Lore: In the lantern-lit courts of Ancient Kyō-ume, an onmyōji-luthier named Kiri no Isago sought a means to weave cosmic balance directly into royal melodies. She cut midnight-black bamboo harvested at the very moment the first star blinked awake, bored five tone-holes after the Five Phases, and inlaid a silver pentagram beneath a lacquer of crushed pearl. When first sounded before the Emperor, the flute’s notes fluttered like luminous moths, softening rival factions into cordial harmony and luring spiteful spirits to dissolve in sighs of wind.
Description: A slender shinobue flute of obsidian-hued bamboo, twenty inches long, banded with hair-fine silver wire that glints as constellations. Inside the mouthpiece, a paper ofuda inscribed with yin–yang sigils rustles faintly when emotions spike nearby. When played, pale indigo motes spiral from the finger-holes and fade before touching the floor.
Tier 1 • Rarity — Common
Weight: 4 oz • Durability: as sturdy as seasoned maple (cracks only under heavy impact)
Specific Slot: Hands (counts as one held magical item; stows in a sash sheath without ending attunement)
Detailed Stats:
- Grants +1 bonus to Performance (music) checks and to Diplomacy-style social tests performed in melodic form.
- While carried, the wearer feels subtle harmonic dissonance within 15 ft—a tug behind the ears when quarrel or malice brews.
- Holds 1 charge of astral resonance; the charge returns each dusk when Polaris-Prime becomes visible.
Passive Magic
- Harmonic Insight — ambient disharmony becomes audible as faint out-of-tune overtones, guiding the musician to shift key or tempo and soothe tensions.
- Quiet Stellar Pulse — minor curses or fear effects aimed at the player last half their usual duration, damped by the flute’s calming over-resonance.
Activable Magics
- Yin Lullaby (action, no charge, once per short rest): Play a descending phrase that grants one creature within 30 ft advantage on its next attempt to resist being frightened or enraged.
- Yang Crescendo (bonus action, expend the charge): Release a bright, clarion trill; choose one hostile creature within 30 ft—it must succeed on a basic Will-type save or be momentarily disoriented, losing its reaction until the start of its next turn.
- Starlit Ensemble (action, expend the charge, lasts 10 minutes): Conjure a Tiny paper-shikigami drummer and zitherist; while they orbit you, you have advantage on musical Performance checks and allies within 15 ft gain +1 to morale-based saves. If either shikigami takes any damage, the ensemble dissipates early.
Tags: Instrument, Onmyodo, Music-Magic, Performance-Aid, Emotional-Harmony, Court-Musician, Divination, Yin-Yang, Common-Rarity, Tier-1, Shikigami, Pentagram, Star-Mote, Bamboo-Craft, Harmony-Sense, Lullaby-Effect, Crescendo-Burst, Courtly-Diplomacy
Shops where and how this item might be bought and sold:
- Moon-Shell Luthier Pavilion, Lantern Court of Kyō-ume Palace
Imperial artisans display wind instruments beside koi ponds where onmyōji appraise resonance by echo over water. Prices are fixed on jade slips overseen by palace stewards. Cost: 130 gp. - Morning-Mist Shrine Kiosk, Summit of Cloud-Cradle Peak
Monastic custodians trade court-grade flutes for donations that sponsor temple musicians. Pilgrims undergo a brief incense harmonisation ritual before payment. Average offering: 95 gp; devout reciters of a sutra may acquire it for 80 gp. - Firefly Bazaar Stall, Twilight District of Brasshaven
A seasonal open-air market where traveling minstrels barter sheet-scrolls and enchanted reeds. Haggling is expected; jestful melodies knocked out on-the-spot can drop the price. Typical range: 90–110 gp. - Shifting Reed Caravan, Steam-Road between Obsidian Vale and Sky-bridge Plateau
A wagon piled with bamboo lengths and silver wire, operated by a semi-retired onmyōji-luthier who takes coin, polished gemstones, or rare woods in trade. Straight purchase: 100 gp, or 70 gp plus a bar of exotic hardwood. - Whisper-Stage Pawnroom, Sub-cellar of the Silver Vein Theatre, Old Port Seren
Musicians pawning court pieces between tours leave flutes on silent consignment. Buyers must test-play before a sound-muffled panel to prove competence. Sale: 85 gp outright; week-long lease for 25 gp plus 40 gp refundable bond. - Ember-Ink Night-Market, Low Tier of Dusk-shell City
Freelance talisman-makers attach fresh ofuda seals for ambitious street performers. Purchase requires a quick duet with the vendor to gauge “star-thread quality.” Cost varies wildly—median 70 gp; a duet that delights the crowd can cut the price to 50 gp or earn a partial exchange in star-chalk dust.
