An important magic item forced upon my players for my upcoming game is “radiant manacles” which both render the characters prisoners and allow for surveillance. I’m hashing out the details and have a couple questions.
1) any ideas on properties? So far, I have that the manacles prevent planeshift, blinking, teleportation, and any spell with somatic components. They confer disadvantage on Str and Dex checks, saves, skills that involve hands. The one who holds the “key” can activate the key to make the prisoner light up, get the general direction and distance of wearer, and perhaps cast a sleep spell of a certain level. The radiant manacles also interact with the city’s “radiance” which are basically zones like force fields. This means anyone wearing them are confined to the city’s walls even if they get out. It also means spells are confined to radiance, so the arena, which is surrounded by a radiance zone, protects its spectators through this method
2) what should the key be? I want something unique, so that it’s more than just retrieving the key to unlock. One part of this is the key has an “unfasten” state, allowing players to no longer be bound. The manacles then act like bracelets, with the Str/dex disadvsntagd and somatic spell bans removed, allowing the character to train and fight without penalty. Since “radiance” is the theme, maybe some kind of darkness must be used to turn the manacles off?
Escaping the Ludus and arena is a possibility for this campaign but I want it to be difficult. Looking for creative restrictions that leave room for pesky players. Thanks in advance
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An important magic item forced upon my players for my upcoming game is “radiant manacles” which both render the characters prisoners and allow for surveillance. I’m hashing out the details and have a couple questions.
1) any ideas on properties? So far, I have that the manacles prevent planeshift, blinking, teleportation, and any spell with somatic components. They confer disadvantage on Str and Dex checks, saves, skills that involve hands. The one who holds the “key” can activate the key to make the prisoner light up, get the general direction and distance of wearer, and perhaps cast a sleep spell of a certain level. The radiant manacles also interact with the city’s “radiance” which are basically zones like force fields. This means anyone wearing them are confined to the city’s walls even if they get out. It also means spells are confined to radiance, so the arena, which is surrounded by a radiance zone, protects its spectators through this method
2) what should the key be? I want something unique, so that it’s more than just retrieving the key to unlock. One part of this is the key has an “unfasten” state, allowing players to no longer be bound. The manacles then act like bracelets, with the Str/dex disadvsntagd and somatic spell bans removed, allowing the character to train and fight without penalty. Since “radiance” is the theme, maybe some kind of darkness must be used to turn the manacles off?
Escaping the Ludus and arena is a possibility for this campaign but I want it to be difficult. Looking for creative restrictions that leave room for pesky players. Thanks in advance