I was unhappy with the original, which is a bit meh. Here is an updated version. PCs can put the mask on, which will not be removable until the PC dies to discover its powers or learn this once they complete all the research at the Great Library.
MASK OF THE FORGOTTEN PHARAOH ITEM 22
UNIQUE • APEX • ARTIFACT • INVESTED • MAGICAL • NECROMANCY • TRANSMUTATION
Usage worn mask; Bulk 1
Carved from gold and inlaid with cobalt, lapis lazuli, and onyx, this elaborate funerary mask was crafted for the Sky Pharaoh Hakotep I, and was intended to be interred along with his mummy in his tomb. Empowered by Hakotep’s ka, the Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh is a powerful artifact. Once invested, you gain powers from the mask, though it risks making you its vessel.
APEX BENEFIT
When you invest the mask, increase your Wisdom modifier by 2 or increase it to +5, whichever is higher (as an apex item).
WHISPER OF THE KA (curse, divine, mental)
Trigger You Activate an ability of the mask
The lingering will of Hakotep presses against your mind. Attempt a Will save against your Class DC.
- Critical Success You are unaffected.
- Success You resist the influence.
- Failure You gain 1 Corruption.
- Critical Failure You gain 2 Corruption.
Corruption represents Hakotep’s influence over your will.
CORRUPTION TRACK
1–2: Whispering Throne
You hear faint commands and proclamations of rulership.
You take a –1 status penalty to Will saves against fear effects.
3–4: Sovereign Instinct
You gain a +1 status bonus to Intimidation checks.
You must succeed at a DC 5 flat check to willingly follow another creature’s orders.
5: Pharaoh’s Claim
When you reduce a creature to 0 Hit Points, you gain temporary Hit Points equal to your level.
At the start of your turn, you must attempt to Demoralize, Command, or Strike a creature if able.
6: Hakotep Stirs
At the start of your turn, attempt a Will save against your Class DC.
- Failure The GM controls your actions for 1 round, prioritizing domination, destruction, or self-preservation.
After this occurs, reduce your Corruption to 4.
BOUND BY DEATH
You gain a +2 status bonus to saving throws against death effects and disease.
However:
- Healing you receive from other creatures is reduced by half.
- During an Encounter when a creature is killed, you regain Hit Points equal to your level.
CALL OF THE TOMB
Whenever you gain Corruption, the GM may introduce narrative consequences such as:
- Undead drawn to your presence
- Visions of Hakotep’s reign
- Cultists recognizing or seeking you
MASK POWERS
Mask powers unlock automatically as you level up – the mask starts with chill touch, and then other powers unlock every 3 character levels. Alternatively, you may spend 100 * the spell level in XP to unlock the power ahead of time.
Divine Innate Spells (Class DC or Spell DC, whichever is higher)
Activate ◆; At will chill touch
Activate ◆◆ (command, divine)
Frequency once per day; Effect You cast animate dead, heightened to half your level.
Activate ◆◆ (command, divine)
Frequency once per day; Effect You cast bind undead, heightened to half your level.
Activate ◆◆ (command, divine); Frequency once per day; Effect You cast necrotize.
Activate ◆◆ (command, divine); Frequency once per day; Effect You cast talking corpse.
Activate ◆◆ (command, divine); Frequency once per day; Effect You cast death ward.
Activate ◆◆ (command, divine); Frequency once per day; Effect You cast finger of death.
DESTRUCTION
So long as the soul of Hakotep I remains sundered, the Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh cannot be destroyed. If the three pieces of Hakotep’s divided soul (his ka, ba, and ib) are reunited, the mask loses all of its magical abilities, becoming a mundane but valuable funerary mask.
MEMORIES
The first time the mask is donned, the PC has the following flashback.
Vision: The Sky Pharaoh’s Burden
The moment the mask settles over your face—
The world goes silent.
Then—
Light.
You stand not in the present, but upon a vast stone platform beneath a sky of impossible clarity. The desert stretches endlessly below, but above you hangs something greater—
A colossal pyramid of black glass and gold, suspended in the air, humming with a deep, unseen power.
The Sky Pyramid.
It is not a tomb.
It is a weapon.
Before you stand a man clad in gold and cobalt, his face hidden behind a funerary mask identical to the one you now wear.
Hakotep.
He does not turn to you, yet you feel that he knows you are there.
“The stars are not empty,” he says quietly.
The sky darkens.
For a moment—just a moment—you see them.
Shapes between the stars.
Too many limbs. Too many thoughts.
Watching.
Waiting.
“They will come,” Hakotep continues. “They always do.”
Three figures stand with him.
The first steps forward.
Tall. Perfect. Still as a statue carved from living stone. His presence dominates the space — not through force, but inevitability.
Kars.
He does not speak. He does not need to.
When he looks to Hakotep, it is not as a servant — But as one who expects to inherit.
To the side, half in shadow, another watches.
Thin. Sharp. His eyes never stop moving.
Esidisi.
His fingers trace patterns in the air, calculating, measuring, already three steps ahead of every outcome.
You get the sense he has already imagined this moment ending in a dozen different ways.
And chosen the one that benefits him most.
The third stands apart.
Bare-chested. Scarred. Silent.
Wammu.
He kneels—not out of fear, but respect.
A warrior who believes in something greater than himself.
Even now, you feel it—
If the world burns, he will stand in its ashes.
Hakotep raises a hand.
The floating pyramid above shifts, its surface unfolding, revealing vast inner chambers of machinery and magic intertwined.
Weapons.
Engines.
A fortress meant to meet the sky itself.
“We will not wait for extinction,” Hakotep says.
“We will be ready.”
For a moment—just a flicker—
Doubt crosses the air like a shadow.
Not fear.
Not madness.
But the terrible weight of a ruler who must act on a truth no one else can see.
“If I am wrong…”
He pauses.
“…then history will call me a tyrant.”
The sky clears.
The shapes are gone.
The silence returns.
Kars inclines his head.
Esidisi smiles faintly.
Wammu rises.
And Hakotep—
At last—
Turns.
You do not see his face.
Only the mask.
Looking directly at YOU, “Remember,” he says.
The vision shatters.
You are back.
The mask is warm against your skin.
And for just a moment—
You are certain of one thing.
He was not afraid.
He was preparing.
