The dust storm scroll. Rules wise this was a scroll of dust devil (AD&D 2e spell 2nd level IIRC) but in game it was a cone of sandpaper you'd place on the ground and spin to cast the spell which it would basically grow into. The players thought it was cool

Thunder and Lighting: Paired daggers, once electric, one thundering. Once per day when pushed together created a thundering electric blast.

It's one of them wicked gizmos:

The Ring of Penultimate Entrapment.

When worn, the ring teleports the user and everyone who touches him to a small pocket plane resembling a small, Eden-like valley a few dozens square miles long. The views are idyllic, everything is "just perfect". There's no shortage of awesome food and quality drinks, and while the scenery changes a bit (just to counter boredom), there's always a permanent element: nice, Rivendell-like manor that might accommodate up to 50 guests at once. It features quite a bunch of entertainment - there's a library filled with interesting tomes, small arena, rooms containing board games (well, war games, highly addictive), a series of workshops and forges with no shortage of typical materials, etc, etc. There are also some servant-creatures living there, it's an unique, peaceful species that telepathically communicate with all who travel there and change their shapes according to visitors' sexual desires and aren't shy from fulfilling all their wishes (no judgment here). In fact the interaction with said creatures might prove to be useful from the psychological perspective: one might learn that the sources of his problems come from desires he/she is afraid of. This might become a small sublot on its own.

It takes a day of stay to fully recover from typical wounds and "recharge one's batteries" so to speak. All typical wounds heal rapidly and there's also the possibility to regrow lost limbs (or organs) if one were to spend a month/limb there.

Now, here's the catch:

- An hour spent inside the pocket plane equals a day of outside-world's time. Careful with time management - spend too much time inside and you might miss an important event, like the rise and fall of a kingdom.
- Nothing from the inside might be taken outside, however any thing "fixed" or "repaired" there might be taken back and works as intended.
- There's no shortage of things that might be taken inside and stored - they won't go anywhere, food won't deteriorate. Things that take time to complete (i.e. potion brewing) works only if there are guests inside.
- The only means to reach the plane is to wear the Ring.
- The only way to exit it is to take off the Ring WHEN TOUCHED by all who touched you when you went inside. Meaning: no leaving anyone behind, either you leave all together, or nobody leaves the place.
- You can use the Ring only once per day (outside-world's time), but you can stay inside indefinitely (look below).
- Each day spent inside equals +1 Entrapment point/player character.
- Each time you enter (as a wearer or not) the plane equals +1 Entrapment points.
- Each time you exist the plane equals +2 Points.
- Starting from 50 Points each time your characters suffer a bad luck, get sever wounds, fall ill, etc, they feel very strong urge to travel to the plane. It takes the test of Willpower (or relevant Attribute) reduced by a percentage of Points (for example, if Willpower is of 1-100 range, then reduce it by 1 per 10 Entrapment points) to resist the urge.
- Starting from 100 Points, each attempt to leave the place requires relevant test, fail meant that NOBODY in your group may leave the place for the rest of the day and equals immediately bonus +5 Points for the one who failed and +1 for everyone else.
- Amass 1000 Points and you're prohibited to leave the place. Ever. You will, in fact fight anyone attempting to drag you out of it and if successfully abducted, you will spend some time attempting to go back, and, if you fail, you will die of sorrow. This might be prevented if there's help available - some mental asylum, good care, etc.
- While you don't age physically during your stay, you age mentally and quite rapidly. The more time you spend inside, your intelligence, curiosity, wisdom and similar attributes deteriorate. Not because something sinister drains you, but because you simply become fed up with the outside world, treat it as something dirty, dangerous, bothersome and eventually forget about it and allow yourself to be driven by simplified motivation, cycles of eat-enjoy-sleep. No matter what race you come from (long lived or near immortal), you eventually die. It happens peacefully - you fall asleep and don't wake up.
- When the last "guest" dies, the Ring will return to the world and spawn at "random" place.

