XEye 319 of the Worried Gaze

Lore

In the crowded bazaars of the Brass Cities of Saṃsāra, jealousy is a palpable, physical force. The XEye 319 was first crafted by nervous merchants who constantly looked over their shoulders, terrified that a competitor’s envious glare would rot their silk or sour their spices. It is a crude amulet made from a teardrop of cracked blue glass, suspended on a frayed, constantly twisting thread of camel hair. The painted pupil at the center of the glass is deliberately cast downward and to the side, mimicking a state of perpetual, evasive anxiety.

When the wearer is looked upon with malice, envy, or ill intent, the glass eye begins to sweat a cold, salty condensation. This physical reaction feeds the wearer’s paranoia, keeping them on edge, while simultaneously absorbing the harmful metaphysical weight of the “evil eye.” It does not make the wearer brave; instead, it weaponizes their worry, turning nervous energy into a hyper-vigilant shield.

Stats

Tier: 1
Rarity: Common
Specific Slot: Neck (Amulet)
Item Health Points: 8
Weight: 0.2 lbs

Skills Gained While Openly Worn

Trained Skill: +1 Insight (Temporary)
Trained Skill: +1 Stealth (Temporary)

Multiple Passives Magic

The Sweating Glass: The amulet reacts to hidden hostility or envious intent directed at the avatar by accumulating cold condensation. This grants the wearer a constant, low-level physical warning of nearby malice, providing a +2 bonus to passive awareness against ambushes or betrayals, though it induces a mild, persistent feeling of dread.
Paranoid Deflection: The physical design of the amulet is built to avoid direct confrontation. When an enemy attempts to inflict a curse, hex, or magical effect that relies on eye contact, the amulet instinctively twists and flips on its cord to intercept the gaze. The wearer gains a +2 bonus to defensive rolls or saving throws against gaze-based attacks and localized bad luck.

Multiple Active Magics

Nervous Fidget (1 Action): The avatar aggressively rubs the sweating glass of the amulet in a display of intense, frantic anxiety. This action releases a localized aura of heavy unease. Enemies within 10 feet must make a Willpower/Charisma save or suffer a -1 penalty to their attack rolls for 1 minute, as they subconsciously catch the infectious, distracting worry of the avatar and second-guess their own strikes.
Averted Disaster (Reaction): When the avatar is targeted by a sudden attack or triggered trap, they can clutch the amulet and actively channel their built-up paranoia. The amulet takes the brunt of the “bad luck,” cracking slightly internally. This forces the attacker to reroll a successful hit, or grants the avatar a sudden burst of panicked, scrambling speed, providing a +2 bonus to evasion for that single instance.

Acquisition and Commerce of the XEye 319

Methods of Obtaining the XEye 319

The Anxious Inheritance: In the Brass Cities, it is a common tradition for a deeply worried parent or mentor to bestow an XEye amulet upon a young adventurer or apprentice leaving home for the first time. The item is handed over with strict, frantic instructions to never take it off, effectively passing the elder’s paranoia down to the wearer as a form of protection.
Alleyway Barter: Because the item thrives on nervous energy, it is frequently found in the possession of low-level smugglers, street-level informants, or minor merchants who operate in dangerous territories. An avatar might easily pick one off a defeated thug or win it in a tense, high-stakes game of chance in the shadows of a market district.
Crafting by the Superstitious: Tier 1 artisans who have suffered a recent string of bad luck often craft these in manic bursts of energy. An avatar with basic glassblowing and abjuration skills could create one by deliberately focusing on their own fears and anxieties while cooling a teardrop of blue glass, then binding it with coarse camel hair.

