Appearance: This item is a small, delicate locket that can be worn around the neck. The locket is made of an amalgam of common metals but is elegantly designed with intricate patterns that depict a single open eye at its center. When opened, the locket reveals a tiny mirror.
Lore: Crafted by Illusimancers in the secluded enclaves of Zephyria, this locket was initially designed as a training tool for young magic users. However, it gained popularity among merchants and travelers who found its illusionary capabilities useful. It’s called “Acceptable Gaze” because it primarily creates illusions that make the wearer seem more agreeable or non-threatening.
Stats:
- Tier Requirement: Tier 1
- Magic Type: Targeted Illusion
- Senses Affected: Sight and Sound
- Duration: 1-5 minutes (depending on the quality of roleplay)
- Cool Down: 30 minutes
- Activation: Requires speaking a predefined incantation and opening the locket to gaze into the tiny mirror.
Roleplay: To activate the locket, the wearer must recite the incantation: “Through the eye that sees, let perception be.” The roleplay quality can influence the duration and effectiveness of the illusion. If the player incorporates gestures, emotional sincerity, or convincing backstory elements into the activation, the illusion becomes more potent and can last longer.
Costs:
- Material Cost: 5 Silver Arcana (local currency)
- Magical Energy Cost: Drains minimal magical energy, allowing use once per cool-down period without significant drain on the user’s magical reserves.
Magics:
- Sight Illusion: Makes the wearer appear as a non-threatening commoner, reducing the likelihood of being targeted by aggressors.
- Sound Illusion: Produces soft ambient sounds like rustling leaves or a gentle breeze that further serve to make the wearer less noticeable.
Tags: Illusion, Personal, Sensory, Defensive, Non-aggressive
Defense and Offense:
- Defensive Use: In a hostile environment, the locket can make the wearer seem unimportant or even invisible to roaming threats, making it easier to avoid confrontations. For example, when crossing a bandit-infested forest, activating the illusion may cause the bandits to overlook the wearer, focusing their attention elsewhere.
- Offensive Use: While not designed for aggressive acts, the locket could be employed tactically to give one the element of surprise. By appearing non-threatening, one could get close enough to an enemy to land the first blow. For example, in a bar setting, making oneself appear as a simple, non-threatening patron could enable the wearer to get the drop on a rival or enemy.
In both defensive and offensive scenarios, the effectiveness of the locket highly depends on the quality of the roleplay involved during activation. The more convincing the illusion, the more successful the outcome is likely to be.
- Sight Activation
- What’s Perceived: A hazy silhouette or blur where the wearer is, making it difficult to visually identify or target them.
- Description: Upon activation, the visual aspect of the illusion creates a sort of “cloaking field” around the wearer, making them appear as an indistinct figure.
- Positives:
- Difficult to be identified or targeted based on visual cues.
- Provides advantage in stealth or escape situations.
- Negatives:
- Can be negated by creatures or spells that can see through illusions.
- May draw attention due to the unusual visual effect.
- Sound Activation
- What’s Perceived: Complete silence surrounding the wearer, as if a mute button has been hit.
- Description: This cancels out any noise the wearer might make, effectively rendering them silent for the duration of the activation.
- Positives:
- Ideal for stealth and infiltration.
- Useful in evading creatures sensitive to sound.
- Negatives:
- Does not impact noises generated by external factors (e.g., a door you open).
- May be disorienting to allies who can’t hear you.
- Smell Activation
- What’s Perceived: Absence of scent, as if the wearer has no smell at all.
- Description: This illusion nullifies the wearer’s scent, making it impossible to track them based on smell.
- Positives:
- Extremely effective against creatures who rely on olfactory senses.
- Useful for evading tracking dogs or similar beings.
- Negatives:
- Ineffective in windy or open environments where scent is less reliable anyway.
- Could be suspicious to creatures familiar with the wearer’s natural scent.
- Taste Activation
- What’s Perceived: Complete absence of any flavor or taste related to the wearer.
- Description: Should the wearer come into a situation where taste becomes a factor, the illusion nullifies any flavor they might have.
- Positives: Prevents identification by beings capable of “tasting” the air or environment.
