H - Hole, Heavy Metal, Horns, Hideous

The Hole Delver's Catalog is a mixed bag in my book. There are items in here that one can take serious and then there are ones that are just plan silly. It is as if they couldn't decide what they wanted to publish or perhaps they did not have enough material for a serious product and a fun one so they meshed the two together. It is also possible that I am missing the full point of the item in some way. Regardless I will say that if you can read this item it will yield some useful material and in some cases make you chuckle but in others just groan. Don't rush out to try and find it or even go slightly out of your way!

Movie:

Heavy Metal is another of the great gaming type movies that came out of the early 80's. It was inspired by the magazine of the same name and contains story lines that first appeared in the magazine. It was actually an import or clone of the French magazine Metal Hurlant. The magazine and the movie are both worth checking out as they will be rife with gaming ideas and inspiration. How can a movie that starts with "A shadow shall fall over the universe, and evil will grow in its path, and death will come from the skies. " and that gave us the Loc-Nar not make you want to game!

Plot:

Horns from an unknown beast have been brought into town by farmers that live on the far outskirts of the region. There have been another band of intrepid adventuress that had come through the area with tales of a Black Dragon and his hoard that they had a map to. The farmers tale mentioned that the horn was found amongst what could have been the remains of the adventurers and they in fact have a very minor magic item that helps this assumption along. The problem is that the adventurers did not find a Black Dragon in the swamp as expected. They happened upon a double sized lair of catoblepi (catoblepas) and while the adults were out they slew one of the young ones and took all the treasure. The adults tracked the adventurers and that was the end of that. The adventurers will find this out as well if they pursue the lead.

Magic:

Hideous Helms are most often magical helms that will be found on higher level henchmen of evil wizards. They just by their design and appearance are meant to instill if not fear then sense of unease by any that view them though this has no measurable game effect. The Helms will have other abilities that make them favored by those who lead by fear. Once per hour the wearer is able to have a Scare effect (as per the spell by the same name) on the desired target. The wearer can also three times/day have an effect equal to a Fear spell and onetime/day the wearer can cast an Emotion spell. The wearer also has the ability to at will cast a Message spell.