Myou
2009-09-28, 11:04 AM
My goal here was to create a deck of the major arcana that, in the hands of a spellcaster, would give him a random benefit (or penalty) each day. The deck isn't priced, and I'd love suggestions for what it's worth, as well as feedback on it.
Original Post;
My player has asked me for a custom artifact, a deck of the high arcana cards from the tarot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Arcana), from which he will draw one card each morning, gaining an effect based on the card for that day. If the card is inverted he instead gets a negative version of the effect.
Hopefully you guys can help he and I come up with the effects and balance the item. The basic pattern is that effects are either all-day or once a day, and negative once a day effects activate whe you roll your first natural 1 in combat that day.
There are 22 cards, 0-21, so he'll be rolling a d22-1 then a d2 to determine if the car is upright or inverted.
0: The Fool
Upright: Roll twice and combine, ignoring further 0s.
Inverted: The deck has no effect today.
1: The Magician
Upright: You gain a +2 bonus to your caster level for the day.
Inverted: Your caster level is reduced by 2 for the day.
2: The High Priestess
Upright: You may use Celerity once a day as a spell-like ability.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 1 in combat today, you are dazed until the start of your next turn.
3: The Empress
Upright: 1d4 times today you may move your speed as a free action. You also gain a +2 bonus to all initiative rolls for the day.
Inverted: You can only move up to half your speed (rounded down) for the day and take a -2 penalty to initiative.
4: The Emperor
Upright:
Inverted:
5: The Hierophant
Upright:
Inverted:
6: The Lovers
Upright: You may use Charm Monster once today as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 1 in combat today, you are targeted by a Charm Monster spell as if the nearest foe had cast it on you, but using your own save DC and caster level.
7: The Chariot
Upright:
Inverted:
8: Justice
Upright: As a free action you may activate this effect. Once active it lasts until your next turn, and each time a creature attacks you, that creature takes nonlethal damage equal to 1/2 the amount of damage it dealt you. This ability is usable 1/2 your HD times per day.
Inverted: Each time you attack a creature roll a d5, and on a natural 1 you take non-lethal damage equal to 1/2 the amount of damage you deal.
9: The Hermit
Upright: For the duration of the day you gain the ability to become invisible at will, as by the Greater Invisibility spell, with a caster level equal to your character level.
Inverted: For the duration of the day you are turned invisible and silenced.
10: Wheel of Fortune
Upright:
Inverted:
11: Strength
Upright: You gain +2 untyped Strength and Constitution bonuses for the day.
Inverted: You gain -2 untyped Strength and Constitution penalties for the day.
12: The Hanged Man
Upright:
Inverted:
13: Death
Upright:
Inverted:
14: Temperance
Upright:
Inverted:
15: The Devil
Upright:
Inverted:
16: The Tower
Upright:
Inverted:
17: The Star
Upright:
Inverted:
18: The Moon
Upright:
Inverted:
19: The Sun
Upright: Once during the day you may activate this effect to gain True Sight and a +5 bonus to Spot checks for one minute per character level. While this effect is active you radiate light as if by a Daylight spell.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 1 in combat today, you are blinded for 1d6 rounds.
20: Judgement
Upright:
Inverted:
21: The World
Upright: You may use Time Stop once today as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 1 in combat today, you are frozen by a Temporal Stasis spell for 1d4+1 rounds with a caster level equal to your character level.
I also need help pricing the finished item. x_x
Well, some months and two new campaigns later, I finally finished this off, so here it is, what do you guys think?
The Ancient Arcana
This ancient deck of ornately decorated cards is a potent major artefact, each card bearing a stylised visage of a character or object, and a number from 0 to 21. Drawing a card from the deck can be done only once per day, and only by the deck’s owner. The card drawn will have a potent magical effect on the person drawing it, and if drawn inverted can be harmful.
The cards in the deck are rigid and durable, formed from smooth, silky material of unknown composition, stiffer and stronger than parchment. Should a card be damaged it vanishes in a flash, and reappears unharmed in the deck. Any card or cards removed form the deck for more than 1 round similarly return to it. The deck has 5 hit points, and no hardness. Should the deck be destroyed it reforms 1 round later.
At the start of the day, before engaging in any combat the owner of the deck may draw one card at random from it. Rolls 1d22-1 to determine which card is drawn, then roll 1d2 to determine if the card drawn is upright or inverted, a roll of 1 indicating that the card is inverted. The character then gains the associated effect of that card in that position. The deck shuffles itself immediately before each drawing (although no outward change can be seen), making it impossible to control or predict the outcome of the draw.