- Negatives:
- Extremely limited in applicability; most scenarios won’t involve the sense of taste.
- Might be noticeable and therefore suspicious to creatures that expected a taste.
- Touch Activation
- What’s Perceived: A sensation of touching something entirely ordinary and unremarkable, like a stone or wood.
- Description: This alters the tactile sense of anyone or anything that comes into physical contact with the wearer during the activation.
- Positives:
- May prevent recognition by touch.
- Useful in darkness or enclosed spaces where touch might be the primary sense used.
- Negatives:
- Won’t deter beings that don’t rely on touch for identification.
- Extremely situational.
- Extra-sensory Activation 1: Aura Sensing
- What’s Perceived: A neutral aura that signifies neither malicious intent nor unique magical properties.
- Description: This illusion makes the wearer’s aura appear unremarkable to those who can perceive such energies.
- Positives: Guards against detection by beings capable of sensing auras.
- Negatives: Does not fool beings with advanced capabilities to discern specific energies or auras.
- Extra-sensory Activation 2: Emotional Resonance
- What’s Perceived: An emotional blank slate, no discernible feelings emanate from the wearer.
- Description: The illusion masks the wearer’s emotional state, rendering it neutral or blank to those who can sense emotions.
- Positives: Ideal for bluffing or deceiving creatures that sense emotion.
- Negatives: May be noticeable and therefore suspicious to empathic beings who expect emotional variance.
Crafting Recipe: Targeted Illusion 37 of Acceptable Gaze
- Materials Needed:
- 1 oz of Ephemeral Silver (a common magical alloy)
- 1 Tiny Mirror (enchanted for reflective magic)
- 1 Elemental Water Gemstone (small)
- 1 Elemental Fire Gemstone (small)
- 1 spool of Arcane Thread
- 1 vial of Illusion Ink
- Tools Required:
- Basic Alchemy Set
- Enchanter’s Focus (for channeling magic)
- Smithing Hammer and Anvil
- Fine-tipped Quill (for inscription)
- Gem-setting Tongs
- Skill Requirements:
- Basic Metallurgy Skill (Level 2 or above)
- Basic Enchanting Skill (Level 2 or above)
- Basic Alchemy Skill (Level 1 or above)
- Illusion Magic Affinity
- Crafting Steps:
- Preparation: Lay out all materials and tools on a workbench, making sure each item is within easy reach.
- Metal Shaping: Using the Smithing Hammer and Anvil, shape the Ephemeral Silver into a locket design, leaving a space to set the tiny mirror and gemstones. Make sure to incorporate the eye design into the locket’s cover.
- Mirror Placement: Use the Gem-setting Tongs to carefully place the Tiny Mirror inside the locket.
- Gemstone Setting: Still using the Gem-setting Tongs, carefully set the Elemental Water and Elemental Fire Gemstones at opposite sides of the locket.
- Arcane Stitching: Thread the Arcane Thread through the edges of the locket to reinforce its magical properties, ensuring you leave no gaps.
- Elemental Infusion: Place the locket within the Basic Alchemy Set and pour a drop of water over the Elemental Water Gemstone and a drop of oil over the Elemental Fire Gemstone. Close the alchemy set and chant the elemental infusion incantation to bind the elemental properties to the locket.
- Inscription: Using the Fine-tipped Quill, inscribe the locket with magical runes using Illusion Ink. These runes should be specific to the Illusion magic school and aim to target the senses you wish to influence.
- Enchanting: Hold the Enchanter’s Focus over the locket and chant the enchantment spell for Targeted Illusion. Make sure to focus on the intent and desired effects, as this will determine the locket’s effectiveness.
- Final Binding: To seal all the enchantments and infusions, loop the Arcane Thread through the locket one last time and tie a strong knot. This serves as the final binding step and activates the locket’s magical properties.
- Quality Check: Perform a basic illusion spell targeting one of the senses to test the locket’s functionality. If the illusion manifests as intended, the crafting is successful.
Remember, the efficacy of the crafted item will depend on the skill levels and roleplay quality during the crafting process.
