The Stitchers Amulet
When we learned of these majestic creatures, what else could we do? Such potential!
Description:
A jade amulet with the shape of a spider cut into it. Eight small black opals dot its head as eyes. Each leg connects to the outer circle and the cord it hangs from is covered with small lacquered leg bones of some small creature.
Abilities:
The purpose of this amulet is to provide healing, though of a more painful form than typically seen with magical cures. It was created by the fell Order of the Black Web, an Arachnophiliac cult who worship a pantheon of spider gods, godlings and demons.
It functions through the summoning of Lesser Bonestitchers, which it is capable of doing 7 times daily, either individually or as groups. Each Stitcher is capable of restoring very severe, even life-threatening injuries, but there is risk involved. At the very least, anyone cured in such a manner will acquire some bad scars to both their bodies and minds - seeThe Bone Stitcher for details on how they generally function. Occasionally they may arrive hungry, and some efforts should be made to have food on hand for them. Otherwise they will turn hostile and attempt to consume their 'patients'.
| Die Roll (2d6) | Result |
| 2 | Two Lesser BoneStitchers arrive, though only count as 1 use. |
| 3-11 | Normal Operation |
| 12+ | Lesser BoneStitcher arrives hungry. Requires 10lbs of live or recently deceased meat. |
The Lesser Bonestitchers will repair one patient not actively moving within 10' of the amulet. They are able to restore up to critical injuries, or reattach a single limb, the operation taking 1d6 minutes. If called upon to restore a dead patient, or if the patient somehow dies during the operation, they will continue to work. The patient will not be restored to life, but will instead become some form of hostile undead commensurate with their original power. This undead will be under no special control by the amulet bearer.
Patients are stabilized immediately when the spiders begin work.
The cult members hold these amulets in high esteem, and have their moral boosted immensely when the Bonestitchers (Lesser or full) are nearby. Some groups will use these as part of their regular ceremonies, and members will voluntarily injure themselves should no natural injuries require the Stitchers attention. Being consumed by these things is considered a great honor by some as well.
The Amulet can also, if splashed with some intelligent being's life blood, summon a full Bone Stitcher, though this ability is limited to once a month.
History:
Upon discovery of the Bonestitchers, through congress with other Arachnid Powers, the Cult sought out a means to better make use of them. Further scrying, research and diabolic interrogation led them to Gyatharmar, a massive scorpion-like demon with a penchant for constructing various horrors and dark devices. In return for the cult adding him to their pantheon, he produces lesser bonestitchers in his infernal realm. The cult's wizards produce the amulets, though at quite a slow rate as the sacrifices demanded are ..onerous. As a result, only the highest ranking members bear these and the cult will make extreme efforts to retrieve any lost.
The lesser bonestitchers have no direct relation with the Bonestitchers, as their origins are unknown, and Gyatharmar claims no such knowledge.
Lesser Bonestitchers:
A lesser Bonestitcher is the product of a pact between the Cult and the demonic power Gyatharmar. This demonic tinker builds these lesser bonestitchers somewhat in mockery of the greater ones. They are quite small, perhaps the size of a bucket, but each mandible and limb is scalpal sharp, and infernally durable. They are very good at mechanically repairing most injuries.
If in combat, they are fearless and will attempt to leap onto their opponents head to cut into the brain. They can be grabbed and thrown (though likely while inflicting grievous injury), but nothing but magic or intense fire can harm them. They are destroyed permanently either on our realm or in the infernal realms.
Optional Complications:
1. The food on hand must be a live, aware creature of some form.
2. The hole in reality the amulet opens gives a possibility something else could step into our realm.
3. Gyatharmar may notice and either act himself (unlikely) or at least communicate the location to the Cult.
4. If the lesser bonestitcher is damaged during the operation (i.e., it was called upon during an active battle) that particular one will never return, removing one of the daily usage slots.
5. Each successive use on a given day adds 1 to the roll on the table.
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? Responses (16)
Gah, it stripped my align='right' tag from the image. Sigh.
A good solid item for a Spider Cult and good description on the amulet. The history abt the pact with Gyatharmar is likeable as well.
I just love anything having to do with Bone Stitchers
A bit short, but useful.
3.5/5
Good stuff :)
4/5
Nice dangerously healing item :) Also good for evil aligned characters for flavour.
I have a player with a very dark cleric who will definitely love this. She hates healing the other players because she feels it too kind. I don't think she'll hesitate to heal them this way, however. She might ask them to smear themselves with bacon fat first.
Slightly less dangerous then the greater version.
Nicely done
Bone stitchers are awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome.
This amulet is solid, but it still feels sort of basic. I'd rather see something weird, like a femur you have to lick in order to summon one. Or a length of string that you use to make a 'spiderweb' in a moonlit window.
Are the bone stitchers really spiders? Or are they just little muttering surgery demons that happen to have a spidery body?
The lesser bone stitchers are nice because you're more likely to use/encounter them in a game. Are there any requirements for using the amulet -- such as being a member of the Cult, or being 'keyed' to the item somehow? As written, a PC could pick up one of these bad-boys and act as a impromptu cleric with no real drawbacks, provided they keep some contingency meat around.
I would not expect one of these to fall into a PC's hands without them winning some major battle - the cultists who carry these are high ranking. The DM who lets a PC just grab one deserves the unbalancing effect :)
Used without the counter-balance of a pyschotic, large, magically powerful and infernally well connected cult, and yes it would be unbalanced. They do scar the character in question - I left that to the GM to adjudicate, but I would be looking at both charisma and sanity impacts - they are neither aesthetically concerned, nor do they anaesthetize while operating. Not really that much different from old style medical practice when you think about it :)
They cannot be used in the heat of battle - both practically and with the chance the injured party could end up undead should the patient die mid-operation.
Additional complications one could apply:
1. The food on hand must be a live, aware creature of some form.
2. The hole in reality the amulet opens gives a possibility something else could step into our realm.
3. Gyatharmar may notice and either act himself (unlikely) or at least communicate the location to the Cult.
4. If the lesser bonestitcher is damaged during the operation (i.e., it was called upon during an active battle) that particular one will never return, removing one of the daily usage slots.
5. Each successive use on a given day adds 1 to the roll on the table.
I like these, and I love the Bonestitcher, too!
This is a powerful healing tool, and I like that you've attempted balance by nature of the bonepicker causing scars and intense pain, as well as the chance of hungry bonestitchers coming up which adds an element of gambling and risk to the use.
I think it would be best used against the players than for them, used as a trump card by evil cultists when their chips are down.
I'd personally like to see a much higher chance of the lesser version vs. the 'Normal Operation.' There's much more game flavor there, particularly with letting the lesser bone stitchers consume the recently killed enemies.
All submissions here are starting points you can feel free to adapt. If you want to adjust the numbers, it is easy enough.
Currently, you are looking at 1/36 or roughly a 3% chance of a hungry stitcher. Change the table to a single d6, 1=2 stitchers, 6 = hungry stitcher and the chance goes up to 16%.
