GearAscendancy.com

Druze 312 of the Veiled Essential

—

by

Dale
in

Lore: In the complex theological landscape of Saṃsāra, the Druze 312 of the Veiled Essential is a curious artifact given to initiates who struggle with the weight of the “Universal Intellect.” Druze mysticism teaches that the divine is hidden (Batin) and requires deep contemplation to understand. This item was created by a confused hermit who spent forty years staring at a mountain, eventually realizing that being “baffled” is actually the highest state of spiritual readiness—a mind wiped clean of ego and assumptions. The item vibrates with a gentle, perplexed energy, constantly nudging the wearer into a state of wide-eyed wonder and utter confusion. It is given to Tier 1 avatars who are perpetually “lost” in the majesty of the cosmos, finding power in their own inability to comprehend the obvious.

Detailed Stats

  • Slot: Eyes (A pair of circular spectacles with frames made of etched brass and lenses fashioned from polished, semi-translucent desert quartz).
  • Tier: 1.
  • Rarity: Common.
  • Weight: 0.2 lbs.
  • Material: Desert quartz, brass, silk thread, and a drop of distilled mountain mist.

Skills Gained

  • Accidental Revelation: The avatar gains a bonus to discovering hidden doors or secrets, usually by stumbling into them while looking for something entirely different.
  • Disarming Innocence: Because the avatar looks so profoundly baffled, NPCs find it difficult to perceive them as a threat, granting a bonus to avoiding suspicion.

Passive Magic

  • The Clouded Path: While wearing the spectacles, the avatar is perpetually under a minor “Confuse” effect themselves, but this chaos shields them from external mental control. Any attempt to magically dominate the wearer’s mind results in the attacker becoming “baffled” by the wearer’s lack of coherent thought.
  • Shimmering Truth: Distant objects appear blurry, but invisible or magically hidden objects within 5 feet appear as vibrant, multicolored smears of light. The avatar doesn’t know what they are seeing, only that it is “very interesting.”
  • The Baffled Anchor: When the avatar is surprised or “stunned” by an event, they do not reel back. Instead, they stand perfectly still in a state of shock, making them momentarily immune to being moved or knocked down by physical force.

Activable Magic

  • Incoherent Inquiry (Normal Activation): The avatar asks a question so nonsensical and spiritually dense that a single target within earshot must pause to think. This effectively “Stuns” the target for one round as they try to find a logical answer to a question like, “Is the color blue heavier than the square of a Thursday?”
  • Blinking Re-Orientation (Reaction Activation): When the avatar misses an attack or fails a task, they can blink rapidly through the quartz lenses. This magically resets their “confusion,” allowing them to reroll the check, though the new result is dictated entirely by luck.
  • Fog of the Hidden Imam (Ritual Activation): By breathing on the quartz lenses and wiping them with silk, the avatar creates a 10-foot cloud of thick, fragrant mist. Inside this mist, everyone (including the avatar) is “Baffled,” making it impossible to coordinate attacks or follow a map, but perfect for a chaotic escape.

Tags: Eye-Slot, Druze-Mysticism, Baffled, Quartz-Lenses, Mental-Chaos, Batin, Tier-1, Hidden-Truths, Brass, Saṃsāra-Tides, Opaque, Wonder-Bound, Esoteric, Non-Linear, Desert-Glass, Ethereal, Translucent, Misaligned, Paradoxical, Inquisitive, Spirit-Blinded

In the world of Saṃsāra, the Druze 312 of the Veiled Essential is often treated as a “misfit” artifact. Because the faith of the Druze is one of secret knowledge and inner truth, these spectacles are rarely found in loud, bustling city centers. They appear in places where the line between “clueless” and “enlightened” is thin.

