Astrology 303 of Alteration – GearAscendancy.com

Lore: Astrology 303 was charted during the “Year of the Water Monkey,” a celestial period known for its erratic weather and shifting coastlines. In the floating markets of Saṃsāra, this item was crafted for those who view “Self” as a clay to be molded rather than a stone to be polished. The 303 is a tool for the trickster, the spy, and the survivor. Legend tells of an avatar who wore this conduit for so long that when they finally passed into the next life, the Reaper found only a pile of salt and a shed snakeskin, for the wearer had “altered” their way out of death’s grip.

Description: The item is a pair of Cerulean Spectacles (or a single monocle) with lenses made of “Quicksilver-Glass”—a material that ripples like a pond when touched. The frames are forged from “Flow-Brass,” a metal that feels soft and slightly warm, adjusting its size to fit any face perfectly. When the magic is dormant, the lenses are a deep, calm blue; when the user begins to focus on alteration, small bubbles of light rise within the glass, reflecting a version of the world that is slightly different from reality.

Detail Stats

Tier: 1
Rarity: Common
Material: Flow-Brass, Quicksilver-Glass, Silk-Strap
Weight: 0.1 lbs
Market Value: 18 Silver
Conduit Type: Transmutation-Zodiac Focus

Slot

Head/Eyes Slot: Worn over the eyes. It filters the user’s perception through the lens of “What Could Be,” allowing them to project those changes onto their own form.

Passive Magic

Fluid Identity: The user’s physical features are never quite fixed. While wearing the spectacles, your height, hair color, and eye color shift slightly every hour. This grants you a +1 bonus to all Deception or Disguise checks, as your face is naturally resistant to being remembered accurately.
Malleable Biology: Your internal systems are as fluid as your exterior. You gain a +1 bonus to Saves against Poison or Internal Parasites, as your body subconsciously “alters” its chemistry to neutralize the threat.

Activable Magic

Surface Mimicry (Action): The user taps the bridge of the spectacles. For 10 minutes, your skin and clothing alter their texture and hue to match the immediate background (stone, wood, or shadow). This provides a +2 bonus to Stealth checks as long as you move at half-speed.
Structural Adjustment (Concentration): By focusing on a specific physical limb for six seconds (Normal Casting), the user can “alter” its properties. You can make your fingers as thin as lockpicks, your feet as padded as a cat’s, or your vocal cords capable of mimicking a specific animal’s cry. This effect lasts for 1 minute and can be used once per “Rest.”

Tags

Astrological, Alteration, Water-Element, Monkey, Tier-1, Brass, Eyes-Slot, Stealth, Mimicry, Transformation, Fluidity, Chameleon, Quicksilver, Adaptation, Illusion, Mutation, Flexibility, Distortion, Refraction, Masking, Reflex, Flow

In the world of Saṃsāra, the Astrology 303 of Alteration is a favorite of theater troupes, street performers, and the “Shadow-Stalkers” of the 73 Islands. Because its nature is fluid, the shops that carry it often change their own appearance or location, mirroring the magic they sell.

1. The Shifting Ateliers of the “Silk & Salt” Districts

Located in the coastal cities where the Water element is strongest, these boutiques are built on floating piers. The interiors are filled with mirrors, silk drapes, and the constant sound of bubbling water.

Buying: The shopkeepers here are often “Alteration-Artists” themselves, showcasing the spectacles by appearing as a different person every time they emerge from the back room. They sell the 303 as a “Social Enhancer” for those who wish to always look their best.
Selling: These boutiques buy pristine pairs for 10 Silver, but they are very picky about the “Quicksilver-Glass” being free of bubbles or “memory stains” from previous owners.
Suggested Cost: 20 to 22 Silver.

2. The “Mirror-Box” Alleys (Black Markets)

In the cramped, humid mid-levels of the islands, these shops are hidden behind rotating wall panels or inside laundry businesses. They cater to spies, thieves, and those hiding from their “Karma Debt.”

