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Jinn 7492 of the Antiquarians Smoldering Monocle

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by

Dale
in

Lore: Uncovered within a dust-choked ruin along the trade routes of the island nation of Tasian, this brass-framed eyepiece was forged by an ancient scholar who bargained with a minor jinn of smokeless fire. The scholar sought to peer through the layers of sand, ash, and decayed time to read the forgotten texts of early civilizations. Bound with a fragment of that fiery spirit, the lens allows its user to perceive the historical truth of ancient structures and artifacts while feeling the gentle, lingering warmth of the elemental realm.

Description: A single circular lens crafted from pale, smokeless quartz, held within a tarnished brass rim etched with minute planar runes. A fine, dark bronze chain hangs from the side, designed to loop around an avatar’s ear or fastens to a tunic collar. When peered through, the lens casts a subtle, heat-shimmering haze over the surrounding environment, causing ancient inscriptions, structural seams, and hidden archaeological details to glow with an ember-like radiance.

Detailed Stats:

  • Item Tier: Tier 1 (Common)
  • Required Character Tier: Tier 1 or higher
  • Recommended Value: 15 Gold (Varies by local market, access, and buyer demand)
  • Resilience: 10
  • Maximum Item Hit Points: 10 (Item Base: 10 × Tier 1 = 10, plus maximum avatar hit points)
  • Armor Check (AC): 0
  • Attunement: Requires 1 minute of simple attunement to activate passive and active capabilities.
  • Material Composition: Smokeless Quartz, Tarnished Brass, Dark Bronze Chain.

Passives Magic:

  • Structural Insight: While wearing and looking through the monocle, the avatar gains a bonus to perception and insight checks related to identifying architectural flaws, ancient masonry techniques, and subterranean passages built by bygone civilizations.
  • Warmth of the Furnace: The avatar is immune to non-magical ambient cold conditions down to freezing temperatures, as the bound elemental spirit radiates a constant, comfortable heat across the avatar’s face and hands.
  • Fragmented Historical Mind: When examining historical ruins, the avatar’s Mind’s Eye passively reveals basic details regarding the age and general origin of carved stone or worked metal without consuming an action.

Activable Magics:

  • Smokeless Veil Reveal: As an action, the avatar can invoke the jinn’s smoke-clearing gaze. For ten minutes, the lens highlights hidden compartments, secret doors, or obscured inscriptions within 30 feet that are covered by dust, ash, sand, or natural decay. This effect requires a somatic flourish and the item serves as the focal conduit.
  • Ember Scan: As an action, the avatar chants a brief somatic phrase to ignite the spirit within the lens. The lens projects a cone of warm, ultraviolet light up to 20 feet for one minute, revealing invisible magical traces, residual spell weaves, or hidden ink left behind on parchment, stone, or clay tablets by ancient inhabitants. (Chanted silently: reduces effective range by 25%; Chanted as a ritual lasting over 6 seconds: extends the range up to 25 feet).

Specific Slot:

  • Eye Slot

Tags:

  • Jinn, Archaeology, Tier 1, Common, Eye Slot, Quartz, Brass, History, Lore, Ruins, Mind’s Eye, Conduit, Inspection, Detection, Artifact, Unearth, Heat, Sight, Monocle, Antiquity, Exploration, Runes, Catalyst