Roleplay in different environments:
- Imperial audience hall —
Silk-clad courtiers circle the throne, tension humming beneath polite phrases. A court musician raises the Star-Threaded Flute and lets Harmonic Insight reveal sour notes of rivalry. By drifting into a slow pentatonic Yin Lullaby, discordant overtones settle; disputes cool before swords leave scabbards. Should a bodyguard’s glare sharpen into threat, a sharp Yang Crescendo trill staggers him, buying the monarch’s champions a priceless breath to interpose. - Processional avenue beneath festival lanterns —
Parade drums pound while pickpockets work the crush. The player senses worrisome spikes of greed in the din. A sudden two-note warning phrase marks a thief for city watch. When gang reinforcements charge, the flutist summons a pair of Starlit Ensemble shikigami; the paper drummer batters foes’ nerves with rattling rolls, granting nearby guards a morale edge, while the zitherist soothes panic among townsfolk so streets clear for a counter-advance. - Forest glade ambush —
Bandits loose arrows from treetops. With emotional disharmony ringing in his ears, the musician pivots and fires a Yang Crescendo toward the nearest archer: leaves whirl, the bow slips, the shot goes wide. As blades close in, a gentle Yin Lullaby steadies companions, granting them increased grit against rising fear and pain, turning a rout into a stand. - Storm-tossed airship deck —
Lightning paints panic across faces as rigging snaps. The flute’s calming pulse halves magical fear effects from sky-spirits swirling overhead. The musician pipes a descending Yin Lullaby over the wind, helping crew grip lines while nerves settle. When a rogue elemental lashes out, a bright crescendo note disrupts its form long enough for an aether-cannon to strike true. - Subterranean shrine corridor —
Cursed echoes gnaw at minds. The player’s quiet melody dampens lingering hexes; allies press on without the weight of creeping dread. A lurking poltergeist manifests—its rage felt as shrill dissonance. One forceful Yang Crescendo spike disorients the spirit, letting talisman-bearers bind it before it can possess a soldier’s body. - Siege-battered city wall —
Nightfall finds defenders exhausted. The musician stations atop the parapet; soft nocturne phrases refresh watchers’ spirit, granting bonuses against sleep-deprivation and fear. When sappers scale ladders, brisk martial chords with shikigami accompaniment lift comrades’ morale while the zither sprite’s resonant drone undermines the attackers’ concentration, causing mis-swings and missteps. - Tavern brawl —
Ale mugs shatter, knuckles swing. The flute’s first flurry of notes identifies the drunk whose anger shall ignite the room; a targeted lullaby cools him, deflecting escalation. A second assailant remains unconvinced—he lunges, only to reel as a piercing crescendo robs him of balance; tables upend, but no blades flash. - Floating bazaar gondola —
Merchant haggling turns venomous when rumor of counterfeit jade spreads. The musician slides into a calm scale that damps paranoia in onlookers. When a hired thug attempts intimidation, the flute squeals an abrupt high F; the thug’s stance falters, oar slips, and he tumbles into canal—an offensive use that draws no blood yet shifts initiative decisively. - Temple healing ward —
Wounded soldiers whimper at phantom horrors. Sustained low-volume lullabies shorten duration of minor curses and improve patients’ recovery checks. Should fever-spirits gather in visible shimmer, a coordinated shikigami percussion strike punctuates a crescendo, scattering the entities before they feed. - Sun-bleached desert caravan —
Heat-dulled minds drift toward despair. The Star-Threaded Flute’s resonance detects morale drop early. A wandering melody nudges the emotional register upward, granting bonuses against exhaustion. Bandit riders appear on the horizon; a sharp, disorienting trill staggers the lead horse, causing a cloud of dust and confusion, delaying engagement until guards form ranks.