Legend of the Locket of Acceptable Gaze
In the shadows of an epoch long past, where the tongues of today were yet unborn, there came into existence an artifact of curious capacity, known in the annals of antiquity as the Locket of Acceptable Gaze. Crafted by the enigmatic enchanter Eolande, whose lineage traces back to beings both mortal and celestial, the locket was imbued with a magic that cloaked its bearer in veils of illusion, shaping perception to fit the whims of the wearer.
Eolande, wisened by the transience of mortal life, was stirred by the sufferings of many, notably those who wandered through realms unfamiliar, their very existence a point of contention and strife. He pondered upon the essence of acceptance and sought to manifest it into a material form. Using the rare Ephemeral Silver and gems of elemental might, the enchanter labored in the solemnity of his arcane sanctum, crafting the locket with meticulous care, as the celestial constellations bestowed their tacit blessing upon his endeavor.
Once completed, the locket was not kept in the hands of its creator, for Eolande knew well the corrupting whispers of power. Instead, he bequeathed it to Illyria, a mere child at the threshold of her life, born of a union forbidden by the rigid norms of her society. She, a half-elf, faced scorn from both elf and human kin, her very existence a challenge to the ossified structures of both realms. With the locket, her visage would shift to appear as a full-blooded elf among elves, a full-blooded human among humans.
Life unrolled its tapestry in entangled threads, and as fate would have it, the kingdom found itself on the brink of war. A prophecy had foretold that only a child of both realms could mediate peace. It was then that Illyria, donning the Locket of Acceptable Gaze, stood before both races. Her appearance morphed to suit the eye of the beholder, and her words, divested of the trappings of prejudice, reached the hearts of the assembly.
The tensions that had once constricted like a noose now unraveled, giving way to a newfound peace. It was then universally acknowledged that Illyria, neither completely elf nor human, was yet more complete than either. And so, the Locket of Acceptable Gaze was revered as an instrument of harmony, its legacy perpetuated in the legends of races and realms.
Moral of the Story: In the grand tapestry of existence, it is not our singular identities that define us, but the multiplicities of our being. Thus, the highest form of acceptance is the one that transcends the visible, and pierces through illusions to celebrate the core of our shared essence.
Suggested conversion to other systems:
Call of Cthulhu
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Artifact, Major Item
- SAN Loss: 1D4/1D8
- Spell: Casts Illusion (personalized) when activated
- Charges: 3 per day
- Properties: The wearer can choose to disguise themselves, influencing the perceptions of those who observe them. This can be used for either stealth or direct confrontation.
Dungeons & Dragons 5e
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Wondrous Item, Uncommon (requires attunement)
- Charges: 3 per Long Rest
- Action: Bonus Action to Activate
- Effect: Grants the wearer the ability to cast “Disguise Self” at will and “Invisibility” once per Long Rest.
Knave
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Wearable, Rarity 2
- Uses: 3
- Effect: Allows the wearer to manipulate sensory perception around them for 1 minute. Counts as a “Charm” type of effect.
Numenera & Cypher System
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Artifact, Level 1d6
- Depletion: 1 in 1d20
- Effect: Allows the user to cast a powerful illusion that affects one target’s perception for 10 minutes.
Pathfinder 2e
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Wondrous Item, Level 5
- Price: 150 gp
- Usage: Worn; Bulk L
- Activate: [one-action] command; Frequency 3 per day
- Effect: Casts 2nd-level “Illusory Object” or “Illusory Disguise”.
Savage Worlds
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Magical Item, Rare
- Charges: 3
- Activation: Free Action
- Effects: Grants +2 to Stealth rolls, and allows the casting of “Obscure” at Novice level.
Shadowrun
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Magical Item, Availability 12R
- Capacity: 3
- Activation: Simple Action
- Effect: Functions as a Level 4 Magical Lodge for the purposes of Illusion spells.
Starfinder
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Hybrid Item, Level 5
- Price: 3,000 credits
- Usage: 1/round
- Capacity: 20 charges
- Effect: Allows the use of “Disguise Self” once per day and “Invisibility” with 20 charges.
Warhammer
Locket of Acceptable Gaze
- Magical Talisman, Rare
- Points Cost: 40
- Wearer’s Save: +1
- Special Rule: Once per battle, the wearer may cast “Mystifying Miasma” without using Winds of Magic.