Mimi's Wand of Armor

This wand will create a random suit of normal non-magical armor on its target. It only works on living targets. There is no indication as to what type of armor will be created.

About a cubit in length. Wrapped it's entire length in leather and at one end with thick wire such as used for making chain mail. When activated the strong odors of a tanning works or the scorched metal smells of forges will emanate from the wand and target, depending on the type of armor produced. This smell will spread far and linger a good while. In addition a loud clang of hammer on anvil will sound out for metal based armors.

If Mimi's wand is possessed by an antagonist their flunkies ought to be sporting a wild and varied array of protective outerwear.

Random Armor Chart (d8+d12):
2 - exotic material; dragon hide, mithril, ice, force, etc. Reroll for type.
3 - full plate
4 - split mail
5 - mail hauberk
6 - mail shirt
7 - scale mail
8 - cuir bouille
9 - barbaric hide
10 - laminar leather
11 - leather
12 - padded
13 - leather coat
14 - reinforced leather
15 - ring mail
16 - breastplate
17 - banded mail
18 - plate mail
19 - Maximilian plate
20 - exotic type; samurai suit, flack jacket, illusionary, etc.


Gameplay Notes: When a player tested this on his pet dog I decided that the wand creates armor that form fits the target whatever that might be. His little pooch got a nice suit of reinforced leather dog-barding. Later, a knight already in full-plate was galloping away instead of sticking around to be questioned by the party. The same player thought for a moment and tried Mimi's Wand on the knight. Since it was a novel and interesting way of dealing with the situation, I decided on the spot to extend the "fits its target" to include whatever the target was currently wearing. The knight had three suits of additional armor before his horse collapsed under the weight.


[Example magic item from Magic Items Should be Magical an article I submitted to Fudge Factor the sadly defunct e-zine for FUDGE.]