The Treasures of Adventure Found in a Magical Loot Drop

Magical items are the treat every player character in fantasy tabletop roleplaying games. The things in the treasure chest at the end of the long, winding underground tomb. The presents handed out by the eminent benefactor at the end of a job well done.

Things which would be easily made out of tech for people in our world or a science fiction setting, is fuelled by the magic of the particular high fantasy nature of your own setting. They can be relics ancient and powerful, or the most mundane object found in every home, with the smallest zing of enchantment. All depends on how you Game Masters want to handle magic. I personally love highly magical worlds.

The Loot Drop

Your party has wandered across the realm, and this unusual chest lies abandoned in the forest. Your rogue has pried it open to find these contents within. Welcome to the first instalment of The Loot Drop, a series of blogs about magic items great and small. We've covered cursed axes and ever-growing maps on this blog, but here is the place to talk about equally powerful, but just as off-the-wall magic items.

The items below are described with flavour set high but very few mechanical terms. This makes it easy for you to apply it to whatever game system you're GM-ing with.

The Hand Salon

Photo by Sydney Jewish Museum

Fantastical hairdressing has made its way to this blog before. As unlikely that may be. The need for an adventurer to get their hair brought to a much more manageable shape and size is relatable to us.

This strange, silvery comb is light to the touch and is always a little slick with moisture. Combing through hair with one side will bring wetness and foamy lather as it washes your hair as it combs. Flipping the comb and using the other, oddly warm bristles heats the hair and slowly dries it.

The Unfortunate Tail

The ancient, strange coin looks very different between settings - Stygian Coin by TedEd

To the untrained eye, this coin looks like any other minted by the banks and bullions of the realm. It may have a slightly different shape or markings than the rest of the realm's currency, but gold is gold when you need something. This coin has greater valued when not spent.

When this coin is flipped by a person who's magically attuned to it, it will only ever land on tails. When flipped by anyone else, it is random like any other coin. All attempts to check if the coin is fake or loaded will show it to be real. The minor twisting of probabilities means you'll almost always get your way when you say “lets flip for it”.

Who would attack family? - Screaming Shield by Titus Lunter

The Familiar Shield

The immense silvery shield has a blank, resting face moulded into the metal. When the user of this shield is attacked, the face on the shield quickly shifts into someone the attacker knows and would otherwise be opposed to attacking. The expressions of surprise, shock, and sadness would dominate the immense sheet of metal.

Tools of the Trade

The possible uses for these items are fascinating to consider. The overtly groomed hero needing to stay constantly clean with the comb whilst another cheats their way to all manner of places with a loaded coin that really doesn't appear so.

Now we want to hear from you! How will items like these appear in your games? What other unlikely magical items exist in games you GM. Let us know on our discord server or in the comments below.

Adam Ray contributes much for adventurers here on Apotheosis Studios. As co-founder of fantasticuniverses.com, he writes about card gaming and PC gaming to a corner of the internet he carved out himself. On Youtube, he can be found game mastering for No Ordinary Heroes, or editing the antics on The Hostile Atmosphere. Follow his Twitter @IzzetTinkerer.