The most comprehensive list of special items

[stormgod]

No kidding, huh? Well that IS interesting. Yeah, i would definitely convert it to blackrazor(stormbringer) then. Thanks for the info, hal!

Anyone else?

 

[chrono_hal]

Found a quote. It's from the newsletter No. 27 (June 1994) in the "Gwynian's Forum" :

***
Is Helshezag or 'Black Sword' a tribute to Michael Moorcock, and have Joe Dever and he ever met? (B.M.)

Yes—‘Helshezag’ is a subtle tribute to Michael Moorcock’s ‘Storrnbringer’ (Elric of Melnibone’s treacherous runesword), although the proper-ties of the two weapons are different. Joe and Michael met at the Sci-fi Hugo Awards a few years ago in Brighton, Sussex.
***

"the proper-ties of the two weapons are different", just like I guessed. With Helshezag at least, the deal is tough but clear and fair. I guess it/she/he is "only" lawful evil rather than chaotic evil like Stormbringer. :wink:

 

[stormgod]

There was a neat thread on the project aon boards and a poster was comparing the summersword and heshezag. He was saying that summerswerd would promise you power, but subtly buff up your opponents (you can see this in some key battles, if you have a summerswerd, the CS of certain opponents is higher, if you don't, it's lower!), whereas helshezag, is up front about its nature, it gives you power, but lets you know about its drawbacks upfront.

Summersword=lying politician
helshezag=cuthroat, yet honest, businessman

You can see the whole thread over at project aon.

 

[raethryn]

I went back and checked through my books on that. I guess you could attribute that to the Sommerswerd only being created to destroy the Darklords and other direct seeds of Naar. Hmmmm more reasearch is definately warrented.

 

[North Star]

What about that nasty black spiked mace that the villain at the end of Cauldron of Fear wields (all names escape me currently)?
In the picture he's wearing a spike helmet, carrying that mace and has an aura around him which fries someone who tries to stick a spear in him.

NS.

 

[Reginald de Curry]

That's not a mace, that's Zakhan Kimah's Orb of Death.

 

[North Star]

Well, what about it? I'd like to see that around

NS.

 

[ParanoidObsessive]

Kalte Firesphere, Another neat Joe Dever invention. You received it in Caverns of Kalte, from some crazy ice barbarians. Mainly provided you with light for the rest of the books, instead of using a torch. Don't ever remember throwing it like they describe in the rpg, but oh well. It is converted in the rpg.

The single thing that annoyed me the most when going from Magnakai to Grand Master was that the Firesphere wasn't one of the Special Items that you could bring across. I loved that little thing!

Black Crystal Cube, Proves Dever had a malicious side. The ultimate red herring, this cube would blow up when you least needed it to, and you often got killed because of it. A darklord invention. Not converted in the rpg, I would say it does a 6d6 explosion in a 20' radius, and can be telepathically activated by any drakkirim, nadizirim, or darklord. There were several books you could get this little stinker.

It IS converted in the RPG - look up Nadziranim Power Crystal in The Darklands book (p.99).

Bullwhip, If you are suspicious of a hut in book 9 (or 10, I am not sure) you get in a fight with some guy that otherwise would be happy to share a meal with you. You kill him and take his stuff, and one of them is a great looking bullwhip that has studs of copper stiched through. Ouch! I would convert it into a masterwork bullwhip that does the next higher damage die for said weapon type (for instance, if it does 1d4, normally, it would do 1d6 with this weapon.)

That was in Dungeons of Torgar, and as far as I recall, that whip had special properties when fighting ghosts ... Now if I only remembered where I read that...

Later in the same book, you can use the Bullwhip to fight spiritual creatures on the Isle of Ghosts... the little copper nuggets glow when spirits are nearby.

Silver Bow of Duadon, Had to beat a tough ranger in book 6 to win this in a contest. Whatever you do, don't let a bowyer in later books test it out either. Statted and converted in rpg. Since it said master duadon was the best, I would either give it another +1 enhancement bonus, or i would increase the range increments, or both.

Yeah, THAT jerk is in the town of Tharro in The Jungle of Horrors. First he tries to shoot you with your own bow if you let him borrow it, THEN he blocks your attack with it when you retaliate, ruining the bow.

Actually, there is a platimnum amulet that you get somewhere else (not that I ever found out what it did). In book 12, it is a golden amulet. You can read it at project aon. Its like in the first three pages, and theres no way you can't receive it, so its not like you have to read a bunch of stuff.

The Masters of Darkness amulet is gold in mine.

A platinum amulet was also in Castle Death. It protected you from the super-heated tunnel leading to Zahda's lair. I think Nexus worked there, too.

The Platinum Amulet is basically like a charm that duplicates the effects of Nexus, and the first time you can find it (but not the last) is indeed in Castle Death.

 

[Baron Von Ed]

Yes, the Platinum amulet was just really handy, unlike the Crystal Star Pendant which gives you the amazing ability to recognise Banedon when you meet him in book 5: so glad I detoured North East to save him from the Giaks for that essential Special item.

 

[Wannabe Drakkar]

don't mess with the crystal star pendant! it's also useful for cutting poison from your body when you've lost all your weapons! (Fire on the Water)

 

[Baron Von Ed]

Well I never; I didn't know that. In Fire on the Water I was always too busy getting crushed by masts, killed by Priests or mauled by Helghasts to have time to get fancy with my Crystal Star Pendant.

 

[Anonymous]

Don't forget the Doom Stones crafted by Agarash in MS 6700. Perfact evil artifacts to arm your villens with.

 

[Ghost Bear]

The Doomstones of Herdos, Ikaya and Darke have been converted for the RPG (in the Darklands supplement).

At the risk of sounding like I'm blowing my own trumpet, I did a few Special Item conversions over at TotS. You can see the results of my efforts here.

-GB

 

[Anonymous]

Here are a few special items ripe for conversion. I'm sure some of them have been done (maybe even in the RPG itself--I don't have it handy to check), and I'm not the one to do them, but perhaps someone else will pick these up.

Psychic Ring: Found in the Cauldron of Fear in Zaryx, seems to aid in psychic combat.

Grey Crystal Ring: Found in the Jungle of Horrors in a magic item shop, and functions much the same as the Psychic Ring.

Lodestone: Other than being particularly heavy, it doesn't seem to do much, though a lodestone traditionally has magnetic properties. In any case, it's magic, and you find it after fighting the Vordaks in the Jungle of Horrors.

Sabito Root: Not a Special Item, but cool all the same. The “blue pills” allow you to breathe oxygen underwater through your pores. You can find them in the Cauldron of Fear, but they’re also in Castle Death--you just end up losing them in the end.

Deathstaff: The eeeeevil Deathstaff, legendary in the Grand Master series, and very powerful.

Jewelled Mace: Mentioned already, the mace from Shadow on the Sand helps to fight against illusions at least once in the series.

Amulet of the Shianti: One of the items you can take with you from Grey Star the Wizard, it adds Willpower, and has other uses as a focus for magic.

 

[DuskFox]

The above post was me--I guess I got logged out. Weird.