Magic Item: The Shewstone of John Dee

This shewstone, also known as a crystal ball, was once owned by the famous occultist John Dee. It appears to be a perfect sphere of clear, polished crystal, and in the center of the crystal is presumably a fragment of curved stone, brown and rough in texture, resembling the carapace of a great spider. The shewstone is always cold to the touch. It was with this stone that Dee and his scryer Edward Kelly famously made contact with celestial entities and received messages from beyond this world.

The shewstone is essential useless without a copy of Dee’s grimoire entitled “A Treatise on the First Language of God-Christ,” which serves as a dictionary and guide to the grammar of the Enochian language, the tongue spoken by the celestials. Copies of this grimoire are excessively rare but may be purchased from shady book dealers, or found in the libraries of wealthy magic-users or collectors of the unusual. Magic-Users with an Intelligence score of 15 or more can make a Language skill check to already be fluent in Enochian.

To use the shewstone scryer must stare intently into the stone and make a saving throw against Magic Devices. If this saving throw is a failure, the scryer will experience nothing, but if it is a success the scryer will enter a trance and receive a message from the extra-dimensional entities. A second party must be present to record the Enochian words uttered by the scryer has he will have no memory of the message upon leaving the trance. The meaning of the utterances must then be translated from Enochian into an understood language.

The nature of the message is dictated by the scryer making saving throws against Magic Devices. These saving throws must be made by the Referee in secret. Each word requires a separate saving throw against Magic Devices and the number of words received is limited to the scryer’s level + Wisdom modifier. The scryer must state how many words they wish to receive before using the shewstone.

A successful saving throw will provide the scryer with a single useful word related to their current situation. This word can a simple clue or nudge towards treasure or survival. A failed save will result in a random word or a deliberately deceitful word that will put the party in danger or contradict the most reasonable course of action. Rolling a 1 on the saving throw will result in the permanent loss of 2d4 points from the scryer’s Intelligence score.

It should be noted that using the shewstone does not result in a conversation between the scryer and the extra-dimensional entities and so asking the shewstone a specific question will unlikely result in a direct answer, even if the resulting message is somehow helpful. In truth, the scryer is simply overhearing the whispers of these entities as they reverberate through the universe. Using the shewstone multiple times will bring the scryer to the attention of these entities, who can be exceedingly wrathful against any violation of natural order.

If the scryer could remember anything of their celestial vision, it would look a bit like this.

It is vital that all saving throws regarding the shewstone be rolled in secret by the Referee. The resulting words, helpful or not, should be given to the players in random order only after the scrying session is over.

Below is a table of words that can used when selecting random results for failed saving throws. It may also be in the best interest of any Referee to also consult this table for any helpful words in case one of the players should also have a copy of this book.

00-01 Division

02-03 Burn

04-05 Morningstar

06-07 Beauty

08-09 Darkness

10-11 Hellfire

12-13 Banish

14-15 Choke

16-17 Candle

18-19 Venus

20-21 Triumphant

22-23 Paradise

24-25 Transform

26-27 Harlot

28-29 Beast

30-31 Kingdom

32-33 Death

34-35 Attack

36-37 Earth

38-39 Daughter

40-41 Deception

42-43 Light

44-45 Diamond

46-47 Worm

48-49 Guardian

50-51 Obedience

52-53 Silence

54-55 Face

56-57 Air

58-59 Fire

60-61 Mountain

62-63 Ocean

64-65 Skull

66-67 Magus

68-69 Mars

70-71 Gathering

72-73 Judgement

74-75 Sword

76-77 Mercury

78-79 Conqueror

80-81 Aether

82-83 Torch

84-85 Lucifer

86-87 Millstone

88-89 Water

90-91 Babylon

92-93 Remember

94-95 Voice

97-97 Sleep

98-99 Wings

Magical Item: Jewel of Whispers/The Dream Thief

The following is an "item" I wrote up for a contest James Raggi was having about a year ago. It wouldn't have seen the light of day, but today is Awesome Gamer Day and I want to share some stuff I've made.