Across these settings the flute shields allies through mood-sensing vigilance, fear-dampening lullabies, and curse-softening resonance while striking back with disorienting crescendos and morale-bolstering spectral accompaniment—the perfect blend of defense and offense for a court musician who wields harmony as both shield and blade.
Perception of Activation:
User’s Perspective —
• Sight: indigo spirals pour from each finger-hole, coiling round the flute before fading like mist in moonlight; briefly the silver wire bands pulse with star-white light that maps a tiny pentagram in the air.
• Sound: the opening note lingers inside the skull as a dual hum—one bright, one low—resolving into perfect harmony with the wearer’s heartbeat.
• Smell: a breath of night-blooming jasmine and distant rain drifts past the nose, as though a garden were waking somewhere unseen.
• Touch: cool vibration runs along the lips and fingertips, then spreads into the forearms like liquid calm.
• Taste: a hint of sweet cedar and sea-salt tingles on the tongue.
• Extra-sensory: empathy blooms—tensions nearby appear as discordant color-threads tugging at the edge of vision; a fleeting sense of stellar vastness grants dizzy clarity about where harmony or conflict will next erupt.
Observer’s Perspective —
• Sight: pale indigo motes spiral from the flute holes, hanging for a breath before blinking out; the player’s outline softens in shimmering haze.
• Sound: a bell-pure tone overlays the music, audible even to the tone-deaf, echoing like a choir rehearsing in a distant corridor.
• Smell: passing whiff of cool bamboo smoke and wet earth that’s gone before it can be fully identified.
• Touch: faint static prickles across skin, the air seeming thicker and calmer all at once.
• Extra-sensory: those attuned to mystic currents feel a gentle Yin-Yang oscillation and a tilt of probability favoring tranquility; spirits hovering nearby hesitate, torn between curiosity and retreat.
Positives — the aura calms allies, shortens minor curses, heightens the player’s musical finesse, and can stagger foes with sudden dissonance; emotion-sense lets conflicts be headed off early.
Negatives — the indigo motes and ethereal tone can betray a hidden position; brief stellar vertigo may unbalance the player if overused; discord-loving entities might target the flute first to silence its harmonising influence.
Recipe: Forging the Star-Threaded Flute
Materials Needed
• Midnight-black bamboo, harvested at first star-glimmer (one straight length, 20 inches)
• Silver hair-fine wire, three arm-spans, polished in moonlight
• Crushed pearl lacquer, enough for two thin coats
• Ofuda paper strip of mulberry, brushed with yin–yang sigils in sumi ink
• Indigo star-chalk powder, one pinch for binding lacquer
• Small vial of cedar-sap varnish to seal tone-holes
Tools Required
• Awl set of graduated bores for precision finger-holes
• Crescent-edge bamboo knife
• Moon-forged needle for wire threading
• Wolf-hair calligraphy brush
• Lacquer bowl and soft fibre cloth
• Low-smoke brazier for ritual fumigation
Skill Requirements
• Basic instrument carpentry (bamboo shaping and tuning)
• Onmyodo sealcraft (correct yin–yang brush‐strokes)
• Ritual timing (knowledge of the Five Phases hours)
• Fine wire winding
Crafting Steps
- Under the hour of Wood-Phase dawn, cut the bamboo and clear inner nodes, leaving smooth bore.
- Mark five tone-holes spaced by the Five-Phases interval pattern; pierce with the awl, gradually widening while test-tone humming for pitch.
- Mix crushed pearl lacquer with a dusting of star-chalk; apply first coat along bore interior and exterior, drying in starlight for one watch.
- Thread silver wire bands at equal intervals: two at each end, one central. Tuck wire ends beneath surface using the moon-forged needle until flush.
- Insert the mulberry ofuda into the mouthpiece; whisper a balancing chant so ink attunes to bamboo. Seal with a drop of cedar-sap varnish.
