GLOGtober 2023 #4: Magister of the Masquerade

13 Oct, 2023

GLOGtober 2023 prompts are here.

 1. Masks, mosques, or musks.

Mask magic - the art of the Magisters of the Masquerade - is a frightfully powerful art that enables to the users to access a collection of powers through special masks. Mask magicians are feared, and highly recognizable - all imbued masks have some sort of obvious magical abnormality.

Starting Equipment: Material to make 4 masks, dagger, book and quill

Starting Skills: Theater and roll 1d3: Literature, Drawing, Religion

Templates

• A) Maskmaker, Mask Magic, +1 MD, roll a common mask then pick a common mask
• B) Duality of Man, +1 MD, roll a common mask then pick a common mask
• C) Pierce the Veil, +1 MD, roll a rare mask then pick any mask
• D) Veiled Master, Endless Masquerade, +1 MD, pick any two masks

A: Maskmaker

You are an expert in all crafting techniques for the purposes of crafting masks and costumes. You can craft fine-looking masks from cheap materials, though their true nature is obvious to closed inspection. When they are powered by your imbued magic, however, the illusion is flawless.

A: Mask Magic

You may spend your entire turn to don and imbue one of your special masks with power (you may doff and stow a mask as part of the same action, and masks do not need to be in quick draw slots). When you do, roll your magic dice as though you were casting a spell and record them with the mask - MD imbued into a mask are not returned until the mask is doffed. Doffing and stowing a mask without donning a new one is an action. These magic dice function as normal (returned on a 1-3, lost on a 4-6, mishaps on double, dooms on triples or higher).

Some magical masks allow you to discharge invested MD. Any given MD can only be discharged once. When discharging individual MD, [discharged value] refers to the value of the discharged MD. The mask's effects continue functioning even after its MD are all discharged.

You may only don one mask at a time. Taking off a mask for any reason immediately ends the imbuement and all ongoing effects of the mask.

B: Duality of Man

You can have two masks donned at a time. Each must be donned and imbued separately. When wearing multiple masks, you may blend their aesthetics into a single mask (for purely aesthetic reasons).

C: Pierce the Veil

You can open or close your mask eyes (glowing eyes overlaid over your regular eyes) as an action. While open, you automatically see through all disguises, shapeshifts, and illusions which conceal or transform (not illusions that create the appearance of something that isn't there). This only detects secret doors, containers, traps, or similar if they are somehow covered up or concealed, not if they simply are constructed in a non-obvious way - for example, a wall that can actually move would not be detected, while a trapdoor below a rug would be. This ability does not pierce fog, darkness, or other similar obscurements that prevent vision altogether unless they are illusory.

However, as long as your mask eyes are open, you are distracted - you automatically go last in initiative and take a -4 penalty to defense.

D: Veiled Master

You can have up to three masks donned at a time.

D: Endless Masquerade

You may discharge your focus in place of discharging a single MD invested in a mask you are wearing, even if the mask is fully discharged. If the mask is a common mask, treat it as discharging an MD with a value of 4. If it is a greater mask, treat it as discharging an MD with a value of 2.

You can regain your focus by meditating for 1 minute, or by donning or doffing a mask.

Mishaps and Dooms

Mishaps

1. You take 1d6 damage.
2. Your MD only return on a 1-2 for 24 hours.
3. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then make a save. Permanent if you fail.
4. One of the dice that led to this mishap is discharged.
5. Both of the dice that led to this mishap are discharged.
6. Oops, the mask slips - spend your action next round adjusting it, or it is forcibly doffed at the end of your next turn.

Dooms

1. Your mouth smooths over. You are unable to speak or eat when not wearing a mask with at least one undischarged dice.
2. Your eyes smooth over. You are unable to see when not wearing a mask with at least one undischarged dice.
3. Your nose smooths over. You are unable to breathe when not wearing a mask with at least one undischarged MD.

