| The Willow Sourcebook |
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Wizards can invest objects with part of their power. Willow's High Aldwin used acorns, but he might as easily have chosen bones or peach pits or sparrow feathers - anything that was once alive. The advantage is that a mage can encapsulate his power for later use or by others. The drawbacks are equally clear. The user may fail in directing the magic, as when Willow dropped one of his acorns and missed the troll on the castle bridge at Tir Asleen. More important, the enchanted item can be taken and used against the owner. Lucky indeed that Willow avoided that fate. Those adept in magic, or powerful in their own way, can resist the acorns' petrifaction. Bavmorda triumphed over Willow's last acorn through a profound effort of will. She may have been the only person able to resist its spell, but future acorn throwers should not count on it. GAMING NOTES The acorns work as a standard petrifaction effect in your game's magic system. They turn anything they are hurled at into stone. An acorn affects only a single object; you can't drop one in a river and turn the water to stone! In debatable situations, the gamemaster's word is final. Anyone can use an acorn. The user makes an ability check against his skill in throwing weapons - or, if your system has no such skill, a check against dexterity. Success means the acorn hits the target. Victims get a saving throw versus (of course) Turn to Stone, or an ability check against the character's highest magic skill. Characters without magic skill use half their constitution attribute, rounded down. |
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