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Malagan 783 of the Ancestral Revel

—

by

Dale
in

Lore

  • Crafted from porous coastal ironwood and stained with mineral pigments and crushed volcanic ochre, this artifact was shaped during an ancestral mortuary feast along the outer shores of the island nation of Lapita.
  • Traditional woodcarvers etched the mask to serve as a temporary vessel for departed village celebrants, giving lingering spirits a joyous haven before their long journey across the sea of purgatory.
  • Imbued with the lingering memories of festive gatherings, banquet toasts, and late-night drum dances, the wood resonates with the boisterous energy of community revelry.
  • The spirits housed within the carving do not seek solemn mourning; instead, they thrive on vibrant tavern halls, overflowing flagons, witty boasting, and shared camaraderie among traveling companions.

Description

  • The artifact is an intricately carved wooden mask featuring elongated facial planes, open fretwork ribbons representing protective sea spirits, and flared side-crests styled after flying fish.
  • Earthen red, soot black, and limestone white pigments trace geometric patterns along the brow and cheeks, sealed with natural tree sap resin.
  • The mouth portion curves into an exaggerated, welcoming grin lined with inlaid mother-of-pearl shell pieces that catch firelight and lantern gleam, designed with a hollowed underside that leaves the wearer’s jaw and mouth entirely clear to consume food and drink without removing the headgear.
  • Braided cordage made from beaten bark fibers extends from the carved temple flanges, allowing the mask to sit securely on the forehead and face during active dances, celebrations, and tavern skirmishes.

Detailed Stats

  • Item Tier: Tier 1 (Common)
  • Gear Slot: Headwear Slot
  • Armor Check: +1 AC
  • Item Resilience: 10
  • Item Hit Points: Avatar Maximum Hit Points + 10
  • Attunement Requirement: 1 minute (Simple Attunement)
  • Weight: 2 lbs
  • Base Value: Subject to regional merchant access and market availability

Passive Magic

  • Echo of the Feast: While the mask is openly worn in social establishments, feasts, or street festivals, the avatar gains a +2 temporary bonus to skill checks involving storytelling, singing, carousing games, and social drinking.
  • Ancestral Fortitude: The lingering spirits within the wood filter incoming intoxicants, granting the wearer advantage on saving throws against non-magical alcohol intoxication, indigestion, and minor environmental foulness encountered during wild tavern escapades.
  • Acoustic Shell: The open wood fretwork naturally amplifies the wearer’s vocal resonance, allowing spoken toasts, songs, and laughter to project cleanly over loud room noise without straining the vocal cords.

Activable Magic

  • Toast of the Departed: As an action, the wearer raises a drink and chants a traditional drinking blessing, causing faint spectral laughter and tiny glowing sparks to swirl in a 15-foot radius. Up to four friendly beings within range who cheer or drink along gain 1 temporary Health Point for 1 hour. This ability can be used once per day.
  • Reveler’s Footwork: As an action, the wearer activates the kinetic memories of the dancers carved into the mask, increasing movement speed by 10 feet for 1 minute when moving through crowded tavern floors, dance circles, or navigating around tavern furniture. This ability can be used once per day.
  • Gleaming Welcome: As an action, the avatar channels mana into the mother-of-pearl inlays, causing them to pulse with warm luminescence for 10 minutes. During this time, the avatar gains a +1 bonus on checks made to negotiate with barkeeps, innkeepers, and festival organizers for access, seating, or lodging. This ability can be used once per day.

Tags

  • Headwear, Mask, Wood, Carving, Malagan, Tier 1, Common, Social, Carousing, Spirit, Lapita, Attuned, Buff, Ancestral, Celebration, Hospitality, Performance, Morale, Folklore, Ritual, Inlay, Pigment, Coastal, Camaraderie, Feast

Commercial Venues and Valuation of the Malagan 783

Coastal Carver Workshops (Mom-and-Pop Artisans)

  • In coastal settlements across the island of Lapita, independent family woodcarvers operate small streetfront stalls near festival grounds and fishing wharfs.
  • Purchasing the mask directly from the artisan who shaped it typically requires an exchange in precious metal coin or local non-metal tokens. Because there are no set prices per item and the economy operates strictly on what the market will bear, a fresh, unembellished mask of this tier generally sells for roughly 25 to 40 Silver pieces, though it may be priced higher in Electrum if coastal demand is intense.
  • If the buyer belongs to the local Woodcrafters Guild or relevant artisan faction, a 10% discount per character tier is applied to the final asking price (reducing a 30 Silver purchase by 3 Silver for a Tier 1 buyer).
  • When selling an existing mask to these craftsmen, the merchant will haggle down by approximately 10% times the seller’s tier level against the agreed valuation, depositing the proceeds directly into the character’s World Bank account. The vendor maintains transaction logs of the trade.