You can reset your dooms by crafting a mask made from the face of a magic-user (or highly magical creature, such as a high elf) and grafting it to your own face. Some particularly wicked mask magicians carry several such masks in reserve.

Magical Masks

Masks take an hour of work and a source of suitable raw material to replace, but are not expensive (raw materials cost about as much as a dagger). You can fit two masks in a slot. You can have backup copies of a mask if you desire, but cannot don the same mask twice. Creatures and objects conjured by mask magic share the general aesthetic of the mask.

Each mask has a basic description of its typical appearance when imbued. The magic and your fine craftsmanship typically make them appear much more valuable than they actually are, at least when worn.

12 Common Masks

1: Mask of Missiles

A blue-and-silver mask, gently pulsing with blue energy.

• Action, discharge 1+ MD: For each discharged MD, you fire an unerring bolt of force that deals [discharged value] untyped damage to a target within 100 feet.
• Passive: Reduce all damage from ranged, individually targeted, automatically hitting attacks by [sum]. For example, this would protect from Magic Missile, but not Fireball.

2: Facade of Flames

A red-and-orange mask stylized like flames, which seem to dance.

• Action: Ignite a touched object or creature for [dice] damage per round. If it would not naturally burn easily, it will burn for [sum] rounds or until extinguished (creatures can drop prone and spend their movement or action to roll out the fire). Cannot ignite things that are entirely inflammable.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You fire a bolt to ignite an object or creature at a range of [20 x discharged sum] feet (you must make an attack roll to hit a creature).
• Passive: You reduce all fire damage you take by [2 x dice].

3: Immortal Image

A regal mask with a jeweled circlet, seeming to be carved from gold. It grants you a particularly imperious glare.

• Don: You gain [sum] temporary health.
• Free reaction, discharge 1 MD: You gain an additional save against a poison, disease, death effect, death save, or similar with a [half discharged value] bonus. You may only do this once per effect.
• Passive: You get a [dice] bonus on reaction rolls against creatures with [dice] HD or fewer, and you get advantage on charisma checks against such creatures.

4: Beaked Mask

A bird-like mask that gives your voice a cawing quality. The feathers flex as though flying into a headwind.

• Free reaction, discharge 1+ MD: Up to [discharged sum] falling creatures or objects within 100 feet float gently to the ground. This can prevent indirect fire projectiles from dealing damage, though they may still crush what they land on from their weight after landing.
• Passive: You can fly at a rate of [20 x dice] feet per round. Whenever you take more than [half sum] damage in a single hit, make a DEX save or fall for 1 round.

5: Crown of the Conjurer

A crown with a mask that covers the eyes. It seems to flicker into other dimensions at the points.

• Don: You summon a [dice] HD humanoid minion with [dice + sum] health. It serves obediently and speaks all languages you speak. It is trained like a butler and can attack for 1d6+[dice] damage in melee.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You may teleport your minion to a location adjacent to you. Even if you do not, it regains [discharged sum] health. If it is dead, it is revived with [discharged sum] health instead, but it remains unconscious for 1 minute.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You may share the senses of your minion and communicate with it telepathically for [discharged sum] minutes. It may take this action independently, but the shared senses last for only [discharged sum] rounds instead.

6: Mirror Mask

This full-face mask is looks like a broken mirror. Creatures reflected in the mirror seem like carnival-costumed caricatures of themselves.

• Free action, discharge 1+ MD: You create an illusion that seems exactly like you to all mundane senses save touch. It follows your mental commands for [discharged sum] rounds, appearing to take any actions you would be capable of. When you use this ability again, dismiss it as a free reaction, or this duration ends, the illusion vanishes.
• Passive: A mirror image of yourself that shares your space helps you evade attacks. Whenever you are hit by an attack, it has a 2-in-6 chance of striking the image instead, which destroys the image. It has a [dice]-in-6 chance of returning at the start of your turn when destroyed. This benefit is suppressed while you have a duplicate active, and you may suppress or resume it as a free action at the start of your turn.

