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RANDOM ENCOUNTER: Covetous Shen

Covertous Shen is a repeating character in my game world.  Originally Arley the Weaver, and then Kikonu in one of his guises now more commonly known as Covetous Shen.  He is an oni who trades in flawed/cursed magic items – but at bargain basement prices. I tend to introduce him once per campaign right after the party has had a big monetary score. His been visiting my group since 3rd edition so 2000. Latest encounter was today.

COVETOUS SHEN

You hear a small bell ringing before you see the source of the bell, an old Asian man with a giant backpack and a staff, on top of which is the bell. He seems to be lost in thought then, when he sees you, he has a look of surprise on his face.  He quickly drops his backpack, and faster than a man his age should move, he lays out a red carpet filled with shiny items of all sorts.  He beckons you urgently and says;

I have precisely what you need. You can say you do not need anything? That is only because you have not yet seen what I have to offer good sirs!”

“My stock has a lifetime guarantee and a two-day warranty!”

Covetous Shen is an oni. His deals are exactly what they seem to be, though he can be ambiguous about the drawbacks.  The items are bargain basement because of the curse. They all cost 1d6 * 100 gp each    .

DM LIST

  1. Scroll of Teleport that is cursed to teleport people only to one location. (Think prison.)
  2. Wand of Disappointment. It’s a stick.
  3. An almost-flying carpet–when it lifts off, the back half always drags on the ground.
  4. A small case of d12 black spheres with sigils of Dionysus on them. Lawful characters take 1 pt of damage when touching them. When thrown, roll on Wand of Wonder table.
  5. Belt of Oni Strength (20, cursed, reverses gender) (200 sen). “This bright red and black belt is more a girdle than a belt the buckle area has a sneering oni on it”. Once the gender is flipped the oni’s gender changes to match and now has a smug smile.
  6. Wand of Fickle Healing. Acts as a staff of healing (10 charges, cure wounds, lesser restoration, mass cure wounds) but with the following flaw:
    • Works as normal, but fires only after a d6 round/hour delay.
    • Works as normal but will not stop until all charges are expended.
    • Does the opposite of what it’s supposed to then resets.
    • Makes the operator glow blue and flash, as well as having the normal effect. Lasts an hour.
    • User issues forth a strong musky odour for an hour after use.
    • Works as normal.
  7. Ring of Criticals! A magical ring. When you roll a critical failure on an attack roll, you can put the ring on and the roll is changed to a nat 20. The ring gets stuck on your finger. The next time you roll a nat 20, the ring becomes unstuck and the roll instead turns into a critical failure.
  8. Ring of Rust. +2 on all saving throws, but -2 to AC.
  9. Fentor’s Fantastic Spelltome Trapper-Keeper. If you are struck with a spell, it’s effects are doubled in intensity (2x duration, 2x damage, 2x turns of effects). That spell shows up on a glitter-lined piece of paper in Fentor’s Trapper-Keeper when the effects wear off, which can then be added to a spellbook.
  10. Belt of the Martyr. Whenever a character other than yourself takes damage, you may use your reaction to reduce that damage in half. However, you will take the entirety of that damage. (Ex, rogue gets hit for 12, use reaction to reduce to 6. You will then take 12).
  11. Ring of Hagakure Tōru. You become invisible, but not your gear.
  12. Belt of the Shining Hero. You can shoot lasers from your belly button! This attack does 6d6 radiant damage and you roll 1d6 and this is the level of exhaustion you suffer.
  13. Necklace of balance. A player may chose to land a critical blow on an enemy, but in turn the next time they are struck they will suffer a critical blow.
  14. The Unavoidable Blade. A great katana, magical. Blade never misses but both the target and the wielder take the damage.
  15. Sash of Plus Ultra. A blue silk sash which gives +1d4 to attack and damage rolls, but only if you yell in character during the attack. The yell has an audible boom with a range of 300 feet.
  16. Chain Mail of Attraction. Provides +10 while worn and on a critical hit will charm the target creature (DC 15, use the DCC charm table). Wearer becomes the target of all spells and projectiles until removed; remove curse is required to remove it.

PC LIST

All items cost 1d6*100gp. CHA bonus modifies this by 10gp for each +/-.

  1. Scroll of Teleport.
  2. Wand of Disappointment.
  3. Flying Carpet.
  4. A small case of d12 black spheres with sigils of Dionysus on them.
  5. Belt of Oni Strength.
  6. Wand of Healing. As a staff of healing (10 charges, cure wounds, lesser restoration, mass cure wounds).
  7. Ring of Criticals! A magical ring. When you roll a critical failure on an attack roll, you can put the ring on and the roll is changed to a nat 20.
  8. Ring of Rust. +2 on all saving throws, but -2 to AC.
  9. Fentor’s Fantastic Spelltome Trapper-Keeper. If you are struck with a spell, it’s effects are doubled in intensity (2x duration, 2x damage, 2x turns of effects). That spell shows up on a glitter-lined piece of paper in Fentor’s Trapper-Keeper when the effects wear off, which can then be added to a spellbook.
  10. Belt of the Martyr. Whenever a character other than yourself takes damage, you may use your reaction to reduce that damage in half.
  11. Ring of Hagakure Tōru. You become invisible.
  12. Belt of the Shining Hero. You can shoot lasers from your belly button! This attack does 6d6 radiant damage but is exhausting as it uses your life energy to generate the laser.
  13. Necklace of balance. A player may chose to land a critical blow on an enemy, but in turn the next time they are struck they will suffer a critical blow.
  14. The Unavoidable Blade. A great katana, magical. Blade never misses.
  15. Sash of Plus Ultra. A blue silk sash which gives +1d4 to attack and damage rolls, but only if you yell in character during the attack.
  16. Chain Mail of Attraction. Provides +10 CON while worn and on a critical hit will charm the target creature (DC 15, use the DCC charm table).

I also had some potluck grab bags – bag 1 for 10 gp a go, bag 2 for 20 gp a go, and bag 3 for 30 gp.  I think the party spent 1k just on the grab back.


Art Credit: Yojimbo Seal 

Posted in Adventurer's Vault, Dungeons & Dragons, Gear, Random Encounters

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