General Curio Guildhalls and Tavern Outposts

  • City-based trading posts and guild-affiliated trading halls located in settlements exceeding five thousand residents frequently stock festive and carousing gear.
  • In these structured venues, the item is sold as an authentic piece of ceremonial gear at full market value, ranging between 35 and 60 Silver (or equivalent in Electrum or local city-minted coinage).
  • Guild members in good standing receive the standard 10% discount multiplied by their tier on all purchases.
  • Avatars attempting to sell the mask to guild merchants must register the sale through official channels, where the merchant haggles down the baseline price by 10% per tier level, logging the seller’s identity and depositing the precious metal value into their World Bank ledger.

Back-Alley Fences and Black-Market Smugglers

  • Underground brokers operating out of unregulated harbor alleys, hidden cellars, or secluded tavern corners deal in salvaged, stolen, or unrecorded ceremonial relics without official questioning or transaction logs.
  • When purchasing the mask from a black-market dealer, the buyer must pay entirely in physical gold or precious metal coins rather than bank transfers. Black-market items are sold at full cost or marked up significantly due to limited availability, frequently costing 5 to 8 Gold coins (50 to 80 Silver). No guild or faction discounts apply.
  • When selling the mask to a black-market fence, the seller receives physical coin directly. If the fence has no urgent demand, they pay the standard discounted rate that a merchant would offer; however, if the fence has an immediate buyer or collector seeking Lapitan mortuary art, they may pay up to twice the normal merchant purchase rate (up to 4 to 6 Gold in physical coin) while keeping the transaction strictly confidential.

Inland Frontier Trading Posts

  • Because item rarity and value vary by geographical access and regional availability, the mask becomes significantly more expensive when transported deep inland or to distant island countries where Oceanic woodcraft is scarce.
  • Inland vendors and traveling merchant caravans who have transported the mask across state borders and through central cities incorporate the 5% state border taxes and municipal transport fees into the retail price.
  • In distant island capitals or landlocked provinces, the same Tier 1 mask can command anywhere from 1 to 3 Gold coins (10 to 30 Silver equivalent in local currency or precious metals), with rural and remote merchants refusing to buy or sell unless the pricing strictly favors their local supply constraints.

Roleplay Applications for Defense and Offense Across Environments

Taverns, Banquet Halls, and Urban Social Dens

  • In crowded common rooms and celebratory halls, the avatar leans fully into the boisterous persona of the mask to mount an unconventional defense. By leading raucous drinking songs and projecting their voice through the mask’s open fretwork, the wearer deflects rising hostile tension, turns aggressive onlookers into drunken revelers, and uses the bustling chaos of dancing patrons as dynamic cover to avoid incoming brawling blows.
  • For offensive roleplay in tavern brawls, the avatar channels the kinetic memories of the artifact, moving rapidly across grease-slicked tables and dodging between patrons to trip foes with benches or shatter tankards against marked targets. The wearer uses the mask’s wide grinning visage to unsettle adversaries during social confrontations, delivering mocking battle banter and biting toasts that distract opponents, lower their guard, and create openings for companions to strike.

Steampunk Industrial Districts and Factory Floors

  • Amid the whir of gears, high-pressure steam conduits, and clanking assembly lines, the avatar employs the mask defensively by drawing upon its ancestral grounding to maintain focus against deafening mechanical noise and disorientation. The wood’s protective lacquer shields the wearer’s facial features from stray steam vents and flying metal shavings, while the amplified acoustic properties allow the wearer to shout emergency coordination calls and defensive maneuvers over the roar of heavy machinery.
  • Offensively, the avatar uses the vibrant contrast of the red-and-white ceremonial pigments to draw the visual attention of factory enforcers away from allies attempting stealth actions. By moving through narrow catwalks with enhanced reveler’s agility, the avatar maneuvers around steam pistons to push adversaries toward active factory hazards, using the rhythmic clanging of the machinery to pace aggressive melee strikes.

Wilderness Bogs, Jungles, and Hostile Flora Zones

  • Navigating dense, overgrown wilderness and toxic swamplands, the mask functions defensively as a spiritual ward and physical barrier. The avatar roleplays calling upon the spirits within the ironwood to keep their senses alert against creeping predatory beasts and shifting terrain, using the hardened wood structure to deflect low-hanging thorn branches, poisonous spores, and acidic marsh sap from the upper face and eyes.
  • In offensive encounters against feral beasts or territorial predators lurking in the brush, the avatar taps into the theatrical presence of the ancestral carving. By stomping rhythmically and chanting ancestral war cries through the mask, the avatar mimics the terrifying visage of ancient apex spirits, startling wild monsters into hesitation or forcing them to break formation, allowing the avatar and their party to deliver calculated ranged and martial attacks.