Acquisition and Transaction Dynamics of the Antiquarian’s Smoldering Monocle

  • Mom and Pop Antiquities and Curiosity Shops
    • Location and Setting: Located in the winding alleys of coastal port cities or nestled within the state districts surrounding central capital cities. These tiny family-owned storefronts specialize in singular niches and oddities recovered from local digs or regional ruins.
    • Buying Process: Independent shopkeepers examine the item using their own Mind’s Eye or rudimentary identification methods. Transactions involve traditional haggling directly with the owner, who operates under the principle of buyer beware and local market scarcity.
    • Selling Process: Merchants buy from adventuring avatars with severe markdowns to ensure resale profit, logging the trade in local journals for potential review by city officials.
    • Cost to Buy from Merchant: 15 Gold coins for standard buyers. Faction or Guild members with active status in associated merchant or antiquarian guilds receive a 10% discount per character tier level (13 Gold and 5 Silver coins for a Tier 1 character).
    • Cost/Payout when Selling to Merchant: Merchants haggle starting around 10% of the item’s suggested value per character tier level. A Tier 1 avatar selling this item receives approximately 1 Gold and 5 Silver coins, which is deposited directly into their World Bank account.
  • Guildhall Supply Depots and Artisan Workshops
    • Location and Setting: Official guildhalls established within cities of five thousand or more residents, administered by appointed officials or long-tenured Guild Masters.
    • Buying Process: Trade is structured and regulated. Avatars must present credentials or membership badges to access specialized crafting and excavation inventory. Prices are strictly standardized according to local guild tariffs.
    • Selling Process: Guild depots accept certified archaeological gear and residual magic items to supply novice explorers. Items are inspected thoroughly for damage, attunement history, and authenticity.
    • Cost to Buy from Merchant: 15 Gold coins base value. Officially registered Guild Members receive a 10% discount per character tier level (13 Gold and 5 Silver coins at Tier 1).
    • Cost/Payout when Selling to Merchant: Depots pay the standard regulated merchant rate of 10% of item value per character tier level (1 Gold and 5 Silver coins at Tier 1), processed securely through World Bank ledgers.
  • Black-Market Exchanges and Under-the-Table Dealers
    • Location and Setting: Hidden backrooms of rural taverns, secluded dockside warehouses outside official city gates, or secret meeting spots beyond the purview of state guards and royal court inspectors.
    • Buying Process: Transactions occur strictly in physical gold coins rather than World Bank transfers. No questions are asked regarding the origin of the item, nor are any logs kept for municipal authorities.
    • Selling Process: Black-market dealers evaluate the item based on immediate buyer demand and illegal utility (such as using the monocle’s active abilities to locate hidden vaults or bypass security mechanisms).
    • Cost to Buy from Merchant: Sold at full value or higher due to the covert nature of the transaction, typically ranging from 15 Gold coins to 30 Gold coins depending on local demand and seller greed. No faction discounts apply.
    • Cost/Payout when Selling to Merchant: If the dealer has an immediate buyer or highly desires the item, they pay up to twice what a standard merchant would offer (3 Gold coins in physical gold cash for a Tier 1 seller). If demand is low, they pay the standard merchant rate of 1 Gold and 5 Silver coins in physical gold cash, maintaining complete secrecy without logging the transaction.

Application of the Monocle in Combat and Roleplay Operations

  • Sun-Drenched Ruined Temples (Surface Land Environment)
    • Offensive Roleplay Application: When confronting hostiles amidst crumbling stone architecture, an avatar uses an action to initiate an active Ember Scan with a loud, theatrical chant. The monocle illuminates hidden structural flaws and ancient stress fractures in the surrounding masonry. The avatar targets a weakened pillar support with a heavy physical strike or offensive spell, collapsing the ancient stone structure directly onto enemy positions.
    • Defensive Roleplay Application: In subterranean or shadowed temple corridors, an avatar activates the Smokeless Veil Reveal with a somatic flourish. As hostile ambushers prepare to strike from hidden alcoves or disguised wall compartments, the glowing quartz highlights their hidden positions through dust and debris. This allows the avatar and their party to avoid being caught flat-footed, maintaining clear defensive awareness and neutralizing surprise maneuvers.
  • Flooded Caverns and Sunken Vaults (Underwater and Surface Water Environment)
    • Offensive Roleplay Application: While navigating partially submerged coastal ruins, the avatar peers through the lens to observe the thermal and magical signatures of aquatic beasts or amphibious guardians hiding beneath murky waters. By pinpointing the silhouette of an approaching predator through the distorted water layer, the avatar directs precise ranged attacks or targeted spells directly at the creature’s exposed vulnerabilities before it can close the distance.
    • Defensive Roleplay Application: Cold ocean currents and icy subterranean waters can rapidly drain an avatar’s physical endurance. The monocle’s passive Warmth of the Furnace magic continuously radiates a comfortable elemental heat across the avatar’s face and upper torso. During extended underwater investigations or damp cave traverses, this thermal aura prevents physical numbness, allowing the avatar to maintain steady hands to wield shields, parry incoming blows, and execute physical reactions without penalty.
  • Mage Tower Cloud Complexes and Airships (Atmospheric Environment)
    • Offensive Roleplay Application: When engaged in combat atop floating cloud city platforms or high-altitude zeppelins, dense fog and magical smoke can obscure enemy air vessels or flying beasts. The avatar utilizes the monocle’s Smokeless Veil Reveal to peer straight through atmospheric clouds and engine exhaust, identifying the precise location of incoming aerial foes or targeting the vulnerable magical bowls supporting an enemy mage tower.
    • Defensive Roleplay Application: During high-altitude battles where elemental fire spells or steam machinery create blinding clouds of soot and scalding vapor, the avatar relies on the lens to track incoming projectiles and flying threats. By seeing through the artificial concealment of smoke screens, the avatar can pre-emptively ready defensive reactions, position protective barriers, or take cover behind structural bulkheads before incoming attacks land.
  • High-Magic Steampunk Factories and Urban Depots (Industrial Environment)
    • Offensive Roleplay Application: In urban battles surrounding steam-driven machinery and arcane battery vaults, the avatar uses Ember Scan to visualize the flow of magic and superheated steam inside mechanical conduits. By identifying the critical nexus where arcane energy enters a rogue construct or industrial apparatus, the avatar directs party attacks toward that specific targeted item, deactivating or overloading the machinery’s core.
    • Defensive Roleplay Application: When targeted by enemies employing invisibility spells, hidden magical runes, or covert tracking curses in urban alleyways, the monocle’s passive and active sight capabilities highlight the ultraviolet traces left by active spells. The avatar spots hidden tripwires, spell runes, or stealthy infiltrators before stepping into harm’s way, allowing the party to adjust their defensive formation and secure their position.