Retail Environments and Trade Value

The Brass City Street Vendors These are chaotic, shoulder-to-shoulder market stalls where merchants scream their prices over the din of the crowd. The vendors here are hawking cheap protections against the literal and metaphorical evil eyes of their competitors. The amulets are often displayed in massive, tangled clusters hanging from the awning.
- Buying Price: 4 to 6 Silver. The price is low because the market is flooded with them, but a vendor will absolutely try to raise the price if they sense the buyer is visibly frightened or in a hurry.
- Selling Price: 1 Silver. Vendors see these as bulk commodities and will offer almost nothing for a used one, often claiming the amulet is already “full of someone else’s bad luck.”
Caravan Supply Outposts Located at the dusty edges of major trade routes, these practical shops sell water, dried rations, and survival gear. They stock the XEye 319 specifically for merchants heading into territories known for banditry or supernatural curses.
- Buying Price: 8 to 10 Silver. There is a significant markup here based on desperation. The shopkeeper knows that if you are looking for an Evil Eye ward right before crossing the dunes, you are willing to pay a premium for peace of mind.
- Selling Price: 3 Silver. The outposts are always looking to restock their protective wards for the next terrified traveler, so they offer a slightly better buy-back rate than the city bazaars.
Pawnshops of the Lower Wards These are cramped, dimly lit shops filled with discarded minor magics, broken weapons, and desperate pledges. The air smells of incense and stale sweat. The pawnbrokers are cynical and unimpressed by the low-tier magic of the amulet.
- Buying Price: 5 Silver. A standard, flat rate. The pawnbroker will likely toss it onto the counter from a dusty lockbox without a second glance.
- Selling Price: 2 Silver. The broker will explicitly check the glass for cracks. If the amulet has absorbed too much “bad luck” and the glass is heavily fractured, they may refuse to buy it entirely, viewing it as a hazard to their own shop’s fortune.

Tactical Paranoia and Roleplay of the XEye 319

Defensive Roleplay

Defense with the XEye 319 is entirely reactionary, fueled by a deep-seated, constant fear of the unknown. The avatar does not stand their ground heroically; they survive through hyper-vigilance and frantic evasion.

The Crowded Bazaar (Social Defense): In a bustling market where every shadow could hide a cutpurse or an envious rival, the avatar roleplays absolute paranoia. When the Sweating Glass activates, you describe the sudden, icy shock of condensation dripping down your collarbone. You roleplay constantly checking over your shoulder, flinching when a merchant shouts a price, and physically shrinking away from prolonged eye contact. If a rival attempts to place a hex or gaze-curse upon you, you describe the amulet violently twisting on its camel-hair cord under your shirt, breaking the line of sight and leaving you breathless and panicked, but safe.
The Deep Dunes or Ruins (Combat Defense): While navigating a hostile environment, the avatar insists on staying near the middle or back of the group, jumping at the sound of shifting sand or settling stone. When an ambush is triggered, defense is played as pure panic. Using Averted Disaster, you roleplay a desperate, uncoordinated scramble. If an arrow is fired from the dark, you don’t confidently dodge; you shriek, clutch the cracked blue glass to your chest, and clumsily trip backward over a root just as the arrow passes through the space where your throat used to be. The survival is framed as miraculous, nerve-wracking luck rather than skill.

Offensive Roleplay

Offense with this item is psychological. The avatar weaponizes their own crippling anxiety, turning a personal weakness into an infectious aura that cripples the enemy’s momentum.

Close-Quarters Skirmish (Combat Offense): The avatar does not lead the charge. Instead, while allies engage, you utilize the Nervous Fidget. You roleplay backing into a corner or crouching behind half-cover, aggressively and rhythmically rubbing the blue glass eye between your thumbs. You describe your avatar muttering frantic, breathless wards, eyes wide with terror. The offensive magic radiates outward as an oppressive wave of dread. You narrate how the approaching enemy suddenly hesitates, their own palms breaking out in a cold sweat, their grip slipping on their weapon as your magical paranoia infects their mind and ruins their offensive coordination.
Hostile Negotiations (Social Offense): When confronted by a threatening authority figure or a demanding bandit captain, the avatar uses their fear as a tool of disruption. Instead of trying to look intimidating, you lean entirely into the Nervous Fidget. You roleplay hyperventilating, your hands shaking violently as you clutch the amulet. The offensive pressure comes when the hostile NPC suddenly feels their own confidence evaporate, replaced by a sudden, irrational certainty that they are the ones in danger. The avatar’s pathetic, worried display magically saps the room of aggression, forcing the enemy to second-guess their extortion out of a sudden, inexplicable feeling of impending doom.

