Edit: Oh, and here are posts #1, #2 and #3 in the series!
Howdy folks!
Nothing like a world pandemic, moving to a new house and trying to keep yourself sane for a perfect combo for this (already) cursed and thrice-damned year! Anyhow, sorry (again) for the considerable delay in updating this much forsaken demesne.
Lets go to another room/encounter on the Tower of Visions, my first attempt at a “post by post” dungeon (today is post #4). Today, I’m following the great guidelines of David Cook, where for every combat encounter you should have 3-4 non-combat ones. So, let me see if I can create a weird place for the characters to explore in this dungeon.
This room holds a lot of magical mirrors. Each one has different effects and consequences. Most can be broken or shattered, although that is not always a good idea. To make things interesting you can introduce an NPC if you want: the Mirror Lord!
The Mirror Lord is an “echoling”, a creature that exists only on the rare and unknown Mirror Dimension. It can only interact with the party through a mirror. Its name is not actually Mirror Lord, it was just a lesser extraplanar jailor bound by the master of the Tower of Visions to keep the local artifacts in order. It desperately wants to convince a character to use the Harry Potter mirror to make it real (more about that mirror below). Unfortunately, it is a bound entity and thus it will always give the worst possible explanation about any magic mirror (if asked!). Thus, it seeks to give information without being asked. If somehow freed, it will be an above average loyal hireling but a regular stated one. If the party can figure that out, this NPC can be a very powerful source of help.
Without further ado, let's delve into the...
The Fane of Lost Reflections
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| That is a good image for the Tower of Visions |
The Mirror of the Hidden
This magical mirror won’t appear to reflect anything, including the room.
However, what it does is reveal invisible things or the true form of objects or
creatures obfuscated by illusions. This is an oval shaped mirror framed in the
bones of angels. Clerics and other (good) divine spellcasters feel pain be
carrying it (and it will probably bring trouble for the party). Although
cumbersome to carry, it is not that heavy (but a human-sized PC must use both
hands to carry it). It is hard to shatter, due to its magical nature, but every
time it is hit there is a 50% chance that every creature in a 30 ft. radius
suffers the damage instead of the mirror. Yes, celestials and champions of Law
will think the worst about the carrier of this potent artifact.
The Window of Doubt
This magical mirror will show the exact opposite of who you truly are.
Details are left to the Judge. Usually, standing before it will show the viewer
doing something in the near future that is the last thing she would actually
do. Law-abiding heroes will be seen killing the local lord while greedy wizards
will see their future reflections delivering their most precious magic item to
the local church. Actually, this mirror is the perfect guide on “how to invert
your alignment” (if you care about alignments in your game). This should be a
huge door-like mirror, very hard to move or carry. If broken, the character
responsible for breaking will be cursed with dreams showing them doing all
those terrible things (the Judge is encouraged to give secret information to
the dreamer, to tempt her to do those horrible deeds… like showing the Law
warrior killing the local lord and stealing a thus far unknown Chaos magic
sword hidden below his castle).
Yes, other characters not directly in front of the Window of Doubt will
see all the stuff above. Let paranoia run loose!
The Harry Potter Mirror
If you’re standing right in front of his mirror you will see your
heart’s desire fulfilled. This is an excellent opportunity to talk with the
player and let THEM, not you, to describe what transpires. Oh, and every other
person close by (but not standing right in front of the mirror) to see that. If
more than one character is in front of the mirror, ask them to roll a Luck
check (or a Charisma check) and the best roll is the “chosen one”.
This a big mirror, that must be carried by at least four strong human
characters. Destroying it is really hard, takes a lot of time but should work.
However, each destroyer cries in their sleep for a really long time following
that event (and a cruel but fair Judge should ask what is their heart desire
and let them know they will never achieve it).
The Shadow Prince’s Looking Glass
When a character stares at this mirror for some time she sees her
reflection taking one of her items and throwing it away, beyond the mirror’s
frame. That item really DISAPPEARS. If the characters keep starting, another
will go away a few moments later.
A “good sport” character that leaves without complaining about it. She
will awake 1d7 days later with a new and cool item (and yes, that item was
stolen from someone else… Judges, please, be creative). The item should be
useful and preferably magical.
If the character tries to break or destroy the mirror… well, first it
reforms one day later, when no one is looking. Second, the mirror-breaker is
now cursed. Actually, she is under the Murder Men Curse. What is a Murder Man?
Look here.
The Prince of Shadow’s Looking Glass should be the shoddiest and
poorest mirror in the room, preferably covered with a dirt sheet with a warning
“Prince of Shadow Property! Do not touch. DO NOT bring it back to Minas
Morgul!”
The Cornucopia Window
Whoever is standing before this mirror for more than a few seconds will
start to see all kinds of delicious food and drinks appearing around her.
Although nothing shows up in the real world, the character can eat/drink the
reflections. After such a banquet, let her know that she is superbly satisfied
and gained 1 Advantage (once chance to roll twice any check and take the best
result). The downside? The food and drinks were fake and after her next sleep,
the character will awake famished (i.e. treat as if her physical stats are
half, including her hit points, until she can eat a lot; if you play 5E give
her 1d3 levels of Exhaustion).
The Cornucopia Window should be a giant mirror, almost impossible to
move. If broken, it will fill a 15 ft. spread area in front of it with rotten
food, possibly inflicting damage on any character on the way (and a fair Judge
can also unleash one disease or rat swarm).