- Apply second lacquer coat, buff gently with fibre cloth to reveal soft constellations where wire gleams.
- Place the finished flute above low smoke from sandalwood and salt; circle the brazier five times, invoking harmony between Yin and Yang. When the indigo powder faintly glows and flute feels cool to touch, the instrument is fully awakened.
Flute Whose Breath Stole the Argument from Moon and Mountain
In the reign when the Jade-Plume Constellation still chased the lonely sky-goat, the palace of Kyō-ume trembled with two kinds of storm: clashing swords of council lords, and the secret weeping inside the Emperor’s pillow. No harp, no koto, no brazen drum could settle these twin tempests. Thus stepped forth Kiri no Isago, whose fingers were slender reeds and mind a tidepool of unspoken stars.
She walked beyond the south gate where drizzle hissed on old cobbles, seeking bamboo so dark it drank daylight. Guides said such culms grew only where a cloud never lingers and a sigh never fades—the Silent Ridge where monks tie laments to broken wind-bells. There Kiri counted time by heartbeats until the first silver prickle of evening pierced clouds, then cut one straight staff in hush so brief birds forgot to flee.
Carrying the midnight cane, she crossed five vales to the jewelled court of Silver-Thread Artisans. They argued over every breath, so she listened instead to their quarrel’s rhythm. Between each spiteful gasp she inlaid three lengths of hair-thin silver wire, catching the argument’s heat but binding it into a cool spiral. Some masters laughed, others scowled, yet none could trace the pattern.
Next she found the Pearl-Dust Widow, a lacquerer who slept by day and painted secrets upon moon-scooped bowls by night. From her Kiri begged for a single spoon of crushed mourning-pearl, traded against a promise to play a note so pure it might coax the widow’s late husband from silence. She stirred into the lacquer one grain of star chalk stolen from meteor ash left on monastery eaves; the mixture glimmered as slow tide under lantern light.
Five holes she bored—one for Wood’s sigh, one for Fire’s yelp, one for Earth’s mumble, one for Metal’s glance, one for Water’s laugh. Around each she brushed lacquer, then pressed the flute against an unlit brazier so the pearl dust drank future light. In the mouthpiece she slid a finger-long ofuda branded with twin coils of Yin and Yang, written in ink mixed with tears of a fox who witnessed dawn thrice without blinking. The paper rustled as though impatient for song.
On the night the Emperor declared another debate of warring lords, Kiri entered the throne hall barefoot, for shoes would have been too loud beside silence so tense it could slit throats. She raised the midnight flute, drew a breath light as mothstep, and sounded a descending phrase that curved like snow obeying candle heat. Indigo motes sprang from holes, swirling into a spiral that kissed lamps yet burned none. Lords felt collars loosen, swords drop their thirst, grudges fade like names washed from tombstones. Even the Emperor’s pillow could not remember its tears.
Yet peace is a feast that makes envy hungry. The Black-Block Poet, court rival to Kiri, poured wormwood into rumor’s ear: “The flute eats sorrow only to grow larger in secret.” When next the palace reared with thunder of accusation, the Poet hurled curses wrapped in syllables older than bone rot, aiming to pin Kiri’s breath inside her ribs. But she spun and loosed a bright climax note—a Yang Crescendo—so sharp it shaved dust from marble lions. The curse recoiled, bit the Poet’s own shadow, and tethered his tongue to an invisible bell; ever after each insult rang sweet like laughter against his will.
Kiri thought music should roam where grief nests deepest. She wandered: across plague villages where flutes of cough rattled roofs; across caravans whose wheels squealed of thirst; across storm decks where sailors bled prayer into foam. Wherever fear clawed, she answered with downgoing lullabies. Wherever hatred hissed, she answered with uprushing crescendos. The flute’s indigo motes painted calm upon night and bewildered ghosts into forgetting why they had unburied themselves.
But the star chalk inside lacquer was a living remnant of heavens long dead. Motes yearned for home. One evening upon the Pale-Shell Cliffs, Kiri played while listening to tides scrawl new alphabets on stone. Wind rose fierce enough to comb pearls from night. The flute drew breath beyond breath and sounded a note no ear had license to hold. A doorway of pure hush opened among clouds, rimmed in silver as a blade that never chooses flesh. Kiri stepped through, her outline dissolving into pinpoints that joined some forgotten constellation. Next tide, only a faint fragrance of cedar and jasmine remained.