Perception of Activation:

User’s Perspective When the amulet activates, your reality narrows into a sharp, suffocating tunnel of pure anxiety. The first physical sensation is the icy shock of the glass sweating against your collarbone, feeling less like water and more like freezing slush. Your heart immediately hammers against your ribs in a frantic, bird-like flutter, and your breath becomes shallow and ragged. The coarse camel-hair cord suddenly feels like a tight snare, scratching fiercely against your neck as the glass teardrop twists and writhes of its own accord to avoid unseen gazes. You are struck by an undeniable, suffocating certainty that you are being hunted, turning every mundane shadow into a looming threat and every whispered conversation into a plotted murder.
Observer’s Perspective To anyone watching, your sudden shift is both alarming and pathetic. You abruptly fold in on yourself, your eyes going wide and white-rimmed like a cornered prey animal. The blue glass amulet on your chest visibly drips with heavy, unnatural condensation, and if the threat is severe, observers can hear the faint, sickening crack of the glass fracturing internally. When you initiate the Nervous Fidget, the air around you physically thickens and grows cold. Bystanders and attackers alike describe a sudden, sour taste of bile in their mouths and an irrational, overwhelming urge to drop their weapons and flee from whatever invisible terror is causing your panic.
Extra-Sensory Perceptions
- The Taste of Envy: You perceive jealousy, spite, and ill intent not just as a gut feeling, but as a distinct, sharp metallic taste of tarnished brass on the back of your tongue. The stronger the malice directed at you, the more choking and bitter the taste becomes.
- Magnetic Dread: The amulet acts as a dowsing rod for hostility. You feel a heavy, physical tugging sensation right at the center of your chest, pulling the camel-hair cord taut in the exact direction of the person secretly plotting against you, even through stone walls or thick crowds.
- Catastrophic Prescience: In the fraction of a microsecond before a trap springs or a hidden blade strikes, your mind is subjected to a violent, blinding flash of the worst possible outcome—you vividly “remember” yourself dying. This jolt of sheer, unfiltered terror is what violently jerks your body out of the way just in time for an evasion.
Positives You are functionally immune to the element of surprise, as silent malice announces itself to your nervous system long before a weapon is drawn. Your survival instincts are permanently dialed to their absolute maximum, allowing you to physically contort, scramble, and evade fatal blows with the erratic, unpredictable movements of a panicked animal. Furthermore, your weaponized dread can end conflicts before they even begin, stripping the courage and coordination from heavily armed foes without you ever needing to throw a single punch.
Negatives The psychological toll is utterly devastating. You are trapped in a perpetual, exhausting state of “fight or flight,” heavily weighted toward blind panic. The constant adrenal dumps leave you physically drained, highly twitchy, and prone to severe, debilitating insomnia. The infectious nature of your anxious aura makes normal social bonding incredibly difficult; even well-meaning allies will subconsciously begin to feel depressed, paranoid, and suspicious if they stand too close to you for extended periods of time.

Crafting Recipe: The XEye Amulet of the Worried Gaze

Materials Needed

Unrefined Blue Glass: A raw chunk of cobalt or lapis-tinted glass, preferably salvaged from the debris of a ruined merchant’s stall in the Brass Cities.
Coarse Camel Hair: A rough, unwashed length of hair sheared from a desert beast known for its stubborn and irritable nature.
Crafter’s Cold Sweat: A single drop of sweat harvested from the crafter’s own brow during a moment of genuine, heart-pounding panic.
Desert Salt: A small pinch of coarse salt, representing the tears of financial ruin.
Soot or Black Ink: Used to paint the evasive pupil onto the glass.

Tools Required

Glassblower’s Pipe and Small Kiln: To melt and shape the raw glass.
Fine-Tipped Detail Brush: Fashioned from the whiskers of a twitchy, easily frightened desert rodent.
Iron Tongs: To manipulate the glass while keeping it at arm’s length.
A Chafing Stone: A rough rock used to fray the camel hair cord.

