The magi in my saga have become aware of a lynx hovering near their covenant and I wanted to add a little more mythic feel to things. As such, I thought that making the lynxwater ( bestiary.ca/beasts/beast135.htm has a bit more on this ) of a Lynx of Virtue something which can be enriched to provide something useful and fun. Can anyone see any problem with this (written sort-of in character since I'll give them an except from a book on Magic Lore if/when they seek it out):
"The urine of the lynx of virtue hardens to red stone which the beast, being secretive, immediately hides. If found, this stone contains 1 pawn of Intellego vis. The inherent properties may be invoked by ritual, however, and grant to the bearer the clear vision of the beast. If a man claim the stone as his own, and bury it all unknown to others on the new moon and, upon each new moon for three cycles bear it up from the soil and whisper to it his deepest secrets, then he shall have his eyes opened to truth."
Mechanically, I intend the stone, when worn, to grant Second Sight and a +3 to rolls to spot lies and verbal evasion (the Lynx's power over secrets), with any secrets told to the stone (3, 1 per new moon) no longer counting as secrets, mystically speaking, for initiations or the like because they have been shared. I've a couple of plot hooks I think I can hang off such a thing - a local sultan wants the stone himself for obvious reasons, and an Ex Misc magus who gives the stones and the knowledge of how to use them to petty lords and then uses arcane connections and InTe spells to learn the secrets the stone knows so as to blackmail the nobles.
It being my idea, I rather like it. What I want to know is - have I left anything particularly foolish open in here and is it over or underpowered do you think?
From the way you wrote "enriched" I got the impression that this is a spescific rule from somewhere? RoP:M for instance? Anyway, I do not have many of the newer books, but I'll give my two as anyway.
First letting it be one pawn of vis seems entirely reasonable, but I'd rule that removing the vis in any way would ruin the stone, maybe crumble; or more amusingly turn back into its natural element I just couldn't help but picturing a magi holding the stone in his hand to transfer or use the vis... the surprise would be quite amusing.
As for the mechanics, I'd say EITHER Second Sight or a Puissant ability, with Folk Ken or Guile beeing the obvious choices. But I'd also skip the limitation on the number of secrets that could be neutralized (for lack of a better term). Also, should the vis be extracted AFTER a secret has been told to the stone, then that secret would no longer be neutralized. Possibly adding a hidden danger in that the Lynx from whom the stone originated will hear everything told to the stone. Something of the sort. Perhaps even neutralizing the power of the stone should the Lynx be killed.
Of course, since I don't really know what you were referring to with the "enriched" thing, this might all be off the mark.
The rules for enriching stuff appear in RoP:M. One of the coolest elements there.
For not knowing what was being talked about, d31m0z got it quite right I would also say either one or the other, and the enriching method looks OK to me. Puissant guile, Second Sight or othe rsuch abilities look OK to me.
You could also have the lynxwater provide some suitable material bonuses when used as a magic item. Something like +6 Sight, or Truth or something similar.
Actually you can make it enrichable by 2 or more methods. There is precedent for that. Using one method can provide the puissant guile, while the othe rmethod can grant second sight. However, there is already a stone that provides Second Sight, so the guile puissance looks better.
Thanks for all the comments. I think you're right about having what is effectively the granting of two virtues being overpowered. I think I'll keep it with Second Sight, however, since that seems to encapsulate both the finding out of secrets and the perfect vision. True, there are other ways of getting Second Sight, but they're not near the covenant. ::smiles::
I don't actually have my book here at work, but I was working on the theory that once enriched, the item's vis become fixed, much like an invested device, and so can't be extracted. As for neutralising the secrets, my thought was that once a secret is voluntarily told, it's not a secret anymore. Three can keep a secret when two are dead and all that. I do, however, really like the idea that the Lynx learns the secrets and may have to have fun with that.
I just couldn't help but picturing a magi holding the stone in his hand to transfer or use the vis... the surprise would be quite amusing.