The card effects listed here assume that the bell-curve variant rule is in play. (If not, refer to the threat range conversino table found here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/bellCurveRolls.htm) for the d20 equivalent values)
0: The Fool
Upright: Roll twice and combine, ignoring further 0s.
Inverted: The deck has no effect today.
1: The Magician
Upright: You gain a +2 bonus to your caster level for the day, and gain bonus mana equal to double your character level.
Inverted: Your caster level is reduced by 2 for the day.
2: The High Priestess
Upright: You may use Celerity once a day as a spell-like ability.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3, 4 or 5 in combat today, you are dazed until the start of your next turn.
3: The Empress
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain the ability to heal living creatures with your touch. You can restore 1d4 hp per hit die to a touched creature as a standard action, or lift one of the following negative conditions; blinded, confused, deafened, frightened, nauseated, panicked, paralysed, petrified, shaken, sickened.
Inverted: For the rest of the day, whenever you take damage roll 1d4. On a result of 1 you suffer the effects of the effects of the sickened condition for 1d4 rounds.
4: The Emperor
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain immunity to the blinded, confused, dazzled, deafened, fascinated, frightened, nauseated, panicked, paralysed, petrified, shaken, sickened, staggered and stunned conditions. Furthermore, once during the day you may use a standard action to make a ranged touch attack against one enemy, which, should it hit, deals 1d4 damage per hit die you posses, and leaves the target stunned for 1d4 rounds.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3, 4 or 5 in combat today, you are stunned for 1 round.
5: The Hierophant
Upright: For the rest of the day, whenever you roll a natural 16, 17 or 18 on an attack roll the target of your attack takes 1d4 holy damage per character level, even if your attack misses.
Inverted: For the rest of the day, whenever you roll a natural 3 on an attack roll you take 1d4 profane damage per character level.
6: The Lovers
Upright: You may use Charm Monster once today as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3 in combat today, you are targeted by a Charm Monster spell as if the nearest foe had cast it on you, but using your own save DC and caster level.
7: The Chariot
Upright: 1d4 times today you may move your speed as a free action. You also gain a +2 bonus to all initiative rolls and a +10ft bonus to your movement speed for the day.
Inverted: Your speed is halved (round down) for the day.
8: Justice
Upright: As animmediate action you may activate this effect. While this ability is active, each time a creature attacks you that creature takes nonlethal damage equal to 1/2 the amount of damage it dealt you. This ability is lasts for a number of rounds equal to half your hit dice, and the duration may be spread over multiple activations.
Inverted: Each time you attack a creature roll a d4, and on a natural 3, 4 or 5 you take non-lethal damage equal to 1/2 the amount of damage you deal.
9: The Hermit
Upright: For the duration of the day you gain the ability to become ethereal and incorporeal at will as a swift action. You also gain an insight bonus on knowledge checks equal to your hit dice.
Inverted: For the duration of the day you are turned ethereal and incorporeal.
10: Wheel of Fortune
Upright: For the rest of the day treat every roll of natural 3 on a ‘d20’ roll as a natural 18, every roll of natural 4 on a ‘d20’ as a natural 17, and every roll of natural 5 on a ‘d20’ as a natural 16.
Inverted: For the rest of the day, treat natural 3s as automatic failures.
11: Strength
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain untyped bonuses to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution equal to one quarter of your total hit dice (round up).
Inverted: You gain -2 untyped Strength, Dexterity and Constitution penalties for the rest of the day.
12: The Hanged Man
Upright: For the rest of the day you radiate a constant Prayer effect as the spell, to all creatures within a 60ft radius of you. The bonus or penalty each creature takes is equal to one fifth of your hit dice total (round down), minimum 1.
Inverted: For the rest of the day you radiate a constant Prayer effect as the spell, to all creatures within a 60ft radius of you, but you and your allies take the penalty effect of the spell, while your enemies gain the bonus effect. The bonus or penalty each creature takes is equal to one tenth of your hit dice total (round down), minimum 1.
13: Death
Upright: One during the day, as an immediate action, you may redirect an attack, spell or other effect targeting you back on the creature or object that initiated it. The effect affects the new target normally, as if it were the original target.
Inverted: The first time you roll a natural 3 on an attack roll in battle today, the attack is redirected back on you. The attack affects you normally, as if you were the original target.