Skill Requirements

Trained Skill: Crafting (Glassworking): The ability to quickly shape the glass and intentionally cool it incorrectly to create internal stress fractures without shattering it entirely.
Trained Skill: Arcana or Occultism (Abjuration): The metaphysical knowledge required to bind raw anxiety and the concept of the “evil eye” into a physical vessel.

Crafting Steps

The Anxious Melt: Fire the kiln. As the blue glass melts down on the end of the pipe, the crafter must actively dwell on their worst fears—betrayal by an ally, losing all their wealth, or a sudden knife in the dark. The magic requires the glass to be shaped in an environment of intense psychological stress.
The Flawed Teardrop: Shape the molten glass into a heavy, lopsided teardrop. Instead of letting it cool slowly to temper the glass, pull it away from the heat abruptly. This rapid cooling creates the network of internal, glittering cracks that will later absorb the bad luck.
The Averted Gaze: Once the glass is entirely cold to the touch, take the detail brush. Paint a distinct, dark pupil in the center of the teardrop. Crucially, the pupil must be painted looking sharply downward and to the side, ensuring the eye never looks straight ahead.
The Binding of Worry: Mix the pinch of desert salt with the drop of the crafter’s cold sweat. Vigorously rub this salty mixture into the surface of the glass eye. This alchemically primes the amulet to manifest condensation when it detects the metaphysical weight of envy or malice.
The Chafing Knot: Use the rough stone to fray the camel hair cord until it is highly irritating to the touch. Thread the cord through the top of the glass teardrop. Tie the amulet using a tangled, awkward knot. The cord must be designed to scratch and itch against the wearer’s neck, ensuring they remain constantly alert, irritated, and hyper-vigilant.

Blue-Water-Stone of Much Trembling and Spice-Seller Who Forgot How to Sleep

In the cycles of the long-before, when the Places of the Clanging-Yellow-Metal [Brass Cities] were still newly stacked upon the World of the Turning-Wheel [Saṃsāra], lived a man called Abul-of-the-Sweet-Dust [spice merchant]. Abul had many shiny-circle-rocks [coins], and his tents were fat with the sleeping-powders and the fire-seeds that make the mouth burn with joy. Because his tents were fat, the people with thin-tents looked upon him. They did not look with their hands, they looked with the Sharp-Hungry-Gaze [Evil Eye].

In the long-before, the Sharp-Hungry-Gaze was a heavy thing. When the poor-men stared at Abul’s fire-seeds, the seeds turned to gray-ash. When the angry-competitors stared at Abul’s walking-hump-beasts [camels], the beasts grew sick in the knee-bones and fell into the sand, refusing the getting-up.

Abul became a man of the great-shaking. The fear-ghosts built a house inside his neck. He knew that the invisible poison-arrows of the envious-stare were always flying toward his back. He wrapped his head in thick cloths, but the gaze pierced the cloths. He hid in the dark-pots, but the gaze found the dark-pots.

Abul ran to the Maker-of-Hot-Sand [glassblower], a crinkled-man who lived near the fire-pits.

Abul shouted, “Make for me a shield of the heavy-metal! Make it so the Sharp-Hungry-Gaze bounces off me and strikes the staring-men in their own face-holes!”

The Maker-of-Hot-Sand laughed a sound like breaking pots. “The gaze of envy is not a spear, you fool-of-many-spices. It is a foul wind. You cannot block the wind with a shield. The wind will just go around the edges and enter your nose. To defeat the heavy-stare, you must make a proxy-face. A face that is more afraid than you are. A face that runs away.”

Abul gave the crinkled-man three heavy sacks of the yellow-metal. The Maker-of-Hot-Sand took the blue-sky-dirt [lapis lazuli] and threw it into the roaring-oven.

“Now,” the Maker-of-Hot-Sand commanded, “Think of the man who hates you the most. Think of him taking your sweet-dust. Think of him taking your shiny-circle-rocks. Bleed your fear-water [sweat] into the pot!”

Abul thought of his greatest enemy, the Merchant-With-Teeth-Like-Knives. Abul shook with the great-shaking. The cold fear-water fell from his forehead and sizzled into the blue-hot-sand.

