Advanced Heroquest: Magic Treasures

The outtakes from Advanced Heroquest Undead Supplement (published as Terror in the Dark) continue this week with a selection of magical treasures that I submitted with the original manuscript. Next week, I’ll post the final instalment, on mundane equipment.
All Posts in this SeriesThe Quest Machine, Part 1: Royal Tombs and Monument
The Quest Machine, Part 2: Monastery Catacombs and Sanctuary of Morr
The Quest Machine, Part 3: Cemetery and Place of Legend
The Quest Machine, Part 4: Underground Battlefield and Dwarfhold Tomb Complex
The Quest Machine, Part 5: Necromancer’s Lair and Evil City
The Quest Machine, Part 6: Overrun Necropolis and Vampire’s Stronghold
New Magic TreasuresHere are some new magic treasures, each with a special relevance to the undead. To include these in your games, use the Treasure Chests Table as usual. If a Magic treasure is indicated, do not roll on the Magic Treasure Table straight away. First, roll a D12 – on a roll of 12, roll on the table below; on a roll of 1-11, roll on the Magic Treasure Table as normal.
D12 Item
1 Scarab of Ra
2 Raven talisman of Morr
3 Sword of Sanctity
4 Scroll of Sanctuary
5 Arrows/Bolt of Life
6 Amulet of Strength
7 Amulet of Courage
8 Amulet of Life Protection
9 Amulet of Proof Against Poison
10 Sword of Life
11 Amulet of Life Warding
12 Wand of Light
Scarab of RaA magical gem from far-off Araby, the Scarab of Ra is a polished stone carved into the form of a desert beetle. Any Mummy struck by the Scarab is immediately destroyed. The Scarab may be thrown, with a range of 4 squares, even if the Hero has moved that turn. It may also be used to strike a Mummy in hand-to-hand combat, although this is a lot more risky! A thrown Scarab may be recovered and used again.
Raven Talisman of MorrThis is a magical carving about the size of a man’s palm. Made of black stone, it is carved into the form of an open portal with a raven perching on the top. The power of Morr, the guardian of the dead, is channelled through the carving, and a Hero who holds up the carving in front of an undead creature becomes Fearsome to that undead creature if the undead creature passes an Intelligence test – if not, the creature is too stupid to recognise the symbol, and is not afraid of the Hero!
Sword of SanctityThis sword automatically destroys any Daemon or undead creature which it strikes. If the hit roll is successful, the creature is destroyed; there is no need to roll for Wounds.
Scroll of SanctuaryThis scroll may be read by a Wizard in the same way as any other magical scroll. When the Wizard reads the scroll, a glowing ring of golden light appears on the floor, tracing out the Wizard’s death zone. No undead creature or Daemon may cross this line or attack across it in any way. Living creatures may cross the ring and attack across it freely, with both weapons and spells. The ring fades at the start of the next exploration turn. When the incantation is read, the scroll crumbles to dust.
Arrows/Bolt of LifeWhen one of these magical missiles hit an undead creature, it is automatically destroyed. Against all other targets, it counts as a normal arrow or bolt. The arrow or bolt is destroyed when it hits an undead creature. To discover whether you have found an arrow or a crossbow bolt (and how many!), roll a D12: 1-3 = 1 bolt, 4-12 = 2 arrows.
Amulet of StrengthWhen this magical amulet is found, roll a D12. The result is the number of “charges” the amulet has. When a Hero wearing the amulet is struck by a Wraith, or suffers any other magical effect which would reduce his Strength, cross off one “charge” from the amulet instead of reducing the Hero’s score. When the amulet runs out of charges, it crumbles to dust, and any further attacks affect the Hero normally.
Amulet of CourageWearing this amulet adds 2 points to a Hero’s Bravery score. Note that it cannot increase a Hero’s Bravery score above 11 – if a Hero with a Bravery score of 10 puts it on, it only adds 1 point, and if a Hero with Bravery 11 or higher puts it on, it does nothing at all!
Amulet of Life ProtectionWhen this magical amulet is found, roll a D12. The result is the number of “charges” the amulet has. When a Hero wearing the amulet is struck by a Spectre, cross off one “charge” from the amulet instead of reducing the Hero’s characteristics. When the amulet runs out of charges, it crumbles to dust, and any further attacks affect the Hero normally.
Amulet of Proof Against PoisonWhen this magical amulet is found, roll a D12. The result is the number of “charges” the amulet has. When a Hero wearing the amulet is struck by a poisoned attack (including the claws of a Ghoul, the bite of a snake, or whatever), cross off one “charge” from the amulet. The poison does not affect the Hero, and the attack causes damage as normal. Thus, the Ghoul loses its normal +1 to Wound rolls, the dagger of a Skaven Gutter Runner counts as a dagger instead of a sword, and so on. In most cases you should have no trouble discounting poison damage from an attack, but if in doubt, the Hero suffers half the damage that the poisoned attack would normally cause. When the amulet runs out of charges, it crumbles to dust, and any further attacks affect the Hero normally.
Sword of LifeThis weapon is a Banesword, enchanted to cause more grievous wounds when fighting undead. Roll to hit and wound as normal; the sword causes double the normal number of Wounds to an undead target.
Amulet of Life WardingAn Amulet of Warding protects its wearer against the attacks of undead monsters. A Hero wearing an Amulet of Warding will suffer one less wound from each attack by an undead creature. In addition, an undead creature can never get a free attack while fighting the Hero.
Wand of LightThe Wand of Light can only be used by a Wizard. It fires a bolt of pure life-essence up to 12 squares in the Wizard’s line of sight. Place a fireball template at the target point – every undead creature which is wholly or partly under the template is hit by a number of damage dice equal to its own Toughness score – the tougher it is, the more the life-essence harms it! The bolt has no effect on creatures other than undead.