Leira’s Coin of Willful Deception (Artifact)

Written by Justin Mason

Leira’s Coin of Willful Deception

This large copper coin has been masterfully crafted, and minted with the image of a two-headed maiden on one side, and a grinning skull on the other. It is fairly thick, and along the edge has been delicately engraved in the common language, “One is never more truthful than when acknowledging oneself as a liar.”

This coin has only one use per 24-hours, and can only be activated when knowingly attempting to utilize its power. The effect is activated by tossing/flipping the coin, catching it in the air while focusing on the target, and promptly placing the coin back into a small pouch or sack containing 99 non-magical copper coins. If the result of the toss is witnessed by any party then the effect of the artifact is nullified. If there are any other items in the container, or if there are more or less than 99 other standard copper coins in said container the effect will still function, however the item will not recharge until these specifications are met.

Target: a single sentient individual within 100-yards.

Mechanics: The coin toss should be handled by the Game Master, and the result of the coin toss hidden from the player. The player will remain indefinitely unaware of the which of the two possible effects have been activated.

Detection: Once the daily charge is used-up, the coin becomes just a regular copper coin, and as such cannot be detected by any magical means until the charge returns 24-hours after being activated.

The Artifacts Effects:

Coin Toss Results of Heads (Grinning Skull):
For 24-hours, the character gains a +25 to all Bluff checks made towards the specified target.

Coin Toss Results of Tails (Two-Headed Maiden):
For 24-hours, the character is penalized -13 to all Bluff checks and -13 to all Sense Motive checks. This effects all checks made by character towards any target.

Cumulative Effects:
If the coin’s effects are successfully used (results of heads) three time in a row on a single target (over a period of 3-days), then an additional effect comes into play for each concurrent successful attempt on the target. This additional effect is upon the target and acts as the Charm Person spell at a Caster Level (CL) of 20 with an effect duration of 24-hours. When affected by this cumulative effect, the target is also penalized -13 on all "opposed Charisma checks" when attempting to counter orders from the character to do something the target wouldn't normally do. This cumulative "charm" effect also affects targets of a race, species, or class that would normally be immune to such charm effects.

Introduction of Artifact

This is a great little artifact to introduce into a campaign. It is a fairly powerful item, yet still very easy to overlook. After all, when was the last time any of your characters detected magic on a common pouch filled with 100 copper coins? It is also a great tool to use when introducing a particularly devious npc; especially one trying to deceive the characters.