Perception of Activation:

  • User’s Perspective
    • Sight: Upon invoking the activation, the clear quartz lens immediately surges with a inner warmth, shifting from translucent crystal to an ember-hued glow. The user’s field of vision through the monocle fractures into a high-contrast spectrum where dust, smoke, and physical obscurity fade away, replaced by vibrant ultraviolet outlines highlighting hidden doors, ancient runes, and subtle structural fractures in nearby stone.
    • Sound: A soft, rhythmic hiss—reminiscent of air being drawn over white-hot coals or the faint, echoing whisper of a distant desert wind—sounds directly within the user’s ear on the side wearing the monocle.
    • Touch: A comforting, localized warmth radiates from the brass frame across the user’s eye socket, cheekbone, and temple, feeling like the steady heat of a mid-afternoon desert sun without causing sweat or discomfort.
    • Smell: The user detects a sharp, dry aroma of parched sand, ozone, and faint lingering incense, completely masking any damp or foul odorous scents in the immediate environment.
    • Taste: A subtle metallic, copper-like dryness coats the back of the user’s tongue and throat for the duration of the effect.
    • Extra-Sensory Perception (Mind’s Eye): The user experiences a sudden, intuitive alignment with the history of the surrounding area. The Mind’s Eye perceives the age and intentional design of worked stone or metal, feeling a gentle mental pull toward hidden voids or secret mechanisms within a 30-foot radius.
    • Extra-Sensory Perception (Ether-Touched Awareness): The user senses the faint, ambient pulse of the jinn’s smokeless fire bound to the item, recognizing the elemental life force as an extension of their own focus rather than an external threat.
  • Observer’s Perspective
    • Sight: Onlookers see the tarnished brass rim of the monocle flash momentarily as the quartz lens ignites with a swirling, smokeless orange-red light. A slight heat-shimmer haze visible to the naked eye distorts the air immediately surrounding the user’s face, while the user’s targeted eye appears magnified and glowing with an fiery inner light.
    • Sound: Observers nearby hear a short, distinct crackle similar to dried leaves catching flame, followed by a low, barely audible hum that vibrates at a low pitch.
    • Touch: Anyone standing within arms-reach of the user feels a sudden, brief breeze of warm air brush against their skin, as if a small furnace door had been opened nearby.
    • Smell: A faint scent of warm terra-cotta clay and burning wood resin drifts toward those standing downwind of the user.
    • Taste: Observers do not register any direct taste changes unless standing within two feet of the activated lens, where the air tastes noticeably dry.
    • Extra-Sensory Perception (Resonant Alignment): Creatures or spellcasters in the vicinity with active magical awareness perceive a sudden, localized ripple in the local magic flow, seeing a faint ultraviolet plume rise from the monocle into the air before stabilizing into a steady aura.
  • Positives
    • Illuminated Clarity: Obscured mechanisms, concealed structural flaws, and hidden inscriptions glow plainly for the user, rendering mundane physical camouflage, dust screens, and dark environment hazards ineffective.
    • Environmental Comfort: The thermal energy generated by the activation keeps the user’s face and hands warm, preventing physical stiffness or shivering in freezing subterranean environments or high-altitude winds.
    • Non-Visual Detection: Through extra-sensory Mind’s Eye feedback, the user can feel the presence and general direction of secret compartments even if they are looking away or momentary distractions occur.
  • Negatives
    • Visual Target: The bright, ember-like glow of the lens and the surrounding heat-shimmer make stealth difficult, revealing the user’s precise location to hostiles in dark or shadowy environments.
    • Auditory Cue: The initial crackle and ongoing low hum of the elemental spirit prevent the user from making completely silent approaches while the monocle is active.
    • Sensory Overload Risk: Staring directly through the illuminated lens at intense light sources or high-concentration magic conduits can cause temporary visual disorientation, requiring the user to look away to avoid headaches.

