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Contract 33 of the Open Hand

—

by

Dale
in

Appearance:  This contract takes the form of a simple bracelet woven from vibrantly colored threads. Each thread represents a bond of friendship, interwoven to create a sturdy and eye-catching band.

Lore:   Legends speak of a charismatic merchant known for their gift of making any stranger feel like an old friend. Realizing their talent was more than mere charm, they sought out a reclusive weaver said to have a connection to the threads of fate. The weaver crafted the bracelet, magically binding the merchant’s innate friendliness into its colorful fabric.

Detailed Stats:

  • Slot: Wrist
  • Roleplay Emphasis: Amicable. The wearer exudes an aura of warmth and trustworthiness, making others more inclined to open up and form positive connections.
  • Costs: 200 gold (Common)

Passive Magics:

  • Heartfelt Welcome: The wearer has Advantage on Charisma checks made to initiate friendly social encounters or ease tensions.
  • Aura of Amity: The wearer automatically gains a +2 circumstance bonus to establishing trust with a new acquaintance.

Active Magics:

  • Strengthening Bonds (3 uses per day): The wearer can focus on the bracelet and visualize the bond between themselves and another individual. That person gains a +2 bonus to a single ability check or saving throw of their choice.

Tags: Arcane, Social, Empathic

Roleplaying Notes:

  • The wearer might be naturally outgoing and cheerful, with the bracelet amplifying their positive energy and disarming others.
  • The item encourages genuine, open-hearted interactions focused on building trust and friendly connection.
  • Beware of those who might seek to exploit the wearer’s friendly nature for their own gain.

The Price of the Contract:  There’s always a cost.  Is there a limit on how trusting this makes the character, leading to them being occasionally too open? Does the weaver demand something of the character in the future, perhaps drawing them into a web of social obligations?

The Strength of Amity: Utilizing Contract 33 of the Open Hand

  • Defense (Social Situations):
    • De-escalation: The aura of amity and the Heartfelt Welcome ability can help calm tense situations. The character’s friendly demeanor can encourage others to stand down or see reason.
    • Building Alliances: Initiating positive social encounters becomes easier, allowing the character to form connections and gather information or support from others.
    • Mending Fences: If the party has ruffled feathers or created tension, the character can use the bracelet to smooth things over and rebuild trust.
  • Offense (Social Situations):
    • Gaining the Upper Hand: The +2 circumstance bonus and the ease of initiating friendly encounters allow the character to quickly establish rapport and potentially gain an advantage in negotiations or information gathering.
    • Charismatic Leadership: The aura of friendliness can inspire others and make the character a natural leader in social situations.
    • Strengthening Bonds: The Strengthening Bonds ability allows the character to strategically bolster a party member’s capabilities during critical moments, fostering teamwork and trust within the group.
  • General Roleplay
    • The Friendly Face: The character might become known for their easy smile and disarming nature, becoming the party’s social glue or ambassador.
    • Building Bridges: The character can use their natural charisma and the bracelet’s magic to navigate complex social situations and forge alliances that benefit the party.
    • Beware of Manipulation: The openness encouraged by the bracelet can make the character vulnerable to those who might exploit their trusting nature. It’s important to balance friendliness with a healthy dose of skepticism.
  • Remember:
    • The key is to utilize the bracelet’s magic to foster genuine connections, not manipulate others.
    • Look for creative ways to leverage the character’s amicable nature in unexpected situations.
    • Consider how the character might grapple with the potential downsides of being overly trusting. Does the bracelet make them naive or susceptible to deception?

Perception of Activation:

  • Sight
    • Perceived: The threads of the bracelet seem to glow with a soft, warm light, and the interwoven patterns subtly shift, suggesting a continuous flow of connection.
    • Description: The visual effect is subtle yet reassuring, symbolizing the strengthening of existing bonds and the potential for new ones.
    • Positives: The glow serves as a reminder of the item’s power and the potential good it can bring.
    • Negatives: If the wearer or others focus on the light too intently, it could be mildly distracting.
  • Sound
    • Perceived: A faint, melodious hum emanates from the bracelet, resembling gentle laughter shared between friends.
    • Description: The sound is soothing and even joyful, reinforcing the positive social associations of the item’s magic.
    • Positives: The hum can be a comforting and even mood-boosting presence for the wearer.
    • Negatives: In very quiet environments, the hum might be noticeable, potentially drawing unwanted attention.
  • Touch
    • Perceived: The bracelet feels warm against the skin, and the individual threads seem to vibrate gently in a soothing rhythm.
    • Description: The tactile sensation is both comforting and energizing, offering a physical reinforcement of the item’s purpose.
    • Positives: The warmth and vibration can be grounding for the wearer, especially in stressful social situations.
    • Negatives: The warmth might be slightly uncomfortable in very hot climates.
  • Extra-Sensory Perception: Mind’s Eye
    • Perceived: When the wearer focuses on the bracelet, they see flashes of interconnected threads, each representing a potential bond or past connection.
    • Description: This visualization is fluid and constantly shifting, symbolizing the dynamic nature of social interaction.
    • Positives: Provides a tangible representation of the bracelet’s power, enhancing the wearer’s understanding of relationships.
    • Negatives: The swirling imagery could become overwhelming if the wearer fixates on it too long.
  • Extra-Sensory Perception: Empathic Resonance
    • Perceived: The wearer develops a heightened sensitivity to the emotional states of those around them, feeling a subtle resonance of openness, wariness, or potential friendliness.
    • Description: This perception manifests as vague impressions or instinctive feelings about the intentions of others.
    • Positives: Grants the wearer a social advantage, allowing them to tailor their interactions accordingly.
    • Negatives: This constant influx of emotions could become emotionally draining, especially in large crowds or negative environments.