Folk still claim that on nights when arguing mountains throw echoes at sulking moon, a hush flutters between peaks, then a single indigo spiral threads skyward. Shepherds blink, crickets still, lovers forget their feud, and for one heartbeat the world hears its own pulse set right. River ferrymen, when lost in fog, swear they catch a lullaby like water dreaming of itself. Scholars write footnotes, children hum back guesses, but wind alone carries the full story, wearing it thin as frost on autumn grass.
Moral of the Story: A melody born from balanced breath may mute swords, soothe grief, and guide even sorrow’s shadow toward the far quiet where stars remember laughter.
Suggested conversions to other systems:
Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition) — “Star-Threaded Shinobue”
Category Minor Mythos Artefact (Common)
Slot Hand-Held Instrument
Passive Effects
• +10 percentile to Art (Musician) or Charm tests performed with the flute.
• The player senses strong emotional dissonance within POW × 1 yards.
Activations
• Yin Lullaby — Spend 1 Magic Point; play for one combat round. All listeners within 10 yds gain +1 bonus die on their next Sanity roll versus Fear or Anger effects.
• Yang Crescendo — Spend 2 Magic Points; target one foe within 10 yds. Opposed POW vs POW; if the flute wins, the target loses its next reaction.
• Starlit Ensemble — Spend 1 Magic Point; summon a Tiny paper shikigami that scouts or aids Art rolls for 10 minutes.
Costs Using any activation risks 0/1 SAN as the player glimpses cosmic harmony.
—-
Blades in the Dark — “Midnight-Silver Wind-Flute”
Item Type Fine Arcane Gear (1 Load)
Quality +1 relative to Crew Tier while active
Passive
• +1d to Consort or Sway when music calms tension.
• Always aware when a room’s mood turns hostile.
Special Actions (each once per score)
• Yin Lullaby — Spend 1 stress; create an asset granting +1d to allies resisting fear or rage this scene.
• Yang Crescendo — Free Action; after a musical flourish, one foe in the same zone loses its next reaction.
• Starlit Ensemble — Spend 1 stress; conjure a Quality-1 spirit accompanist for scouting or distraction until the scene ends.
Drawback When a special action is used, the GM may create the “Ghostly Chimes” complication with one free tick.
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Dungeons & Dragons (latest rules) — “Onmyō Flute of the Indigo Spiral”
Wondrous Item, common, requires attunement, hand slot
Passive
• You gain a +1 bonus to Performance (Woodwind) checks and can sense strong shifts in emotion within 15 ft.
Charges 1 charge, regained at dusk when the first star appears.
Yin Lullaby — Action, no charge, once per short rest: Choose one creature within 30 ft; it gains advantage on its next saving throw against being frightened or enraged.
Yang Crescendo — Bonus Action, expend the charge: One hostile creature within 30 ft must succeed on a Wisdom save (DC 12) or lose its reaction until the start of its next turn.
Starlit Ensemble — Action, expend the charge: Summon two Tiny construct shikigami that orbit you for 10 minutes, granting advantage on Performance checks and giving allies within 15 ft a +1 bonus to saving throws against emotion effects. The ensemble vanishes if either sprite takes damage.
Knave — “Indigo-Pulse Bamboo Flute”
Slot Hand (1 inventory slot) Durability 2
Passive
• +1 to CHA tests made with music; sense hostile intent within 10 ft once per turn.
Daily Uses Reset at dusk under visible stars.
• Yin Lullaby — Spend 1 use; a nearby ally gains Advantage on the next roll to resist fear or anger.
• Yang Crescendo — Spend 1 use; a target within 30 ft must make a WIL save or be unable to take reactions for one round.
• Paper Sprite — Spend 1 use; summon a 1 HP flying shikigami that can scout or distract for 10 minutes.
Drawback Each activation creates faint indigo motes and a high overtone that may alert watchful foes (Referee’s discretion).