Crafting Recipe: Smoldering Monocle of the Antiquarian

  • Materials Needed
    • 1 Tier 1 Magic Crystal: A small, coin-sized magic crystal used as the primary mystical battery and magical catalyst for the item.
    • 1 Lens of Unblemished Quartz: A piece of high-purity, optically clear quartz crystal ground into a smooth circular lens.
    • 2 Ounces of Fine Brass: Refined brass alloy used to forge the rim, frame, and mounting loops.
    • 1 Foot of Dark Bronze Chain: A light, durable bronze chain for securing the monocle to clothing or gear.
    • 1 Vial of Jinn-Touched Fluid: Elemental fluid or tree-specific sap extracted via fluid collector from areas infused with elemental fire or heat-bearing plants.
    • 1 Rune of True Sight or Identification: An etched or written spell rune containing the blueprint for revealing hidden or magical properties.
  • Tools Required
    • Jeweler’s Lathe and Precision Chisels: For shaping the brass rim and carving minute runic channels along the frame.
    • Alchemical Crucible and Heating Forge: Powered by steam or elemental fire to melt and alloy metals.
    • Fluid Collector: Used to draw and handle the volatile Jinn-touched fluid without contamination.
    • Engraving Needles: For scribing micro-runes along the interior edge of the brass casing.
  • Skill Requirements
    • Jewelry or Precision Metalsmithing Skill Level: Level 6 or higher (5 base required + 1 for Tier 1 output).
    • Arcane or Alchemical Crafting Skill Level: Level 6 or higher (5 base required + 1 for Tier 1 output).
  • Crafting Steps
    • Frame Casting and Channeling: Melt the fine brass in the alchemical crucible and pour it into a circular mold to form the monocle frame. Once cooled, use the jeweler’s lathe and chisels to smooth the surface and carve a microscopic runic track along the inside rim.
    • Lens Preparation: Polish the unblemished quartz lens until completely free of physical imperfections. Scribe the Rune of True Sight onto the outer rim of the lens using engraving needles.
    • Catalyst and Essence Infusion: Carefully crush half of the Tier 1 Magic Crystal into fine powder. Blend the crystal powder with the vial of Jinn-touched fluid inside a heated beaker until the mixture glows with a faint, smokeless ember heat.
    • Attuning the Assembly: Submerge the brass frame and quartz lens into the glowing mixture. Apply steady heat for six hours, allowing the elemental essence to bind into the brass lattice and quartz structure.
    • Final Mounting: Mount the remaining portion of the Tier 1 Magic Crystal into the base connection loop of the brass frame to serve as the re-charging arcane battery. Fit the quartz lens securely into the brass casing.
    • Chain Attachment and Binding: Attach the dark bronze chain to the mounting loop. The crafter then performs a 10-minute ritual attunement while chanting somatic activation runes, permanently setting the item properties into the completed monocle.

Flame-Eye Glass of Old Days

Many sun-rotations ago, before the grand moon-mother Gaialilith brought down the ancient breath upon the great lands, there walked a seeker of old stones named Arash. In those forgotten times when the earth was still warm from the great fires of creation, Arash did wander the parched lands of the island nation of Tasian. He did look upon the ground, seeking that which was buried beneath the dust of empires long forgotten. His heart did burn with great desire to read the writings carved into the rock by hands that had turned to dust five thousand years prior.

