Sight-Seeing Highlight "A Hamsterish Hoard"

I found Hamsterish Hoard thanks to The Rusty Battleaxe tonight. Before I talk about Hamsterish Hoard let me recommend the Rusty Battleaxe. Great stuff, you can find worse ways to waste your time, that's for sure. Check it out.

Now, on to Hamsterish Hoard.

I love sites that demonstrate just how great old-school gaming is. One of the main things I prefer about it is what I feel is a greater sense of freedom to be truly creative, to open your mind and let your thoughts hit the paper without actually even thinking about the rules or how you have to follow a system to build the item. Start with the end point, describe it, then decide how much you think its worth. I just don't have the time anymore to work through elaborate calculations of per charge cost, is it a command activation item or a use activated item, what is its caster level? Anyway, while checking it out I found several great things I am going to steal for my Castles & Crusades campaign. I'll list a few and what I like about them...

Monster: Least Shade Spirit
"...least shade spirits are delicate creeping membranes of sooty black lace, or masses of velvet-soft darkness that coil and climb"
-- that's f'n cool.

"their deceptively soft touch dissolves the physical form, causing a -2 penalty to Armour Class for two rounds and a one-hour loss of 1 point of Constitution if a save vs. spell is failed."
-- nasty AND interesting. Awesome.

Monster: Spectrum
"A spectrum is a strange little creature of prismatic light; seven small softly-glowing orbs that orbit around each other or float about in an orderly string of bobbing lights. An uninjured spectrum displays all seven colours of the rainbow, one to each orb, and as damage is taken the glowing spheres wink out one by one in sequential order."
-- how cool is that?

Magic Item: Scarlet Pearl Whisper
"When Scarlet Pearl Whisper is slicked with blood, the donor may call a pearl messenger from the depths of the gem. This wisp of fluid energy may take any physical shape, but always has the appearance of nacreous blood"
-- ewww, but cool.

Magic Item: Snow Cross
"These strange crystalline gems, also known as white crosses, are aberrant growths found in the hips of stone roses, pure white and translucent, they are composed of four prisms of crystal joined in the shape of an equal-armed cross. As a prepared charm a snowcross is carefully and delicately bound with silken threads, gold wire or thin leather thongs and hung about the neck to rest over the heart. A white cross must be so worn for twelve hours before it will function."
-- incredibly interesting and appealing.

Anyway, head over to A Hamsterish Hoard for the full deal. You'll like what you find.