d20 Arcane Runes Press Visions The Pumpkin Patch.pdf

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons ® Player’s Handbook

by Patrick Younts

Visions 1

The Pumpkin Patch

No one is really sure when the first jack

o’ lanterns were carved, or who came up

with the idea, but it is believed to be an

ancient Irish tradition associated with the

celebration of Samhain. Of course, pump-

kins weren’t exactly a common vegetable in

Ireland in those days, so jack o’ lanterns

were instead carved from rutabagas and

turnips. It is the pumpkin, though, which has

become synonymous with jack o’ lanterns

and an enduring symbol of the unique holi-

day known as Halloween, and so it is the

pumpkin which is the star of this source-

book.

his master, Old Man Wicker. You’ll even be

introduced to Jack o’ the Lantern, who in

real world folklore is the inventor and

namesake of the jack o’ lantern.

As might be expected, the new items,

monsters, spells and personalities presented

here are steeped in folklore and fairy tales,

but that does not mean they have no place

in a more sword and sorcery oriented cam-

paign. In fact, their fairytale, folktale flavor

can serve them in good stead in such

games, setting them apart from the magics

and enemies the players have come to

expect, and making their ethereal strange-

ness all the more memorable and com-

pelling.

So set out your candles and your carving

knives, read on, and get ready to puck a few

choice items from our pumpkin patch.

V ISIONS

Visions is Arcane Runes Press’

new line of sourcebooks dealing with

folklore, legend and myth. Each

sourcebook in the series will present

fresh new rules, spells, magic items,

monsters or prestige classes dealing

with the most compelling elements of

real world mythology.

What follows is a grab bag of new

spells, new monsters, new magic

items and new personalities, all

themed around the pumpkin,

and more specifically, the jack

o’ lantern. You’ll see pumpkins

that transform into carriages,

spirit haunted jack o’ lanterns

who hunt beneath the starless

night, fairies who wear the heads of

leering gourds, and Sir Crow, the King

of Crows, a pumpkin knight who steals

children from their homes at the behest of

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Visions 1

The Pumpkin Patch

Jack o’ Lanterns and Spirits

In traditional folklore, the jack o’ lantern

is believed to offer potent defense against

the ravages of unquiet spirits and wicked

fairies, and so peasants would place them

upon their doorsteps, in the hopes that their

pale, guttering light would frighten away

the ghosts of the damned, and the terrifying

kindly folk.

In d20 terms, a fey-type creature of neu-

tral or evil alignment, a ghost, a specter or

any other neutral or evil, incorporeal

undead must succeed at a Will save against

DC 8 in order to come within a 10 ft. radius

of a lit jack o’ lantern which has been

placed in front of a door, or window frame.

Jack o’ lanterns which are held in hand do

not require the undead to save.

The power of a lit jack o’ lantern can

also be used to aid a cleric, or other charac-

ter who has the ability to turn undead.

When held in hand and presented towards a

ghost, specter, wraith or other incorporeal

undead spirit, the character gains a +2 cir-

cumstance bonus to his turn check. A jack

o’ lantern does not replace a holy symbol

for the purposes of turning.

Pumpkin Items

O, fruit loved of boyhood! the old days recalling,

When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!

When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,

Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

When we laughed round the corn-heap, with hearts all in tune,

Our chair a broad pumpkin, our lantern the moon,

Telling tales of the fairy who traveled like steam

In a pumpkin-shell coach, with two rats for her team!

– John Greenleaf Whittier, The Pumpkin

Bag of Seeds

When found, this quirky wonder

appears as nothing more than a small,

burlap bag filled with a score of dried

pumpkin seeds. Only when a seed is

plucked from the bag and thrown is its

power revealed.

A bag of seeds has two separate abili-

ties. If the owner pluck a single seed from

the bag and throws it, then it grows to

become a head-sized, flaming jack o’

lantern, exploding on impact as by the spell

pumpkin bomb. Alternately, the owner can

open the bag and scatter two seeds simulta-

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The Pumpkin Patch

neously, to a range of up to 100 ft. + 10 feet

per the bag’s caster level; one round later,

enormous pumpkin vines explode out of the

earth, exactly as by the spell tangle patch.

The owner can throw any number of explo-

sive pumpkins each day, up to the number

of seeds remaining in the bag, but can only

create a single tangle patch each day.

A bag of seeds loses all its magical

power once its last seed is used, and it can-

not be replenished by placing new seeds in

the bag.

Moderate transmutation and evocation

[fire]; CL 7 th ; Craft Wondrous Item, pump-

kin bomb, tangle patch; Price 6,000 gp;

Weight 1 lb.

reverts to its pumpkin form, and may not be

used for another 16 hours. The owner of the

pumpkin carriage, and any riding within it,

are ejected harmlessly when the carriage

shrinks to its pumpkin form.