Subterranean Cave Metropolises and Dark Caverns

  • Within deep underground cave settlements and lightless tunnels, the avatar uses the mask defensively by channeling mana into the inlaid mother-of-pearl shell pieces. The soft luminescence illuminates tight crevices, preventing ambushes from burrowing predators with tremorsense and keeping party formations organized in total darkness without requiring an open flame that could consume oxygen or ignite pocket gases.
  • For offensive cave skirmishes, the wearer uses sudden bursts of reflected light from the shell inlays to momentarily dazzle light-sensitive subterranean creatures. The avatar uses the echoing acoustics of narrow stone tunnels to magnify intimidating ceremonial chants, confusing the directional hearing of blind-fighting foes and coordinating focused strikes against vulnerable targets.

Skyways, Airships, and Floating Cloud Platforms

  • High above the world on open-deck airships or the suspension bridges of floating settlements, the avatar relies on the mask’s secure bark-cord strapping for defense against rushing high-altitude winds and swirling cloud mist. The mask prevents windburn and sensory overload during flight maneuvers, allowing the avatar to maintain balance and spatial awareness along narrow rigging and open ledges.
  • Offensively during aerial boarding actions or platform raids, the avatar embraces the daring, thrill-seeking nature of the ancestral celebrants to execute bold, mobile maneuvers. Leaning into the slipstream, the wearer uses the mask’s streamlined profile to charge across gangplanks, distracting defending airship crew with sudden, high-energy lunges and driving defenders toward vessel edges to disrupt their firing lines.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective

  • Sight: The wearer experiences a sudden shift into true sight and hyper focus, perceiving the surrounding environment bathed in a vibrant ultraviolet glow emitted by nearby magical currents, spells, and items.
  • Sound: The acoustic properties of the mask amplify and channel ambient noises, transforming ordinary room chatter and tavern commotion into a rhythmic, echoing cadence of ancient drums and celebratory laughter.
  • Touch: The porous ironwood and natural tree sap resin grow noticeably warm against the skin, while the bark-cord strapping tightens securely as magical kinetic energy courses through the facial structure.
  • Taste: A lingering trace of salt, wood smoke, and fermented ceremonial nectar registers upon the palate, evoking the flavor of traditional ancestral feasts.
  • Smell: A sharp, aromatic scent of crushed volcanic ochre, burning resin, and coastal sea salt fills the nasal passages, clearing the senses entirely.
  • Extra-Sensory Perceptions: The wearer perceives a direct telepathic resonance and emotional warmth from the ancestral spirits housed within the carving, alongside an innate awareness of nearby active magical flows and the precise boundaries of the mask’s defensive radius.
  • Positives: The user gains heightened environmental awareness, elevated confidence during social interactions, and an immediate surge of energetic vitality that wards off fatigue and intoxication.
  • Negatives: The sudden influx of sensory data and amplified sound can prove disorienting, occasionally triggering a mild dull headache or temporary sensory overload if activated in chaotic environments.

Observer’s Perspective

  • Sight: Spectators witness the carved mother-of-pearl shell inlays and open fretwork flare to life with a radiant purple luminescence, casting dancing shadows across the wearer’s face and surrounding walls.
  • Sound: Observers hear the wearer’s voice project with unnatural clarity and resonance, accompanied by faint, ghostly echoes of choral chanting and rhythmic percussion emanating directly from the wood.
  • Touch: Anyone standing close enough to brush against the wearer feels a radiating wave of comforting heat and a subtle atmospheric pressure shift caused by the activation of the mask’s protective aura.
  • Taste: Those sharing food or drink nearby detect an inexplicable, rich undertone of roasted roots and sweet ceremonial mead lingering in the air.
  • Smell: Bystanders notice a distinct, pleasant fragrance of ancient woodsmoke, resin, and sea salt cutting through standard tavern or urban odors.
  • Extra-Sensory Perceptions: Observers with magical sensitivity or true sight perceive a shimmering bubble of ultraviolet light and spiritual energy enveloping the wearer, accompanied by the fleeting visual impression of ancient celebrants dancing along the edges of the room.
  • Positives: The activated artifact projects an aura of commanding charisma and theatrical presence, making the wearer instantly noticeable and inspiring camaraderie among allies.
  • Negatives: The conspicuous glowing light and amplified sound draw immediate attention, making it impossible to remain stealthy or conceal the wearer’s location from hostile onlookers.