14: Temperance
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain an untyped bonus to saving throws and armour class equal to one fifth of your hit dice total, minimum 1, round up, and gain fast healing equal to half your hit dice total, minimum 1, round up.
Inverted: For the rest of the day you gain a -1 penalty to saving throws and armour class.
15: The Devil
[NSFW]
16: The Tower
Upright: Once during the day you may strike a chosen creature or object with a bolt of thunder that descends from the heavens (the bolt passes harmlessly through obstacles). You must make a ranged touch attack roll to strike the target, dealing 2d6 damage per caster level (use your own caster level), knocking the target prone, and dazing it for 1 round. The target is both knocked prone and dazed even if you miss.
Inverted:Upon your first roll of natural 3 in combat today, you are knocked prone and dazed for 1 round.
17: The Star
Upright: Your total hero points are multiplied by 1.5 for the day (minimum increase of 1 point, round up). The bonus hero points must be spent before the end of the day. Furthermore, for the rest of the day you gain the benefit of the Mind Blank spell.
Inverted: You lose 1 hero point for the day.
18: The Moon
Upright: For the duration of the day you gain the ability to become invisible and/or silent at will, as by the Greater Invisibility and Silence spells, with a caster level equal to your character level. Activating or deactivating either effect is a free action.
Inverted: For the duration of the day you are turned invisible and silenced.
19: The Sun
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain True Seeingas the spell and a +5 bonus to Spot and listen checks. Furthermore, while this effect is active you radiate light as if by a Daylight spell, with a caster level equal to your own.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3 in combat today, you are blinded for 1d6 rounds.
20: Judgement
Upright: The first time you die in battle today, your body and possessions immediately vanish, exploding in a blast of holy energy that deals 2d6 damage per hit die you posses to the creature responsible for your death. Furthermore, 1d6 rounds later you are revived in the same spot, or as near to it as possible, by the effect of a True Resurrection spell. Your possessions are also restored, unharmed.
Inverted: Each time you kill an enemy in battle today, roll 1d4, and on a result of 1 you take 1d6 holy damage per hit die of the enemy slain.
21: The World
Upright: Once during the day you may use Time Stop as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level, the duration of the effect is not 1d4+1 rounds, rather it lasts for 1 round per five character levels (round down, minimum 1).
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3 in combat today, you are frozen by a Temporal Stasis spell for 1 rounds. The spell has a caster level equal to your character level.
Original Post;
My player has asked me for a custom artifact, a deck of the high arcana cards from the tarot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Arcana), from which he will draw one card each morning, gaining an effect based on the card for that day. If the card is inverted he instead gets a negative version of the effect.
Hopefully you guys can help he and I come up with the effects and balance the item. The basic pattern is that effects are either all-day or once a day, and negative once a day effects activate whe you roll your first natural 1 in combat that day.
There are 22 cards, 0-21, so he'll be rolling a d22-1 then a d2 to determine if the car is upright or inverted.
0: The Fool
Upright: Roll twice and combine, ignoring further 0s.
Inverted: The deck has no effect today.
1: The Magician
Upright: You gain a +2 bonus to your caster level for the day.
Inverted: Your caster level is reduced by 2 for the day.
2: The High Priestess
Upright: You may use Celerity once a day as a spell-like ability.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 1 in combat today, you are dazed until the start of your next turn.
3: The Empress
Upright: 1d4 times today you may move your speed as a free action. You also gain a +2 bonus to all initiative rolls for the day.
Inverted: You can only move up to half your speed (rounded down) for the day and take a -2 penalty to initiative.
4: The Emperor
Upright:
Inverted:
5: The Hierophant
Upright:
Inverted:
6: The Lovers
Upright: You may use Charm Monster once today as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 1 in combat today, you are targeted by a Charm Monster spell as if the nearest foe had cast it on you, but using your own save DC and caster level.
7: The Chariot
Upright:
Inverted:
8: Justice
Upright: As a free action you may activate this effect. Once active it lasts until your next turn, and each time a creature attacks you, that creature takes nonlethal damage equal to 1/2 the amount of damage it dealt you. This ability is usable 1/2 your HD times per day.
Inverted: Each time you attack a creature roll a d5, and on a natural 1 you take non-lethal damage equal to 1/2 the amount of damage you deal.
9: The Hermit
Upright: For the duration of the day you gain the ability to become invisible at will, as by the Greater Invisibility spell, with a caster level equal to your character level.
Inverted: For the duration of the day you are turned invisible and silenced.
