Mirror, mirror...

There are many superstitions surrounding mirrors, such as having seven years of bad luck for breaking one, or that they can trap the soul. A couple weeks ago, I came across this blog post with a table of some truly awful effects that mirrors - or any reflective surface for that matter - might have upon their viewers. Something about the disturbing and unfortunate nature of these effects set me to composing my own collection of horrible effects.

Although written with the Pathfinder rule system in mind, it's simple enough to use equivalent mechanics from your own game of choice. I specifically did not list a DC for any of the saving throws as these effects are intended to be used at any level - the DC should scale appropriately with that of the character gazing into the mirror. A suggested DC would be 10 + the character's level.

Become The Monster
Your reflection is a grotesque parody of your true self. Your limbs are twisted and where it hasn’t sloughed off, your skin red and scaly. If you study the image in any way, make a Will saving throw. If you fail, one of your hands twists and warps in horrifying ways. At the same time, the reflection of that same hand reverts to normal. Each time you stand in front of a mirror, you must succeed at another saving throw or suffer a similar transformation to another part of your body until your entire body is vile and deformed. The effect can be ended with a remove curse spell or similar ability. Any deformed appendages remain, although a restoration spell or similar ability can restore your body to normal once the curse is broken.

Betrayed
Everything appears normal in the mirror until you realize that your companions' reflections are leering at you. If you investigate the reflection further, the reflection of one of your companions unexpectedly lashes out at your image. Make a Reflex saving throw. If you fail, your reflection suffers a coup de grace attack. You take the damage and effects that the attack causes. If the result of the saving throw is a natural 1, you are cursed and the attack reoccurs anytime you are standing in front of a mirror - make a new saving throw each time. This curse is lifted when the attack kills you, or is dispelled with a remove curse or similar effect. If you succeed at the saving throw, you (and your reflection) manage to avoid the attack. Your companion’s reflection returns to normal.

Evil Twin
An image of you stares back, but something seems off about your reflected self. If you investigate the image further, make a Will saving throw. If you fail, you find yourself trapped within the mirror. The image simultaneously takes your place. The image has the same equipment and abilities as you, but is of a different moral alignment. If you are of a good alignment, your image is evil, and vice versa. If you are neutral, your image has either a good or evil alignment (GM’s choice).

Hangman's Noose
Your reflection looks back at you, a noose hanging from its neck. Make a Will saving throw. If you fail, the reflection of the noose suddenly snaps upward and both you and your reflection begin to suffocate. Another character must manipulate his reflection to cut the rope. If you succeed at the saving throw, the noose continues to hang from your reflection’s neck, but nothing happens.

Indescribable
The image in the mirror is not of you, but of something so inconceivable and horrifying that you can’t even describe it to yourself. The only escape from witnessing such an impossibility is madness. Make a Will saving throw. If you fail, you suffer 10 points of Wisdom drain. If you succeed, you suffer 10 points of Wisdom damage.


Inferno
The room reflected back at you in the mirror is engulfed in a raging inferno. Everything – and everyone - is ablaze. Make a Will saving throw. If you fail, the room around you also appears to be engulfed in flames. So long as you are in the room, you suffer from heat damage and are at risk of catching fire and smoke inhalation. This effect persists for 24 hours. If you succeed at the saving throw, the fire in the mirror flickers harmlessly and dies out. Everything reflected in the mirror, though, remains burnt and charred.

An Itch You Can't Scratch
Something about the reflection in the mirror makes your skin itch. If you study the image further, make a Will saving throw. If you fail, you begin vigorously scratching at your flesh. Each round, you can only use your standard action to claw to yourself, inflicting 1d3 points of damage in the process (modified for size if other than Medium). If you fail by 5 or more, you use a light or one-handed piercing or slashing weapon (if available) to rake your skin, inflicting its damage upon yourself instead. If you succeed, you reflexively give a shudder, but nothing more happens.

Old Before Your Time
Your reflection beings to slowly age before your eyes. If you continue to watch the mirror, make a Fortitude saving throw. If you fail, you age 1d10 years. You continue to age at this rate every hour until you succeed at another Fortitude save. If you fail the initial saving throw by 5 or more, you age 10d10 years within the span of a few seconds and no additional saving throws are required.

What Was Seen
The image in the mirror is a perfect reflection of the room in which you are standing – and yet something seems off. If you investigate the image further, make a Will saving throw. If you fail, blood begins to flow from your eye sockets as your eyes rapidly liquefy. You are permanently blinded. If you succeed, you realize that the mirror is warped slightly, subtlety distorting the image like a fun house mirror.

Your Own Worst Enemy
Your reflection reaches through the glass and grabs you. With a malicious gleam in its eyes, it tries to pull you into the mirror. Make a grapple check or Escape Artist skill check against your own CMD to break free of your reflection. If you fail, your reflection succeeds at pulling you into the mirror. You must then face your reflection in a fight to the death. If the reflection of anyone else is present, they take no action and do not attempt to help or hinder you. If you die, your reflection emerges from the mirror. Its intentions are left up to the GM. If you kill your reflection, you are able to pass back through the mirror, although you no longer have a reflection. If you break the hold your reflection has on you, your reflection returns to normal.

Unwelcome Guests

A new month means a new topic for the RPG Blog Carnival. This month, Of Dice and Dragons has made the theme "What Walks into Town". My first thoughts go to that iconic scene from old westerns of the mysterious stranger who pushes his way through a pair of saloon doors. Of course, mayhem and death weren't far behind and this was a great place to start when I shifted genres and starting thinking about it in a fantasy setting.