Ancestral Revel Mask Recipe

Materials Needed

  • One seasoned block of coastal ironwood sourced from the outer beaches of Lapita.
  • One Tier 1 magic crystal (coin-sized and weighted) to serve as the core arcane battery and catalyst.
  • Three ounces of biological tree sap extracted using a fluid collector from a living ancient hardwood.
  • Two polished mother-of-pearl shell fragments gathered from coastal reef mollusks.
  • Mineral pigments consisting of red volcanic ochre, crushed white limestone, and soot black.
  • Two yards of beaten bark fiber cordage for strapping and securing flanges.
  • One common mundane headwear item or scrap of leather armor to be consumed as a sacrificial component for magical transference.

Tools Required

  • Woodcarving chisels, drawknives, and fine gouges.
  • A standard fluid collector for reagent harvesting and precise sap application.
  • Stone mortar and pestle for grinding mineral pigments.
  • Fine polishing stones and a hide buffer.
  • An arcane shaping focus to direct cognitive intent through the conduit during binding.

Skill Requirements

  • Woodcrafting Skill Level 5 or higher.
  • Alchemical Crafting Skill Level 2 or higher (for resin binding and pigment emulsion).
  • Minimum Tier 1 Character status.

Crafting Steps

  • Harvesting and Extraction: Utilize a fluid collector to draw biological sap directly from a living coastal tree, setting the liquid aside in a sealed vial to prevent coagulation.
  • Rough Shaping: Hew the coastal ironwood block into an elongated facial contour, establishing the sweeping crests and hollowing out the lower underside to ensure unobstructed access to the mouth and jaw.
  • Intricate Fretwork Carving: Using fine woodcarving chisels, pierce and carve openwork ribbons along the outer borders to represent flying fish and protective sea spirits, forming the resonant acoustic chambers.
  • Component Sacrificial Preparation: Place the Tier 1 magic crystal into the hollowed forehead cavity of the mask along with the sacrificial headwear piece, channeling focused thought through an arcane focus to break down the physical form of the scrap gear and transfer its latent defensive properties into the wood grain.
  • Shell Inlay and Binding: Secure the carved mother-of-pearl shell fragments into the eye and mouth contours using the harvested biological tree sap as an adhesive, embedding them flush with the wood surface.
  • Pigment Grinding and Application: Grind red volcanic ochre, white limestone, and soot black with a mortar and pestle, mixing the powders with refined sap to paint the traditional geometric patterns across the forehead, cheeks, and flared crests.
  • Sealing and Cord Attachment: Apply a final protective coat of clear resin over the entire surface, polish the shell inlays to a bright luster, and thread the beaten bark fiber cordage through the carved temple flanges.
  • Arcane Awakening: Hold the completed mask and execute an uninterrupted ten-minute ritual attunement, infusing the embedded Tier 1 magic crystal with mana to finalize the structural resonance and awaken the spiritual essence within the carving.

Great Thirst and Laughing Wood of 783

In the turn of ages when the salt waters were still learning their course from the east towards the setting place of Helios, there was a province of the shore where the living were exceedingly dry of throat and heavy of mind. The scribe who set down the first clay records wrote that the skies were filled with great gray vapors, and the people did not understand the joyful fire of the belly. In that domain lived an elder carver whose name cannot be written because the syllables have turned to sand, but the marks upon his house indicated the numeral seven hundred eighty-three.

This carver sat beside the falling waves where the great reefs split the foam. He possessed a sharp stone and a piece of ironwood that had drifted seven hundred leagues across the deep water without rotting. As he struck the wood with his tool, the spirits of those who had departed into the wide sea of waiting souls came forth from the gray mist. They spoke to him in tongues that sounded like rattling dry gourds. They said unto him that the resting places below the earth were cold and lacked all manner of festival, and they desired greatly to taste once more the fermented juice of the sweet roots and hear the shouting of the banquet halls.

The carver answered them with great confusion, for his own words were halting and his hands were stiff from the wind. He took the biological juices of the great shore trees, drawing them forth with a long tube of horn, and he mixed the fluids with the red dust of the burning mountain that shook the island. He carved upon the block of wood the face of an ancestor who had been renowned across forty villages for never falling from his stool, even when the jugs of palm wine were empty. He carved the mouth wide like an open cavern so that no drink would spill upon the ground, and he placed ribbons of pierced wood at the sides so that the shouts of the dead could pass through into the ears of the living.