Buying: The transaction is fast and paranoid. The spectacles are often sold under the name “The Second Face.” You might find a pair that is slightly “bruised” (the brass is tarnished), making the magic a bit more erratic.
Selling: They ask no questions and pay 7 Silver in “Dirty Coin” (currency that is hard to trace).
Suggested Cost: 16 to 18 Silver.

3. The Grand Carnival Supply Wagons

Saṃsāra is famous for its nomadic festivals. These massive, colorful caravans travel between islands via Great-Bridge or Leviathan-Ferry.

Buying: The 303 is sold here as a “Toy of Wonders.” The atmosphere is chaotic and loud. You might get a discount if you can perform a trick that amuses the merchant.
Selling: They rarely buy for coin, preferring to “Trade-Up.” They might offer you a “Monkey’s Paw” charm or a “Fire-Zodiac” mask in exchange for your spectacles.
Suggested Cost: 18 Silver (or a really good story/performance).

4. Curiosity Cabinets (Antique/Relic Shops)

Found in the “Grey Districts” where time seems to stand still. These shops are cluttered with junk and genuine artifacts, overseen by elderly keepers who have forgotten more than they remember.

Buying: You might find an Astrology 303 buried under a pile of rusted “Astrology 101” charms. The keeper might not even know what it is, calling it “Old Man’s Reading Glass.”
Selling: They offer a measly 4 Silver, claiming the lenses are “oily” and hard to clean.
Suggested Cost: 12 to 15 Silver (if you can find it in the clutter).

In the fluid reality of Saṃsāra, roleplaying the Astrology 303 of Alteration requires a player to embrace the “Monkey Mind”—quick, adaptive, and never static. The magic isn’t just a physical change; it is a fundamental rejection of a fixed destiny.

Defensive Roleplay

In High-Society or Urban Environments (Social Defense) In these zones, the item is used to Avoid Accountability and shed social “Aggro.”

Roleplay Hook: If the character is caught in a lie or a restricted area, the player roleplays a subtle “shiver” passing through their frame. By the time the guard blinks, the character has altered their height by two inches and shifted their eye color. The player describes the character acting deeply offended, as if the guard has mistaken them for a “completely different person of inferior breeding.”
The “Bland Face” Defense: When being followed, the player roleplays the character constantly adjusting the spectacles. They describe how their features “slide” into the most average, forgettable version of the local populace, effectively “blending into the stone” of the city itself.

In Combat or Hostile Environments (Physical Defense) Defense here is about Mitigating Impact through structural shifting.

Roleplay Hook: When targeted by a physical strike, the player roleplays the “Malleable Biology.” Instead of bracing for the hit, they describe their body becoming “dough-like” or “rubbery” at the point of impact. The blow doesn’t crack a rib; it simply displaces the character’s form harmlessly.
Surface Mimicry: If an ambush is imminent, the player roleplays the character leaning against a mossy wall. They describe the cerulean light of the spectacles washing over their skin until they appear as nothing more than a patch of lichen and shadow, allowing the threat to pass by.

Offensive Roleplay

Infiltration and Sabotage (Tactical Offense) The 303 is used to Bypass Obstacles by altering the character’s utility.

Roleplay Hook: Faced with a locked door, the character doesn’t use a crowbar. The player roleplays the character staring through the Quicksilver-Glass until their index finger elongates and hardens into a narrow, silver-tipped pick. They describe the “wet” sound of bone and cartilage shifting to accommodate the new shape.
Vocal Hijacking: When needing to distract a guard, the character uses “Structural Adjustment” on their throat. The player roleplays the character whispering in the exact voice of the guard’s commanding officer, creating an “Internal Sabotage” that forces the enemy to move exactly where the character wants them.

Psychological Warfare (Combat Offense)

Roleplay Hook: In a duel, the character uses “Fluid Identity” to mess with the opponent’s head. Every time the opponent misses a swing, the character’s face shifts to look exactly like the opponent’s mother, their best friend, or a terrifying version of the opponent themselves. The player roleplays this not as a joke, but as a cold, unsettling reminder that “Form is an Illusion.”
The “Ledge-Walk” Mimicry: If fighting in a vertical environment (like the bridges of Saṃsāra), the player roleplays altering their feet to be “prehensile” or “sticky” like a macaque. They take offensive positions that are physically impossible for others, firing projectiles from the underside of a beam or hanging by a single toe to avoid a counter-attack.