The crinkled-man pulled the blue-sand out on a hollow stick. He shaped it into a water-drop. But he did not let it sleep in the warm-ash to become strong. He threw it straight into the ice-water. The glass screamed a silent-scream. It did not break into many pieces, but it broke into a thousand-thousand tiny pieces on the inside, becoming a web of cracked-ice.

“It must be broken on the inside,” the crinkled-man whispered, “Because the mind of the worried man is also broken on the inside.”

Then, the crinkled-man took the black-soot. He painted the seeing-hole [pupil] onto the blue-drop. But he did not paint it looking at the front. He painted it looking down and to the side, like a beaten dog that expects the kicking-boot.

“The brave eye challenges the Sharp-Hungry-Gaze,” the crinkled-man said. “The brave eye gets pierced. This eye is the coward-eye. It sees the danger and it looks away. It absorbs the bad-luck because it expects the bad-luck.”

He tied it to a string made from the hair of the angry-spitting-beast [camel]. He tied it with knots that were jagged and wrong, so it would bite the skin of Abul’s neck. “It must bite you,” the crinkled-man said. “If you become comfortable, you will forget the fear. The fear is the fuel of the magic.”

Abul put the blue-water-stone around his neck. It scratched him. He hated it. But he went to the big-shouting-market.

He stood near his tent of sweet-dust. Across the walking-path, the Merchant-With-Teeth-Like-Knives saw him. The rival merchant narrowed his face-holes. He sent the most terrible, heavy, poisonous Sharp-Hungry-Gaze he had ever sent. It was a gaze that could rot a mountain.

The blue-water-stone on Abul’s chest suddenly grew as cold as the deep-winter-ice. It began to weep the cold-water. The string of the spitting-beast twisted like a dying snake, flipping the glass over so the painted-pupil hid against Abul’s skin.

Abul felt the great-panic fill his chest-drum. He did not know why, but he screamed the high-scream of the prey-animal. He threw his body onto the dirt, rubbing the blue-stone with both hands in a frenzy of the madness.

At that exact breath, a massive stone-block, pushed by the secret-killers hired by the rival merchant, fell from the roof-tops. It crashed exactly where Abul had been standing one breath before.

The crowd gasped the loud-gasp. The Merchant-With-Teeth-Like-Knives stepped forward, but the fear-smell was pouring off of Abul. Abul was rubbing the sweating-glass so hard his hands bled. The magic of the great-worry pushed outward in a heavy wave. The rival merchant suddenly felt the great-panic. He looked at the sky, certain another rock was falling. He dropped his shiny-circle-rocks and ran away into the desert, never to return.

Abul-of-the-Sweet-Dust lived to be an elder with white-hair. He kept all his wealth. He was never robbed, and he was never crushed by the falling stones. But he also never stopped the great-shaking. He walked through his life looking over his shoulder, his hands always rubbing the weeping-blue-glass, spreading the sickness of the worried-mind to anyone who stood too close. He lived a very long, very safe, and very miserable life in the shadows.

Moral of the story: The man who wears the shield of cowardice will never be pierced by the arrow of his enemies, but he will spend his entire life bleeding from the scratches of his own armor.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Unique Name: The XEye 319 Nazar of the Twitching Merchant

Description: A teardrop of cobalt glass suspended on a coarse, knotted camel-hair cord. It feels unnaturally cold to the touch and seems to vibrate when someone stares too long.
Item Type: Amulet / Ward.
Skill Bonus: Grants a +10% bonus to Insight and Stealth checks while openly worn.
The Sweating Glass (Passive): When an NPC directed at the user feels intense envy or hidden malice (as determined by the Keeper), the amulet begins to “sweat.” The user may make an immediate Sense Trouble or Insight roll with a Bonus Die to notice the threat before it acts.
Averted Disaster (Active): Once per session, if the user is targeted by a physical attack or a magical curse, they may clutch the amulet. The glass takes the metaphysical hit, suffering an internal crack. The attacker must reroll their success and take the lower result.
The Cost of Worry (Negative): Using “Averted Disaster” or spending more than an hour in a high-threat environment while wearing the amulet causes the user to lose 1D3 Sanity points due to mounting paranoia.