When the mask was completed, the elder placed it upon his brow with cords of beaten bark. Immediately, the ancient writing states that his tongue became loosened like an unmoored canoe in a swift tide. He walked into the center of the great settlement where the headmen and the judges were sitting in solemn judgment over a broken fence. The elder, looking through the purple gleam of the shell eyes, did not offer wise words of the law. Instead, he struck his staff against the ground and chanted three words that caused all the earthen pots in the village to bubble with sweet froth.

The judges became greatly astonished and sought to seize him for breaking the quiet order of the midday hour. Yet as the guards stepped forward, the elder leaped upon the council table with the lightness of a flying fish escaping a shark. The spirits within the wood laughed with a voice like fifty drums beaten at once. When the guards threw their nets, the elder slipped through the cordage as though his limbs were greased with pig fat. He handed a horn of fermented root broth to the chief of the guards, who drank thereof and immediately forgot his anger, beginning instead to sing an ancient song concerning seven fat turtles upon a sandbar.

The chronicle relates that for forty days and forty nights, no person in the seven villages performed any labor of the fields or sat in dispute before the magistrates. The fishermen left their nets upon the sand, and the potters left their clay to dry in the sun, for wherever the smiling face of the wood appeared, the people were seized with an uncontrollable desire to roast tubers, drink strong beverages, and embrace their neighbors. The stores of grain were brought forth from the stone cellars and consumed with great rejoicing. The sick rose from their mats believing themselves to be hearty guests at a wedding feast, and the old men danced until their sandals fell to pieces upon the stones.

Upon the forty-first day, the great moon-goddess looked down from the sky and saw that the fires of the feast were burning brighter than the morning star. She sent a sudden wave of cool sea water across the beach to quench the wine vats and remind the mortals that the sun still moved and the seasons must turn. The carver took off the mask and placed it inside a deep chest of cedar, for his own knees were trembling and the wine of the province had entirely been swallowed. The ancestors within the wood grew quiet once more, waiting beneath the red pigments and the white shell until another dry mouth should bind the bark cords to his head and call them forth to drink with the living.

Moral of the Story True harmony between the living and the dead is not found in silent weeping, but in the shared laughter of the feast table, yet he who dances without pausing to tend the garden will soon find his storehouse bare when the music ends.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Ancestral Mask of the Bismarck Archipelago

  • Description: An authentic, late-19th-century New Ireland Malagan mortuary mask carved from porous tropical hardwood, intricately pigmented in ochre and lime, with carved nautilus shell eyes. It bears an uncanny, manic grin and radiates faint ambient warmth.
  • Item Type: Minor Hyperborean/Oceanic Relic
  • Sanity Cost: 1/1d4 Sanity points upon donning the artifact or witnessing its supernatural luminescence.
  • Passive Effects:
    • Social Intoxication: While worn, the user gains a +20% bonus to Charm, Fast Talk, and Persuade rolls conducted in social, celebratory, or crowded environments such as speakeasies, private parties, or banquets.
    • Toxin Resistance: The user gains a Hard success bonus threshold (+20% effective skill) on CON rolls made to resist the debilitating physical effects of alcohol, tranquilizers, or minor ingestible poisons.
  • Active Effects:
    • Choral Manifestation: The wearer may spend 4 Magic Points to project a resonant, phantom choral voice. For the next 10 minutes, all friendly listeners within hearing range gain a temporary +10% bonus to their current Sanity threshold against fear-based panic checks.
    • Ancestral Euphoria: The wearer may spend 1d3 Sanity points to temporarily suppress an ongoing bout of Temporary Insanity or Panicked state in themselves or an ally within touch range, replacing terror with reckless, laughing bravado for 1 hour.
  • Drawback: The wearer suffers a Penalty Die on all Stealth rolls and Psychology checks made to remain inconspicuous or read solemn emotional cues due to the relic’s constant manic aura and echoing whispers.