The Burden of the Fluid Self

Constant use of the Astrology 303 leads to a state of Form-Fatigue.

The Identity Crisis: The player can roleplay moments where the character looks in a mirror and takes a few seconds to remember what their “true” face actually looks like. They might accidentally keep a trait—like a tail or a different eye color—long after the magic has ended.
The “Uncanny” Vibe: Even when not actively changing, the character feels “wrong” to sensitive NPCs. The player roleplays this as people being instinctively wary of the character, as if they can sense that the person they are talking to is just a “temporary suggestion.”

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective

Sight: Upon sliding the spectacles into place, the world “liquefies.” Solid walls appear to ripple like heat waves, and the user sees “Ghost-Form” outlines of how objects could be reshaped. Light is refracted into brilliant, prismatic halos around every living being.
Hearing: Ambient sound takes on a “underwater” quality—muffled but resonant. The user can hear the internal sliding of their own joints and the stretching of their skin as if it were a high-tension cello string.
Touch: The bridge of the nose and the temples feel a tingling warmth that quickly turns into a sensation of “weightlessness.” When altering a limb, it feels like sticking a hand into warm wax—pliable, soft, and entirely under the control of the user’s will.
Extra-Sensory (Proprioception): The user’s sense of “Self” expands. They no longer feel their body as a fixed cage, but as a fluid vessel. They can “feel” the air displaced by their changing volume, sensing exactly how much mass they are shifting from one part of the body to another.
Extra-Sensory (Potentiality Vision): The user perceives the “Weak Points” in the structural integrity of both themselves and the environment. They can see where a door is most likely to yield or where their own skin needs to thicken to resist a blade.
Extra-Sensory (Zodiac Resonance): A playful, chaotic “chatter” fills the back of the mind—the spirit of the Water Monkey—offering instinctive suggestions for the most clever or mischievous form to take.

Observer’s Perspective

Visuals: The lenses of the spectacles suddenly swirl with rapid, mercury-like currents. The wearer’s silhouette becomes blurred and “vibrational,” as if they are being viewed through a heavy rainstorm.
Auditory: A faint, rhythmic bubbling sound, similar to a percolating spring, emanates from the wearer. When they shift their form, there is a soft, wet “squelch” followed by the sound of snapping wood as bones realign.
Presence: The wearer begins to radiate an aura of “Unpredictability.” Observers often feel a slight sense of vertigo or nausea, as their brains struggle to process a person whose physical dimensions are subtly but constantly changing.

Positives

Perfect Adaptability: The user can bypass physical environmental hazards (small gaps, poisons, or restrictive bindings) that would stop any other adventurer.
Psychological Edge: The constant shifting of features makes the user an impossible target for trackers, bounty hunters, or anyone relying on “Face-Recognition” magic.
Internal Resilience: The ability to move vital organs or thicken skin on the fly provides a unique layer of survival that traditional armor cannot match.

Negatives

The “Uncanny” Strain: Constant alteration is physically exhausting. The user often feels a deep, aching “Form-Soreness” in their marrow once the effect wears off.
Sensory Distortion: Because the world looks “fluid” through the lenses, the user may struggle with depth perception for non-altered objects, occasionally tripping over “solid” ground.
Identity Leak: If used too frequently, the user’s original voice or mannerisms may begin to “slip,” being replaced by the traits of the forms they have mimicked, leading to temporary personality fragmentation.

The Distillation of the Ever-Changing Stream: Recipe for the Astrology 303

Materials Needed

The Frame: 2 ounces of “Flow-Brass” (an alloy of copper and zinc tempered with the shed skin of a King Cobra).
The Lenses: 2 discs of “Quicksilver-Glass” (fused silica mixed with purified mercury and the crushed scales of a Deep-Sea Carp).
The Connection: 1 spool of “Smart-Silk” (woven from spiders fed on a diet of hallucinogenic lotus nectar).
The Catalyst: A single tear shed by a mimic or a shapeshifter in its natural, “blank” state.
The Infusion: 1 vial of “Living Water” taken from a whirlpool that rotates counter-clockwise.