Yet, the eyes of Arash were weak and clouded by the heavy sand-storms that did blow across the dry plains. The ancient writings were covered by thick ash, dark soot, and the heavy decay of time. Arash could not see the hidden words, nor could he find the secret doors where the old kings had hid their great treasures and knowledge. He did cry out to the sky, weeping heavy tears upon the hot sand, wishing for a light that could pierce the heavy darkness of the earth.

It was upon the seventh day of the seventh week of his desperate searching that Arash did enter a deep cave of black basalt rock. In the center of the cave, there burned a flame without smoke, a spirit-fire of great heat that did not consume the air around it. From this flame did arise a great entity of the fire-plane, a jinn of the old world whose skin was like hot brass and whose eyes were like molten silver. The jinn did speak with a voice like the grinding of millstones in a dry desert, demanding to know why the mortal did disturb the smokeless hearth.

Arash did fall upon his knees, but he did not ask for gold, nor did he ask for long life or great armies to crush his enemies. He did say to the spirit of fire: “O great spark of the void, my eyes are dim and the past is hidden behind a wall of darkness. Give unto me a piece of your unblinking flame, so that I may peer through the dirt and see the true shape of things built by those who came before.”

The jinn was moved by the strange wish of the mortal, for most men did ask for bags of heavy coin or sharp swords of iron. The spirit did reach out a hand of heat and did take a piece of clear quartz crystal that lay upon the cave floor. With a breath of smokeless fire, the jinn did melt a band of brass around the crystal and did bind a small ember of its own elemental soul into the very center of the stone.

The spirit did pass the glass to Arash, saying: “Take this eye of ember. When you peer through it, the smoke of the world shall part for you. The hidden paths shall glow like hot iron, and the cold shall not touch your face. But remember this, mortal: to look upon the deep truth of the past is to carry the weight of what has been lost, and the light you carry shall make you visible to those who hunt in the dark.”

Arash did place the brass glass over his right eye. Instantly, the dark basalt cave was transformed. He could see through the heavy stone walls, perceiving the ancient channels where water had flowed a thousand years before. He could read the faint, worn inscriptions upon the altar stone that no living man had ever deciphered. The lens burned with a comforting warmth upon his cheek, keeping the bitter chill of the subterranean depths far from his bones.

For many years, Arash did travel the seventy-three island nations of the world, using the jinn’s glass to unearth forgotten temples, locate lost water wells in dry lands, and read the sacred laws of long-perished monarchs. He became the greatest antiquarian of his age, known to kings and guildmasters across the vast oceans.

Yet, as the jinn had foretold, the glass was both a blessing and a burden. Whenever Arash did invoke the full fire of the lens, the quartz would ignite with a bright ultraviolet radiance that could be seen from leagues away in the dark. Hostile beasts of the wild and thieves of the night were drawn to the fiery light of the monocle like moths to an oil lamp. Many times was Arash forced to flee through ancient ruins, his position betrayed by the very light that allowed him to see. Furthermore, the constant heat of the bound jinn did leave his throat forever dry, tasting of ancient copper and desert dust.

When Arash reached the end of his days, feeling his breath grow faint, he did not bury the monocle with his body. He knew that the knowledge of the past belonged to all who sought to learn. He placed the smoldering eyepiece within a stone chest in the central library of Tasian, leaving a written scroll bound to the chain so that future reincarnated souls might find the glass and use its heat to light their own paths through the dark places of the world.

Moral of the Story: He who seeks to uncover the hidden truths of the past must be willing to bear the heat of the light that reveals them, for sight without courage only draws the darkness closer.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition) The Smoldering Glass of the Antiquarian

  • Item Type: Arcane Relic / Mythos Artifact
  • Sanity Cost to Attune/Use: 1d3 Sanity points upon first viewing hidden planar geometry or summoning the jinn’s vision.
  • Skill Bonus: +20% to Archaeology, +15% to Spot Hidden, and +15% to Appraise when examining physical structures, ancient artifacts, or masonry.
  • Special Abilities:
    • Smokeless Eye: The Investigator can spend 3 Magic Points to activate the lens for 10 minutes. During this period, the Investigator ignores all penalties to Spot Hidden checks caused by non-magical smoke, heavy dust, sandstorms, or physical obscurity.
    • Ember Scan: The Investigator can spend 5 Magic Points to emit a invisible thermal and ultraviolet light cone up to 10 yards. This reveals hidden compartments, occult runes, or secret doors. When looking directly into active Mythos magic or dimensional portals, the Investigator must succeed on a POW check or take 1 point of damage from optical strain and heat feedback.
    • Warmth of the Furnace: Passively protects the wearer against extreme non-magical cold environments, granting a +20% bonus to CON checks made to resist hypothermia.
  • Drawbacks: While activated, the glowing ember light gives away the Investigator’s position, increasing the difficulty of any Stealth checks by one level (e.g., Regular becomes Hard).