Blades in the Dark

The Reveler’s Malagan Visage

  • Item Classification: Arcane / Curio (1 Load)
  • Description: An exotic spirit mask hailing from the Dagger Isles, fashioned from ironwood and mother-of-pearl, bound with dormant revelry ghosts that hunger for the sounds of laughter and clinking glass.
  • Quality / Tier: Tier I Fine Quality Arcane Implement
  • Mechanics:
    • Potency in Revelry: You have Potency (+1 Effect level) on all Consort, Sway, and Carouse action rolls made inside taverns, parlors, gambling dens, or festive gatherings.
    • Spirit-Shielded Liver: When you suffer physical Harm from alcohol, tainted narcotics, or gas-based knockout agents, you may reduce the severity of the Harm by 1 level without expending an Armor slot.
    • Spectral Toast (Arcane Trigger): Spend 1 Stress to channel the lingering celebrant spirits within the mask. Choose one:
      • Clear 1 Stress from an ally who partakes in a shared drink or toast with you.
      • Gain +1d to a Command or Prowl roll made to maneuver through, distract, or incite a dense crowd of onlookers.
  • Complication / Heat: The mask’s shell inlays emit an eerie, unearthly violet glow whenever activated. Using its spectral abilities in public automatically generates +1 Heat if bluecoats, spirit wardens, or rival scoundrels are present.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Malagan Mask of the Ancestral Feast

  • Wondrous Item: Headwear, common (requires attunement)
  • Armor Class: While wearing this mask, you gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class if you are wearing light armor or no armor.
  • Properties:
    • Life of the Party: You have advantage on Charisma (Performance) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks made while interacting with non-hostile creatures in taverns, banquet halls, festivals, and similar celebratory settings.
    • Cast-Iron Constitution: You have advantage on Constitution saving throws made against the effects of alcohol, rich food consumption, and non-magical ingested toxins.
    • Voice of the Chorus: The mask amplifies your voice to twice its normal volume without distortion. Once per long rest, you can use an action to cast the Bless spell without verbal or material components, affecting yourself and up to two allies who are currently holding a drink or engaging in revelry with you.
    • Luminescent Grin: As a bonus action, you can cause the mother-of-pearl eyes and mouth of the mask to shed dim light in a 15-foot radius. The light lasts until you dismiss it as a bonus action.

Knave (2nd Edition)

The Laughing Lapitan Mask

  • Item Slot: 1 Item Slot (Worn on Head / Face)
  • Durability: 10 / 10
  • Armor Value: +1 Defense (Headwear)
  • Item Properties:
    • Carousing Boon: When undertaking carousing downtime activities or attempting Charisma checks to befriend strangers, gain advantage on the d20 roll.
    • Spirit Metabolism: You automatically succeed on Constitution checks to avoid vomiting, passing out, or suffering hangovers from heavy drinking and spoiled rations.
    • Rousing Chorus (3 Uses per Day): Spend an action chanting through the mask’s mouth cavity to grant up to three visible companions +1 on their next Morale check or attack roll made within the next 10 minutes.
    • Fragile Arcana: If the mask suffers damage and loses 5 or more Durability points, its shell inlays crack, disabling its magical properties until repaired by an artisan woodworker using fresh tree resin and polished sea shells.

Fate Core / Fate Condensed

The Mask of the Ancestral Carouse

  • Item Type: Unique Magical Extra (Focus: Aspect and Stunts)
  • Permissive Aspect: Vessel of the Relentless Reveler
  • Description: A heavily pigmented ceremonial mask carved from resonant shore-wood, bound with the lively spirits of ancestral celebrants who refuse to let the feast die down.
  • System Mechanics and Stunts:
    • Spirit of the Toast: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to Create an Advantage or Overcome actions using Rapport or Provoke when engaged in drinking contests, social banter, tavern negotiations, or street celebrations.
    • Iron Belly of the Ancestors: Once per scene, the wearer may invoke the mask’s aspect for free to immediately shrug off the physical stress or mild consequences resulting from intoxicants, spoiled feast rations, or non-magical ingested toxins.
    • Acoustic Shell Amplification: The wearer gains a +2 bonus when using Provoke or Rapport to project their voice across noisy environments, crowds, or chaotic battlefields without suffering penalties for room noise or ambient chaos.
    • Carouser’s Aegis: When actively dancing, weaving, or maneuvering through crowded terrain or festive spaces, the wearer gains Armor:1 against incoming physical melee strikes.
    • Compel / Trouble: Conspicuous Luminescence. The iridescent shell inlays and ancestral whispers make it impossible to blend into shadows, giving enemies an easy invoke or compel to spot the wearer immediately.