The Mirror of the Lost Room
This mirror shows the character’s reflection standing in a different
room, a small camber with nothing on it. However, if the character drops
anything on the floor while standing before the mirror, the item will disappear
from the real world and show up in the magical room. This is basically the
“mirror version” of a portable hole.
The mirror itself should be something as big as a shield, preferably
with iron frames shaped in a (green devil) grinning face. It can be carried
although it will be so voluminous that it will require a hireling only for that
task. It can hold A LOT of stuff but if it is broken (it is very sturdy) or
lost, all the items inside of it are lost forever (or until the Judge can
concoct a weird quest to an yet more bizarre demiplane where lost items of the
Multiverse can be found).
The Chess Mirror
This baroque and big mirror appears to be immune to damage and shows a
weird room, where the floor is painted like a chess board, but in white and red
tones. Stepping inside makes the character disappear. It is a one way ticket to
a Red and Pleasant Land.
The Door to Hades
This mirror is shaped with skeleton and death motifs, reflecting umbral
mists. It is considerably cracked and it is a miracle it is still whole. If any
corpse is placed before it a reflection of the live counterpart will show up
and step out in a few moments. Yes, it is a “Raise Dead mirror”. The catch?
(You know there is one) The reflection is an inverted version of the original.
Don’t tell that right away… if the raised one is a player character let him
know that between sessions (and yes, this is a classical “traitor plot”). If
the raised character is a NPC, give subtle clues and a fair chance for the
party to find out (otherwise kill the character with the lowest Luck/Charisma
in their sleep and let them hunt the traitor later).
Every time someone is raised with this mirror roll an Utility Die (I
would use a 1d4). A 1-2 roll means the mirror shatters. Any other roll just add
a crack in the mirror.
The Sea King’s Eye
This big oval mirror, framed with valuable corals and pearls, fills the
corner of the chamber. Anyone standing in front of it sees what appears to be
the depths of the ocean, but illuminated by the gold radiance of a treasure
hoard of a thousand shipwrecks. This is the Sea King’s trove and that is the
closest anyone is going to get to it. If anyone tries to break this mirror it
starts to leak. If that is not a fair warning, then fill the room with sea
water… and sharks! Undead sharks if you’re feeling nasty. The party has to run
out or drown.
The Mirror of the Other
This mirror visibly floats in the middle of the room. It is framed in
silver or mithril or anything valuable that you want. If a character walks in
front of it, a perfect reflection of that character will show up and start a
chat. It will explain that it is “just a reflection, an imperfect copy” of the
original. It will ask for just one favor: “to live a full life as a mortal”. It
will accept to serve the character and help them in their quest, after that it
will ask for a retirement in a quiet village, far from trouble.
If the character accepts, the doppelganger will step out. It will be
exactly like the character. For the next 7 days a new doppelganger will show up
whenever the character sleeps. They will always help… until there are more of
them than the party (or after 7 days). Then, they will strike and kill. If they
can’t do that they will flee and unleash havoc at the best moment. They will
always be of the same level and power of the original character.
The mirror only works for one character, if multiple characters try to
stand before the mirror the one with the LOWEST Luck/Charisma will be the one
that can talk with the doppelganger.
Shattering this mirror is impossible. It is a mighty artifact, birthed
from the mind of the dead god of illusions. Only an innocent child, wielding
the Sword of Truth, can shatter the Mirror of the Other. Doing that will kill
all doppelgangers.
The Dorian Mirror
When the first character (if you must roll a Luck/Charisma check, the
best result wins) stand before this mirror they will see their reflection (a
debased and old one) offering them immortality in exchange for keeping the
mirror forever hidden. If they accept that they’re immortal as long as the
mirror stands hidden and intact.
What is immortal? They will never age or die (if reduced to 0 hit
points they won’t go lower but will fall unconscious unless they succeed at a
hard Fortitude or Will save every round, Judge’s call, and yes… please change
the saves once in a while).
After 7 days, the pact is sealed and the character discovers that she
must keep the mirror always within 100 feet of her. Otherwise she starts aging
and losing 1 full Hit Dice per round until turned to dust,
Of course, if the mirror is destroyed or anyone sees her reflection she
is also dust. To make things worse, if a wizard (or gods forbid it a
devil/demon) gets the mirror, then the character must obey the owner or start
losing 1 full Hit Dice per day.
Welcome to immortality!
The Mirror of the Trickster
This is the only hand mirror in the room. It is held by a corpse. If
removed it will always show the character doing slightly different things than
what she is doing at the moment. The true effect of the mirror happens if it is
held during combat or while rolling a save or ability check… it literally gives
the character a second chance.
If the character fails at any check (or wants to force the Judge or
enemy to reroll), she can do that if she is wiedling the mirror (yes, let that
clear to the player). She either gains a reroll or forces the enemy/Judge to
reroll. If the result is the same, the Judge should treat it as a critical
hit/fumble. In other words, if the orc hit the character and she requested a
reroll, and then the orc hit again, that second hit is critical. It is the
worst thing possible.
Finally, the gods hate mortals meddling with Destiny/Fate. Any
character that uses the Mirror of the Trickster is immune to beneficial
divine/clerical magic for 24 hours. Oh, and if the mirror breaks the character
is immune to beneficial divine/clerical magic for 7 days and all her critical
successes are considered fumbles for the same period.