Blades in the Dark The Smoldering Monocle of the Antiquarian

  • Item Load: 1 Load (Equipped / Eye Slot)
  • Tier Alignment: Tier I Relic
  • Quality / Fine Item Bonus: Counts as a Fine Tool (+1 Quality) for actions involving surveying ancient ruins, inspecting structure stability, or reading hidden inscriptions.
  • Mechanics & Stress Costs:
    • Surveying the Arcane (1 Stress): Push yourself to activate the monocle’s internal jinn spirit while taking a Survey action. You can see through physical obstructions like smoke, ash, and loose rubble within close range (approx. 30 feet) for a few minutes. You gain +1d or +1 Effect when searching for secret compartments or architectural flaws.
    • Thermal Resilience (Passive): The wearer resists environmental cold consequences automatically without expending Stress.
    • Devil’s Bargain Option: The GM may offer a Devil’s Bargain when activating the monocle: “The lens bursts with bright ultraviolet light and a loud crackle of heat—you immediately alert nearby guards or spirits, but you automatically spot the secret door.”

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition – 2024 Revision) Smoldering Monocle of the Antiquarian

  • Wondrous Item, Common (Requires Attunement)
  • Item Slot: Eyes
  • Weight: 1 lb.
  • Passive Benefits:
    • Archaeological Insight: You have Advantage on Intelligence (History) and Intelligence (Investigation) checks made to inspect, evaluate, or determine the origin and structural integrity of ancient ruins, stone structures, and historical relics.
    • Furnace Warmth: You suffer no harm from ambient temperatures as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Active Properties:
    • Ember Scan: As an Action, you can speak a command word to activate the monocle for 10 minutes. While active, you gain Darkvision out to a range of 30 feet, and you can see through non-magical fog, smoke, and dust as if it were clear air. Additionally, you can spot the lingering energy of magical runes or hidden compartments within 30 feet. Once used, this property cannot be used again until you finish a Long Rest.
  • Drawbacks: While Ember Scan is active, the monocle emits bright ember-red light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet. Any Dexterity (Stealth) checks you make to hide while the monocle is glowing are made with Disadvantage.

Knave (Second Edition) The Antiquarian’s Smoldering Monocle

  • Item Slots: 1 Slot (Worn / Eye)
  • Durability: 3 / 3
  • Item Quality: High Quality (+1 bonus to relevant Item Checks)
  • Mechanics:
    • Architectural Sight: When examining old dungeons, masonry, ruins, or buried chambers, the wearer adds +1 to Wisdom or Intelligence checks made to locate secret doors, hidden traps, or structural weak points.
    • Smokeless Flame (1 Action): Spend 1 point of item Durability (or apply a turn of heat strain) to cause the monocle to cast a 30-foot cone of warm, ultraviolet light for 10 turns (10 minutes). This light pierces through mundane smoke, soot, dust, and darkness, revealing obscured inscriptions or hidden latches.
    • Warmth: Occupies 1 slot and acts as a warmth source that protects the character from freezing weather penalties.
    • Complication: While glowing, the monocle can be seen from up to 100 yards away in dark environments, making stealth impossible.

Fate (Fate Core System) The Antiquarian’s Smoldering Monocle

  • Item Type: Aspect / Extra (Item)
  • Aspects:
    • Aspect: Bound Spirit of Smokeless Flame
    • Invoke: Invoke when examining ancient architecture, deciphering obscured historical inscriptions, or pushing through blinding smoke and dust to gain a +2 bonus or a reroll on Notice or Academics checks.
    • Compel: Compel when the bright, ember-red glow gives away your position to enemies in dark ruins, or when the dry elemental heat leaves you parched and disoriented.
  • Stunts:
    • Ember Scan: Once per scene, you can spend 1 Fate Point to activate the monocle’s active lens. For the remainder of the scene, you gain a +2 bonus to Notice checks when attempting to detect secret compartments, hidden doors, or invisible magical trails concealed behind physical soot, ash, or dust.
    • Furnace Warmth: You gain a +2 bonus to Physique rolls made to overcome severe cold environments or cold-based environmental hazards.
  • Refresh Cost: 1 Refresh (if taken as a permanent Extra).

