All-A-Gog

July 30th, 2015

Today is the final day of Gog Week, the week in which we introduce and support a new player character race that is closely related to the imp. You can learn more about these diabolical fiends in this week’s Exotic Encounters, but today we’re going to focus on some gear that was inspired by gogs and their cousins, the imps.

DIABOLIST’S TOME PRICE 25,000 gp

Slot none; CL 7th; Weight 5 lbs.
Aura moderate transmutation

This impressive-looking tome is bound in black leather and features a silver pentagram embedded in its cover. Some versions of the book instead have stylized skulls, often with horns, or a similar motif, making it all but impossible not to identify it as an evil book at a glance. Its vellum pages are strange, and come from no known animal, while the ink has a slightly reddish tone, suggestive of dried blood. Each page within the book is identical, featuring a single paragraph of apparently nonsense words repeated over and over.

If the book is opened and the paragraph is read aloud, an imp is summoned, which serves the reader as an improved familiar. The imp’s loyalty is to the holder of the book, rather than to the individual reader, and it will regard whoever possesses the book as its master. Most of the time, the imp will serve its master with surprising faithfulness, though it will constantly urge him towards evil courses of action. If its master proves particularly unwilling to compromise with the imp’s evil desires, or if it is abused by its master, however, the imp will begin to subvert orders it is given, obeying their letter but acting directly contrary to their spirit.

The imp functions in all ways as an imp gained with the Improved Familiar feat. If its master is at least 7th level, it uses its master’s level (combined from amongst all classes) to determine the familiar benefits that it gains. Otherwise, it is treated as though its master were 7th level. In addition, the imp has 7 ranks in three Knowledge skills, determined when the imp is first summoned. These skill ranks are in addition to the normal skill ranks it would receive as a result of its Hit Dice and being a familiar.

If the imp is slain, it can be summoned again in the same fashion 24 hours later. Each diabolist’s tome is linked to a particular imp, and will always summon the same imp. If that imp is permanently destroyed, imprisoned, or is otherwise unable to be summoned for whatever reason, the link passes to a new imp, who is forever after the only imp that can be summoned with that particular diabolist’s tome.

Construction Requirements Cost 12,500 gp

Craft Wondrous Item, summon monster III, creator must be lawful evil, lawful neutral, or neutral evil.

HELLFIRE GLOVES PRICE 6,000 gp

Slot hands; CL 9th; Weight 1 lb.
Aura moderate evocation

These black leather gloves have a strange texture, and seem to have been made from an unusual creature, whose flesh is not normally used for leather. Red stitching on the backs of the hands depict the outline of a flame on each hand.

Three times per day, when the wearer casts a spell that deals fire damage, he can choose to infuse that fire with the powers of hell. If he does, then half of the fire damage inflicted by the spell becomes profane energy, which is not subject to fire resistance or immunity. However, this profane energy does not harm truly evil creatures, and any creature with a strong or stronger evil aura (according to detect evil) is not subject to this damage, effectively taking only half damage from the spell.

Construction Requirements Cost 3,000 gp

Craft Wondrous Item, flame strike, creator must be evil

IMP-LEATHER ARMOR PRICE 41,895 gp

Slot armor; CL 3rd; Weight 20 lbs.
Aura faint conjuration and illusion

These disturbing suits of +1 studded leather armor are actually fashioned from the hides of several imps, which have been sewn together to form a single suit of armor. The inside of the suit is lined with various small hooks and barbs, made from the tips of the imps’ tails, and these dig into the flesh of anyone who dons the armor, exposing them to a single dose of imp poison for each hour that the suit is worn. This most likely goes unnoticed by the wearer, however, as he is constantly affected by the spell delay poison for as long as the armor is worn, although as soon as the armor is removed, all of the stored doses of imp poison take effect at once. Additionally, as long as the armor is worn, the wearer gains resist fire 10, and DR 5/good or silver. Finally, while wearing the imp-leather armor, the wearer can cast invisibility on himself as a spell-like ability 3 times per day.

None of an imp-leather armor’s unique abilities count as an enhancement bonus equivalent, and it is treated as a +1-equivalent armor for the purposes of the cost of further improving its magical abilities.

Construction Requirements Cost 21,035 gp

Craft Wondrous Item, delay poison,invisibility, protection from good, resist energy, creator must be lawful evil