The Sixth Ring: Loss

[jasoncordova]

The newest episode of The Sixth Ring is here! In this one, @Judd and I are discussing playing TTRPGs online, Area Zero One, playing to lose, and magical artifacts lost to time and space.

The Sixth Ring: Loss

We are also having a small contest for magical artifacts lost to time and space. Create and submit an entry here. We’ll pick the one we like best and award the author a $10 DriveThru gift card.

Here are the entries we made for this episode:

Dead World’s Sword
When you plant the sword in the foundation stone of a building, whatever civilization claims the building, whoever collects taxes for this land, will begin to aggressively degrade until either their traditions and names are only whispered legends and songs or the sword is removed.*

Ajino’s Palette

A paint palette that belonged to the legendary Ajino. Each color is connected to a different plane of existence. Using the palette is a Risk Roll with a Dark Die. The dominant color you use in any artwork painted with the palette will have a subtle magical effect on those who view it:

• Emerald (faceted green) - Happy Hunting Grounds - the viewer has sudden insight related to hunting a particular quarry.

• Sapphire (faceted blue) - Olympus - the viewer feels inspired to create.

• Indigo - Valhalla - the viewer feels inspired to destroy.

• Jet (reflective black) - Limbo - the viewer becomes consumed by their own thoughts.

• Magenta - Pandemonium - the viewer feels more comfortable in dark places.

• Amethyst - Abyss - the viewer is filled with a desire to solve problems via murder.

• Olive - Tarterus - the viewer becomes obsessed with the number ‘6’

• Rust - Hades - the viewer is overcome by a gloomy disposition.

• Russet - Gehenna - the viewer becomes resistant to heat.

• Ruby - Nine Hells - the viewer feels sympathy for tyrants.

• Flame - Acheron - the viewer discards their sense of right and wrong in favor of “whatever serves the most people.”

• Diamond (faceted white) - Nirvana - instills the viewer with a sense of order.

• Saffron - Arcadia - the viewer has sudden insight related to agriculture.

• Gold - Seven Heavens - instills the viewer with a sense of justice.

• Amber - Twin Paradises - instills the viewer with a strong need to maintain balance in all things.

• Opal - Elysium - the viewer gains insight about their ancestors.

• Silver - Astral - the viewer has strange dreams for a time.

• White - Ethereal - the viewer can see the dead for a time.

Painting an image of a door with a single color on any surface creates a physical door to the respective plane of existence.

[Haladir]

Diadem of the Lost Sovereign
This thin crown appears to be made of braided wrought iron and is adorned with four large black crystals. When you place the crown on your head, you can hear faint whispering, but can’t quite discern what the voice is saying. If you close your eyes and concentrate on the whispered words, make a Risk Roll with a Dark Die. On a success, the voice whispers to you a secret about the place you are standing, or of the person or opponent you are facing: Ask the GM what you want to know. A learned secret can include the Weakness of an opponent. Once you have learned a secret from the diadem, you know that removing it from your head will cause you to immediately and permanently forget everything and anything you learned while you were wearing it. If you suffer Ruin while wearing the diadem, you gain the condition “Obsessed with The Void.” The only way to clear this condition is to take off the diadem.

[Ezekiu]

Seal of the False Emperor
A magnificent and magical seal carved of jade. The handle is cylindrical, depicting scenery of a great mountain and its cloud-line. A small radiant sun rests atop the handle. The stamp of the seal itself is said to change according to the owner’s wishes.

They say those who are worthy will have their forgeries copied flawlessly. That is not always the case, however. Sometimes minor details may not be correct; a letter of out of place, a line missing, a symbol slightly changed. It may not be noticeable to the common man but it is easily identified by someone with a keen eye.
Those who are not so lucky will produce a print nothing like the seal they promised, and will find themselves exposed as an impostor or even worse. Sentenced to death for forging a royal sigil.

[Alexi_Sarge]

Crown of Glass Thorns

Iridescent and enchanting, this crown is woven from glass thorns that grow in the gardens of a parasitic world that was once attached to ours.

When you wear the crown of glass thorns, you may use the Ritual forget. When you attempt this ritual, the GM and the other players should suggest significant memories you might lose if it goes wrong. If you succeed, you may remove a harmful memory of your choice—including the memory of another Ritual. If you forget a starting Ritual, remove the associated Ruin.

When you remove the crown of glass thorns, you forget having used it. Others may be able to convince you that you did, but the recollection of the experience itself is gone forever.

[Axxroytovu]

The Tome of Archmage Bülegok

An iron bound tome, chained to a dark altar beneath the Archmage’s ruined home. The book is surprisingly light for how large it is and how much metal is built into it. Even with the covers locked shut by a great iron nail, glittering lights and floating runes will still occasionally squeeze their way out from between the pages. The book contains instructions for every ritual known to mankind. In order to open the book, you must impale your hand on the iron spike that holds the two covers together. Opening the book reveals a page with a random ritual. You must keep your hand on the spike in order to keep the book open, and it constantly drains the users life force to empower the ritual. The book can not be closed or pages turned before casting the ritual, and attempting to do so will drain all of the users remaining energy and cast the massively empowered spell randomly.

[Peppa]

The Kaleidoscopic Pipe

A jeweled, wooden pipe with blackened interior from at least decades of usage. Adorned with million shades of smoky quartz and amethyst set on an intricate golden frame. There are few empty spots from the time it has seen. When you take it closer to your face, there is a distinct, spicy scent even if it’s empty. Lit up, it gives off an abnormally thick, iridescent smoke and the strange scent gets stronger. Deeply inhaling this smoke will put the one in a trance where they will relive any moments of their past, even the ones they forgot, no matter if it was from the time that has passed, or any magical or unnatural reasons. In this trance they will see, smell, hear, taste, and feel every smallest details that they missed in the scene. This flood of information is a danger itself, and it may also reveal uncomfortable things that one didn’t know, or they think didn’t know. After all, it is this pipe that brought both rise and fall of the great house that originally infused this pipe.

[Anodos]

Mask of a Perpendicular Universe
A simple, gunmetal gray mask that simply seems “off.” If you place it on your face you will shift slightly toward a perpendicular universe to the one you inhabit. This means you will be both invisible and unable to act directly on any object or person (including speaking to them). The catch is you cannot take the mask off willingly, but must convince someone else to do it for you. Also, the longer you wear the mask the less likely it will become that anyone will remember you ever existed.