Numenera & Cypher System The Smoldering Glass of the Antiquarian

  • Item Type: Artifact (Level 2)
  • Form: A monocle with a brass rim and a pale, glowing quartz lens attached to a dark bronze chain.
  • Effect:
    • Passive Effect: The wearer eases all Intellect tasks related to identifying ancient ruins, understanding ancient architecture, or reading worn historical inscriptions by one step. The wearer also automatically succeeds on tasks to resist non-magical ambient cold.
    • Active Effect (Depletion Roll): Upon activation, the lens projects a cone of warm, ultraviolet light out to immediate range (10 feet) for ten minutes. During this time, tasks to locate hidden compartments, secret doors, or obscured runes behind dust, ash, or smoke are eased by two steps.
  • Depletion: 1 in 1d10 (check at the end of each activation period).
  • Side Effect / Complication: While active, the lens glows brightly, making any attempt to hide or remain stealthy two steps more difficult.

Pathfinder (2nd Edition) Smoldering Monocle of the Antiquarian

  • Item Name: Smoldering Monocle of the Antiquarian
  • Item Level: Level 1
  • Traits: Item 1, Uncommon, Magical, Perception
  • Usage: Worn (Eyepiece); Bulk: L
  • Description: This pale quartz monocle is rimmed with brass and bound with the essence of a minor jinn. It casts a soft, smokeless warmth across the wearer’s face and aids in piercing physical and historical obscurity.
  • Passive Benefits:
    • You gain a +1 item bonus to Recall Knowledge checks made with Society or Academia Lore when inspecting ancient ruins, historical masonry, and bygone artifacts.
    • You treat cold environmental effects as one step less severe (e.g., severe cold becomes mild cold).
  • Activate: Action (Interact)
    • Frequency: Once per day.
    • Effect: You speak the command word to ignite the spirit within the lens for 10 minutes. The monocle projects a 15-foot cone of warm, ember-hued light. You can see through non-magical fog, smoke, soot, and heavy dust within this cone without penalty, and you gain a +1 item bonus to Seek checks made to discover secret doors or hidden compartments.
    • Drawback: While activated, the monocle emits bright light in a 5-foot radius and dim light for an additional 5 feet. You take a -2 item penalty to Stealth checks to remain hidden while the light is active.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition) The Antiquarian’s Smoldering Monocle

  • Item Type: Arcane Relic (Eye Slot)
  • Weight: 0.5 lbs.
  • Min Str: d4
  • Major / Minor Powers:
    • Archaeologist’s Eye (Passive): The wearer gains +1 to Research and Notice rolls when examining ancient ruins, historical relics, or architectural structures.
    • Thermal Protection (Passive): The wearer gains +2 to Environmental Vigor rolls made to resist cold temperatures and icy weather conditions.
    • Ember Vision (Active): As a Free Action, the wearer can activate the bound jinn spirit within the monocle. For 10 minutes, the wearer gains the benefits of the detect arcana Power (self only) to spot magical runes or hidden compartments, and completely ignores illumination penalties caused by non-magical smoke, dust, or ash within a 6-inch (12-yard) range.
  • Complication (Illumination): While Ember Vision is active, the monocle glows with an ember-like light, granting enemies +1 to Notice rolls made to spot the wearer in darkness.

Shadowrun (6th World Edition) Smoldering Monocle of the Antiquarian

  • Item Category: Magical Artifact / Focus (Eyepiece)
  • Force: 2
  • Karma Cost to Attune: 4 Karma
  • Availability: 3R
  • Cost: 2,500 Nuyen (Varies by local black market demand)
  • Mechanics & Stat Block:
    • Archaeological Perception (Passive): While worn and attuned, the wearer adds +1 Bonus Die to all Perception and Knowledge (History/Archaeology) tests related to analyzing ancient structures, subterranean ruins, or forgotten artifacts.
    • Furnace Warmth (Passive): The artifact acts as a minor elemental protection mantle, granting +2 dice on Tests to resist Environmental Hazards caused by severe cold or freezing weather.
    • Ember Scan (Active): As a Major Action, the user commands the bound spirit to ignite the lens for 10 minutes. The monocle grants Low-Light Vision and allows the user to treat visibility penalties caused by mundane smoke, soot, dust, or ash as two steps less severe. Additionally, the lens highlights active prep-prep mana lines, secret compartments, and hidden physical mechanisms within 10 meters.
    • Complication (Glow): While Ember Scan is active, the bright thermal-ultraviolet glow grants opponents +2 Bonus Dice on Perception tests to spot the user in low-light or dark environments.