Where to Buy and Sell

  • The Curio Stall of the Absent-Minded Antiquarian: These shops are usually located in the winding back-alleys of desert trade hubs. They are cluttered, dusty, and smell of old parchment. The merchant is often just as baffled as the item suggests, having “misplaced” the item’s history. You buy it here by digging through a bin of “miscellaneous glass.” Selling it here involves convincing the merchant that they actually owned it once and simply forgot.
  • The Silk-Road Sanctuary: Located at high-altitude rest stops for spiritual pilgrims. These are not shops in the traditional sense, but “exchange halls” where monks and seekers trade items of spiritual growth. The Druze 312 is sold here as a “beginner’s lens” for those who think they know too much. Buying involves a lengthy tea ceremony where you must admit you know nothing.
  • The Fog-Weaver’s Apothecary: In coastal regions where the mountain mist meets the sea, these shops specialize in “veiled” goods—items that affect perception and concealment. The 312 is sold here as a specialized tool for navigating magical mists. Selling it here is easiest, as the Fog-Weavers value any glass that can “see” through the Batin (the hidden).

Buying and Selling Costs

The cost of the Druze 312 is strangely fluid, often changing based on how confused the buyer and seller are at the time of the transaction.

  • Antiquarian’s Stall (Cluttered/Lucky Find): To buy, the cost is 10 to 15 Silver. The merchant doesn’t realize it’s magical and likely thinks it’s a broken pair of reading glasses. They will buy it from you for 5 Silver, mostly to use as a paperweight.
  • Silk-Road Sanctuary (Spiritual/Vested): To buy, the price is 5 Gold. The cost is high because the monks understand its spiritual value in breaking the ego. They will rarely “buy” it back with currency; instead, they offer Safe Passage and 3 Gold worth of healing herbs or rations.
  • Fog-Weaver’s Apothecary (Professional/Specialized): To buy, the price is 8 to 12 Gold. Here it is a “navigational tool.” They will buy it for 4 to 6 Gold, provided the quartz lenses aren’t scratched or “too clear.”

The Baffled Transaction

Buying or selling the Druze 312 is a roleplay exercise in circular logic. When buying, the merchant might ask you what you see through the lenses; if you answer “everything clearly,” they might refuse the sale, claiming you aren’t ready for them. When selling, you might find yourself walking out of the shop with the item still in your pocket, having completely forgotten to ask for the money, or conversely, having been paid in “spiritual IOUs” and a handful of strange, polished river stones.

In the world of Saṃsāra, roleplaying with the Druze 312 of the Veiled Essential requires the avatar to lean into a state of “divine disorientation.” You aren’t incompetent; you are simply perceiving a layer of reality that is so complex it renders the physical world a bit blurry and nonsensical. Your power comes from being unpredictable because you don’t even know what you’re doing next.

Defensive Roleplay

  • Safe Areas (Palaces/Temples): Your defense here is Disarming Innocence. If a high-ranking official or a suspicious guard confronts you, your roleplay should be one of profound, wide-eyed confusion. You aren’t lying; you truly don’t understand why they are angry. “Is this the tax office? I thought this was the room for contemplating the weight of silence.” The magic of the spectacles makes them feel like a bully for picking on someone so clearly lost, causing them to lower their guard or dismiss you entirely.
  • Normal Areas (Forests/Busy Markets): Use the Baffled Anchor. If a pickpocket tries to snatch your purse or a wild animal lunges at you, roleplay the “stunned silence” of someone seeing a miracle. Instead of flinching, you stare through the quartz lenses at a “pretty light” behind the attacker. Your lack of a standard “flight or fight” response confuses the attacker’s timing, and the anchor magic makes you as unmovable as a statue until the danger passes.
  • Unsafe/Deathly Areas: In combat, defense is handled by The Clouded Path. When a sorcerer tries to fear or charm you, roleplay a total lack of comprehension. “They want me to run? Why? The ground is made of such lovely triangles today.” Because your thoughts are a swirling fog of “Batin” (the hidden), the enemy’s mental probe finds nothing to latch onto, leaving them frustrated and “baffled” by your vacant stare.

