Bracelet of Iniquity
As the paladin stripped what he could find from the foe that he had just killed, he did not know that the band of jade that he stripped from the body would do a warrior of Good like him not good at all and would weaken him just when he most needed his strength to fight evil.
Full Item Description
A plain bracelet of green jade, cool to the touch, with no indication except to the wearer that it is magical in any way.
History
The Children of Ma-O, in their quest to sabotage law and order and what is Good in general, developed these innocuous bands of green jade to help them, and some of their most vile plots have been greatly helped by the evil that these bands can gather and store.
Magic/Cursed Properties
Invented by The Children of Ma-O to aid in their evil deeds, these small bands of green Demon Jade can gather up the evil in a given locality and the wearer, provided he or she is evil, can use it to help him or her, either to aid in the casting of evil magic or for a short-term burst of physical power (but not both) Its power varies according to how often it is used, how evil the wearer of it is and from place to place. In a high crime area or a court full of scheming nobles it may be very helpful, in a place without a source of evil it will be of less use. The longer it is not used the more it charges itself up and gathers power.
In the hands of a truly major villain it may magnify his or her power greatly but in most cases it tends to only provide a relatively small bonus, which may however be the difference between success and failure in some cases. It should be taken off before casting any healing spells on oneself or others, as otherwise a few hours late the healing spell fails, reopening the wound or restarting the illness generally at the worst possible time.
It is plain, with no sigils or symbols on it to reveal its true nature, and unless it has been recently used only a very skilled mage or witch could detect the faint taint of evil radiating from it, so it can be smuggled into places where more overt items of its type might be detected.
Should someone on the side of Good wear it, it will give them a feeling of strength and power whilst in fact slowly weakening them whilst it is worn. The effects are almost never fatal unless the person is already very ill indeed, however, and can be totally reversed by leaving it off as long as it has been worn for. Should the good person try a major act of good whilst wearing it, the effort will be weakened as the band tries to sabotage the act by the same amount that an act of evil would be helped.
All in all, unless worn by the fantasy equivilent of Hitler or Bin Laden,these are not super weapons but should not be overlooked.
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? Responses (8)
I like this. It helps give the villain an edge, yet won't necessarily equate to more power ups for the players. This is the kind of thing that I could see on the list of must-haves for any major villain.
The set up is good, the delivery is a bit behind. It is vague and unmeasured in response. You get power when there is evil afoot... and evil is subjective by who's measure... and then their is a conversion.
An OK item, though I hate the name. Anything but 'badness'.
I think this still needs a downside even for villains. What if a demon wore it?
Perhaps since it draws power from evil actions nearby, it will actually cause bad luck to nearby evildoers - increasing their chance of detection by the forces of good. Yes, Villain A (with the ring) gets bonuses, but his lackeys or allies get penalties.
Much of the effect of the BoI would be in game mechanics, and thus system-specific. Still, it is a neat idea. I like that it enhances a villain--but not excessively so--and is less than useless in the hands of a heroic pc. That's a nice one-two punch that you don't often see in magic items. It's certainly better than giving the bad guy lots of potions or other one-use consumables--using those can lead to angry players.
Nice idea...I have often employed something similar...Party Favor's given out bad guys to their legions of terror. It doesn't tilt the game but it gives the bad guys are great air of power and mysticism.
Also this gives the PCs one of several details to lock onto about the villians, (i.e. the herbs in rosemary's baby) so a nice plot device as well.
Is this called a BUMP?
A good item to put in the game. I agree with Kinslayer, it helps the bad guy, and hurts the good guy, but not easily noticed.
Question, since I am new here, what is a BUMP? I've seen it in many comments, but don't know what it means here.
a bump is simply a way to bring a long-buried sub back to the forefront. Usually used for the following reasons:
1. sub hasnt been visited for a while and the commenter feels its worth a 'bump' back into recent comments., because he/she loves it.
2. sub has too few comments/viewings, and disappears into oblivion. Someone brings it back up again. See above
or
3. the author really loves his own work ;)
A neat little item.
Well done Cheka.