7: Physician's Physiognomy

A white plague-doctor's mask that causes you to exhale small puffs of clean-smelling white fog.

• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You may heal a touched creature for [discharged sum] health, or yourself for [half discharged sum + 1] health.
• Action: You may grant a touched creature [dice + 1] temporary health or yourself [half dice + 1] temporary health. This effects ends when you use it again.
• Passive: You may visually diagnose creatures to learn what diseases or poisons it is suffering from, as well as their basic effects.
• Passive: You can

8: False Face

This full-face skin-tone mask is featureless save a single seam down the center, but creates the strong impression of having features (a form of facial pareidolia).

• Don: Choose up to [dice] distinct appearances which follow your rough bodyplan (humanoid-ish, generally) and are between roughly half and twice your size. If [dice] is 3 or more, they don't have to follow your rough bodyplan.
• Action: You may grant yourself one of the appearances chosen until you use this ability again or dismiss it as a free reaction. This illusion is primarily visual, though your clothes and steps make the appropriate sound for the appearance you adopt (your voice is unchanged).
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You become invisible for [discharged sum] rounds or until you take a directly hostile action.

9: Daredevil's Domino

This red domino domino mask grants you a pair of small, glowing horns formed of red light.

• Free action once per turn, discharge 1+ MD: You may freely move up to [5 x discharged sum] feet. This movement can include nimble leaps, swinging along the surface, and scaling sheer walls. You functionally put no weight on any surfaces touched, avoiding hazards such as spikes, pressure plates, and clinging mud.
• Free reaction, discharge 1+ MD: When caught in an instantaneous area of effect (such as a Fireball, but not a cloud of acid), you can reduce the damage you take by [discharged sum].
• Passive: Your nimble movements grant you defense as (per [dice]) leather/chain/plate/+1 per dice past the third.

10: Medusa Mask

This mask is crowned with stylized snakes which seem to squirm and hiss.

• Action, discharge 0+ MD: You gaze at a creature that can see you. It must save or it suffers [dice + discharged sum] points of petrification (which reduces their max HP by that amount) and takes a [dice] penalty to all rolls requiring agility or freedom of movement, such as attack rolls or dexterity saves. This lasts for [dice] rounds if no dice were discharged, or [dice] hours if at least 1 dice was discharged. If this penalty reduces a creature's max HP to 0 or lower, they are permanently petrified (even after you remove the mask).
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You heal a creature of [discharged dice + discharged sum] points of petrification.
• Free action once per turn: You learn the current hit points of a creature you can see if it has [dice + sum] hit points or fewer remaining. If it does not, you only learn that it has more hit points than that. You do not learn what its maximum hit points are or what injuries it may be suffering from.
• Passive: You are immune to gaze attacks. Petrification effect is borrowed from the GLOG All Spells spreadsheet.

11: Visage of the Vizier

This mask features a wizened gray beard, and gives your eyes a knowing twinkle.

• Free action, discharge 1+ MD: You give a particularly sound piece of advice, granting another creature a total bonus of [discharged sum] to checks relating to a specific scenario you are informed about. No more than [discharged dice] of this bonus can be spent on any single check.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You think deeply on a plan, predicting if it is a safe course of action. You have have a [50 + 2 x discharged sum]% chance of getting an accurate answer (weal, woe, or uncertain) - if this chance fails, you always get an answer of uncertain. You can only do this once per plan per day.
• Passive: You have a [dice]-in-6 chance of knowing a single additional piece of information about any topic you consider (you can only consider a topic in this way once per donning of this mask, and can only gain information in this way once per week). If the topic is extraordinarily secret or all information is unknown, such that only a very few or no people would know anything, this ability always fails.

12: Face in the Fog

This pale, smooth face seems slightly faded from reality.

• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You create a cloud of fog that obstructs all vision beyond 5 feet. The cloud has a [15 x discharged dice] foot radius and lasts for [discharged sum] rounds.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You shift your body to a semi-substantial form for [discharged sum] rounds. For the duration, you take half damage from physical attacks, but your physical attacks are useless. Additionally, you can squeeze through spaces large enough to fit your fist.
• Passive: You can see through fog to a range of [10 x dice] feet. When benefiting from this ability, your face is visible through fog at the same range, though this is only sufficient to allow creatures to know your location, and does not make their attacks more effective. You can resume or suppress this ability as a free action once per turn.

8 Greater Masks

1: Seeming of the Shade

This jet-black skull mask seems to drip shadows.

• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You become intangible for [discharged dice + half discharged sum] rounds.
• Action: You silently extinguish a (per [dice]) candle/torch-size or lantern-size/campfire-sized/bonfire-sized light source within 50 feet. Magical light or other sophisticated light sources resume after 10 minutes.
• Passive: You can see in the dark out to a range of [30 x dice] feet.

2: Reaper's Hood

This dark hood conceals one's face in shadow, save their eyes, which glow softly with a pale light.

• Don: You conjure a melee weapon of your choice. You are trained with this weapon's use, treat it as weightless, and get +[half dice] bonus on attacks with it. It is a magical weapon that deals full damage to ghosts and other insubstantial creatures.
• Action: You recall the conjured melee weapon to your hand and repair it.
• Free action upon taking the attack action, discharge 1 MD: You may make an additional attack with your conjured weapon. If it hits, it deals [discharged value] additional damage, and the damage it deals cannot be healed by any means for one hour (even if this mask is doffed). If this attack misses, the discharged MD (or focus, if you used Endless Masquerade) is refunded.
• Passive: You can sense living or undead creatures (and tell which is which) within [15 x dice] feet.

3: Mien of the Master

This mask bears a sneering, imperious visage. Ornamental chains that flit and sway in the area adorn its rim.

• Action, discharge 1+ MD: A creature within 50 feet must save or fall under your control. You have [discharged sum] points of control over it. Whenever you command it to do anything it would normally be unwilling to do, you lose 1 point of control. Whenever you command it to do anything it would never be willing to do, you lose 1 point of control and it resists the command. Additionally, you lose 1 point of control every (per [dice]) minute/10 minutes/hour/day/year. Creatures with HD greater than [discharged dice] get an additional save whenever you lose a point of control.
• Passive: You cannot be magically controlled or charmed (though you can be deceived or tricked magically normally). You automatically identify when other creatures you can perceive are magically controlled or charmed.
• Special: You can craft Minion Masks which can be secured to the heads of helpless or willing creatures. Any creature wearing your Minion Mask is not automatically freed from your control when you take control of another creature or doff the Mien of the Master; has disadvantage on saves against your abilities from this mask; and whenever you gain control over it, you gain twice as much.

4: The Iron Mask

The iron mask has no features save a slit for your eyes, and seems bolted to your head.

• Don: You break free of an effect binding, paralyzing, restraining, or otherwise immobilizing you.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You create a wall of dull gray force, consisting of up to [dice] adjoining 10 foot by 10 foot squares. The wall blocks all movement, even by incorporeal creatures, and is incredibly resilient to damage - it has [10 x discharged sum] health. This effect lasts [half sum + 1] rounds.
• Passive: You get +[2 x dice] on all saves against effects that would bind, paralyze, or restrain you and are always entitled to save against such effects. At the start of each of your turns, you automatically get an additional save against such effects.
• Special: You may don (doffing others as necessary) this mask even when immobilized.

5: Metamorph's Mask

This animalistic mask seems to slowly shift its features.