Offensive Roleplay

  • Incoherent Inquiry: This is your primary “attack” in social or combat situations. You interrupt an enemy’s grand monologue with a question that shatters their logic. “If the soul is a bird, does it need to stop for worms?” Roleplay the intense sincerity of your confusion. The target isn’t just annoyed; they are magically forced to try and solve the riddle of your nonsense, leaving them frozen in place while your allies move into position.
  • Blinking Re-Orientation: This is used when you “accidentally” succeed. If you swing your staff and miss, roleplay yourself blinking rapidly and looking at the spectacles. “Oh dear, the lenses are smudgey.” As you “clean” them, the reroll happens. If you hit this time, roleplay it as a fluke: “Oh! I was just trying to point at that cloud, but your head got in the way. My apologies.”
  • Fog of the Hidden Imam: In a desperate fight, you act out the ritual of “clearing the vision.” You breathe on the quartz lenses with a heavy sigh of frustration. As the mist billows out, roleplay your delight at the fog. “Finally! Somewhere quiet where I don’t have to see all those confusing buildings.” While your enemies are stumbling around, unable to tell friend from foe in the “baffled” mist, you wander through it, inadvertently tripping your enemies or leading your friends to safety by following a “sparkle” only you see.

Perception of Activation:

  • Auditory (The Echo of the Unspoken):
    • User’s Perspective: Sound becomes “layered.” You hear a conversation not as words, but as a series of melodic chimes and low thrums. The wind sounds like a choir humming a single, eternal note that you almost—but not quite—recognize.
    • Observer’s Perspective: You seem to tilt your head at nothing, listening intently to the silence. A soft, muffled ringing, like a distant bell submerged in water, can be heard within a few feet of the spectacles.
    • Positives: You can hear the “vibration” of hidden mechanisms or moving parts behind solid stone.
    • Negatives: You find it nearly impossible to follow fast-paced verbal instructions, as the “music” of the voice distracts from the meaning of the words.
  • Visual (The Prismatic Shroud):
    • User’s Perspective: The edges of the physical world dissolve. Solid objects leave “trails” of color behind them. Everything is beautiful, terrifyingly complex, and seemingly made of translucent stained glass.
    • Observer’s Perspective: The quartz lenses begin to swirl with a milky, iridescent fog that hides your eyes completely, reflecting a rainbow that shouldn’t exist in the current lighting.
    • Positives: You can see the “weight” of magical lingering effects, appearing as thick, colorful pools of light on the ground.
    • Negatives: Depth perception becomes a suggestion rather than a fact; you are likely to reach for something and miss by several inches.
  • Tactile (The Weightless Drifting):
    • User’s Perspective: Your feet feel as though they are walking on thick cushions of wool. The air feels heavy and wet against your skin, like walking through a warm, invisible sea.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Your movements become floaty and disconnected, as if you are moving in slow motion or underwater.
    • Positives: You are much harder to trip or unbalance, as your body instinctively adjusts to the “waves” of the environment.
    • Negatives: Your grip becomes clumsy; holding onto small or delicate objects feels like trying to catch a bubble.
  • Olfactory (The Scent of Memory):
    • User’s Perspective: The air smells of “blue” or “yesterday.” You perceive scents that are not present: scorched rain, ancient dust, and the smell of a dream you once had.
    • Observer’s Perspective: A faint, clean scent of ozone and crushed white flowers surrounds you.
    • Positives: You can “smell” the age of an object, instantly knowing if something is an ancient relic or a modern forgery.
    • Negatives: Potent, real-world smells (like garbage or strong perfume) cause a sudden, dizzying wave of nausea.
  • Gustatory (The Taste of Inquiry):
    • User’s Perspective: When you speak, you taste something sweet and cool on your tongue, like mountain snow mixed with honey.
    • Observer’s Perspective: Your voice takes on a slightly hollow, airy quality, as if you are speaking from the bottom of a well.
    • Positives: The pleasant taste keeps you calm and prevents the onset of panic or fear.
    • Negatives: You lose the ability to distinguish between edible food and inedible objects by taste alone while activated.
  • Extra-Sensory (The Batin Flux):
    • User’s Perspective: You feel the “Hidden” (Batin) truth of people around you—not their thoughts, but their spiritual “texture.” One person feels “jagged,” another feels “smooth.”
    • Observer’s Perspective: You may reach out and touch the air near someone’s shoulder, reacting to a spiritual shape only you can perceive.
    • Positives: You cannot be truly surprised by a betrayal; you feel the “jaggedness” of hostile intent long before a blade is drawn.
    • Negatives: The sheer amount of spiritual data is overwhelming, making you appear dazed and slow to respond to simple physical questions.
  • Extra-Sensory (The Spatial Paradox):
    • User’s Perspective: You feel that “here” and “there” are the same place. The room feels infinitely large and incredibly small at the same time.
    • Observer’s Perspective: You may try to walk through a door that is ten feet away by taking only a single step, appearing confused when you hit a wall.
    • Positives: You are immune to claustrophobia or the mental strain of being trapped in small, dark spaces.
    • Negatives: Navigating simple environments like a crowded tavern becomes a confusing ordeal of “hitting” invisible boundaries.