Appearing as a large uncut ruby (150 sp), the artifact known as the Jewel of Whispers actually a creature that steals from those poor souls in its proximity by invading their dreams and removing from reality something related to the dream. However, the Jewel of Whispers does not simply steal from its victims. It also imparts ancient occult knowledge and prophecies to those who can listen.

The Jewel of Whispers will begin to affect the sleep of anyone who looks into the ruby in such a way that his shadow falls upon the stone. From that point on, the character’s dreams will be haunted by the jewel any time he sleeps within one mile of the artifact.

If struck with a silver weapon, the ruby will become fleshy and will be cut or crushed like a simple piece of meat. This artifact is in all actuality an ancient creature known as the Dream Thief. It is unknown if there is only one Dream Thief or if there is an entire race.

Any individuals under the spell of the Jewel of Whispers will have the same dream and suffer the same effect as dictated by the table below.

Nightmare and Effect Table

1d12
1	A vampire drains the blood of the dreamer as they lay paralyzed in bed. Upon waking, the dreamers will find that they have lost all blood from their body and will promptly die.
2	Opening a small chest, dreamers find their most valued childhood possession broken. Upon waking, the dreamers find their most valuable piece of jewelry or gemstone missing.
3	Dreaming of a great feast of their favorite foods, the dreamers find the beetles and maggots have infested every plate. Upon waking, the dreamers will find all food within a mile of the Jewel rotten.
4	Crows peck and gore at the eyes of the restrained dreamers. Upon waking the dreamers will find their eyes to be missing from their sockets.
5	Wandering in the wilderness, the dreamers watch in horror as insects blot out the sun. Upon waking, the dreamers find that all torches, lanterns and other sources of light will not take a flame.
6	Running from a shadowy creature, the dreamers finds that their legs are slow and sluggish. Upon waking, the dreamers find that their footwear is missing.
7	The dreamers see themselves as great steeds in a herd of wild horses. The herd is attacked and slaughtered by a pack of wolves. Upon waking, the dreamers will find all mounts missing.
8	Wandering through a vast desert, the dreamers come across an oasis. As they try  to drink from the pool, the water turns to sand in their mouths. Upon waking, the dreamers find that all drinking water within a mile has evaporated.
9	The dreamers suffer in agony as a legion of spiders hatch and pour from each ear. Upon waking, they find that they have been struck deaf as their eardrums are now missing.
10	At a great feast, the dreamers’ teeth begin to fall out as they eat and drink. Upon waking the dreamers’ teeth will be missing.
11	In a dream that seems to last an eternity, the dreamers plant tree after tree, only to have each one wither and die. Upon waking, all objects made of paper or wood are rotten. This includes spell books.
12	Finding themselves hideously deformed, the dreamers are shunned by friends and family. Children throw rocks at them and women flee from their sight. Upon waking, they will find any and all retainers missing.

Magic-Users under the spell of the Jewel of Whispers will learn a random spell each night of the Spell Level indicated by the following table. The spell learned is up to the Referee’s discretion. Each individual Magic-User roll for his own result.

Magic-User Spell Teaching Table

3d6	Spell Learned in Slumber
3	Random Level 9 Spell
4-5	Random Level 7 Spell
6-7	Random Level 5 Spell
8-9	Random Level 3 Spell
10-11	Random Level 1 Spell
12-13	Random Level 2 Spell
14-15	Random Level 4 Spell
15-16	Random Level 6 Spell
17-18	Random Level 8 Spell

Each Cleric under the spell of the Jewel will receive a prophecy from an avatar of their god during the dream. There is a 50% chance that the prophecy will be true, although the execution of the prophecy is up to the Referee’s discretion. Each individual Cleric rolls for his own result.

Cleric Prophecy Table

1d12	Prophecy
1	The dead will rise in the east.
2	The woman in white shall usher forth end.
3	A black cat will reveal the hidden truth.
4	The hermit will tell only lies, his mind clouded by the chattering of insects.
5	The whore will birth the queen. The queen with birth the sun.
6	Blood will be spilled upon the altar of the lost god.
7	Only the blind and the lame will see the final majesty.
8	Death await behind the fifth door.
9	A plague with rise in the west.
10	All great houses fall before the glory of the throne.
11	A blue man will bring great fortune and great sickness.
12	A dwarf will become king. A minstrel will become Pope.