—-
Fate Core — Indigo Spiral Court Flute
Aspect: Star-Threaded Wind of Harmony
Passive Benefit: While performing music to calm or charm, gain +2 when you Create an Advantage or Overcome with Empathy or Rapport.
Stunts (choose or invoke with a fate point)
• Yin Lullaby — Spend 1 fate point; all allies in the scene gain +2 on their next roll to resist fear, anger, or madness.
• Yang Crescendo — Once per session, after playing a sharp trill, name a hostile NPC; that NPC loses its next action as disorientation seizes it.
• Starlit Ensemble — Spend 1 fate point; conjure a Tiny shikigami accompanist that gives you +2 to Sneak or Scout for the rest of the scene.
Drawback: Whenever a stunt triggers, the GM may add the situation aspect “Echoing Indigo Motes” with one free invocation for anyone who would notice magical traces.
—
Numenera & Cypher System — Star-Spiral Shinobue
Level 3 artifact Form wind-instrument (hand) Depletion 1 in 1d20
Capacity 1 charge (recharges each night beneath visible stars)
Passive: The bearer gains an asset on pleasant-humour social interactions and senses strong emotional auras within Immediate range.
• Yin Lullaby (1 Intellect point, Action): Allies in Short range gain an asset on their next defense roll against fear or rage within ten minutes.
• Yang Crescendo (1 Intellect point, Action): A creature within Short range must succeed on an Intellect defense roll (level 3) or lose its reaction for one round.
• Starlit Ensemble (1 Intellect point, Action): Summon a Level-2 flying paper servitor that can make one scouting or assist task before fading (10-minute maximum).
—
Pathfinder Second Edition — Flute of the Indigo Motes
Worn Item 1 Price 15 gp Bulk L Traits Common, Emotion, Enchantment, Magical
Passive: +1 item bonus to Performance (Wind Instruments) checks; you continuously sense the strongest emotion in a 15-foot emanation (as detect emotion but presence/absence only).
Activate ☑ (Concentrate) Frequency once per 10 minutes — Yin Lullaby: You perform for one round; one creature within 30 feet gains a +1 status bonus to its next saving throw against fear or anger effects within 1 minute.
Activate ☑ (Interact) Frequency once per 10 minutes — Yang Crescendo: You play a sharp trill; one enemy within 30 feet must attempt a DC 16 Will save. On a failure it can’t use reactions until its next turn; on a critical failure it also takes a –1 status penalty to Perception until then.
Activate ☑☑ (Interact, Concentrate) Frequency once per day — Starlit Ensemble: You summon two Tiny construct shikigami that orbit you for 10 minutes, granting you a +1 item bonus to Performance checks and giving allies in a 15-foot aura a +1 status bonus to saves against emotion effects.
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Savage Worlds Adventure Edition — Star-Threaded Flute
Type Mystic Instrument Weight 0 Cost 800 Requires Attunement (one hour)
Passive: +1 to Persuasion when using music; you automatically detect strong emotions within Smarts inches.
Power Points 3 (recharge at dusk under visible stars)
• Yin Lullaby (1 PP, Action): All allies in Spirit inches gain +2 on their next Fear check this scene.
• Yang Crescendo (1 PP, Free Action, once per encounter): A chosen foe in Smarts inches must make a Spirit roll; on failure it loses its next reaction and suffers Distracted until the end of its turn.
• Starlit Ensemble (1 PP, Action): Summons a Small Spirit Minion (Ag d6, Sm d6, Parry 4, Toughness 3, Fly 6) that grants the hero +1 to Performance rolls and can use Test (Taunt) once per round; lasts 10 minutes or until Shaken twice.
Quirk: Each power use creates audible indigo chimes; Stealth rolls by the hero suffer –2 for the rest of the round.
—
Shadowrun Sixth Edition — Indigo-Mote Shinobue
Type Qi Focus (Rank 1) Slot Hand-Held Instrument Availability 6R Cost 5,000 ¥ Bonding 1 Karma
Passive • +1 dice to Con or Performance tests that rely on calming or inspiring music. • The player senses strong emotional spikes within Charisma meters.