Blades in the Dark

Unique Name: The XEye 319 Panic-Stone

Description: A jittery, glass charm favored by the most superstitious scoundrels of the Crow’s Foot. It smells of desert salt and nervous sweat.
Item Type: Fine Amulet.
Load: 0 Load (worn).
Paranoid Deflection (Passive): You gain +1d to Resistance rolls against supernatural Gazes, Curses, or mental compulsions. The amulet physically jerks to block the line of sight.
Nervous Fidget (Active): You may Push Yourself to aggressively rub the stone while in a parley or skirmish. This creates a “Zone of Unease.” Enemies in your immediate vicinity suffer -1 Effect on their next action against you as they are overcome by your infectious anxiety.
Averted Disaster (Active): You may expend a specialized Armor box (representing the item’s luck) to turn a “Standard” or “Critical” consequence from a trap or ambush into a “Lesser” consequence as you scramble out of the way just in time.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Unique Name: XEye 319 Amulet of Evasive Vigilance

Description: Wondrous item, common (requires attunement). A teardrop of blue glass with a pupil painted looking toward the wearer’s shoulder.
Properties: While wearing this amulet, you have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks and Dexterity (Stealth) checks.
The Sweating Glass (Passive): You cannot be surprised by creatures with an Intelligence of 6 or higher that harbor ill will toward you. If such a creature is within 30 feet, the amulet becomes damp with cold condensation.
Paranoid Deflection (Passive): You have advantage on saving throws against any effect that requires eye contact (such as a Medusa’s Petrifying Gaze or the Suggestion spell).
Averted Disaster (Active): When a creature you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to clutch the amulet and scramble away. The attacker must reroll the attack roll and use the new roll. Once used, this property can’t be used again until you finish a Long Rest.
Infectious Anxiety (Negative): While attuned to this item, you have disadvantage on Charisma (Persuasion) checks as your constant twitching and darting eyes make others uncomfortable.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: The XEye 319 Glass of Grudges

Description: A cracked glass eye that weeps salt water when someone wants what you have.
Item Type: Tool (1 Slot).
Quality: 3/3.
Skills: The wearer adds +2 to any check made to notice an ambush or detect if they are being followed.
The Sweating Glass (Passive): The amulet drips water whenever a creature within 20 feet is planning to steal from or harm the wearer.
Nervous Fidget (Active): Spend an action and reduce the item’s Quality by 1 to force all enemies within 10 feet to make a Morale check. Those who fail are distracted by your frantic energy and suffer a -2 penalty to their next attack.
Averted Disaster (Reaction): When hit by an attack, reduce the item’s Quality by 1 to force the attacker to reroll the damage and take the lowest result as you panic-dodge.
The Crash (Negative): If the item’s Quality reaches 0, the wearer is Stunned for 1 round by a massive wave of overwhelming terror as the glass shatters.

Fate

Unique Name: The XEye 319 Amulet of Constant Vigil

Description: A lopsided teardrop of cracked blue glass on a rough camel-hair cord. It constantly drips cold condensation whenever someone nearby harbors an envious or malicious thought.
Type: Extra (Item).
Aspect: Weaponized Paranoia.
Stunt – The Sweating Glass: You gain a +2 bonus to Notice or Empathy rolls to detect hidden hostility, ambushes, or insincerity. The amulet’s cold sweat acts as a physical warning.
Stunt – Nervous Fidget: Once per scene, you can spend a Fate Point to lean into your anxiety. Create a Contagious Unease situation aspect with two free invokes. This represents your frantic energy distracting and unsettling your opponents.
Stunt – Averted Disaster: When you would take a physical hit or a mental consequence from a gaze-based attack, you may use your reaction to reduce the shift value of the hit by 2. This represents the amulet physically twisting to intercept the “Evil Eye.”
Infectious Anxiety (Negative): While wearing the amulet, any attempt to create a positive social impression (Rapport) suffers a -2 penalty as your twitchy behavior puts others on edge.