Numenera & Cypher System

Echo-Carved Reveler Visage

  • Level: 3 (1d6)
  • Form: An intricately etched mask fashioned from hardened biomorphic ironwood, featuring mother-of-pearl synth-inlays and biological sap seals that glow with soft ultraviolet luminescence.
  • Gear Classification: Worn Artifact (Headgear)
  • Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (check per day of active use)
  • Armor: +1 to Armor against physical and blunt force attacks directed at the head.
  • Passive Mechanics:
    • Social Resonance: The wearer eases all social interaction, persuasion, and performance tasks by one step when interacting within crowded gatherings, festivals, or tavern environments.
    • Toxin Filtration: The wearer eases Might defense tasks by one step against the adverse effects of biological intoxicants, ingestible narcotics, and spoiled consumables.
  • Active Abilities:
    • Harmonic Revelry (Action, 1 Intellect Point): The mask emits a resonant acoustic wave that echoes with spectral cheers. Up to three designated allies within immediate range gain an asset on their next physical or mental task taken within the next round.
    • Luminescent Flare (Action): The wearer causes the shell eyes to pulse with concentrated violet light, illuminating an immediate area with bright ambient light for one hour or blinding a close creature with a sudden burst, increasing the difficulty of the target’s attack rolls by one step for one round on a failed defense check.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Malagan Mask of the Grand Feast

  • Item Classification: Item 1; Common, Divination, Enchantment, Invested, Magical
  • Price: 15 gp (Market variable)
  • Usage: Worn Headwear; Bulk: L
  • Armor Bonus: +1 item bonus to Armor Class (AC) if the wearer is unarmored or wearing light armor.
  • Saving Throw Modifiers: The wearer gains a +1 item bonus to Fortitude saving throws against ingested poisons, alcohol intoxication, and conditions resulting from celebratory overindulgence (such as the Sickened or Fatigued conditions).
  • Passive Enhancement:
    • Celebrant’s Grace: The wearer gains a +1 item bonus to Diplomacy and Performance checks made during social gatherings, banquet speeches, drinking competitions, and street festivals.
  • Active Abilities:
    • Activate — Toast of Renewal:
      • Frequency: Once per day
      • Cost: 1 Action (Interact, Manipulate)
      • Effect: The wearer raises a beverage and recites an ancient mortuary chant. The mask’s shell inlays flare with a 15-foot emanation of purple light. Up to three willing allies within the emanation gain 3 temporary Hit Points that last for 10 minutes.
    • Activate — Rousing Projection:
      • Frequency: At will
      • Cost: 1 Action (Concentrate)
      • Effect: The wearer focuses magical energy through the mask’s open fretwork, doubling the audible distance of their spoken voice for 10 minutes and granting a +1 circumstance bonus to Demoralize or Make an Impression checks directed at large crowds.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition – SWADE)

Mask of the Festive Spirit

  • Item Type: Arcane Relic / Minor Enchanted Headgear
  • Requirements: Minimum Strength d4
  • Weight: 2 lbs
  • Armor Value: +1 Armor to the Head area.
  • Passive Properties:
    • The Life of the Hall: The wearer gains a +2 bonus on all Persuasion and Performance rolls made in social atmospheres, saloons, festivals, or banquets.
    • Hardened Liver: The wearer gains a +2 bonus on Vigor rolls made to resist the debilitating effects of alcohol, ingested non-lethal poisons, and physical fatigue caused by prolonged revelry or carousing.
  • Active Powers:
    • Ancestral Cheer (Power Points: 3): As an action, the wearer channels the embedded spirits to activate the Relief power, removing one level of non-lethal Fatigue from an ally within touch range who shares a drink or cheer with the wearer. The item recharges 1 Power Point per hour.
    • Dazzling Grin (Free Action): The wearer commands the shell inlays to emit bright violet light in a 5-yard radius (Medium Aura) or dim light in a 10-yard radius.
  • Drawback:
    • Obvious Presence: The vibrant colors and audible choral murmurs impose a -2 penalty on all Stealth rolls made while the mask is worn.

Shadowrun (Sixth World)

Lapita Spirit-Focus Mask

  • Item Type: Qi Focus / Enchanted Mask (Force 1)
  • Slot: Headwear / Face Mask
  • Armor Value: +1 Defense Rating
  • Karma Cost: 2 Karma (to bond)
  • Availability: 4 (Availability / Market Access based)
  • Passive Mechanics:
    • Aura of the Gathering: While worn openly in clubs, dive bars, or street gatherings, the character gains a +1 dice pool modifier to Con, Impersonation, and Influence tests.
    • Toxin Shunt: The character gains a +1 dice pool modifier to Body tests made to resist the debilitating effects of alcohol, minor recreational narcotics, or non-magical ingested chemical toxins.
  • Active Mechanics:
    • Choral Projection: As a Minor Action, the user activates the focus, allowing their voice to cut cleanly through extreme industrial background noise, loud music, or gunfight acoustics without electronic amplification for up to 10 minutes.
    • Spirit Toast: As a Major Action, the user spends 1 Edge to channel the mask’s bound ancestral spirits, granting one allied character within 3 meters 1 bonus Edge point that must be spent on a physical or defensive test within the same combat turn.
  • Drawback:
    • Astral Luminescence: The mask produces an active Force 1 astral signature and emits a faint ultraviolet aura, preventing the user from receiving visual concealment benefits from shadows or darkness against astral perception or low-light sensors.

