While wearing this mask you feel the bewitching powers of a green hag coursing through you. You can cast the following cantrips at will, requiring no material components: dancing lights, minor illusion, vicious mockery. The mask’s spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12).
This mask has 3 charges. While wearing it, you can use an action to expend 1 of its charges to cast the fear spell (save DC 12). The mask regains 1 expended charge daily at midnight. If you expend the mask’s last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the mask shrivels away into nothingness and is destroyed.
Appearance: The hag mask looks like the leathery face and head of a green hag with warts and strands of hair. It has eyeholes and a mouth slit. In dim light or darkness, the mask is just realistic enough to fool some people into believing the wearer is an actual hag.
Background: The mask is the sliced off face skin and scalp of a green hag named Auntie Bittersweet. She lost a bet with her coven sisters, and the only way to remain part of the coven was to cut off her own face. Taking it as a trophy, the other hags stitched it into a grotesque mask and imbuing it with magic.
This mask fell out of possession of the hags when their coven was destroyed by adventurers. Morbid collectors and wannabe witches have owned it in the past. The mask is currently on display in an oddity shop, its owner eager to sell it while being completely unaware of its magical properties.
Optional Drawback: Auntie Bittersweet the hag is still alive and still faceless. When a character wears the hag mask, Auntie Bittersweet can see and hear what the wearer does. Whenever the wearer uses its fear spell power, Auntie Bittersweet can speak through the wearer’s mouth. She bides her time, collecting information on the wearer and taking every opportunity to poison their friendships. Auntie Bittersweet wants her face back, and she will eventually claim it once more.
Notes: Utility, Combat, Headwear
This is a great idea, you could build a pretty good low level adventure around it.
If the spellcasting ability is Charisma, why is the DC fixed?
This a creepy and useful magic item- perfect for horror and comedic games alike! I love it!
A "hag" could potentially be a kindly old woman wearing a hag mask. The mask made the citizens fear and distrust her, so she was eventually exiled into a dreary swamp. The old lady only became rude and evil because of how the townsfolk where mistreating her. Maybe make this item cursed so it distorts the wearer's voice and personality and can never be removed. The goal of the adventure would be to try and lift the curse off the old lady before she uses wicked magic to cripple the town that shunned her. During the encounter with the "hag," the players would learn the truth, and there would be another quest of trying to free the woman from the cursed mask. It would be trying to locate a wise, old wizard and beseeching for his services.