The Verdant Censer of the Serpent’s Breath is a Possessed Item designed for elite dungeon exploration. This bronze vessel is covered with interlocking serpents and glows with a faint, luminous green light.
To activate the censer’s primary functions, a character must perform a Communicating + BRAIN Bonus Skill Roll against a Moderate Challenge (DT 15) to successfully commune with the wary tomb-spirit trapped within. On a success, the character may invoke one of three magical effects created by an ancient group of powerful sorcerers who created the item.
- First, the item can Emit Light, shining with a greenish hue like a torch for 10 minutes per caster level to pierce the suffocating darkness of a sealed tomb.
- Second, once per day, the user may pay a cost of 3 Health Points to release a restorative haze that functions like the Druid spell Health Berries, providing 2d4 HP of healing to the party.
- Finally, while the censer is held aloft, it grants the bearer Advantage on all Craftiness Skill Rolls used to search for hidden traps or discover sneaky plots within the dungeon.
However, because this is a Possessed Item, it carries a distinct supernatural risk and personality. If the character rolls a natural 2 on any Skill Roll while using the item, the serpent spirit within lashes out in a psychic fit, inflicting 1d4 damage directly to the character’s BRAWN Stat. This stat damage represents a long-term physical disability that requires at least two weeks of medical attention and bed rest to fully recover. Discovering such a rare artifact is often the culmination of a dangerous ritual or a specific quest into the depths of a long dead king’s burial vault.