Recipe: Polishing the Lens of the Baffled Seer

To recreate the Druze 312, the artisan must embrace a state of intentional wandering. The crafting process is not about precision, but about “allowing” the item to form itself through a series of fortunate accidents and contemplative pauses.

Materials Needed

  • Two Slabs of Raw Desert Quartz: These must be found in the deep dunes, naturally clouded by sandstorms so they do not see the world “too clearly.”
  • 3 Ounces of Sacred Brass: An alloy mixed with a pinch of silver to represent the “shimmer of the hidden.”
  • A Vial of Distilled Mountain Mist: Collected at dawn from the highest peaks of Saṃsāra, used to wash the lenses.
  • 1 Yard of Unspun White Silk: To be used as the padding for the frames and for the final polishing.
  • A Pinch of “Forgotten Dust”: Dust swept from a place of learning that has been abandoned, representing the shedding of useless knowledge.

Tools Required

  • A Soft Wooden Lathe: Powered by hand, used to round the quartz without shattering its internal “fog.”
  • Fine-Point Copper Burin: For etching the brass with non-linear geometric patterns that loop back on themselves.
  • A Stone Basin of Running Water: A natural stream is preferred, as the water must be “distracted” by its own flow.
  • Jeweler’s Loupe (Purposefully Smudged): To ensure the artisan does not become too obsessed with perfection.

Skill Requirements

  • Quartz-Turning (Tier 1): The delicate art of shaping stone into translucent discs.
  • Batin-Etching: The ability to carve symbols that represent the “Hidden” without fully understanding their meaning.
  • Meditative Distraction: The mental discipline required to work on the item while simultaneously thinking about something entirely unrelated.

Crafting Steps

  1. The Clouding of the Quartz: Take the raw quartz slabs and place them in the stone basin. Allow the running water to tumble them for three days. You must not check on them; if you look too often, the quartz will become transparent and useless for the “Baffled.”
  2. The Rounding of the Glass: Using the soft wooden lathe, shape the stones into circular lenses. As you grind, whisper your most confusing questions into the dust. The quartz must absorb the “why” of your curiosity.
  3. The Forging of the Frame: Melt the sacred brass and cast it into thin, flexible wires. Braid these wires into the shape of spectacles. Use the copper burin to etch patterns that look like maps leading nowhere.
  4. The Mist-Bathing: Submerge the finished lenses into the Distilled Mountain Mist mixed with the Forgotten Dust. This creates the permanent “Shimmering Truth” effect, ensuring the lenses see the spiritual glow rather than the physical grit.
  5. The Final Assembly: Bind the lenses to the brass frames using threads of the Unspun White Silk. The knots must be slightly loose; if the item is too tight, the wearer’s mind will be too rigid to perceive the Batin. When the spectacles feel like they might fall off at any moment, but never quite do, the Druze 312 is complete.

Lost Seer and City Which Was Not There

In the Time-Before-Certainty, when the Great Sun was a Wobbling-Lamp and the maps were drawn with Leaking-Honey, there lived a man named He-Who-Looks-Sideways. He was a man of Much-Wandering-and-Thin-Shoes, and his head was a Hive-of-Whys.