Tools Required

Hydraulic Press-Mold: To shape the brass while it is in a “semi-liquid” state, ensuring the metal retains its memory of movement.
Centrifugal Polisher: A high-speed spinning device used to keep the mercury in the glass from settling to the bottom of the lens.
Refractive Basin: A shallow pool of silvered water used to test the lenses’ ability to distort light without breaking it.
Tuning Fork of the Monkey: A brass fork tuned to a frequency that mimics the playful chattering of a macaque, used to “wake” the item’s personality.

Skill Requirements

Fluid Metallurgy (Tier 1): The ability to work with low-melting-point alloys that react to heat and touch.
Optical Alchemy: Knowledge of how to suspend liquid metals within solid glass without causing the lens to shatter under pressure.
Zodiac Attunement (Water Monkey): A deep understanding of the “Flow-State” philosophy; the crafter must be able to work while constantly moving or dancing.
Anatomical Flux Theory: Understanding the “Map of Potentiality”—knowing how a body could shift so the magic has a blueprint to follow.

Crafting Steps

The Flow-Forge: Melt the Flow-Brass in a crucible stirred with a willow branch. The metal must never reach a “boiling” point; it must be kept at the precise heat where it behaves like thick honey.
Casting the Frames: Pour the brass into the molds. As the metal cools, the crafter must manually “flex” the frames every few minutes, teaching the metal that its purpose is to be flexible, not rigid.
The Mercury-Glass Fusion: Heat the silica until it is molten, then inject the purified mercury using a silver needle. The glass must be spun rapidly in the Centrifugal Polisher until the mercury becomes a fine, shimmering mist trapped within the transparent medium.
The Tear-Bond: While the lenses are still warm, place the mimic’s tear on the center of each disc. The salt in the tear will “etch” the intent of alteration into the heart of the Quicksilver-Glass.
The Weaving of the Silk: Soak the Smart-Silk in the Living Water, then thread it through the hinges of the Flow-Brass. This creates the “nervous system” of the spectacles, allowing them to communicate with the user’s pulse.
The Harmonic Awakening: Strike the Tuning Fork of the Monkey and hold it against the bridge of the spectacles. The lenses should begin to ripple and change color from clear to cerulean.
The First Shift: To complete the item, the crafter must wear the spectacles and successfully alter their own reflection in a bowl of water. If the reflection winks back while the crafter remains still, the Astrology 303 is fully “Alteration-Ready.”

Wet Prankster and Face That Was a Cloud

In the dawn-time of the “Great Melting,” when the 73 Islands were but “Unstable-Mud” and the sky was a “Soup-of-Voices,” there lived a being of the Water-Zodiac named the “Un-Fixed-One.” While others were “Hard-like-Brick” and had “Stiff-Necks-of-Pride,” this traveler was as “Slippery-as-Eel-Soap.” He did not have a name that stayed in the ear; he had a face that was like “Rain-on-a-Mirror.”

The ancient etchings of the “Wobbling-Scribes” (translated as “The Men Who Cannot Sit Still”) speak of the traveler’s journey to the “Whirlpool-of-Maybe.” He sought the Great Water Monkey, the King of the “Rippling-Gaze,” who lives where the river flows uphill to mock the mountain. The Monkey was juggling “Bubbles-of-Solid-Air” and laughed with a sound like “Clattering-Pebbles.” The traveler bowed—but his bow was a “Backflip”—and said, “O, Spirit of the Shifting-Current, I am tired of being ‘Only-One-Thing.’ My skin is a ‘Dull-Cage.’ Give me the eyes that see the ‘Hidden-Shapes’ so I may be the ‘Ghost-in-the-Clay’.”

The Water Monkey plucked two “Droplets-of-Moonlight” and mixed them with the “Spit-of-a-Cunning-Lie.” He forged the “Curving-Brass” (Flow-Brass) into a “Nest-for-the-Eyes.” He told the traveler, “When you look through these ‘Windows-of-Doubt,’ the world shall be your ‘Wet-Laundry’—you may fold it, stretch it, or hang it to dry in a new shape.”

