Targeted Illusion 271 of Fractured Reality

Appearance: The item appears as a weathered, mahogany pendant that is etched with arcane symbols with a transparent fractured mirror attached. It hangs on a coarse leather strap that looks like a chain.

Lore: It is said that the pendant was created by a mage who sought to understand the limits of illusion magic. The mage was exiled from his guild for unethical practices. Frustrated and vengeful, he created this pendant to allow even the most inexperienced casters to wield illusion magic that can potentially harm or mislead others. It is believed that the pendant carries a bit of its creator’s malevolence, hence its potency in manipulating others.

Stats

Type: Amulet
Tier: 1
Charges: 3 per day, replenished at dusk
Weight: 1 lb
Rarity: Common

Roleplay: This item is meant for characters willing to engage in morally dubious actions. The user can focus the magic on an individual, friend or foe, to deceive, manipulate, or disorient them. Roleplay aspects can include the incantation of spells, concentration, and even evil laughter as the illusion takes its toll.

Costs

Material Cost: 20 gold pieces for the base materials.
Crafting Time: 48 hours of devoted crafting.
Magic Reagent: Essence of Shadow, costing an additional 10 gold pieces.

Magics

Activation: Action
The number of senses activated depends on the tier level of the person activating the spell and which they choose to use.
Effect: Choose a target within 60 feet. The target must pass a Wisdom saving throw (DC 12) or experience a sensory illusion of your choice (one sense for each tier). The illusion lasts for 1 minute.
Limitation: Cannot target the same individual more than once a day.

Tags: Illusion Magic, Single Target, Sensory Manipulation, Deception, Mirrorbound Phantasm, Arcane Focus, Fractured Perception, Malevolent Craft, Reality Distortion, Sensory Overload, Manipulative Magic, Temporal Misalignment, Deceptive Aura, Ethereal Trickery

Usage for Defense and Offense in Different Environments

Defense in Urban Environment: Could be used to create an illusion of a wall or barricade, misleading enemies and providing the user and allies time to escape.
Offense in Urban Environment: Could make an enemy hear illusory voices or footsteps, distracting them long enough for an ally to land a critical strike.
Defense in Wilderness: Could make oneself smell like a predator, causing natural creatures to flee.
Offense in Wilderness: Could create an illusion of fire or another natural hazard, driving creatures or enemies into a trap.
Defense in Dungeon: Make oneself appear as a stone statue, thereby avoiding detection from roaming monsters.
Offense in Dungeon: Create an illusion that makes the target feel as if they are falling through the floor, disorienting them and making them an easy target.

This item is geared towards the manipulation of sensory perception, leaning into abuse by misguiding, disorienting, or directly harming targets through powerful illusions.

Perception of Senses Caused by Targeted Illusion 271 of Fractured Reality

Sight
- What is Perceived: A hallucinatory object, creature, or scene.
- Description: Makes the target see things that are not actually there.
- Positives: Can be used to distract or divert attention.
- Negatives: May alert the target that they are under a magical effect if the illusion is easily disbelieved.
Sound
- What is Perceived: Auditory illusions such as footsteps, voices, or natural sounds.
- Description: Generates sounds that don’t exist.
- Positives: Excellent for diverting attention or disorienting enemies.
- Negatives: Highly situational; not effective against deaf or noise-immune creatures.
Smell
- What is Perceived: Specific odors, pleasant or unpleasant.
- Description: Creates an olfactory experience that is not real.
- Positives: Can drive away creatures reliant on smell.
- Negatives: Limited range and utility; easy to disbelieve.
Taste
- What is Perceived: Altered or entirely fabricated flavors.
- Description: Causes food or drink to taste different than it actually is.
- Positives: Useful for making poisonous food appear safe.
- Negatives: Very situational; requires target to consume something.
Touch
- What is Perceived: Phantom sensations like heat, cold, or tactile textures.
- Description: Makes the target feel sensations that are not actually present.
- Positives: Can be used to make a creature drop something or hesitate.
- Negatives: Brief and usually quickly disbelieved.
Extra-Sensory Perceptions
- Intuition
  - What is Perceived: A false sense of danger or safety.
  - Description: Misguides the target’s “gut feelings.”
  - Positives: Can lead the target into traps or away from actual danger.
  - Negatives: Many creatures do not rely on intuition, rendering the effect moot.
- Temporal Perception
  - What is Perceived: Altered sense of time’s passage.
  - Description: Makes time seem to slow down or speed up.
  - Positives: Can cause haste or hesitation in the target.
  - Negatives: Not universally effective; target may quickly realize the discrepancy.

Recipe for Crafting Targeted Illusion 271 of Fractured Reality

Ingredients
- 1 Mahogany Wood Pendant
- 1 Leather Strap
- 1 ounce of Essence of Shadow
- 1 Enchanting Ink made from crushed sapphire (blue)
- 1 Quartz Crystal
Steps
- Pendant Preparation: Sand the mahogany wood pendant until smooth.
- Leather Strap Engraving: Use a fine tool to etch arcane symbols onto the leather strap.
- Essence Infusion: Carefully coat the pendant in Essence of Shadow.
- Inscription: Use the Enchanting Ink to inscribe the spell matrix onto the mahogany pendant.
- Crystal Implantation: Embed the quartz crystal into the center of the pendant.
- Arcane Binding: Chant the incantation to bind the magic onto the pendant, attaching the leather strap during the final verse.
- Charging: Allow the item to sit under the moonlight for a full night to activate its magic.

Once these steps are followed with due care, the item should be ready for use.

Tale of Mage-Exile and Trick-Pendant

Once upon eons, in land long into abyss sunk, Mage-Exile roamed. Hounded out of Circle-of-Magic, for misuses and dark-deeds, he chanted. Anger in heart-root, flame in eye-orb, he sought crafting Trick-Pendant, a whisper of own venom-spell.

Mage-Exile, hair like storm-cloud, hand like dry branch, muttered chants, pulled from dark spaces. Moon hide face, stars blink not, when pendant took form: wood from lost-forest, strap from beast never-born, ink from sapphire sky-shattered. Essence of shadow-beyond-shadow cloaked it, and thus was Trick-Pendant made.

Power, yes. But whisper in wind said, “Care, Mage-Exile. Trick-Pendant not just trick others. Trick you.”

Heed not, Mage-Exile did. To market-square he went. Townsfolk deceived, visions false and smells foul, a reign of minor-woes unleashed. Laugh, Mage-Exile did, but not alone. Laugh came from Trick-Pendant, too. Every trick twisted back, until Mage-Exile not know real from illusion. Lost in maze of own making, he was.

Villagers found him, circle around, a heap on ground. Trick-Pendant, beside, picked and buried, warning for next hand to grasp. Yet, it not rest forever. Upturned by plough or dug by fool, Trick-Pendant waits, chuckling still in ground-hold.

Moral of the Tale: Craft not trickery into form, lest form trick you in return.

Suggested conversion to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu