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The Titanotrope Belt
A short while ago, Cadremond came to me. He begged me to find a way for him to become stronger. I tried to reason with the young warrior that he did not have to be immensely strong, but he would not hear it. I explained that any spells I could cast would not last long. His only option was some kind of magical device such as a girdle of strength. He implored me to find or create such a device for him. I told him that the process would be very time consuming and expensive. His answer was to place a small chest on the table in front of me. It contained thousands of gold coins. "This is my share of that giant king's treasure hoard. It is not worth the price that was paid to obtain it. It will go towards the idea that I will never again be powerless to save a friend." I soon began the long process of finding materials for the magical belt. In my planar travels with my friend Cassius, I had come across a subterranean race known as Titanotropes. It is believed that this race is a mysterious offshoot of the giant races. What makes them different is their innate ability to change their size anywhere from human sized to giant sized. In their larger sizes they are possessed of the tremendous giant strength, but that strength is lost as they get smaller. Miners by trade, I believe that they developed this ability in order to move through the mines easier. I had befriended one of their shamans in my earlier journeys and it was this man that I turned to for help. I explained both my quest and the plight of Cadremond. This shaman understood the warrior's pride and he also understood the wound that had been inflicted upon it. He supplied me with a small sample of Titanotrope blood and hair for the enchantment of the belt, along with some amethyst gems from their own mines. With these objects in my possession, I returned to my home and set to work enchanting the girdle of strength. The samples I had obtained created some unusual properties in the belt that were not apparent until Cadremond first used it. Cadremond began to gain strength incrementally. The side effects of this process included an increase in size that destroyed his clothing and armor, and a decrease in Intelligence and Wisdom. His skin took on the dark violet hue that was indicative of the Titanotrope race. With the decrease in his willpower, Cadremond became increasingly uncontrollable and violent. A simple gesture by one of his comrades sent him on a berserker rampage. Had it not been for psionic abilities of his friend Wurth, no one could have stopped him. A psionic blast from Wurth knocked Cadremond unconscious and he reverted to his original human form. When he regained consciousness, I offered to try again. Cadremond steadfastly refused. He said that I had warned him once that Intelligence and Wisdom were as important as strength for a warrior and now he knew it. He would accept the responsible of keeping the belt and would learn to control it. I am proud of the young man's determination. It is a fitting tribute to his fallen friend. from the journal of the Archmage Knolan Appearance: Powers and Abilities: For example, a warrior with a Strength of 15, Intelligence of 17 and a Wisdom of 13 could increase his Strength no higher than 22. His Intelligence would be a 3, affecting all related skills and proficiencies, and his Wisdom would be a 6. This other side effect of using the belt is the bodily changes it brings. The skin takes on a violet hue, no matter what the skin color of the user is. Darker skin would be a darker violet, while pale skin would be a lighter violet. His natural armor class drops to an AC of 6. The body also grows by 25% with each point of Strength gained. For example, the same warrior above starting at 6 and half feet tall would reach a height of about 31 feet. Of course his weight increases the same way. One of the bonuses to this increase in size is an increase in hit points. The warrior gains one hp for every one of his levels multiplied by the number of Strength points he has gained. For example, the warrior above, at 7th level, would gain 49 hit points at his largest size. 7th level= +7 hp points x 7 Strength points gained equals +49 hp. Of course this size increase will destroy any garments worn by the user unless they are enchanted to increase in size as well. The belt automatically alters size to fit the user. The user also takes damage according to his size category. A Wisdom/Willpower check is required to reduce size one step. A successful Intelligence check made prior to this check provides a +2 bonus to the Wisdom check. The check must be made again for each decrease. The user cannot get any smaller than his normal size. If the user ever falls unconscious or dies he reverts back to his original size. This item can only be used by warriors and does not affect ranger or paladin status since it decreases scores only temporarily. However these warriors would not be able to use their activated special abilities when using the item. |
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