He went to the Market-of-Vast-Noise to find a loaf of bread, but because his eyes were Too-Clear, he saw only the Grit-and-the-Greed. He sat by the Dusty-Road and cried to the Sky-Which-Does-Not-Answer. A Hidden-Stranger (the Imam of Mists) gave him the Glass-of-Cloudy-Quartz. The Stranger said, “Wear these, and you shall find the Heart-of-All-Things by forgetting where your Feet-are-Placed.”

The man put the Brass-Circles on his face. Suddenly, the world became a Soup-of-Rainbows. He forgot the bread. He forgot his name. He even forgot that he was Walking-Off-a-Cliff. But because he was Properly-Baffled, the Cliff became a Stairway-of-Light.

He wandered for Forty-Moons-of-Confusion. He followed a Blue-Smell into a wall of rock. The rock was not rock; it was a Doorway-of-Mist that only opens for those who do not Know-the-Key. He walked into the City-of-the-Hidden-Batin. The people there were made of Looming-Peace. They asked him, “How did you find us? Our walls are Thicker-than-Thought.”

The man looked at them, his eyes Big-like-Plates, and said, “I was looking for my Left-Sandal, and the path became a Song-of-Purple.” The citizens of the city bowed to him, for only the Most-Baffled can find the place where the Divine-Hides-from-the-Clever. He stayed there forever, staring at a Single-Blade-of-Grass and finding the Entire-Universe inside its greenness.

The Moral of the Story

The one who knows exactly where they are going will only ever arrive at a destination they have already imagined, but the one who is truly baffled by the world is the only one the world can truly surprise.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Unique Name: Spectacles of the Baffled Seer Item Type: Wondrous Item, Common

  • Slot: Eyes
  • The Clouded Path: While wearing these spectacles, you have Advantage on saving throws against being Charmed or Frightened. Your erratic thought patterns make your mind difficult to grip.
  • Shimmering Truth: You can see invisible creatures and objects within 10 feet of you. However, they appear as blurry, prismatic shapes, and you have Disadvantage on attack rolls against them because you cannot pinpoint their exact location.
  • Incoherent Inquiry: As an action, you can ask a confusing question to a creature within 30 feet that can hear and understand you. The target must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be Incapacitated until the end of its next turn as it ponders your nonsense. Once used, you cannot do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Unique Name: Quartz Lenses of the Batin Item Type: Mystical Artifact

  • Slot: Eyes
  • Disarming Innocence: When being questioned or viewed with suspicion, the wearer receives a Bonus Die to Charm or Persuade rolls, provided they act completely bewildered.
  • The Baffled Anchor: If the wearer suffers a Bout of Madness, they do not flee or become violent. Instead, they enter a state of catatonic wonder for the duration. During this time, they gain +20 STR for the purpose of resisting being moved or grappled.
  • Accidental Revelation: Once per session, the player may ask the Keeper for a hint or a hidden detail. The Keeper provides this info as a “misinterpreted” observation (e.g., “The floor tiles are a lovely shade of red,” implying a hidden bloodstain).

Blades in the Dark

Unique Name: The Fog-Glass Goggles Item Type: Supernatural Fine Item (1 Load)

  • Slot: Eyes
  • Quality: Fine (+1 Tier for effectiveness when Gathering Information or Resisting mental strain).
  • Blinking Re-Orientation: When you fail a roll while Attuning or Surveying, you may take 1 Stress to “blink the fog away.” This allows you to ignore the mechanical consequences of the failure, though you still don’t succeed—you simply wander into a different, less dangerous situation.
  • Fog of the Hidden Imam: You may spend 1 Stress to create a small area of supernatural “Baffling Mist.” Within this zone, everyone is Blind and Confused, but you gain Potency to Prowl or escape because you are comfortable in the chaos.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: The Prism of the Veiled Essential Item Type: Magic Item (1 Slot)

