatic listen check at 300' dc 15 to hear the party coming. Any creature capable of hearing is additionally treated as having blindsense 150' with regard to cursed party members only.
If a cursed player uses any sort of sound-based effect that requires non-cursed targets to understand or hear to be effective, there is a 50% concealment chance of failure per target due to the symphony drowning out the important parts. Roll for each target individually.
If a target is under the effect of a compulsion spell such as suggestion and hears a verbal command, there is a 50% concealment chance that the command is misinterpreted because some words are not heard.
Bard song and performances are particularly affected by this, as there will be a 50% chance that the song will have the opposite effect on non-cursed targets. So performances might move opinion down categories instead of up, might demoralize instead of inspire, our vice versa. Roll once for the entire crowd.
Items from Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment can be lost or discarded. They function as normal-quality non-magical items when used by anyone other than a cursed party member. Discarding an item has no effect on the curse. Additionally, if any item in Gong's Theatrical Accompaniment is destroyed or depowered (such as by Mordenkainen's Disjunction), the curse is not lifted but the item is successfully and permanently affected. The items cannot be repaired or replaced, so doing such a thing to an item effectively removes any benefit from the accompaniment without affecting the penalty.
Magic item specifics:
This thing is made by some god for his own personal enjoyment/torment of mortals. If you want to give it value and caster level stats, that's fine, but it's intended for planned use by a dm as a plot device.
The chest radiates artifact-level divine enchantment magic. If opened, the items within radiate appropriately for the item that is created. It is possible to discover the nature of the chest by researching it before items are removed, just as it is possible to research it after an item is removed and the curse is in-play. The gods are, after all, encouraging mortals to look before they leap!
Additional Notes:
No person can ever receive more than one item out of the chest in their lifetime
The items do not change/update as characters advance
If players add additional enchantments to items from the chest those enchantments might be lost when the curse is lifted because the items become normal quality. Weapons, for example, must be masterwork to hold enchantments. If the reduction in quality of an item makes it unfit for holding an enchantment, any XP costs are instantly refunded, but all material/gold costs are lost forever
The accompaniment's effect on verbal-related tasks a player might try extends to all verbal interactions that might require a dice roll such as skill checks (diplomacy/bluff/intimidate/gather information/etc) as well as any sound-based spell, spell-like ability, supernatural ability, or extraordinary ability. If the target is required to hear and/or understand anything sound-based from the character, it is affected