• Don: Choose [dice] mundane creatures with at most [dice] total HD.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: A touched creature or yourself takes on the form of a kind of creature you've seen before, but it does not gain the creature's magical abilities. Its health does not change. Unwilling creatures may save. The form can have at most [dice] HD, or the HD of the transformed creature, whichever is higher. The effect lasts for [discharged sum] rounds/minutes/hours/days (even after removing the mask) (per [dis])
• One minute of focus: You transform into a creature chosen when you donned the mask. If a form takes more damage than that creature would have in health, you revert to your true form and cannot take that form again until you don this mask again.
• Passive: You cannot be polymorphed or otherwise have your form changed against your will. You can communicate with any creature of a form chosen when you donned this mask, regardless of your form.

6: The Green Mask

This leaf-green wooden mask has a smirk that shifts and quirks when unobserved.

• Action, discharge 1+ MD: A touched plant or object of plant matter animates and becomes able to speak for [discharged sum] rounds/minutes/hours (per [dice]). It will not fight for you or destroy itself, but will generally take other actions or tell you what it has observed. Objects can see and hear out to a [their size] feet (their exposed size, in the case of rooted objects). Rooted objects cannot move from their position, typically.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: A wooden or partially wooden weapon within 100 feet squirms against its user for the next [2 x discharged dice] rounds, reducing all damage it deals by [discharged sum].
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You draw upon the natural energies of the environment. For the next [discharged sum] rounds, you regain 1 health per round. This ends if you take damage from any source.
• Passive: You have [dice] vine tendrils, each with additional reach equal to [5 x dice]. When you use your action to interact with an object or draw an item with a vine tendrils, you may also interact with an object or draw an item with each other tendril. The tendrils can also be collectively to make maneuvers at a distance, but not attack. With 2+ [dice], you can walk using the tendrils.

7: Mask of Doom

Said to have been first designed by a master of both dark magic and technology, this metal mask covers your entire face and has a stern, simplistic design.

• Free reaction, discharge 1 MD: You get a [discharged value] bonus to a check to understand one magical or scientific phenomena. Additionally, you automatically learn its [dice], [sum], and other similar values, if such values exist.
• Action, discharge 1+ MD: You disrupt a magical effect, delaying or suppressing it for [dice] rounds or reducing one if its numeric effects (typically, one calculated as the sum of some MD) by up to [discharged sum].
• Attack: You may fire a beam that deals [1d6 + dice] lightning damage with a range increment of 30 feet.
• Passive: Your personal force fields block the first [dice] damage you would take every round.

8: Mask of Miracles

This mask is made of clearest glass, and seems to have captured the shimmer of the full moon upon a gentle stream.

• Action, discharge 1+ [MD]: Describe an effect, then roll [discharged dice] d6 and add [discharged sum] - this total is the power of your miracle. The effect can be to alter or transform something you can see (by causing a declarative statement to become true) or to create something in an area you can see, but not to move a creature or object or directly harm a creature. Creatures created cannot deal damage, and objects created or transformed are no more effective at dealing damage than their mundane equivalent, and special properties (such as explosiveness or extraordinary flammability) cannot be used to deal damage. The effect has a base duration of [dice] rounds. Each of the following effects increases your miracle's cost by the listed amount, and if it exceeds your miracle's power you take damage equal to the sum of the d6 rolled and the miracle fails.
  • Maximum size of the the thing altered or created: person (+2), wagon (+4), cottage (+6), village (+10)
  • Duration: [discharged dice] rounds (+2)/minutes (+4)/hours(+6)/days (+10)
  • Allow the effect to persist after doffing the mask: +4
  • Magical or unusual properties: +4 or the duration penalty (if higher)
  • Creating a creature: 0-1 HD (+0), 2 HD (+2), 3-4 HD (+4), 5 HD (+6), 6 HD (+10)
  • Altering an additional target: +2 per additional target
  • Each time you've previously discharged the Mask of Miracles today (even if doffed and donned): +2
• Passive: When you look in to a sapient creature's eyes, you must mentally ask one yes-or-no question about it and receive an honest answer ("unknown" can be an honest answer), and it must do the same to you. You both instinctively know what question the other asked. You can only do this once per creature per day.

Discharge ability adapted from Skerple's Sorcerer class.

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