Recipe: The Bracelet of Woven Goodwill

  • Materials Needed:
    • Colorful Threads: Silk, cotton, or wool threads in a variety of vibrant colors symbolizing diversity and connection.
    • Tokens of Friendship: Small charms, beads, or other trinkets representing positive social experiences – a shared meal, a helping hand, laughter with friends.
    • Infused Water: Water collected during a joyful social event or under the light of a full moon, infused with an essence of openness.
    • Enchanted Dyes: Dyes infused with the magic of enchantment and joy, used for inscribing blessings onto the bracelet.
  • Tools Required:
    • Weaving Loom: A simple loom or frame for weaving the threads.
    • Fine Needles: For incorporating the tokens of friendship into the weave.
    • Enchanter’s Workspace: A secure location with the necessary tools for imbuing items with magical properties.
  • Skill Requirements:
    • Arcana (Proficiency): Knowledge of arcane principles, especially those related to social magic, empathy, and bonds of trust.
    • Weaving (Advantage): Expertise in weaving and fiber arts allows for intricate work and a sturdier bracelet.
    • Performance (Advantage): Skill in storytelling, song, or other forms of performance aids in infusing positive energy into the ritualistic creation process.
  • Crafting Steps
    • Weaving the Foundation:
      • With a joyful heart, begin weaving the colorful threads together, visualizing each thread as a connection being made or strengthened.
      • Periodically incorporate the tokens of friendship into the weave, symbolizing past experiences of positive social interaction.
    • Infusion of Goodwill:
      • Dip the partially completed bracelet in the infused water, focusing your intent on the concept of open-heartedness and genuine connection.
      • Let the bracelet dry under the light of the moon or in the warmth of sunlight.
    • Enchanted Inscription:
      • Carefully inscribe blessings of friendship, trust, and welcome onto the bracelet, using the enchanted dyes to charge the words with power.
      • As you inscribe, envision the bracelet’s magic radiating outwards.
    • Ritual of Connection:
      • Gather with friends or a welcoming community. Share stories of positive encounters, give thanks for bonds of friendship, and sing songs of unity.
      • During this ritual, complete the final weaving of the bracelet, allowing the positive energy of the gathering to flow into the item.
  • Important Notes:
    • The creation process should be imbued with the same warmth and goodwill that the bracelet is intended to embody.
    • The crafting process can be a collaborative experience, strengthening social bonds while creating the item.
    • Crafting this item requires a delicate balance of mundane skill and arcane understanding.

Weaver’s Boon
A Bracelet Forged in Friendship

Through whispers on the wind and tales etched on crumbling clay tablets comes a legend of Amara, the weaver. Unlike those who wove tapestries of war and conquest, Amara sought to capture the essence of connection in her work. Her greatest desire was to create a bridge between hearts, a tangible symbol of the joy found in fellowship.

One moonlit night, Amara dreamt of a vibrant tapestry, its threads shimmering with an otherworldly light. Each thread pulsed with warmth, representing a unique bond of friendship. Inspired, Amara embarked on a quest to gather the materials for her creation.

She journeyed to bustling marketplaces, collecting threads spun from the laughter of shared meals. She scaled treacherous mountains, gathering tokens of friendship – a shared song sung under the stars, a seed gifted by a stranger. Finally, she knelt beside a crystal-clear spring, its waters reflecting the full moon, and captured its essence in a vial.

With trembling hands, Amara wove the threads together, each token carefully incorporated into the growing bracelet. As she worked, she chanted blessings of amity and trust, her voice echoing in the quiet night. When the final knot was tied, the bracelet pulsed with a soft, warm light, and Amara knew her creation was complete.