Starfinder (Second Edition)

Ancestral Reveler’s Visage

  • Item Level: 1
  • Price: 40 credits (Subject to local market and planetary trade costs)
  • Bulk: L (Light)
  • Item Type: Worn Magic Item (Headwear)
  • Usage: Worn, 1 minute investiture
  • Armor Bonus: +1 item bonus to Armor Class (AC) if the wearer is unarmored or equipped with light armor.
  • Passive Mechanics:
    • Cantina Diplomat: The wearer gains a +1 item bonus to Diplomacy and Performance skill checks conducted in cantinas, starport bars, communal ship lounges, and diplomatic banquet halls.
    • Filtration Glands: The organic sap seal within the ironwood grants the wearer a +1 item bonus to Fortitude saving throws against ingested biological intoxicants, spoiled ration packets, and atmospheric smoke or minor gaseous contaminants.
  • Active Mechanics:
    • Activate — Festive Surge:
      • Cost: 1 Action (Manipulate)
      • Frequency: Once per day
      • Effect: The wearer touches the mother-of-pearl inlays, causing them to pulse with bright violet light in a 15-foot cone. Up to two allies within the light gain 3 temporary Hit Points for 10 minutes.
    • Activate — Comm-Bypass Acoustics:
      • Cost: 1 Action (Concentrate)
      • Frequency: At will
      • Effect: The carved fretwork channels vocal frequencies, allowing the user to project clear speech up to 60 feet even through light acoustic interference, low-level jamming fields, or screaming starship engine bays.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Oceanic Biomorphic Revelry Mask

  • Tech Level (TL): 2 (Primitive Artisanal Craft, Psy-Enhanced)
  • Weight: 1 kg
  • Armor: Armor +1 (Head location only)
  • Cost: Cr 150 (Varies widely depending on planetary law levels and curio markets)
  • Passive Mechanics:
    • Social Catalyst: When wearing the mask openly during Carouse or Persuade checks in social establishments, clubs, or trading outposts, the user receives DM+1 to their skill roll.
    • Metabolic Resistance: The user receives DM+1 on END checks made to resist physical intoxication, fatigue from prolonged carousing, or the effects of contaminated local food and drink.
  • Active Mechanics:
    • Ancestral Echo (Psionic / Resonant Trigger): Once per day, the user may activate the acoustic resonance chambers within the carved fretwork by projecting a vocal chant. For the next 1D minutes, all friendly crew members within hearing range (Short range, 5 meters) receive DM+1 on initiative checks and Morale-based skill checks.
    • Bioluminescent Shimmer: The user can expose the mother-of-pearl inlays to provide ambient illumination in a 2-meter radius, negating darkness penalties for immediate tasks without generating electronic signatures.
  • Drawback:
    • Conspicuous Design: The distinct organic pigments, grinning visage, and low humming resonance impose a DM-2 penalty on all Stealth checks made while the mask is equipped.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

Malagan Visage of the Eternal Wake

  • Classification: Minor Enchanted Curio / Talisman (Headwear)
  • Encumbrance: 0 (Worn on Face/Head)
  • Armor Points: 1 AP (Head)
  • Availability: Rare (Exotic import from distant archipelago cultures)
  • Passive Mechanics:
    • Boon of the Tavern: The wearer gains a +10 bonus to all Entertain (Storytelling, Singing), Gossip, and Charm Tests made within taverns, coaching inns, festivals, or banquet environments.
    • Gut of the Ancestor: The wearer gains a +10 bonus to Toughness Tests made to resist the adverse physical effects of heavy alcohol, tainted food, or the Sickened and Fatigued conditions resulting from revelry.
  • Active Mechanics:
    • The Ancestor’s Toast: Once per day, the wearer may spend a standard action raising a vessel of drink and uttering an ancient mortuary blessing. The mask’s shell inlays flare with eerie purple luminescence. The wearer and up to three friendly companions who drink along immediately recover 1 lost Wound and remove 1 broken condition or panic effect.
    • Projected Roar: The open acoustic carving allows the wearer to double their voice projection, granting a +10 bonus to Intimidate Tests made to shout over howling crowds, artillery thunder, or tavern brawls.
  • Drawback:
    • Loud Presence: The constant faint choral hum and striking pigments impose a -20 penalty to all Stealth (Rural or Urban) Tests made while the mask is exposed.