  • Slot: Eyes
  • Passive: You are immune to magical sleep and confusion. You are already in a state of spiritual daydreaming; you cannot be “lost” further.
  • Shimmering Truth: You can see magical auras and ghosts, but you have -2 to all Attack rolls while wearing the glasses because the physical world looks like a blurry painting.
  • Incoherent Inquiry: Once per day, you may speak a paradox. One target must make a WIS Save. If they fail, they stand frozen for 1d4 rounds trying to solve the riddle.
  • Accidental Revelation: Whenever you search a room and roll a natural 1, you do not find nothing; instead, you find a secret door or a hidden compartment by accidentally tripping into it.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: Lenses of the Veiled Essential Item Type: Item 1, Invested, Divination, Magical, Occult

  • Slot: Eyepiece; Bulk: —
  • The Clouded Path: You gain a +1 item bonus to Will saving throws against mental effects. If you are Confused, you do not roll to determine your behavior; instead, you always spend your actions wandering in a random direction, and you do not trigger reactions for this movement.
  • Shimmering Truth: You gain Low-Light Vision. If you already have Low-Light Vision, you gain Darkvision. However, all creatures and objects beyond 20 feet are Concealed to you due to the prismatic blurring of the quartz.
  • Incoherent Inquiry [One-Action]: (Auditory, Emotion, Mental, Occult) Frequency: Once per hour. You ask a spiritually dense, nonsensical question. One creature within 30 feet must attempt a DC 15 Will save.
    • Success: The creature is unaffected.
    • Failure: The creature is Stunned 1.
    • Critical Failure: The creature is Stunned 2.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Unique Name: 312 Baffling Spectacles Item Type: Enchanted Item

  • The Clouded Path: The wearer gains a +2 bonus to rolls to resist Puppet, Fear, or any other mind-altering supernatural power.
  • Accidental Revelation: Once per session, if the character fails a Notice or Research roll, they find a different, unintended piece of useful information or a hidden physical object by “tripping” over it.
  • Incoherent Inquiry: As an action, the wearer may make a Smarts roll against a target’s Smarts. On a success, the target is Distracted. On a Raise, the target is also Stunned.
  • Minor Hindrance: The wearer suffers a -1 penalty to all Shooting and Athletics (throwing) rolls as the lenses distort distance and depth.

Numenera & Cypher System

Unique Name: Batin Quartz Goggles Item Type: Artifact (Level 1d6)

  • Form: Brass-bound quartz lenses on a silk cord.
  • Depletion: 1 in 1d20
  • Effect (Shimmering Truth): While worn, tasks to perceive out-of-phase or invisible creatures/objects are eased by two steps.
  • Effect (The Baffled Anchor): You spend 2 Might points to become “immovable” for one round. You cannot be moved from your spot by any force less than a mountain collapsing, as you are spiritually anchored to the hidden center of the world.
  • Effect (Fog of the Hidden Imam): You spend 4 Intellect points to emit a cloud of fragrant mist in an immediate radius. All tasks within the mist (except those by the wearer) are hindered by two steps for one minute.
  • Hindrance: All tasks involving long-range sight or reading fine text are hindered by two steps.

Fate (Core/Condensed)

Unique Name: The Spectacles of Divine Confusion Item Type: Stunt/Extra

  • Aspect: Lost in the Batin
  • Stunt (The Clouded Path): Because my mind is a swirling fog of wonder, I gain a +2 to Defend with Will against any attempt to telepathically read or control my mind.
  • Stunt (Accidental Revelation): Once per scene, when I fail an Investigate roll, I may discover a “Fortunate Accident.” I don’t get what I was looking for, but I find something else of equal value (a secret door, a dropped key, a hidden motive).
  • Stunt (Incoherent Inquiry): I can use Lore to socially “attack” an opponent by baffling them. On a success, I don’t do mental stress; instead, I place a “Deeply Confused” or “Lost in Thought” aspect on them with a free invoke.
  • Cost: This item requires 1 Refresh. The GM may compel your aspect to have you wander into danger or misinterpret a very simple, literal command.