News of the Weaver’s Boon, as it came to be called, spread far and wide. People from all walks of life sought Amara, hoping for a taste of the connection it offered. The bracelet found its way to lonely scholars, hardened warriors, and weary travelers, each finding solace and a spark of camaraderie in its gentle magic.

However, Amara never claimed the bracelet held the power to force friendship. It merely amplified the warmth already present in a willing heart. Those who sought to manipulate or exploit others found the bracelet offered no such advantage. In fact, its magic often exposed their true nature, leading to broken alliances and shattered trust.

Moral: True connection thrives on genuine kindness and a willingness to open one’s heart. The Weaver’s Boon serves as a reminder that the strongest bonds are not forged through magic, but through shared experiences, empathy, and a spirit of open-hearted fellowship.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

  • Artifact: The Bracelet is likely a Minor Artifact imbued with a gentle magic focused on social harmony. However, its potential for revealing hidden intentions holds both benefits and dangers in the world of the Mythos.
  • Sanity Cost: Prolonged use of the Bracelet without focusing on genuinely positive interactions might have a minor sanity cost (1/1D4), as its empathy-enhancing nature risks exposing the wearer to the underlying bleakness and selfish motivations prevalent in the world.
  • Skill Bonuses: Provides bonuses to Empathy, Persuasion, or a Lore skill related to interpersonal relationships and customs.
  • Mythos Connection: Extended use or inquiring too deeply into the Bracelet’s origins might increase the character’s Cthulhu Mythos rating, perhaps drawing attention from dream-entities or benevolent celestial beings.

Blades in the Dark

  • Vice Purveyor: The Bracelet functions as a unique Vice Purveyor, offering a glimpse into hearts and aiding social connection at a cost.
  • Stress Cost: Using the Bracelet’s abilities inflicts Stress as the wearer grapples with understanding others’ motivations – both good and bad. Complications are likely when dealing with those driven by malice.
  • Claims: The Strengthening Bonds ability could be used to create Claims against those whose resolve was momentarily bolster, representing a future risk should the newfound connection sour.
  • The Whisper Mechanic: The bracelet’s empathetic insights can be a special ability, complicating scenes or fueling desperate, socially motivated actions depending on the situation, in line with a Whisper’s chaotic nature.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

  • Rarity: Likely a Rare wondrous item.
  • Attunement: The Bracelet might require attunement, reflecting the bond formed between the wielder and its empathetic magic.
  • Stat Bonuses: +2 Charisma (Persuasion), potential bonuses to Insight, depending on the character’s focus.
  • Strengthening Bonds: Modeled as a spell-like ability (similar to the low-level Bless spell), usable 3/day with Charisma as the casting ability.
  • Lore: Extensive lore surrounding the original weaver, the nature of the blessing imbued, and potential benevolent entities who might offer similar boons would be essential.

Knave

  • Treasure: The Bracelet is a unique Treasure with a hefty value, reflecting the power it holds for socially skilled Knaves.
  • Skill Check Replacements: Bonuses to social skills translate to replacing a d20 roll with a d8 or d10, in line with Knave’s mechanics.
  • Empathy as Intrusion: Increased sensitivity to the intentions of others can be a fantastic GM Intrusion tool, throwing unexpected complications based on social misreads or clashes between the character’s kind heart and others’ selfish motives.
  • Strengthening Bonds as a Complication: This ability is potent but risky. Failed social rolls could trigger dire Complications, as per Knave’s rules.

Fate (Core or Accelerated)

  • Artifact of Power: The Bracelet functions as a powerful artifact with its own unique set of aspects and narrative weight.
  • Aspects: Examples include “Threads of Open Hearts,” “Aura of Amity,” and “The Weaver’s Blessing.” These aspects can be invoked, compelled, and influence tag bonuses.
  • Stunts: Encourage the creation of custom stunts to enhance the use of the Bracelet. Potential stunts could provide bonuses to create advantages relating to building rapport, fostering cooperation, or temporarily bolstering an ally’s resolve in a social situation.
  • Consequences: Each use of the Bracelet should have subtle Consequences. These could range from emotional strain due to enhanced empathy (“Burden of Connection”) to attracting the attention of those who value social power, for good or ill.