10: Wheel of Fortune
Upright:
Inverted:
11: Strength
Upright: You gain +2 untyped Strength and Constitution bonuses for the day.
Inverted: You gain -2 untyped Strength and Constitution penalties for the day.
12: The Hanged Man
Upright:
Inverted:
13: Death
Upright:
Inverted:
14: Temperance
Upright:
Inverted:
15: The Devil
Upright:
Inverted:
16: The Tower
Upright:
Inverted:
17: The Star
Upright:
Inverted:
18: The Moon
Upright:
Inverted:
19: The Sun
Upright: Once during the day you may activate this effect to gain True Sight and a +5 bonus to Spot checks for one minute per character level. While this effect is active you radiate light as if by a Daylight spell.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 1 in combat today, you are blinded for 1d6 rounds.
20: Judgement
Upright:
Inverted:
21: The World
Upright: You may use Time Stop once today as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 1 in combat today, you are frozen by a Temporal Stasis spell for 1d4+1 rounds with a caster level equal to your character level.
I also need help pricing the finished item. x_x
Well, some months and two new campaigns later, I finally finished this off, so here it is, what do you guys think?
The Ancient Arcana
This ancient deck of ornately decorated cards is a potent major artefact, each card bearing a stylised visage of a character or object, and a number from 0 to 21. Drawing a card from the deck can be done only once per day, and only by the deck’s owner. The card drawn will have a potent magical effect on the person drawing it, and if drawn inverted can be harmful.
The cards in the deck are rigid and durable, formed from smooth, silky material of unknown composition, stiffer and stronger than parchment. Should a card be damaged it vanishes in a flash, and reappears unharmed in the deck. Any card or cards removed form the deck for more than 1 round similarly return to it. The deck has 5 hit points, and no hardness. Should the deck be destroyed it reforms 1 round later.
At the start of the day, before engaging in any combat the owner of the deck may draw one card at random from it. Rolls 1d22-1 to determine which card is drawn, then roll 1d2 to determine if the card drawn is upright or inverted, a roll of 1 indicating that the card is inverted. The character then gains the associated effect of that card in that position. The deck shuffles itself immediately before each drawing (although no outward change can be seen), making it impossible to control or predict the outcome of the draw.
The card effects listed here assume that the bell-curve variant rule is in play. (If not, refer to the threat range conversino table found here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/adventuring/bellCurveRolls.htm) for the d20 equivalent values)
0: The Fool
Upright: Roll twice and combine, ignoring further 0s.
Inverted: The deck has no effect today.
1: The Magician
Upright: You gain a +2 bonus to your caster level for the day, and gain bonus mana equal to double your character level.
Inverted: Your caster level is reduced by 2 for the day.
2: The High Priestess
Upright: You may use Celerity once a day as a spell-like ability.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3, 4 or 5 in combat today, you are dazed until the start of your next turn.
3: The Empress
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain the ability to heal living creatures with your touch. You can restore 1d4 hp per hit die to a touched creature as a standard action, or lift one of the following negative conditions; blinded, confused, deafened, frightened, nauseated, panicked, paralysed, petrified, shaken, sickened.
Inverted: For the rest of the day, whenever you take damage roll 1d4. On a result of 1 you suffer the effects of the effects of the sickened condition for 1d4 rounds.
4: The Emperor
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain immunity to the blinded, confused, dazzled, deafened, fascinated, frightened, nauseated, panicked, paralysed, petrified, shaken, sickened, staggered and stunned conditions. Furthermore, once during the day you may use a standard action to make a ranged touch attack against one enemy, which, should it hit, deals 1d4 damage per hit die you posses, and leaves the target stunned for 1d4 rounds.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3, 4 or 5 in combat today, you are stunned for 1 round.
5: The Hierophant
Upright: For the rest of the day, whenever you roll a natural 16, 17 or 18 on an attack roll the target of your attack takes 1d4 holy damage per character level, even if your attack misses.
Inverted: For the rest of the day, whenever you roll a natural 3 on an attack roll you take 1d4 profane damage per character level.
6: The Lovers
Upright: You may use Charm Monster once today as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3 in combat today, you are targeted by a Charm Monster spell as if the nearest foe had cast it on you, but using your own save DC and caster level.
7: The Chariot
Upright: 1d4 times today you may move your speed as a free action. You also gain a +2 bonus to all initiative rolls and a +10ft bonus to your movement speed for the day.
Inverted: Your speed is halved (round down) for the day.
