Thursday, March 9, 2017

1d6 Random Ancient Minor Treasures of Clark Aston Smith's Forbidden Places & Vaults Table For Your Old School Campaigns

There are minor treasures that have been left behind in the wake of ages past in the vaults & tombs of ancient & vastly dangerous peoples. These items are tinged with the irony of ages past & wreathed in the mystique of forbidden history.
“Stern and white as a tomb, older than the memory of the dead, and built by men or devils beyond the recording of myth, is the mansion in which we dwell.”
― Clark Ashton Smith, The Return of the Sorcerer




1d6 Random Ancient Minor Treasures
of Clark Aston Smith's  Forbidden Places
& Vaults Table

  1. A beautifully wrought dagger of gold & jet worth over 7,000 gold pieces created in the time of the ancient  sorcerers. This dagger is able to pierce & cut the shadowed heart of a scoundrel exposing the dark half of the soul able to remove it from its victim unless a save vs wands is made to resist the forbidden magicks of the dagger. The victim experiences harrowing visions of the Outer Darkness as their evil half is exposed to cold influence of weird space & time. 
  2. The Scroll of Hypnos - This piece and fragment of parchment is actually a piece of dried skin of a slain god upon writ is the forbidden lore of dreams. There are 1d8 2nd level black magical spells but the scroll's real power is suspend the soul of its owner between dimensions in dreams where they may either gain wisdom or meet the lord of dreams who may or may not be pleased to see them. 
  3. The Fragment of the Frog Demon - A weirdly wrought piece of slime laden scroll work capable of summoning a frog demon of extremely elegant malevolence who will create experiences of sorcerous power and wisdom. The owner will gain two levels of black magic and wizardly experience but the owner will also experience the machinations of the demon in nightmares for the rest of their lives and transform into an undead Deep One zombie servant in death bound for eternity to the frog demon. 
  4. The Wand of Wandering Lust & Trepidation - This finely created wand of ivory & sandal wood is empowered with the forbidden energies of the lust pits of Atlantis. The wand is able to reach into the Outer Darkness between worlds & send into the dreams of its victims forbidden and harrowing visions of depraved alien lusts. The victims must save vs spell or wisdom to avoid suffering these night terrors which may after 1d20 months kill them in their sleep.  
  5. The Goblinoid Glass - This glass has been impregnated with the blood & visions of fairies. Those gazing through it may be bodily drawn into the timeless realms of goblins & dangerous Fey creatures. The owner of the glass may direct an adventurer into the forbidden places of Dream. Care should be taken as the glass has a fickle and iconic sense of humor. 
  6. The Fist of the Cat God - A jewel from forbidden Mu, this fist sized gem is able to transform the owner into a Cat From Mu. An ancient & now extinct cat species from ancient Mu about the size of a a prehistoric cat. These cats now roam certain areas of the Dreamlands, the owner of the Fist is able to see through the eyes of the transformed as a wizard eye's spell for twenty two hours at a time. The transformed has dark vision, the ability to hide in shadows, and some of the thief classes abilities. Those who submit to the gem's abilities must consume two quarts of milk in the name of the cat god or be transformed into a kitten permanently if certain costly sacrifices are not made on its behalf.

    Many of these treasures have been in the collection of the Fairy Queen Mab before the sinking of Atlantis & her influence has kept these things from the world of men for centuries. There is a 30% chance of her attention being alerted any time they are found and used. She is fickle and very dangerous in matters of the occult and forbidden.



    Of our studies it is impossible to speak, since they held so slight a connection with anything of the world as living men conceive it. They were of that vaster and more appalling universe of dim entity and consciousness which lies deeper than matter, time, and space, and whose existence we suspect only in certain forms of sleep — those rare dreams beyond dreams which come never to common men, and but once or twice in the lifetime of imaginative men. The cosmos of our waking knowledge, born from such an universe as a bubble is born from the pipe of a jester, touches it only as such a bubble may touch its sardonic source when sucked back by the jester's whim. Men of learning suspect it little and ignore it mostly. Wise men have interpreted dreams, and the gods have laughed. One man with Oriental eyes has said that all time and space are relative, and men have laughed. But even that man with Oriental eyes has done no more than suspect...
    HP Lovecraft Hypnos 1922

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