Bohemian, be gone! 'cuz this is all for you.
As the beta storyguide for our troupe, I'm responsible for populating a regio and guiding stories centered on the alpha storyguide's magus, a Bonisagus Seeker. I've decided to invent a new piece of cosmology for the game, and some items to interact with that cosmology. In this post, I give some context and then describe the items, so that I can get some input on whether they're rightly designed. So, with apologies to Lovecraft and Gaiman:
Long ago, a great fey lord took over some wild outer thickets of Arcadia, and with his tremendous power, forged it into the realm of Dream. In our nightly slumbers, we travel to this place, each to his appointed district. Various forces — our own souls, God, denizens of Dream — conspire to produce therein the matter of our dreams. The Lord is a fanatical individualist, and holds each feifdom of dream apart from the others, so that, in our sleeping if not our waking hours, we might be subject to the will of no other and be held responsible for conforming to no creed or vision not our own.
Somewhat more recently, around 200 A.D., three Mercurian wizards established an outpost in some hills north of the Danube. One of them aspired to an understanding of the Dreaming, for he had heard tell that the Lord of Dream was one of, or knew of, the Old Ones. He invented an item, a Cap for Delvers in the Dreams, to allow himself to travel the Dreaming. He also invented a Silver Key (ahem) to ensure that only he would be able to employ the powers of the cap.
Quite a bit more recently, in 1221, the PC magi have established a covenant at the ruins of the Mercurian site. Lying within an on-site regio, the magi will find, after much trial and tribulation, the Cap and the Key.
Okay, so here's the thing. This is the first device I've designed, so I'd love any corrections/input anyone might have. Also, I don't find any guidelines in the rules for the connection between multiple items. I'm not at all confident about the way I've used the Key as trigger for the Cap.
Please advise:
Silver Key:
material: silver
shape: as a large key, the barrel of which is the length of a man's hand, and the teeth extending perhaps two fingers' width from the barrel
penetration: zero
trigger: the Key is triggered when its holder wears the Cap and falls completely asleep
effect: to empower the sleeping holder to employ the powers of the Cap for Delvers in The Dreaming
When the wearer of the Cap falls asleep, she will find herself in front of the great Gates of Dreaming. If she holds the Silver Key, then she may use the key to open the gates; else, she will have a most uninteresting dream until she wakes as she normally would.
level: 45
form/technique: rego vim
range: touch
duration: momentary
target: individual
level: base 40, +1 touch
(The base level is based on the rego vim guideline for creating a conduit or container for spells, and the level 65 of the higher of the Cap's two powers. I have absolutely no idea whether that's a good idea.)
Cap for Delvers in The Dreaming:
material: leather and bone
shape: as a cap the front of which is vaguely like unto a gate of ivory surrounding the face of the wearer
penetration: zero
trigger: the Cap is triggered when its wearer holds the Silver Key and falls completely asleep
effects:
first: To discern the permanent and the shifting in the Dreaming
The wearer of the cap can see the difference between those features of The Dreaming that are the ephemera of individuals' dreams and those features that are long-lasting structural features of the realm, such as the Gates, the Borders, the Paths, and other things.
level: 65
form/technique: intellego imaginem
range: touch (the Cap must be worn to be used)
duration: sun (the Cap works only until dawn, or perhaps dusk)
target: individual (the wearer)
number of uses per day: one (typically, the wearer invokes the effect upon falling asleep and continues to use the item across midnight)
level: base 50, +1 touch, +2 sun
(The base level is based on the 'general' spell guideline for Discerning the Images of Truth or Falsity, which permits the spellcaster to identify illusions cast at a level lower than the spell. I assume that most such things in The Dreaming are created at a level less than 50, but if some powerful creature of The Dreaming wants to hide something, surely it will succeed. The palace of the Lord of Dreams, for instance, was created at a level much higher than 50.)
second: To permit autonomy within the Dreaming
The wearer of the cap is in the same sort of control of her dreamer's body as she is of her physical body in the waking world. She may travel the Paths between dreams, use the Key to enter the Gates, converse with other dreamers and with permanent denizens of Dream, and so forth.
On the other hand, the wearer's dream body acquires a certain permanence or body memory not possessed by most dream bodies. So an injury received during one night's slumbers would be retained, in dreams, until it heals naturally. (Such injuries have no effect on the dreamer's physical body.)
level: 40
form/technique: rego mentem
range: touch (the Cap must be worn to be used)
duration: sun (the Cap works only until dawn, or perhaps dusk)
target: individual (the wearer)
number of uses per day: one (typically, the wearer invokes the effect upon falling asleep and continues to use the item across midnight)
level: base 5, +1 touch, +2 sun, +4 strange effect
(The base level is based on the level to control a disembodied spirit, which I take to be the nature of a dreamer. The +4 is an ad hoc correction to the fact that a device for lucid dreaming, given this cosmology of dreaming, should be quite difficult.)
warping:
Lucid dreaming is a warping experience. For every month of nights spent using the Cap, the wearer receives one points of warping.