A pumpkin carriage is large enough to

seat four comfortably, with an additional

rider standing on the leaf-woven footman’s

platform on the back, and another on the

driver’s “seat” at the front. The magic that

empowers a pumpkin carriage also renders

it immune to the effects of decay.

Moderate transmutation and conjuration

(creation); CL 8 th ; Craft Wondrous Item,

phantom steed, plant growth ; Price 13,500

gp; Weight 5 lbs.

Carriage, Pumpkin

This useful, whimsical item appears as a

small, well-formed pumpkin roughly the

size of an adult human male’s head, and

while the pumpkin is hollowed out and dec-

orated with carvings small windows, it is

otherwise unremarkable. When the pump-

kin is placed on the ground, however, and

the proper command word spoken, it

expands to become a full size carriage,

albeit one in the shape of a pumpkin, com-

plete with green stem and wheels made

from curling vines thick and strong as a tree

branch.

The power of a pumpkin carriage is such

that it can move without need of horses, or

other animals strong enough to pull it.

When the owner of the carriage seats him-

self within and speaks a second command

word, the pumpkins lurches forward, mov-

ing at a speed of 40 ft. per round. It can

move tirelessly at this speed for a total of 8

hours each day; at the end of that time, it

Lantern, Spirit

A spirit lantern is a fearsome-faced jack

o’ lantern whose stem has been shaped into

a long, thin loop. When a candle is placed

within the lantern and the proper command

word is spoken, the jack o’ lantern begins to

glow with a pale, ghostly light equivalent to

that of a standard lantern.

A spirit lantern offers potent abilities

against fey creatures, ghosts and other

incorporeal undead. When a second com-

mand word is spoken, the light from the

spirit lantern affects all non-evil beings

within its radius as though by a protection

from evil spell cast by a cleric of the

lantern’s caster level (almost always 10 th );

this ability functions only against fey and

incorporeal undead of neutral or evil align-

ment, and can be used for a total number of

minutes each day equal to the lantern’s

caster level, though unlike a normal protec-

tion from evil spell, these rounds need not

be used consecutively. Should a being leave

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The Pumpkin Patch

the circle of light while under the effects of

the lantern’s protection from evil ability,

then the benefits are lost immediately, and

are not regained until the being steps back

within the radius of effect.

In addition to the above ability the

wielder can, 3 times per day, speak a third

command word and attempt to turn neutral

or evil, incorporeal undead as a cleric of the

lantern’s caster level; a cleric or other char-

acter who already possesses the ability to

turn undead can choose to turn incorporeal

undead as above, or may instead activate

one of the lantern’s turn uses per day, as a

free action, in conjunction with one of his

own, gaining a +4 circumstance bonus to

the check.

A spirit lantern counts as a jack o’

lantern for the purposes of warding off fey

and incorporeal undead (see Jack o’

Lanterns and Spirits, above), but its innate

magic raises the Will save DC required to

bypass its light to 10.

Moderate necromancy; CL 10 th ; Craft

Wondrous Item, protection from evil, light,

halt undead ; Price 7,500 gp; Weight 4 lbs.

Pumpkin Sorcery

Though it might seem silly, the magic of

the finely carved pumpkin is not to be

underestimated. The following spells

reflect the fearsome purpose of the jack o’

lantern in folklore, and recall such famous

tales as the Headless Horseman. Laugh at

your own peril.

When you cast this spell, your eyes are

transformed into grinning, fearsome jack o’

lanterns that burn with a sinister, holy fire.

All non-good fey and incorporeal undead

creatures within the radius of effect must

immediately attempt a Will save; those who

fail to save must flee to a distance of at least

20 ft. from you as quickly as possible, and

may not come closer than that for the dura-

tion of the spell. Affected fey and incorpo-

real undead can still attack you from out-

side the 20 ft. barrier, and may target you

with spells and spell-like and supernatural

abilities, but they suffer a –2 morale penal-

ty to attack rolls when doing so, and you

gain a +2 bonus to all saves to resist their

special attacks.

Those fey and incorporeal undead who

successfully save do not need to flee

beyond 20 ft. of you, but they still suffer

penalties to attack rolls as above, and you

still gain the bonus to saves against their

special attacks.

Lantern Eyes

Illusion (glamer)

Level: Clr 1, Drd 1

Components: S, M

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: Personal

Area: 20 ft. radius emanation, centered

on you

Target: All fey and incorporeal undead

within area of effect

Duration: 1 round per level

Saving Throw: Will partial (see text)

Spell Resistance: Yes

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