Numenera & Cypher System

Unique Name: The XEye 319 Malice-Sink

Description: This artifact is a teardrop of blue glass with a perpetually averted pupil. It acts as a metaphysical lightning rod for ill intent and harmful gazes.
Item Type: Artifact.
Level: 1d6 (Commonly Level 3).
Form: Blue glass amulet on a coarse cord.
Effect (Passive): The user is trained in all tasks related to detecting hidden traps, ambushes, or deception.
Effect (Active – Nervous Fidget): By spending 2 points from your Intellect Pool, you radiate a field of intense worry. For the next ten minutes, the difficulty of all attacks made against you by living creatures within short range is increased by one step.
Effect (Active – Averted Disaster): If the user is struck by a sudden attack or effect they did not see coming, they can spend 3 points from their Speed Pool as a reaction. The artifact takes the brunt of the “bad luck,” and the user takes no damage from that specific attack.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20. On depletion, the glass shatters into blue dust.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Unique Name: XEye 319 Amulet of the Evasive Eye

Description: This common talisman is a favorite of the superstitious merchants of Saṃsāra. It wards off the “Evil Eye” by absorbing the weight of envy into its own flawed structure.
Item Type: Worn Tool / Amulet.
Level: 2; Price: 30 gp.
Usage: Worn (neck); Bulk: L.
Traits: Abjuration, Invested, Magical.
Passive Ability (The Sweating Glass): You gain a +1 item bonus to Perception checks to Sense Motive and to your Perception DC against creatures attempting to Hide from you.
Passive Ability (Paranoid Deflection): You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to saving throws against visual effects, gaze attacks, and curses.
Active Ability (Averted Disaster – Reaction): Trigger: A creature you can see hits you with an attack. Frequency: once per day. You frantically clutch the amulet and scramble. The triggering attacker must reroll the attack and use the lower result.
Active Ability (Nervous Fidget – 1 Action): Traits: Emotion, Mental, Visual. You rub the amulet frantically. Living enemies within a 10-foot emanation must succeed at a DC 16 Will save or become Frightened 1 as they are overcome by your infectious panic.
Social Stigma (Negative): You take a -1 penalty to Diplomacy checks while the amulet is openly worn due to your unsettling behavior.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

Unique Name: The XEye 319 Ward of Envy

Description: A cracked glass charm that reacts to the malice of others. It keeps the wearer safe by keeping them perpetually terrified.
Item Type: Adventuring Gear / Minor Relic.
Weight: 0.5 lbs.
The Sweating Glass (Passive): The wearer gains the Alertness Edge. If they already have it, their bonus to Notice rolls increases to +4. The amulet becomes damp whenever a hostile creature is within 12″ (24 yards).
Paranoid Deflection (Passive): The wearer gains a +2 bonus to any Athletics (Evasion) or Spirit rolls made to resist gaze attacks or supernatural curses.
Nervous Fidget (Active): As an action, the user may make a Spirit roll. On a success, all enemies within a Medium Burst Template are Distracted. On a Raise, they are also Vulnerable as your frantic energy breaks their concentration.
Averted Disaster (Active): Once per session, the wearer may spend a Benny to force an opponent to reroll a successful attack made against them, taking the lower of the two results.
High-Strung (Negative): The wearer suffers a -2 penalty to all Persuasion rolls. Additionally, any time the wearer is Shaken, they must make a Spirit roll or immediately move their full Pace away from the source of danger.

Shadowrun (6th World Edition)

Unique Name: XEye 319 Bio-Feedback Ward

Description: A seemingly low-tech glass eye charm that is actually an alchemical focus attuned to the user’s limbic system. It monitors the local manasphere for spikes in hostile intent directed at the wearer.
Item Type: Force 1 Health/Detection Focus
The Sweating Glass (Passive): The focus adds its Force (1) to all Judge Intentions and Perception tests. When a hidden attacker or malicious Awakened entity targets the user, the charm emits a sudden chill against the skin, granting +1 Edge to the user if they are not already at their maximum.
Nervous Fidget (Active): As a Minor Action, the user may begin a frantic physical manipulation of the focus. This creates an “Anxiety Field” (1-meter radius). Any character attempting to target the user with a Close Combat attack must subtract the Focus Force from their dice pool as they are overwhelmed by the user’s erratic, twitchy movements.
Averted Disaster (Active): When the user is targeted by a spell or attack they are unaware of, they may spend 1 Edge to immediately perform a Defensive Move (like Dodge or Cover) even if they have already used their actions for the round. The focus “cracks” under the strain, requiring a simple Repair test during downtime.
Social Malus (Negative): The wearer suffers a -1 dice pool penalty to all Social tests (except Intimidation) due to their visibly unstable and paranoid demeanor.