What follows is a collection of twelve guests that may follow your mysterious strangers PCs into town. Of course, they also make great plot hooks that could draw your the party to town as they seek to answer some or all of the questions these unwelcomed guests raise.

1. Pack of hellhounds. As the sky burns pink and orange with the setting sun, the distant howl of a lone dog can be heard. Other canines pick up the call as the day's light continues to fade. Their foreboding chorus comes from every direction, but always getting closer. Moments after darkness settles over the land the flickering light of flames and the smell of sulfur can be detected. A pack of hellhounds materializes on the fringes of the town, ready to run down anyone foolish enough to be outside. Who has summoned these fell beasts? Why do they appear night after night?

2. A masked murderer. As if from nowhere, a stranger appears on the road leading into town. He is plainly dressed in travelling clothes, and this goes almost unnoticed compared to his most striking feature. Piercing blue eyes peer out from behind a stone mask that bear the unflinching expression of disapproval. He does not speak, but draws a sickle from beneath his heavy cloak to wordlessly cut down any who approach him. Even when wounded, he utters nothing more than an annoyed grunt. He may force his way into one or more buildings and slay its occupants before taking his leave of the town. Who is this man? Is he even human? What is his purpose? Where is he heading? Does his mask, or his sickle, give him supernatural powers?

3. Migrating fey. Twice a year, a host of faeries, sprites, and other fey descend upon the town. The first time they come from the east, causing mischief and mayhem as they make their way westward. Several months later, they appear from the west, apparently returning to where they had originated in the east. The townsfolk have adapted to this annual pilgrimage and incorporated it into their local customs. Charms, wards, and even gifts decorate the town in hopes that the meddlesome creatures will leave the residences, their homes, and their businesses unmolested. Where do the fey come from? Where are they headed? Why do they travel like this so regularly? What does it mean if they do not make their annual migration?

4. An opposing army. An army of men, bearing the heraldry of an opposing lord has made camp just outside of town. Their numbers are sufficient to encircle the town, preventing anyone from arriving or departing without their express approval. Patrols monitor the surrounding terrain. At night, bonfires can be seen from every direction. Why have they come? What are their demands? Why have they not attacked outright?

5. A messiah. A plain looking stranger arrives in town. Although humble and soft spoken, he claims to speak for a divine power. He preaches regularly to the residence of a coming disaster and how only he can save them. Through the use of charisma, guile, and perhaps a touch of spellcraft, he gradually begins to build a flock of faithful devotees. Those who begin to oppose his increasing influence disappear. Does this man truly have the favor of a god? What is he planning for the town and its residence? What is happening to those that disappear?

6. The monarch's army. Soldiers in the regional lord's army march their way into town under banners of the liege's iconography. With practiced formality, the commanding officer makes a declaration to the gathering villagers - as faithful servants of their monarch, the community is expected to provide the appropriate hospitality to his host of fighting men. What this equates to is providing food and boarding in the homes of the residence, as well as tending to their mounts, repairing their equipment, and providing whatever other services they require - at a fraction of the normal cost. Why have the soldiers come? How long will they stay?

7. A raving madman. A dirty and scarred man has collapsed just after enter town. His clothes are in tatters, his hair and face are matted with mud. He mumbles incoherently at no one in particular as his gaze is focused on some far off illusion of horror. Those that take the time to understand him may be able to decipher some of his cryptic rambling, but eventually he turns violent. With a fury born of madness, he strikes out anyone near him with whatever implement he can obtain. His insanity is such that he fights until slain. Who was this man? What was it that drove him mad? What was he uttering and what did it mean?

8. A gift. Every morning, a bouquet of beautiful flowers is waiting on the doorstep of a local villager. The assortment of flora is exotic, certainly not a local variety, and carries a pleasant fragrance. On the night after the third gift is left, the individual targeted disappears from their home without a trace. Attempts to watch a targeted resident or their home has revealed nothing. Who is leaving these bouquets? Where do the flowers coming from? What is happening to the villager when they disappear?

9. A horde of undead. A mass of the walking dead have aimlessly shambled their way into town. With no clear direction or control, they begin to decimate the town as they break down doors, slaughter livestock, and feast on the villagers. The herd is vast and possibly outnumbers the population of the village. Can the villagers escape with their lives in time? Might the zombies be driven off or drawn away from the town? Where did they come from?

10. The murder hobos. A motley group of five men and women drift into town. Their clothing and armor represent an assortment of regional styles and each is visibly armed with an array of weapons. Their first stop is the local tavern. They spend their coin readily and behave as if the establishment was theirs. Anyone who does not please them is swiftly cut down, their corpse scoured for valuables. What are these people doing here? How long do they intend to stay? What trouble may follow them here?

11. A bounty hunter. A large, burly man arrives in town by wagon. Aside from an assortment of weapons and restraints, the wagon carries a steel cage just large enough to fit a man. He says little, but if questioned, will admit to be actively tracking a bounty although he refuses to divulge specifically who or what he is looking for. Is the stranger's quarry somewhere in town? Or is he waiting for his bounty to arrive? What collateral damages will the town suffer if the confrontation occurs here?

12. An oracle of death. A vagabond has found her way to the town. She offers to read palms and tell fortunes in exchange for a bit of coin before continuing on her travels. Her insights into the future typically portray a tragic or peculiar incident that will result in the customer's death. Within 48 hours, the events she described are coming to pass. Why is she predicting so many people will die? Is this woman causing the deaths she is foretelling? Has something else sinister befallen the town?