In our Dungeons & Dragons group, we all take turns acting as Dungeon Master. It's a great way to spread the load and avoid DM burnout.
It's a very long running tradition that if I'm in the "hot seat" at Christmas, then I have a Yuletide Gnome who comes out and gives gifts to the characters. Strangely enough, every year it seems that they finagle it so that I'm DM at Christmas time, Funny how that works out !
The gnome himself is an employee of "the Fat Man", and is the most slovenly, grumpy, unhygienic specimen imaginable. This year, he demanded mince pies and sherry on arrival, grumbling and complaining that the Fat Man doesn't pay him, so he is effectively a slave. But he still did his job and handed out prezzies to the characters.....
Image created by AI in NightCafe Studio
The gifts he gave were to a D&D 3.5 edition group of characters. They are currently in a bit of a low magic area, so the gifts were designed to give a serious boost to their abilities, while also being unusual and flavoured for each character.
They were as follows;
To Sulinn, a Tiefling-Halfling Ninja
Rattling around in a gold-wrapped shoebox is a very nice +1 adamantine kukri, with a suitably blued and matt-etched blade.
It also has a spring-loaded +1 shuriken in its hilt. The shuriken can be fired as a free attack which doesn’t attract attacks of opportunity in the event that an enemy is to the direct rear within 10 feet while she are in combat with an enemy to the front. An intelligent living opponent hit by the shuriken must make a will save (DC= 10+ your current level) or be shaken by the surprise of this. Undead, constructs & unintelligent foes are too dumb to be surprised by such a ruse.
Sulinn has been trying to get her hands on a magical kukri for a while now, so this was the perfect gift for her, especially as it adds to her ability to deliver sneaky surprises to unsuspecting enemies.
To Brae, a gnomish favoured soul healer
A favoured soul is a bit like a clerical equivalent of a sorcerer, casting a more limited range of divine spells but without the need to select at the start of the day which ones to prepare. Brae mostly focuses on close-in combat healing.
Her gift is a stubby little wand-like object with a stylised gloved hand on the end. This wand can deliver a touch spell you cast to an ally within 15 feet, activated as a free action as part of the casting process. When this is done, the hand detaches from the wand, zips forward and applies the spell – no touch attack required or attack of opportunity attracted.
Also, three times a day if Brae holds and focusses on it (i.e. uses a standard action) during the round before casting, any random numbers less than 50% of the maximum can be re-rolled until they get to that threshold (e.g. a Cure Light Wounds spell using a D8 will always be rolled until the die comes up with a number between 5 and 8).
To Walchelin, a Tol-Dannath Crusader-Cleric (an absolute tank !)
A beautiful and functional-looking mace. It is actually a +1 weapon.
Additionally, three times a day as a standard action, it can be thrown in the general direction of an enemy. At this point, it becomes a spiritual weapon. It functions in all respects like the spell, but (because it’s +1) as if cast as one level higher than your current level. The +1 is also added to it’s attack rolls and damage. At the end of it’s duration it pops out of existence and re-materialises a round later in it’s usual position hanging from Walchelin's belt.
With Walchelin being primarily a close-combat fighter (and a dangerous one at that !) this gift gives him a versatile and powerful long-range capability. It also helps him meet one of the requirements of the Tol-Dannath order which he was breaching, which is to have both bludgeoning and slashing weapons at his disposal.
To Cato, a half-elf sorcerer
Amulet of Tears for Fears. This amulet looks and behaves like an Amulet of Tears, granting temporary hit points as per the rulebook.
However, three times per day if an enemy attempts to engage Cato in melee combat, as they are about to make their attack roll he can choose as a free action to sacrifice some of the temporary HP. This will cast Fear on that specific opponent, with a DC equal to 10 + Cato's current level + the number of Temporary HP sacrificed. An enemy who succeeds is shaken for a round, one who fails is panicked for a number of rounds equal to Cato's level. It won’t affect enemies who are not subject to fear effects.
To Una, a human warlock with a gambling-oriented patron
A token in the shape of a bronze rabbit’s head, which ties with a silver cord to the wrist (even though there isn’t normally such a thing as a wrist slot in D&D 3.5 edition...). It can be used 3 times a day to do one of two things.
First, as a free action it can be used before a melee attack. Doing this will add 2d6 to Una's sneak attack, as well as increasing the chances of a critical hit (if applicable) by +1.
Second, it can be activated as a free action to automatically pass a concentration check when using an invocation while within an enemy’s threat range. This is a very useful way for Una to use her warlock abilities in close-quarter combat !
I can safely say that the characters (and players !) were all very happy with their gifts 😀