The traveler put on the Astrology 303 and went to the city of “The-Stone-King.” The King was “Heavy-with-Strictness” and had a law that no man could smile on a Tuesday. The traveler altered his face to look like a “Happy-Fish” and his body to look like “Tall-Grass.” When the King’s “Iron-Keepers” tried to grab him, he became “Thin-as-a-Shadow” and slipped through the cracks in the floorboards. He emerged in the King’s own bathtub, altered to look exactly like the King’s “Favorite-Rubber-Duck.”

The King grew “Swollen-with-Confusion” and shouted, “Where is the man of the blue glasses?” But the traveler had already altered his voice to sound like the “King’s-Conscience.” He whispered into the King’s ear until the King believed he was actually a “Small-Potted-Plant.” The city was saved from the strictness because everyone was too busy “Laughing-at-the-Foliage.”

The story-fragments end by saying the traveler eventually “Altered-into-the-Sea” itself, leaving the spectacles on a “Floating-Lily-Pad.” It is said that if you wear them, you will never be “Caught-by-the-Past,” but you must be careful, for if you “Shift-too-Far,” you might find that you are no longer the one “Doing-the-Shifting.”

The Moral of the Story: A river that refuses to bend will eventually be broken by the mountain, but he who becomes the water finds that the mountain is merely a temporary “Suggestion-of-Stone.”

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Unique Name: The Quicksilver Lenses of the Unfixed

Item Description: A pair of blue-tinted wire-rimmed spectacles. The glass seems to swirl with an oily, mercury-like substance when viewed from an angle.

Game Mechanics:

Cost: 18 Credit Rating.
Fluid Identity (Passive): The Investigator gains a Bonus Die on Disguise and Sleight of Hand rolls. The wearer’s facial features seem slightly “blurred” to witnesses, making it impossible to produce an accurate police sketch or photograph of the wearer.
Structural Adjustment (Active): Once per day, the user can spend 1d4 Sanity to soften their skeletal and muscular structure. For 1 hour, they gain a Bonus Die to Climb, Stealth, or any roll to escape physical restraints (e.g., handcuffs or ropes).
The Negative: Prolonged use (over 2 hours) causes a mild “Dissociative Episode.” The user must succeed at an Intelligence Check or temporarily forget their own name and background for 1d6 hours.

Blades in the Dark

Unique Name: Monkey-Mind Optic

Item Description: A fine set of goggles with brass fittings and shifting azure lenses. It hums with a wet, bubbling sound.

Game Mechanics:

Tier: I (Common Fine Item).
Load: 0 (Worn).
Passive – Malleable Biology: You gain +1d to Resistance Rolls against physical traps, crushing force, or poisons.
Active – Surface Mimicry: Spend 1 Stress to gain Potency when Prowling through environments with complex textures (like rubble, hanging laundry, or ornate architecture). Your skin and clothes shift to match the “noise” of the background.
Active – Structural Adjustment: Spend 1 Stress to treat a Finesse action as having Greater Effect when performing delicate physical alterations (e.g., elongating fingers to reach a key or flattening the body to slide under a door).

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Unique Name: Spectacles of the Flowing Form

Item Description: Wondrous Item, Common (Requires Attunement). The lenses of these spectacles look like trapped pools of seawater.

Game Mechanics:

Passive – Fluid Identity: You gain a +1 bonus to Charisma (Deception) checks. You can use an action to subtly change your hair color, eye color, or height (by up to 2 inches). These changes are physical, not illusory, but revert when attunement ends.
Active – Surface Mimicry (Action): You can cast the Disguise Self spell once per long rest. When cast this way, the spell only affects your skin and clothing texture to match your surroundings (granting Advantage on Stealth checks), but cannot create entirely new outfits.
Active – Structural Adjustment (1/Long Rest): For 10 minutes, you can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. Additionally, you have Advantage on checks made to escape a grapple or manacles.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: The Mimic’s Monocle

Item Description: A brass-rimmed lens that tastes of salt and mercury. It makes the wearer’s reflection look like a stranger.