Numenera & Cypher System

  • Artifact: The Bracelet functions as a level 4-6 artifact, granting potent social abilities. It might be a unique cypher with limited uses and a chance of depletion.
  • Descriptor: The Bracelet grants the descriptor “Sociable” or “Empathic.”
  • Abilities: Reduces the difficulty of tasks related to social interaction, reading intentions, and fostering bonds of trust by one or two steps. The Strengthening Bonds ability is a potent power with a hefty cost in Intellect points, or a cypher-like effect with a risk of unintended consequences or depletion.
  • Depletion: A 1 in d100 chance of depletion upon use, reflecting the volatile nature of its transformative magic. Depletion could result in a period of emotional detachment or heightened cynicism, or in attracting the attention of a manipulative entity seeking to exploit social connections.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

  • Rarity: Likely a Rare or Unique magic item.
  • Item Bonus: +2 Item Bonus to Diplomacy checks, with potential bonuses to other skills like Society (to understand social dynamics) or Sense Motive (especially in group interactions).
  • Invested: This item likely requires the wearer to be Invested to properly channel its arcane nature.
  • Action: Strengthening Bonds: A special action (possibly two Actions) with a Will save by the target. Success allows the wearer to bolster their resolve on the next relevant task, while failure might make the target resistant to further social influence for a duration.
  • The Patron of Friendship: The Bracelet could offer a unique Background choice for the wielder, with thematic boons and potential drawbacks reflecting their connection to a benevolent entity that values connection.

Savage Worlds

  • Hindrance: The potential for emotional overwhelm due to heightened empathy aligns well with a custom Hindrance (Minor), offsetting the Bracelet’s benefits.
  • Edges: Consider custom Edges like “Socially Adept” (providing bonuses to social rolls) or “Bond of Trust” (allowing the character to temporarily bolster an ally’s confidence in stressful situations).
  • Power: Strengthening Bonds: Model it as a new Arcane Power with the Trappings of friendship and positive emotional energy. Potential Backlash upon failure ties into Savage Worlds’ mechanics.
  • Setting Specific: Adjust lore and the nature of the original weaver to fit your chosen Savage Worlds setting. (Deadlands, Weird War II, etc.)

Shadowrun (6th Edition)

  • Focus: The Bracelet functions as a magical focus, specifically a Power Focus. Its social and mental manipulation powers make it ideal for Face or Mage archetypes.
  • Tradition: Given its nature, a Shamanic or Hermetic tradition is most fitting. A custom tradition focused on empathy and social harmony could be even more thematic.
  • Drain: Using the Bracelet should incur a moderate Drain Value (3-5), especially for activating its Strengthening Bonds ability.
  • Astral Signature: The Bracelet’s subtle but constant arcane activity leaves a distinct astral signature, potentially attracting unwanted attention from other mages who recognize the hint of unusual social-focused magic or spirits drawn to its aura of connection.

Starfinder

  • Hybrid Item: The Bracelet blends magical and technological elements.
  • Rarity and Level: Likely a Rare item, around item level 6-8.
  • Skills: Bonuses to Diplomacy, Culture (to assess social norms), and perhaps Sense Motive to reflect its ability to read hidden conflicts and build positive rapport.
  • Strengthening Bonds as an Exploit: Model Strengthening Bonds as a technomancy exploit, providing a temporary boost to an ally’s resolve but with a chance for a minor social malfunction as the target’s mind grapples with the influx of positive energy.
  • Alignment and Patron: Consider if the Bracelet is linked to a specific alignment (perhaps Lawful Good), reflecting a mysterious benefactor with an interest in positive social connections. This could even be a benevolent AI seeking to understand and foster cooperation.

Traveller (MgT2)

  • Psionic Artifact: The Bracelet could be a relic of a lost psionic civilization or a minor psionic artifact with a focus on empathy and social bonding.
  • Psionic Skills: Provides bonuses to relevant skills like Counselor, Diplomat, and even Telepathy (to tap into the empathic nature of perceiving emotions).
  • Psionic Strain: Using active abilities, especially Strengthening Bonds, should cause psionic strain, reflecting the mental exertion involved.
  • The Patron of Harmony: The original weaver becomes a mysterious plot hook – perhaps a powerful psionic entity concerned with fostering unity, a compassionate alien species, or a latent AI focused on peaceful coexistence.

Warhammer (Fantasy or 40,000 – Rogue Trader)

  • Warp-Touched Artifact: This item might have a faint connection to the Warp or even be derived from Xenos tech, given its focus on empathy and social harmony – both atypical concepts in the grim darkness of Warhammer.
  • Forbidden Lore: The Bracelet provides a bonus to various Lore Skills depending on the edition (Scholastic Lore, Numerology, or Forbidden Lore – Xenos), as well as a bit of Forbidden Lore related to the Warp or the mysterious aliens from whom it was acquired.
  • Corruption/Insanity: Using the Bracelet risks Corruption in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, or Insanity in Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader. This risk is lower than with typical tainted items as its influence is primarily social, but the potential for manipulation by warp entities or alien forces with unknown motivations is always a danger.
  • The Enigmatic Patron: The true ‘patron’ of this artifact is likely a mysterious entity. This could be a minor Warp entity focused on an unusual aspect, a secretive Xenos group, or an ancient AI focused on social experimentation.