| Foo Yin’s Hairtie |
|---|
| Interwoven golden strands forming an oddly elastic band. The legendary bard from the East, Foo-Yin, was known to pull this band out of his hair near the end of his performances, swooning the audience with his stunning looks as well as his great talent. Those closest by would swear they saw a faintly shimmering golden trail follow, as the hair-tie was pulled out – and that Foo-Yin’s glorious locks would wave gently for but a moment, as if carried by the softest of winds. |
| Level 3+ Item Slot: Head Power (Daily): Minor action. Gain a +1 to your first charisma-based skill check before the end of your next turn. At level 11: As above, but with a +3 modifier. At level 21: As above, but with a +5 modifier. |
I’d like to share a little more from behind the scenes. More people have started reading along (hi, everyone and thanks for reading), and some of them are gamers too, so why not share more than just the story? I’m going to start with Foo Yin’s Hairtie, the first homespun magic item I’ve put together for 4th edition D&D.
No, it’s not a fancy weapon or a mysterious orb. It’s a little golden band used to hold your hair up in a ponytail. And of course there’s a story that goes with it, beyond the one given in the flavor text.
It starts Draven the half-elf Warlord, played by Nick. His high charisma is mostly based on looks, and though sometimes socially clumsy, Draven gets by fine on being a handsome fellow. Think Fabio, but with a magical sword and a Han Solo smile. And he has long flowing locks of hair, which somehow became the running joke in the gaming group. Every time Draven was trying to impress (or intimidate) someone, there would invariably be a reference to letting the hair loose to make an impression. Like in a shampoo ad, slow-motion, intense eyes and everything.
That made me want to tie the joke into the actual action somehow, so I designed Foo Yin’s Hairtie specifically for Draven. During an adventure, I introduced an NPC (princess Iseldis of Espoir) who took a liking to Draven, had her life saved by him and – when she finally realized that she could never have him, gave him this trinket as a token of appreciation.
I love it when the game is affected by the group this way, and things come together.
