Stats for custom magic item?

[Fortinbro]

Lich's Mirror

The mirror allows an undead creature to glimpse into their own pasts with perfect clarity. They see themselves as when they were alive, and can re-experience a memories including physical sensations. (Some beneficial effect)

Living creatures who look into the mirror instead see themselves as a rotting corpse and will save vs suffering the delusion of being trapped in a coffin unable to move as insects feed upon them.

[ScIaDrd]

That is an interesting item you have here,so let me help you a little: Maybe undead gain a +4 circumstance bonus to a skill that is related to whatever they saw (e.g. seeing the king on a banquet with foreign dignitaries gives you a+4 bonus to Diplomacy checks) and what you saw is decided by the DM or rolled on a table (You´ll have to make one yourself, though, I´m bad at tables) and that bonus lasts for 1 hour (or 1d4 hours or [the undead´s Cha mod, min. 1] hours, whatever), and you can look into the mirror only [the undead´s Cha mod, min. 1] times per day , after that the mirror becomes dull and doesn't´t show anything until the next day.

If you think a +4 bonus is too much, you can bump it down to only +2, but I think a more interesting way to do it is to force the undead to succeed at a (say) DC 15 Charisma check for the mirror to show them anything as they have to mentally force it to give them a clear, understandable image, and a failure logically wastes one of the mirror´s 'uses' for the day. Maybe, just maybe, a high enough roll (DC 20?, 25?) allows you to see exactly what you want to see, allowing you to choose the bonus you want.

The second point you have there about the undead reliving the sensations of their mortal lives is a great idea and I´d suggest a rule for this which goes about these lines: With a sucessful DC 20 Charisma check, the undead can use the mirror to relive a moment of forgotten bliss from their mortal lives that gives them a +2 bonus on all skill checks, ability checks and attack rolls for 1 hour (This is quite close to an inversion of being sickened, except for the damage and saving throw bonuses)

As an addtion to this, maybe if the undead if currently doing whatever the mirror shows them (eating a tasty meal, doing art or consorting with their lover (), they mingt get a bigger bonus, or it might last for a longer time (1d3+1 hours?, [the undead´s Cha mod, min. 1] hours?), but I don´t know how that is going to intract with the abillty to choose the bonuses, if you want to implement it.

As for what the desillusion living creatures suffer instead it might be a good idea to use the gaze atacks rule for it and that image probably cause being shaken or nauseated for however long the mirror affects undead? or maybe the get paralyzed with fear for 1d3 ( or so) rounds? Hmm...this one might be quite vicious in combation with some slowly aproching guard mimons who threathen to coup-de-grace that hapless chracter and lave his allies to struggle to fend them off... interesting, IMO.
Or you could emphasise the image of the worms eating the living chracter and use a mechanic based on death urge as the chracter claws ferociously into his own skin, to rip out phantom worms that were never realy there dealing 1d6 points of damage each round untill he makes his save or his companions pry him away. (grapple checks?)

I am very much looking forward to your ideas and comennts.

[Debihuman]

Bonus to skills will add to the cost.

Stats for magic items depend on which spells you use. Moment of prescience and false vision would be appropriate spells for this.

Debby

[DracoDei]

I'd say it would make them less prone to the detachment (and evil?) of undeath.

Would work best with some sort of house rule regarding the LONG term effects of undeath, but for quick and dirty, a negation of any charisma penalties from their undead template, at least for the purposes of social skill rolls... of course, even that isn't going to do much, because a template that results in non-mindless undead and reduces charisma is going to be rare I would think... maybe a wight or something?

Ok, here it is (and Debihuman is going to hate this, because, while powerful, it isn't TECHNICALLY a mechanical effect, unless MAYBE Libre Mortis was awesome enough to make up some mechanics for the personality difference between types of undead):
Looking into the mirror every day for at least an hour each day for a month provides the following benefit as long as you continue to get your hour a day:
You know how vampires can be all debonair and charming, and do their feeding in private where it won't be directly observed by the rest of the people from the ball they were attending? And how ghouls... generally can't? This changes that. Sure they still rot and stink and such (but Alter Self. or a custom illusion spell can probably fix that) but they can bargain to join with a group of living highwaymen to join their group, and actually NOT turn on them if it wouldn't be in their own, rationally considered, best interests.

The name even fits, because I don't generally imagine Lich's being social creatures. Sure they have minions and servants and such, but the idea of a Lich giving lectures to a room full of his most powerful wizards to teach them more about spellcraft and help them learn new spells seems... off somehow. Ditto for shmoozing at a fancy dress ball with all evil characters trying to make allies and do other political maneuvers.


Or, if you REALLY can't handle all of that, have it give a bonus to diplomacy when interacting with the living...