Shadowrun (6th World Edition)

Unique Name: Druze-Glass 312 “The Signal-Fog” Item Type: Astral Perception Focus (Rating 2)

  • Slot: Eyes (Eyewear)
  • The Clouded Path: The wearer adds the Focus Rating (+2) to all Resistance tests against Matrix Illusions, Phantasm spells, and Social Manipulation. The chaotic thoughts of the “Baffled” act as natural noise against mental hacks.
  • Shimmering Truth: While active, the wearer gains the Astral Perception ability. However, because the lenses are “Baffled,” the physical world is treated as having a Level 2 Noise penalty for all mundane visual tasks.
  • Incoherent Inquiry: As a Major Action, the wearer can transmit a burst of philosophical paradoxes via local DNI or voice. Targets within 5 meters must pass a Willpower + Firewall (3) test or suffer a -2 dice pool penalty to all actions for one round as their processors/minds stall.
  • Wireless Bonus: The spectacles “accidentally” hop frequencies; you are immune to being Tracked via your icon while the focus is active.

Starfinder (2nd Edition / Playtest)

Unique Name: 312 Baffled Void-Lenses Item Type: Level 1, Magic Item

  • Slot: Eyes
  • Bulk: —
  • The Baffled Anchor [Reaction]: Trigger: An effect would move you, knock you prone, or impose the Frightened condition. Effect: You blink at the sheer “strangeness” of the attack. You gain a +2 status bonus to your Save or AC against the trigger. If you succeed, you are Stunned 1 but suffer no other effects.
  • Accidental Revelation: Once per day, when you fail a Perception check to find a hidden object or creature, you may reroll. If the reroll is a success, you found it by “dropping your comm-unit” or “tripping over a loose floorboard.”
  • Incoherent Inquiry [1-Action]: You ask a question that defies the laws of physics. One creature within 30 feet must succeed at a Will Save (DC 15) or be Stupefied 1 for 1 minute.
  • Low-Tide Vision: You ignore concealment provided by non-magical smoke, fog, or dim light, but all creatures more than 30 feet away have Concealed status to you.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Unique Name: 312 Batin Quartz Visor Item Type: TL 12 Psionic Shield/Sensor

  • Weight: —
  • Cost: Cr 8,000
  • Description: A simple-looking set of quartz lenses that seem to “blur” the wearer’s identity from sensors and telepaths.
  • The Clouded Path: Any Psionic or electronic attempt to read the wearer’s surface thoughts or emotional state suffers a -4 DM. The wearer appears “spiritually empty” or “systemically glitched.”
  • Shimmering Truth: The wearer gains a +2 DM to Electronics (Sensors) or Investigate checks to find cloaked ships, hidden compartments, or stealthed individuals, provided they are within “Short” range.
  • Accidental Revelation: Once per subsector journey, when the crew fails a Navigation or Astrogation check, the wearer can “accidentally” lean on the console, turning the failure into a Marginal Success that leads to an unexpected (but safe) destination.
  • Negative: The wearer suffers a -1 DM to all Gun Combat and Pilot rolls due to the visual distortion of the quartz.

Warhammer (40,000 Roleplay: Wrath & Glory)

Unique Name: The Baffled Seer’s Lenses Item Type: Worn Relic

  • Value: 3 (Rare)
  • Keywords: [IMPEDIMENTA], [SPIRITUAL], [UNALIGNED]
  • The Clouded Path: You gain +2d6 to Resolve tests against [Fear] and [Corruption]. The whispers of the Warp find no purchase in a mind that is already joyfully confused.
  • Shimmering Truth: You ignore all penalties for Visual Obstructions (smoke, darkness, psychic fog) within 10 meters. Beyond 10 meters, you suffer a +2 DN penalty to all Awareness tests.
  • Incoherent Inquiry (Action): You pose a paradox to a heretic or xenos. Target one enemy with the [Intelligence] keyword within 15 meters. They must pass a DN 3 Willpower Test or be Stunned until the end of their next turn.
  • Blinking Re-Orientation (Spend 1 Glory): You may reroll a failed Technical or Scholar test. Narrative: You didn’t actually fix the machine; you just hit it in a “confusing” way that made it start working again.