Tai's Magical Goodies is the the home of magical items of all sorts, from Spells to adept Powers to Totems to other magical items. Tai's Magical Goodies is open to submissions from anyone-the Submission Guidelines are available at http://tss.dumpshock.com/guidelines.html

The contributors this issue are Travis Heldibridle [antithesis@mindspring.com], and Adam Green [Psykoguy_13@hotmail.com].

Essence Kitten

The old wives' tales were correct. The Essence kitten is a new critter, based off old lore about cats: an experiment to make animals a form of mana battery went horribly wrong, and the cat was born. It is highly intelligent, hides easily, and is always on the move. This isn't your ordinary pet- this cat is dangerous.

Attributes

Running Speed: Quickness x 5

Powers
Mind Control
Paralyze (must be in lap of victim)
Essence Drain (0.1 per night)
Increased Movement
Shapechange (to other types of cat)
Reproduction (produces kittens once it reaches full essence by combining its essence with mate)
Cuteness

Appearance
As normal cat, however, astral perception will note severe differences; the aura seems larger and actually shows more emotions. Within a few days of breeding time, the cat is nearly oozing essence.

Weaknesses

Catnip
Upon exposure, the cat will begin to frantically run around, exhibiting the normal symptoms of a cat exposed to catnip. The cat instantly loses 0.1 Essence, and for every 5 minutes he stays exposed will lose 0.1 more.

Phobia
Water, moderate

Special Power Descriptions

Mind Control
This power acts the same as the Mind Control spell, with a Force rating equal to the Essence of the kitten.

Cuteness
A form of Mind Control which cause a person to be attracted to the cat, this is their common form of attracting victims. The Force of this power is equal to the kitten's Charisma.

Shapechange
The cat can shapechange to look like any breed of housecat.

Paralyze
Once in the lap of a victim, the cat uses its paralysis power to put the victim to sleep. Make an Opposed test between the kitten's Charisma and the affected character's Willpower; if the kitten wins he will steal 0.1 Essence points from the victim that night while they sleep. This small essence drain is subtle and relatively unnoticeable: if the need arises, a kitten may steal much more-up to 0.2 Essence multiplied by the number of successes rolled in the Opposed Test.

Reproduction
When a cat becomes full of essence (12 points), they search for a mate. After mating, they begin to leak essence into a focused area, warping the mana field and causing the production of 4-7 kittens, with normal gestation times for the breed of the female cat.

» Everyone, today, seems to have a story to tell.
» Tai

Charm Foci

Melissa wasn't a mage. She didn't know any magic users. She was, however, wet through and through and needed to get out of the rain, and the little talismonger shop just happened to be the first door she came to. She walked around the small store, trying to avoid the gaze of the Haitian woman behind the counter. She peered at odd carvings and wrinkled her nose at the pungent stench of small cloth bags holding dried herbs. As she rounded the corner of the small shelves in the center of the room she felt a hand clasp her arm. She jumped back and cried out, but the hand held on. She looked up to see the Haitian woman holding onto her arm and glaring at her. She thought the woman might accuse her of shoplifting and she attempted to protest but found her throat dry and her mouth unable to form the words she wanted to say.

"Take this," The old woman said "It will bring you luck." The woman held out a small silver medallion on a leather thong. On one side the crude shape of a snake had been carved into the silver.

"I... I don't have any money," Melissa stammered.

"I'm not asking for none," replied the old woman as she placed the medallion in Melissa's hand and firmly folded her fingers around it.

Melissa bolted for the door and ran back out into the rain, afraid and confused. She ran for blocks before slowing to a walk. She would rather get wet again than spend another minute with that crazy old hag. After a few minutes of walking she stopped and looked down into her palm, and seemed shocked to see the medallion. After contemplating it for a minute she pulled the leather strap over her head and tucked the little medallion into her shirt.

» We've all heard stories like that. Someone is in a little shop by chance and the old man or woman behind the counter offers him or her a mysterious gift. Is it an urban legend? I thought so, but then my friend Melissa showed me the necklace and told me her amazing story. Three weeks after the encounter in the shop, Missy was caught in the crossfire of a gang war. A fireball hit her, and other bystanders. Everyone else was burned to a crisp, but Missy didn't have so much as a scorch on her. She attributes her second chance at life to the medallion.
» Aristotle

» How could that be? I thought a mage had to be within line of sight to offer that sort of protection.
» Paranoid Pat

» Oh look, the humans have learned a new trick!
» Anonymous

The idea that a charm might protect you from danger is not a new one. In the dark ages people would use hexes or brew special potions to ward off evil. In the twentieth century you could buy colored rabbits feet at the counter of a convenience store. For as long as man has feared the unknown he has devised ways to stop its influence.

Charms are a new style of foci that come in two varieties. There is the standard Spell Defense Charm, and then the slightly more complicated Shielding Charm. To use either type, a mage pays the activation cost and gives the charm to someone. That person is then able to be defended by spell defense or shielding (depending on the type of focus) regardless of distance or line of sight. The recipient can literally travel anywhere within the manasphere and still be accessible for protection by the mage that owns the charm. It seems the only connection required is that astral space connect the mage and the focus in some way.

Charms have all of the standard drawbacks of a focus. They are astrally active while activated, they count against the activator's total for focus addiction, and they may be used as a material link against the mage. As long as the charm is active the activating mage may sense any magical attack that targets the holder of the charm as if they were already being protected by spell defense. The mage may choose whether or not he wishes to allocate spell defense for the target. If the mage has not already allocated spell defense dice, or is otherwise active he or she must take the necessary actions to allocate spell pool and Sorcery dice to spell defense. All Charms have a rating. The rating is the maximum number of dice that may be used to aid the charm's holder. Once that number has been met, either all at once or over time, the charm becomes inert. At that time a magician must rebind the focus in order for it to work again.