8: Justice
Upright: As animmediate action you may activate this effect. While this ability is active, each time a creature attacks you that creature takes nonlethal damage equal to 1/2 the amount of damage it dealt you. This ability is lasts for a number of rounds equal to half your hit dice, and the duration may be spread over multiple activations.
Inverted: Each time you attack a creature roll a d4, and on a natural 3, 4 or 5 you take non-lethal damage equal to 1/2 the amount of damage you deal.
9: The Hermit
Upright: For the duration of the day you gain the ability to become ethereal and incorporeal at will as a swift action. You also gain an insight bonus on knowledge checks equal to your hit dice.
Inverted: For the duration of the day you are turned ethereal and incorporeal.
10: Wheel of Fortune
Upright: For the rest of the day treat every roll of natural 3 on a ‘d20’ roll as a natural 18, every roll of natural 4 on a ‘d20’ as a natural 17, and every roll of natural 5 on a ‘d20’ as a natural 16.
Inverted: For the rest of the day, treat natural 3s as automatic failures.
11: Strength
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain untyped bonuses to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution equal to one quarter of your total hit dice (round up).
Inverted: You gain -2 untyped Strength, Dexterity and Constitution penalties for the rest of the day.
12: The Hanged Man
Upright: For the rest of the day you radiate a constant Prayer effect as the spell, to all creatures within a 60ft radius of you. The bonus or penalty each creature takes is equal to one fifth of your hit dice total (round down), minimum 1.
Inverted: For the rest of the day you radiate a constant Prayer effect as the spell, to all creatures within a 60ft radius of you, but you and your allies take the penalty effect of the spell, while your enemies gain the bonus effect. The bonus or penalty each creature takes is equal to one tenth of your hit dice total (round down), minimum 1.
13: Death
Upright: One during the day, as an immediate action, you may redirect an attack, spell or other effect targeting you back on the creature or object that initiated it. The effect affects the new target normally, as if it were the original target.
Inverted: The first time you roll a natural 3 on an attack roll in battle today, the attack is redirected back on you. The attack affects you normally, as if you were the original target.
14: Temperance
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain an untyped bonus to saving throws and armour class equal to one fifth of your hit dice total, minimum 1, round up, and gain fast healing equal to half your hit dice total, minimum 1, round up.
Inverted: For the rest of the day you gain a -1 penalty to saving throws and armour class.
15: The Devil
[NSFW]
16: The Tower
Upright: Once during the day you may strike a chosen creature or object with a bolt of thunder that descends from the heavens (the bolt passes harmlessly through obstacles). You must make a ranged touch attack roll to strike the target, dealing 2d6 damage per caster level (use your own caster level), knocking the target prone, and dazing it for 1 round. The target is both knocked prone and dazed even if you miss.
Inverted:Upon your first roll of natural 3 in combat today, you are knocked prone and dazed for 1 round.
17: The Star
Upright: Your total hero points are multiplied by 1.5 for the day (minimum increase of 1 point, round up). The bonus hero points must be spent before the end of the day. Furthermore, for the rest of the day you gain the benefit of the Mind Blank spell.
Inverted: You lose 1 hero point for the day.
18: The Moon
Upright: For the duration of the day you gain the ability to become invisible and/or silent at will, as by the Greater Invisibility and Silence spells, with a caster level equal to your character level. Activating or deactivating either effect is a free action.
Inverted: For the duration of the day you are turned invisible and silenced.
19: The Sun
Upright: For the rest of the day you gain True Seeingas the spell and a +5 bonus to Spot and listen checks. Furthermore, while this effect is active you radiate light as if by a Daylight spell, with a caster level equal to your own.
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3 in combat today, you are blinded for 1d6 rounds.
20: Judgement
Upright: The first time you die in battle today, your body and possessions immediately vanish, exploding in a blast of holy energy that deals 2d6 damage per hit die you posses to the creature responsible for your death. Furthermore, 1d6 rounds later you are revived in the same spot, or as near to it as possible, by the effect of a True Resurrection spell. Your possessions are also restored, unharmed.
Inverted: Each time you kill an enemy in battle today, roll 1d4, and on a result of 1 you take 1d6 holy damage per hit die of the enemy slain.
21: The World
Upright: Once during the day you may use Time Stop as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to your character level, the duration of the effect is not 1d4+1 rounds, rather it lasts for 1 round per five character levels (round down, minimum 1).
Inverted: Upon your first roll of natural 3 in combat today, you are frozen by a Temporal Stasis spell for 1 rounds. The spell has a caster level equal to your character level.