51. The skeletal remains of a long-dead warrior, wearing a suit of plate armor which still glistens as if it had been polished yesterday. The name of every warrior to ever don the armor has been inscribed upon the front and back of the chest plate, covering nearly every inch of its surface with precisely written, black runes. A careful inspection of the armor will reveal that there remains room for one last name.
52. A miniature model of a pyramid, which glows a faint blue. If a deceased creature of Diminutive or Fine size is placed beneath the pyramid, they will be reincarnated in 1d20 hours. The pyramid can manifest this ability once per lunar month.
53. The tiny figurine of a fertility goddess, carved from a rare, fist-sized pearl. Found deep beneath the surface of the earth, for two weeks after it is brought to the surface any woman touching the figurine will become pregnant. After the two week period has expired, the figurine will never work again.
54. A coil of rope spun from the black hair of an elven maid.
55. A door which, when opened, reveals nothing except a bare wall of stone.
56. In the depths of the forest, the characters stumble across an ancient, weather-worn jade statue depicting a desert beast known only to the people of the far south.
57. A jet of flame, tapped from some primal source beneath the earth. Only that which is good can pass through this flame unharmed. All others are dealt 15d6 points of damage as per a flame strike spell. Non-aligned items and equipment are left unharmed.
58. An obsidian figurine of a dolphin which is always wet to the touch.
59. A hard, roughly cut piece of basalt rock which bleeds when pressure is applied to it.
60. Two six-fingered gloves, along with a matching seven-fingered glove. The set is made of supple black leather, and stitched with fine, silver thread.
61. A horn fashioned from the translucent bone of a storm giant. Those who put their ear to the horn hear it whisper the sounds of an unknown village square. Whether the village which they hear is – or was – a real place is a mystery which may never be solved.
62. The silver hilt of a sword with a grip of black leather. The blade is missing, or never existed to begin with. One night per year, however, on the eve of the new year, the hilt is possessed of a ghostly blade – allowing it to perform its duties as a sword once more.
63. An elegant puppet theater. Although its wood is brightly polished and the red of its satin curtains is bright and fresh, the hand-painted sign upon its front (reading “The Wondrous Shows of Punch and Judy” in carnival lettering) is chipped and faded. If the curtains are opened (using a set of finely woven pulley ropes which lie inside the theater), the puppets – stored in a concealed compartment “backstage” – will come to life and perform elaborate shows of their own volition.
64. A plain, unadorned black obelisk. If brought above ground and into the open, the obelisk will draw down a near-constant barrage of lightning to itself – even if the sky is clear.
65. The remnants of a massive door of stone which has been smashed into rubble. A magic mouth which had once adorned the door remains intact. As the PCs draw near it will issue its warning: “Disturb not this chamber, lest the world suffer.” Whatever the mouth was set to guard is gone – the chamber beyond the broken door is empty.
66. An astrologer’s chart, inscribed with the finest instruments and the greatest precision upon a vellum which is both supple and expensive. Close inspection by those with the proper knowledge, however, reveals that these charts were constructed around an entirely different night sky – and, possibly, a calendrical system and length of year unlike anything known upon this world.
67. A large signet ring of gold, worked with a unicorn crest. Any commoner who dons the ring will suddenly discover its metal heated to unbearable levels – causing one hit point of damage per round. However, anyone with noble blood (however slight), or destined to become a noble at some point in the future, who does the same will suffer only a momentary flash of pain (with an accompanying 1 hp of damage): They will find that the unicorn crest has reshaped itself to their own heraldry, which has also been branded in miniature form upon the back of their finger. From this point forward, they can put on or remove the ring at will without any further ill effects.
68. A pen made from a raven’s feather. Through some magical means it writes continuously from an inexhaustible supply of golden ink upon whatever piece of parchment may be near by.
69. Mechanical mice which run through the walls of an ancient keep. They have done so for longer than written record can attest. They seem to be a benign presence – lacking even the slightest pestilent qualities of their flesh-and-blood counterparts – and have become an accepted presence here. Who their creator was, how they are fueled, and what purpose they serve (if any) are mysteries which may never be solved.
70. A clairseach harp in the style of the northern barbarians, but crafted with an elegance which suggests the decadence of a great civilization. Its strings are almost too fine to be perceived with the naked eye, and when they are played they resonate with the force of a full orchestra.
71. In a worn and decaying wall of mud bricks, a single black brick – polished and perfectly preserved – stands out in stark contrast. If the brick is pried out and broken open, it will reveal a quicksilver core.
72. A tome whose pages have been yellowed with age and used to press metallic leaves of gold, silver, platinum, brass, copper, and bronze.
73. An ancient deck of cards with five suits – clovers, swords, clubs, hearts, and dragons.
74. Within a rotten pouch found upon the body of a long dead soldier is a parchment with an unbroken seal. If the seal is broken and the message read, it warns its would-be recipient to guard against an eminent betrayal.
75. The sapling of a young tree. Within a few minutes it will have grown into a wizened oak. A few moments more and the tree slowly fades from existence as a young seedling pushes up from the ground and begins the cycle anew.
I really like #67, because it offers some interesting opportunities for foreshadowing. Imagine you have a character who you want to have secret noble heritage (possibly even secret from the player, if the player is OK with you adding to their backstory that way), and then that player dons the ring. It burns for a moment, and then you see that the sigil has shifted, revealing the character’s noble blood. Perhaps the character has to find a book of genealogies to track down the sigil on his ring and find out who he’s descended from. Or perhaps the player consults the genealogies and finds out that there is no noble house with heraldry matching the sigil on this ring, hinting that somewhere down the line the character will be elevated to the nobility for great deeds of her own.
#65 is good to, I love that vibe of “the great evil has already happened, the Apocalypse is come and gone.”
I don’t really like the ones that have an easily-lost magical property like #53, feels to me like it would be too easy for the PCs to break it before they find out anything interesting about it. I do think #53 has some interesting implications, though, especially given the question of who (or what) exactly is the biological father of these pregnancies.
In short, lots of good stuff here, thank you for sharing these!