Yin Lullaby Simple Action, 1/Combat Turn. Spend 1 Edge and resist 2 Drain; all allies within Charisma meters gain +2 dice on Composure tests or to resist Fear for one Turn.
Yang Crescendo Free Action, 1/hour. Target one foe within Charisma meters; opposed Willpower + Intuition vs Magic + Charisma. If the flute wins, the target loses its next Reaction and is –1 dice pool for Interrupts this Turn.
Starlit Ensemble Complex Action. Conjure a Force 1 watcher spirit with Entertainment optional power; it lasts Magic hours or until destroyed. Summon Test: Summoning + Magic vs Force, Drain = Spirit Hits.
Drawback Each activation releases faint indigo motes and a high overtone; Perception thresholds against the player are reduced by 2 for that Combat Turn.
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Starfinder — Flute of Stellar Harmony
Item Level 2 Price 1,200 cr Bulk L Slot Hand Capacity 1 Usage 1/activation (recharges at dusk)
Passive • +2 circumstance bonus to Diplomacy (Sense Motive) checks involving soothing music. • Detect strong emotions (as empathic sense) within 10 ft.
Yin Lullaby Move Action, no charge, 1/10 minutes. Allies in 30 ft gain a +2 morale bonus to Will saves vs fear or mind-affecting pain for 1 minute.
Yang Crescendo Reaction, expend charge. When you finish a loud trill, one enemy within 30 ft must succeed at a Will save (DC 13 + ½ level) or be flat-footed and lose reactions until the start of its next turn.
Starlit Ensemble Full Action, expend charge. Summon two Tiny construct drones (EAC/KAC 11, HP 5, Fly 30 ft, no attacks) that orbit you for 10 minutes. While active, you gain a +2 insight bonus to Perform (wind instruments) checks and allies within 15 ft gain a +1 morale bonus to saving throws against emotion effects.
Drawback Activation produces an audible chime (DC 10 Perception to notice).
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Traveller (Mongoose 2e) — Harmony-Bond Flute
Tech Level 8 Mass Negligible Cost 2,000 Cr Rarity Uncommon Slot Hand
Traits
• +1 DM to Carouse or Liaison tests when using music to calm or charm.
• Detect Hostility: Recon check at DM +1 once per combat round to notice hostile intent within 3 m.
Yin Lullaby Action, 1/hour. Allies within 6 m gain DM +1 on their next Morale or Fear test this encounter.
Yang Crescendo Reaction, 1/hour. After a musical blast, nominate one hostile within 6 m; that target must roll Endurance or Intelligence 8+. Failure imposes a –1 DM penalty to reactions and parries for 1 round.
Starlit Ensemble Action, 1/day. Deploy a TL 8 micro-drone (Size 0, Hits 2, Armour 0, Flight 5 m, Sensors DM 0) that scouts or assists one skill check before its tiny power cell fails (10 minutes max).
Drawback Each activation rings faintly; Stealth tests by the player suffer –1 DM for the rest of that encounter.
—
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition — Indigo Spiral Court Flute
Type Magical Instrument (Hand) Enc 0 Rarity Common Value 50 ss
Passive • +10 Fellowship to Entertain (Musician) tests used to calm or inspire. • You automatically sense dominant emotion within 6 yds.
Yin Lullaby Full Action, once per Hour. After a Performance Test (+20), all allies within Fellowship yds gain +10 to Cool tests against fear or hatred for 1 minute.
Yang Crescendo Free Action, once per Encounter. Nominate one enemy within Fellowship yds; it must succeed at an Average (+20) Cool Test or lose its next Reaction and suffer the Distracted Condition for one Round.
Starlit Ensemble Two-Action Channeling (TN 8), once per Day. Summon a Tiny air spirit (use Bird profile, no Damage) for 10 minutes. While present you gain +10 to Entertain (Musician) and it may use its Action to Distract (Opposed) once per Round.
Drawback Whenever any power is used, NPCs within 18 yds may attempt Average (+20) Perception to notice ethereal indigo motes; a failed Channeling Test inflicts one Fatigued Condition.