Monday, November 15, 2010

Magical Item: Urim And Thummim




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:

  1. Fascinating! I didn't know about them at all.

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  2. 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,

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  3. Idly curious as to what happens when Lovecraftian archaeology meets Mormon archaeology ("In The Mound" being the most obvious point of contact...)

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  6. I love the movie "They Live!" cheesey though it may be.

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  7. These are a cool item, and They Live is an awesome movie. Likin' the Connery pic, too.

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  8. This reminds me of Urza's Glasses:
    http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=glasses%20of%20urza

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