Greetings and Salutations. So, instead of doing productive work like writing my fan fic or working on my manuscript, I've been screwing around with a new magic item that's more designed for an April Fool's Rifter edition than anything else. Still, I'd like to think it's fun. This work was inspired by a comment made by ShadowHawk in the Supernatural Strength thread ( viewtopic.php?f=5&t=144669&p=2815120&hilit=clue+by+four#p2815120 ). The idea sounds similar to one my wife refers to as a "Clue Bat" and for some reason, struck a cord that got my mind going. Hope you all enjoy.
Clue x 4 Magic Item
Legend tells of a Wizard once got tired of dealing with his thick-headed apprentice. The Wizard would try to lead the apprentice to the answer, guiding him and giving him hints. However the apprentice would always overthink things and make them more complicated than they had to be, instead of just looking at the simple and obvious answer. Fed up, the Wizard grabbed a nearby stick (closer to a club) and began beating the apprentice furiously with it to literally smack some sense into him.
After realizing he had went too far (and burying the body to hide the evidence) the Wizard decided that his idea of beating sense into apprentices still had merit, but needed some further refinement. Several apprentices later, the invention of the Clue x 4 was perfected. The Clue x 4 is a wooden stick, typically a 2 x 4 but can technically be of any size (sometimes in the shape of a bat and is referred to as the Clue Bat), with a magical enchantment that temporarily boosts the Intelligence attribute (or Wisdom, depending on the system). Victims struck by a Clue x 4 are said to gain new insight.
Anyone struck by a Clue x 4 (must inflict at least one point of damage) gains a temporary +2 to I.Q. (or Wisdom), at which time the character may attempt to reroll a skill (with a possible I.Q. bonus if extraordinary) or reroll an Intelligence attribute check, as if gaining new insight into what is now a seemingly obvious solution. This bonus lasts only as long as it takes to finish using the skill or figure out the simple answer to a problem. If the character still fails, the bonus is lost regardless. Damage: 1D4.
Rifter #45; Of Bows & Arrows (Archery; expanding rules and abilities) Rifter #52; From Ruins to Runes (Living Rune Weapons; playable characters and NPC) Rifter #55; Home Away From Home (Quorian Culture; expanded from PF Book 9: Baalgor Wastelands)
Official PDF versions of Rifter #45, #52, and #55 can be found at DriveThruRPG.
There actually is a Clue-By-Four in Nodwick, an artifact carved from the heartwood of the tree of knowledge after the gods destroyed it as it did its job too well of uplifting humanity (they were casually dropping in on the gods to bug them about various things). Gave permanent uplifts to knowledge and intelligence at the expense of being quite detrimental to one's skull and brain from the bashes if not given time to heal up between blows.
Fair warning: I consider being called a munchkin a highly offensive slur and do report people when they err in doing so.
'Reality is very disappointing.' - Jonathan Switcher from Mannequin
It's 'canon', not 'cannon'. A cannon is a big gun like on pirate ships, canon is what you mean when referring to something as being contained within one of the books such as how many dice to roll for a stat.