History:

- Long time ago, a certain Lich decided he won't be bothered by those damned adventurers again, so he sent his accomplice to do sort of research. She joined the band that pestered her master and spent some time adventuring with them, only to learn that their deepest desires stripped off sophisticated elements are very simple: to be well fed, safe, not bothered by the big world.
- She returned to her master with her observations, and thus the Ring was created. It's single purpose was to provide a tempting prison for GOOD characters (from the perspective of a Lich, evil is manageable, it might be bought, manipulated into willing cooperation), one relying on the best weapon in Lich's arsenal: outliving its enemies.
- While made by certainly evil and powerful being, the Ring can't be considered evil, because all it does is to fulfill the most basic needs sharing by the majority of human beings. Even the Entrapment points aren't curse or anything similar - they represent the inner urges, survival instincts and other factors that produce man's thirst for peace, happiness and safety. The only real threat - the time flow - can't be considered "evil" either, it's there "only" to provide certain conditions required for rapid healing. All in all, no matter how researched and studied, there's no way for either the Ring or any element of the pocket plane to come out as "a trap" or "dangerous". It's really what it is, an idyllic Eden.
- Even when its creator is since long truly dead and forgotten, the Ring shows up here and there, as a highly sought award, an artifact of unmeasured value. It's often called "The Solace", "The Haven" or even "The Ring of Eden". It was used by knights and sorcerers, generals and sheikhs, the majority of which disappeared without a trace (which shouldn't be worrying at all, since, heck, disappearing without a trace is part of adventurer's life). So far, nobody managed to see the Ring for what it is: a prison. If someone understood that, his opinion was disregarded and forgotten.
- The Ring shouldn't ever come into play too early, it's something player(s) have to earn "hard way", a gift from a grateful/hateful NPC (respectively an ally who doesn't understand the true purpose of the device, or a trickster enemy who realizes it all too well). Initially, it should be used as means to recover from wounds, great alternative to healing potions and other recovery options and a portable storage device.
- The Ring is supposed to be "bulletproof" device, so feel free to add additional elements according to your players' wits, or make sure there's some backdoor if you want them to escape. Do bear in mind that it's the equivalent of delayed "rock falls, everyone dies".

Oh, one observation: at some point there might be a discussion with players insisting that their PCs are above such a meager needs as "safety". Calmly remind them that they aren't their own PCs and while they might play RPGs to escape the boredom of "safety", their characters are probably raised in a violent and dangerous world and they might develop different opinions regarding what's truly important in life.

In short: yes, you're bored by that. But your character isn't and in that conflict you lose. And that's the true evil of this tiny, shiny device.

Enjoy.

That ring idea is good.  How many times did you use it?  How much game time before the party was trapped/died?

The Scrotum of Vecna!

Despite its artifact-level magical aura, it doesn't have any real powers, but it has duped many annoying power gamers into castrating their characters.

Quote from: JesterRaiin;896837Oh, one observation: at some point there might be a discussion with players insisting that their PCs are above such a meager needs as "safety". Calmly remind them that they aren't their own PCs and while they might play RPGs to escape the boredom of "safety", their characters are probably raised in a violent and dangerous world and they might develop different opinions regarding what's truly important in life.

In short: yes, you're bored by that. But your character isn't and in that conflict you lose. And that's the true evil of this tiny, shiny device.

Enjoy.

Well, to be fair, there were quite a few characters who found "safety" boring and went on to adventure, despite being raised in quite violent places. If anything, I find that players have a harder time relating to those:D.

Quote from: Xavier Onassiss;897012The Scrotum of Vecna!

Despite its artifact-level magical aura, it doesn't have any real powers, but it has duped many annoying power gamers into castrating their characters.

That's called "missing an opportunity", I believe;).

I made a couple of interesting ones in Dark Albion, and also a ton of crazy/goofy magic items that have shown up in my DCC campaign.

Would you describe one?

Quote from: Vic99;898232Would you describe one?

Well, the best one is probably the Lance of Mithras, which has been split into several parts, each of which has a separate power and is found in a different location in the world.  These locations were based on legendary references to places where pieces of the 'spear of destiny' were said to have been located in the 15th century.