Starfinder (2nd Edition) Smoldering Monocle of the Antiquarian

  • Item Level: Level 1
  • Category: Hybrid Item (Magic / Tech Eyepiece)
  • Price: 350 Credits
  • Hands: 0 (Worn / Eye Slot); Bulk: L
  • Mechanics & Stat Block:
    • Passive Properties:
      • Historical Analysis: Grants a +1 item bonus to Skill Checks made with Culture and Physical Science when inspecting, identifying, or analyzing ancient ruins, alien ruins, and ancient structural artifacts.
      • Thermal Regulation: Grants the wearer a +2 item bonus to Fortitude saves against cold environmental hazards.
    • Active Ability (Ember Scan):
      • Activate: Single Action (Interact).
      • Frequency: 3 times per day (refreshes after a 10-minute rest or daily reset).
      • Effect: The monocle projects a 30-foot cone of thermal-ultraviolet energy for 10 minutes. The wearer ignores concealment penalties caused by non-magical smoke, dust, and particulate clouds within the cone. Additionally, the wearer gains a +1 item bonus to Perception checks to locate secret doors, concealed hatches, or hidden compartments within the beam.
      • Drawback: While Ember Scan is active, the monocle emits bright light in a 5-foot radius. The wearer takes a -2 penalty to Stealth checks to remain hidden while the active beam is engaged.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition) The Antiquarian’s Smoldering Glass

  • Item Type: Strange Artifact / Primitive Anomaly (Eye Slot)
  • TL (Tech Level): Special (Magical / Pre-Industrial Anomaly)
  • Weight: Negligible
  • Cost: Cr 1,500 (Varies based on antique collectors or black-market buyers)
  • Mechanics & Stat Block:
    • Archaeological Survey (Passive): The user receives DM+1 on all Investigate and Recon checks when examining ancient structures, subterranean ruins, or unknown planetary stonework.
    • Thermal Protection (Passive): The localized heat radiated by the frame provides cold environmental protection equivalent to a standard Cold Weather Clothing layer (DM+2 on END checks to resist cold exposure).
    • Ember Scan (Active):
      • Action: 1 Minor Action to activate.
      • Effect: Operates for 10 minutes per activation. Projects an optical radiation beam out to Very Short range (5 meters). The user ignores visibility DM penalties caused by dense smoke, soot, sandstorms, or atmospheric ash. Secret compartments, hidden catches, or hollow walls within range are highlighted, granting an additional DM+1 (total DM+2) to locate them.
    • Drawback: The glowing quartz lens grants an opposing observer DM+2 on Recon checks to spot the user in dark or unlit areas while activated.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition) The Antiquarian’s Smoldering Monocle

  • Item Category: Magical Relic / Arcane Appliance (Eye Slot)
  • Encumbrance: 0
  • Availability: Rare
  • Cost: 3 Gold Crowns
  • Mechanics & Stat Block:
    • Passives Magic:
      • Archaeologist’s Eye: The wearer gains a +10% bonus to Perception and Lore (Archaeology/History) Tests when examining ancient ruins, subterranean vaults, or forgotten stone monuments.
      • Warmth of the Furnace: The wearer gains the Warmth trait, making them immune to the effects of minor cold weather and granting a +10% bonus to Endurance Tests to resist severe hypothermia or freezing environments.
    • Activable Magic (Ember Scan):
      • Action: 1 Action.
      • Effect: The wearer speaks a short command phrase to ignite the spirit within the glass. For 10 minutes (10 Rounds in combat), the lens emits a warm ember glow. The wearer ignores all penalties to Perception Tests caused by non-magical smoke, soot, fog, or dust out to a distance of 12 yards. Furthermore, the wearer gains a +10% bonus on Perception Tests to spot secret doors, hidden mechanisms, or concealed compartments.
      • Drawback: While Ember Scan is active, the monocle emits a visible glow. Enemies gain a +10% bonus to Perception Tests to spot the wearer in dark environments, and the wearer suffers a -10% penalty to Stealth Tests while illuminated.