Game Mechanics:

Inventory Slots: 1 Slot (Face).
Passive – Shifting Features: You have a +2 bonus on all checks related to disguising yourself or lying about your identity.
Passive – Internal Flux: You are immune to the first Poison or Disease effect you encounter each day as your body reshapes its organs to bypass the toxin.
Active – Structural Adjustment: Once per day, you may “melt” your current form. For the next turn, you can stretch your limbs up to 10 feet or flatten yourself to be as thin as a coin.
Penalty: If you roll a critical failure on any physical check while using this item, you accidentally keep a “useless mutation” (like a tail or extra ears) for 1d4 days.

Fate (Core/Condensed)

Unique Name: The Water Monkey’s Quicksilver Lenses

Item Description: These brass-rimmed spectacles house lenses that look like captured whirlpools. They vibrate slightly when near anyone hiding their true form.

Game Mechanics:

Aspect: Form is a Suggestion. You may invoke this aspect to succeed at cost on physical maneuvers that should be impossible for a rigid body, or to gain a +2 when trying to blend into a crowd.
Stunt – Surface Mimicry: You gain +2 to Stealth rolls to Create an Advantage related to camouflage. When you have the Camouflaged aspect, enemies must spend a Fate point to target you specifically if there are other targets available.
Stunt – Structural Adjustment: Once per session, you can ignore a Mild Physical Consequence by roleplaying your body “altering” its internal structure to move vital organs away from the point of impact.
Cost: 1 Refresh.

Numenera & Cypher System

Unique Name: Flux-Glass Monocle

Item Description: A strange transparency held in a frame of soft, living brass. It perceives the “potential shapes” within all matter.

Game Mechanics:

Level: 1d6 (Minimum 3).
Form: Eyewear.
Effect (Passive): The user gains an Asset to all tasks involving disguise, impersonation, or contortionism.
Effect (Active): By spending 2 points from your Speed Pool, you can “Structuralize.” For 10 minutes, your body becomes incredibly elastic. You can reach objects up to 10 feet away and fit through any opening large enough for your head. During this time, you have an Asset to defense rolls against crushing or blunt force.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20. On depletion, the glass becomes opaque and immobile for 24 hours as it “resets” its molecular state.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: Astrology 303: Lenses of the Fluid Monkey

Item Description: This Tier 1 magical conduit is a pair of spectacles crafted from Flow-Brass and Quicksilver-Glass, resonant with the Water element.

Game Mechanics:

Level: 2; Price: 30 gp.
Usage: Worn (Eyepiece); Bulk: —.
Fluid Identity (Passive): You gain a +1 item bonus to Deception checks to Impersonate and Stealth checks to Hide. Your physical features shift slightly, granting a +2 circumstance bonus to the DC for others to Sense Motive or Recognize your true identity.
Activable Magic – Surface Mimicry (Action): [One-Action] (Concentrate, Illusion, Water). You gain the effects of Disguise Self, but only to alter your coloration and texture to match your surroundings. This grants you a +2 status bonus to Stealth checks for 10 minutes.
Activable Magic – Structural Adjustment (Action): [Two-Actions] (Transmutation). For 1 minute, you gain the Compression universal monster ability, allowing you to move through gaps as narrow as 1/4th your width without squeezing. Once used, this cannot be used again for 1 hour.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Unique Name: The Protean Goggles

Item Description: Brass goggles with shifting blue lenses. They seem to anticipate the wearer’s need to change.

Game Mechanics:

Rank: Novice.
Attributes: Agility +1 (Die type) for the purpose of escaping Grapples or Bindings.
Malleable Biology (Passive): The wearer gains a +2 bonus on Vigor rolls to resist Poison and Disease.
Structural Adjustment (Active): As a Limited Action, the wearer makes a Smarts roll. With a success, they gain the Resilient Monstrous Ability (taking one additional Wound before being Incapacitated) for the duration of the encounter. On a Raise, they also gain the Wall Crawler ability as their hands and feet become adhesive.
The “Pain” Clause: Each time this item is used to alter the body significantly (Active power), the user must make a Vigor roll or suffer a level of Fatigue from “Marrow Strain” once the effect ends.

