Another magical item from Mormonism (borrowed from ancient Israelite culture). A Urim and Thummim is a set of magical spectacles. They act as both read magic and read languages spells, thus allowing the user to read magical and foreign writings.
A Urim and Thummim can be a set of spectacles, two precious gems or stones set in a frame of silver or other precious metal, or a leather or metal breastplate, to which is attached a viewing apparatus.
Prolonged use of a Urim and Thummim can cause blindness or temporary insanity, particularly when used by Fighters. For every 10 minutes of Urim and Thummim use, roll a d20. If the result is greater than the characters Intelligence or Wisdom (plus the character's level, if a Magic-User or Cleric, or half the character's level, if a Thief) the character suffers some mental affliction. For every 10 minutes of use, per day, after the first 10 minutes, subtract one from your combined attribute and level score.
9 comments:
Fascinating! I didn't know about them at all.
Setting the Record Straight-
I must challenge your definition of the Urim and Thummim, and the casual dismissal of them as merely part of the 'ancient Israelite culture'.
The true Urim and Thummim are a pocketed vest worn only by the [high] priest for use in divining G-d's will through the use of coloured stones, with only one 'Yes' indicator, and a lot of 'No's.
--The priest would wear the vest and after/during prayers, would fish out one stone to learn the binary answer to the question entreated of the King of the Universe.
Mormonism's ... adoption ... of Judeo-Christian concepts and passages, and then its subsequent re-interpretation of them, is most distressing, especially when no one is there to set the record straight.
Best,
Idly curious as to what happens when Lovecraftian archaeology meets Mormon archaeology ("In The Mound" being the most obvious point of contact...)
Timeshadows said...
Setting the Record Straight-
Thanks for the clarification.
Those who are interested in the "historical" Urim and Thummim (and Mormonism's subsequent portrayal of same) should check out Wikipedia. My magical item description is a re-interpretation, to allow this item to have some interesting game effects and risks. Don't confuse me magic item with the historical or mormon urim and thummim.
Seems like a pretty cool concept.
I've been getting into placing a variety of magical spectacles in my games. The basic Specs of Infravision have been found (decent because I don't use racial infravision in my games), but some cool Xray, See Invisible, True Sight (They Live!), etc are waiting to be picked up.
Maybe this is happening because I am now old enough to have reading glasses. Hence this new compulsion.
I love the movie "They Live!" cheesey though it may be.
These are a cool item, and They Live is an awesome movie. Likin' the Connery pic, too.
This reminds me of Urza's Glasses:
http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=glasses%20of%20urza
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