Miscellaneous Magic: Clothing and Jewelry

Amulet of Dramatic Death: Only a few of these prized items exist, each created for a high-level thief in the service of two powerful spellcasters, a mage and an illusionist, who combined their skills to create them. There are six amulets known, which differ in only one respect; all have the following common properties.

The amulet is activated when the wearer suffers one particular attack form (and only that attack form) which would be sufficient to kill or wholly disable the wearer (e.g., by petrification). At this point the magic of the amulet is activated. Damage sustained from the killing attack is wholly negated, and a special attack (such as petrification) likewise negated. The thief is at once made invisible. Lastly, a powerful programmed illusion is brought into operation so that the amulet-wearer appears to have been slain or disabled by the attack. This programmed illusion is both complete and dramatic—e.g., an amulet protecting against magical fire will show the victim of fireball attack as a burned corpse, complete with the smell of roasted flesh. Only direct, tactile checks or a powerful divination spell will reveal the illusion for what it is. The amulet will function only once per day. Roll 1d6 on the table below to determine the single attack form which is protected against by the amulet.

d6 Roll	Specific Protection
1	Magical fire (including red dragon breath, etc.)
2	Lightning and Electrical attacks
3	Cold-based attacks
4	Petrification
5	Edged Weapons
6	Blunt Weapons

Boots of Balance: The wearer of these soft, low-heeled supple leather boots is endowed with a magically enhanced sense of balance. This has the following important effects:

(i) A thief wearing the boots gains a +10% bonus to all move silently rolls and also to all climb walls rolls.

(ii) The Dexterity of any character wearing the boots is increased by one point for all purposes where the hands are not involved. Thus, a thief cannot claim a bonus to skills such as open locks, but a bonus to Armor Class may apply, and likewise a bonus applies to Dexterity checks in certain situations (e.g., to avoid a fall).

(iii) The wearer gains the tightrope walking proficiency; if this is already possessed, a -4 bonus modifier applies to all proficiency check die rolls when wearing the boots.

A wearer of boots of balance cannot also claim a further bonus for moving silently from mundane aids (such as the use of leather strapping to cross creaky floorboards). Also, the bonuses gained from boots of balance cannot be added to the bonus gained if the wearer also uses gauntlets of dexterity.

Gloves of Evasion: These gloves are made of exceptionally supple, thin calfskin, and when put on they blend with the skin and become virtually undetectable (and are detection resistant). A thief wearing them gains a +10% bonus to open locks skill and can undo almost any knot automatically in one round. Any character wearing the gloves gains a proficiency in escapology, being able to manipulate his hands in such a way that he can escape from manacles, chains, irons or similar restraints if a Dexterity check (with a +2 bonus if the character is a thief) is made.

Mantle of the Mundane: This very ordinary, even shabby, brown or grey cloak makes its wearer appear utterly unmemorable. It gives a 5% bonus to hide in shadows in all circumstances and makes the wearer 80% undetectable if in a crowd (detection resistance applies here also). It also makes the wearer almost impossible to recognize after having been seen—very useful in avoiding identification after a crime. Unless a witness (and it must be an eye witness) makes a check against one-fourth of his Intelligence the wearer of the mantle will have appeared so mundane and boring in appearance that the witness will be unable to relate him to the thief (regardless of whether the thief is wearing the mantle the next time the witness sees him).

Robe of Vanishing: This simple and innocent-looking robe is a boon for a thief needing to elude pursuers quickly. The thief only needs to grasp the hems of the robe and clutch it very tightly about him and he will simply seem to vanish, although the thief will just have been affected as per a rope trick spell (no rope is visible, of course) and also made invisible. detection resistance applies to the extradimensional space created. The rope trick effect will last for up to six turns but the invisibility created is of the normal sort (permanent until some offensive action is undertaken). Wise thieves will make sure that other magical aids to escape (notably a potion of flying) are on hand to maximize the value of this robe. The robe can be used up to three times per day to create its magical effects.

Shadowcloak: This large, cowled cloak is made from pure black velvet. When worn by a thief it improves hide in shadows chances by 25% and makes a thief 50% likely to be invisible in near-darkness (even to infravision, ultravision, etc.). It can also be used to cast darkness, darkness 15' radius, and continual darkness once each per day (at 12th level of magic use). Finally, once per day the wearer can actually transform into a shadow (cf. Monstrous Compendium I) for up to 12 turns, becoming a shadow in all respects save for mental ones (thus, the wearer cannot be damaged by nonmagical weapons, undead take the wearer for a shadow and ignore him, etc.). Saves against light-based attacks (e.g., a light spell cast into the eyes) are always made at -2 by the wearer of a shadowcloak.

If a cleric successfully makes a turning attempt against the wearer in shadowform, the cloak wearer is permitted a saving throw (this is at -4 if the cleric is actually able to damn/destroy shadows). If the save fails, the wearer suffers 1d6 points of damage per level of the cleric and the shadowcloak is destroyed. If the save is made, the character takes half damage and must flee in fear from the cleric at maximum rate for one turn.

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