Shadowrun (6th World Edition)

Unique Name: Water Monkey Morph-Lens [Rating 1]

Item Description: An AR-enhanced monocle that interfaces with the user’s nervous system. It uses a specialized nanite-ink reservoir within the “Flow-Brass” frame to facilitate rapid subdermal shifts and pigment changes.

Game Mechanics:

Rating: 1
Type: Physical Manipulation Focus (Universal)
Passive – Fluid Identity: While active, the user gains a +1 dice pool bonus to Con (Disguise) tests. The lens continuously cycles the user’s “Digital Persona” and physical biometric markers, increasing the Threshold for any Track or Trace action against them by +1.
Active – Structural Adjustment: As a Major Action, the user can “soften” their physical structure. For (Rating x 5) minutes, the user gains a +2 dice pool bonus to Athletics tests involving contortion or escaping restraints.
Drain Note: Using the focus to significantly alter one’s form (e.g., mimicking a specific person) causes 2 points of Stun Drain as the user’s metabolism works overtime to rearrange tissue.

Starfinder (2nd Edition / Playtest)

Unique Name: Astrology 303: Adaptive Visor

Item Description: A set of smart-glass goggles integrated with a Water-elemental magitech processor. The lenses display “Probability Outlines” of altered physical states.

Game Mechanics:

Level: 2; Price: 350 Credits.
Usage: Worn (Eyes); Bulk: L.
Passive – Malleable Biology: You gain a +1 item bonus to Fortitude Saves against poisons and environmental hazards. You also gain a +2 item bonus to Deception checks to Disguise yourself.
Active – Surface Mimicry (Action): You spend 1 Focus Point to activate the visor’s “Chameleon Circuit.” You gain the Hidden condition as long as you remain stationary against a complex surface. If you move, you gain a +4 status bonus to Stealth checks for 10 minutes.
Active – Structural Adjustment (Action): You spend 1 Focus Point. For the next minute, you gain Compression, allowing you to move through spaces intended for creatures two size categories smaller than you without squeezing.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Unique Name: Morphic-Glass Spectacles (Zodiac Series)

Item Description: A TL-13 optical device from Saṃsāra. The lenses contain a suspension of programmable matter that instructs the wearer’s cells to temporarily become more plastic and responsive to mental commands.

Game Mechanics:

TL (Tech Level): 13 (High Stellar).
Weight: —.
Passive – Biometric Scrambler: Any digital or sensor-based attempt to identify the user suffers a DM-2. The user gains a DM+1 to all Deception and Stealth checks.
Active – Physical Alteration: By spending a Significant Action, the user can alter their vocal cords, fingerprints, or retinal patterns. This grants a DM+3 to any check made to bypass biometric security or impersonate a specific individual.
Active – Structural Flexibility: The user can engage “Elastic Mode.” For 1D x 10 minutes, the user gains a DM+2 to any Athletics (Dexterity) checks to escape cages, bonds, or narrow vents.

Warhammer (Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition)

Unique Name: The Changer’s Cerulean Lens

Item Description: A single lens of rippling glass held in a brass wire frame. It is said to be touched by the shifting winds of Chamon and Ghyran, granting the wearer the mutability of a river.

Game Mechanics:

Price: 18 Silver Shillings.
Encumbrance: 0.
Passive – Malleable Form: The wearer gains the Scale Sheer Surface Talent. If they already have it, they gain a +10 bonus to Climb Tests. The wearer also adds +10 to all Entertain (Acting) and Disguise Tests.
Active – Structural Adjustment (Action): The user makes a Channelling or Endurance Test. On a success, they gain the Distended Creature Trait for 1 hour, allowing them to squeeze through tiny gaps and extend their reach by 1 yard.
Flaw – Identity Flux: If the wearer suffers a Critical Blunder on any social test while wearing the lens, their face “slips” into a terrifying half-formed visage, causing the target to suffer the Fear (1) condition and ending the conversation immediately.