Starfinder

Unique Name: XEye 319 Entropic Deflector Amulet

Description: A teardrop of cobalt glass that vibrates with a low-frequency hum. It is designed to intercept minor entropic “bad luck” particles generated by the focused envy of sentient minds.
Item Type: Hybrid Item / Level 1
Bulk: L
The Sweating Glass (Passive): You gain a +1 insight bonus to Sense Motive and Perception checks. The amulet becomes damp with cold condensation when a creature within 30 feet harbors hostile intent toward you, even if they are hidden.
Paranoid Deflection (Passive): You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to Saving Throws against gaze attacks and effects with the Curse descriptor.
Nervous Fidget (Standard Action): You manipulate the amulet to radiate a wave of unease. Enemies within 10 feet must succeed at a Will save (DC = 10 + 1/2 your level + your Key Ability Score modifier) or be Shaken for 1 round.
Averted Disaster (Reaction): When you are hit by a kinetic attack, you can expend 1 Resolve Point to force the attacker to reroll the attack. They must use the second result. Once used, this ability cannot be used again until you have rested for 10 minutes to regain Stamina.
Panic Response (Negative): You take a -2 penalty to Diplomacy checks while the amulet is worn.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Unique Name: XEye 319 TL-12 Sub-Aural Alarm

Description: A small, innocuous glass pendant containing a suite of sub-aural sensors and haptic feedback loops. It is marketed to nervous travelers in the Spinward Marches.
Tech Level (TL): 12
Mass: —
The Sweating Glass (Passive): The device grants a +1 DM to all Investigate and Recon checks made to detect ambushes or insincerity. It uses a peltier cooling effect to “sweat” against the wearer’s skin when local bio-signs indicate nearby aggression.
Nervous Fidget (Active): As a Significant Action, the user can activate the device’s “Distraction Pulse.” All sentient beings within 3 meters must pass a Difficulty (8+) Will-based check or suffer a -1 DM to their next action due to a sudden, inexplicable feeling of impending doom.
Averted Disaster (Reaction): If the user is hit by an attack from an unseen source, they may make an immediate DEX check (8+). If successful, the hit is treated as a graze, dealing only 1 point of damage as the user instinctively flinches out of the path of the projectile.
High Stress (Negative): Long-term use causes the wearer to suffer a -1 DM to all SOC (Social) checks as they become increasingly jumpy and suspicious of their crewmates.
Cost: 500 Credits.

Warhammer (Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition)

Unique Name: The XEye 319 Nazar of the Shaking Hand

Description: A lopsided, cracked blue glass eye on a cord of itchy camel hair. It is a common protective charm in the southern lands, believed to trap the “Evil Eye” in its internal fractures.
Item Type: Protective Talisman / Common
Encumbrance: 0
The Sweating Glass (Passive): The wearer adds +10 to all Intuition and Perception tests to detect ambushes or hidden malice. The charm drips icy water when danger is near.
Paranoid Deflection (Passive): The wearer gains a +20 bonus to all Dodge or Magic Resistance tests against spells or abilities that require eye contact (such as a Cockatrice’s Gaze).
Nervous Fidget (Action): The user rubs the glass frantically. All living enemies within 4 yards must pass a Challenging (+0) Willpower test or gain 1 Distracted Condition as your manic energy unners them.
Averted Disaster (Reaction): Once per session, when hit by an attack, the wearer can use their reaction to force the attacker to swap the digits of their successful roll (e.g., a 31 becomes a 13), potentially turning a hit into a miss or reducing the damage.
Jittery (Negative): The wearer gains the Anxious Talent while the item is worn. If they already have it, they suffer a -10 penalty to all Fellowship tests.