An occasional feature of the underground
environment that
can cause consternation and serious problems
for a PC character
is the magnetic field created by a band
of lodestone.
Magnetism affects characters cloaked in
iron armor, and can
impede combat when iron weapons are used.
Lodestone in its more innocuous form is
encountered frequently
in areas containing iron ore. In this
common form, the
magnetic pull is barely strong enough
to be noticed, and certainly
cannot impede a character’s movement or
combat.
Deep beneath the earth, however, concentrated
ores of iron
and other minerals have formed regions
of massively powerful
magnetic rock. The magnetic attraction
of such rock can be
detected by a character who passes a WIS
Check when still
120 feet distant from the lodestone. This
initial detection is manifested
by nothing more than a slight tug on all
iron possessions.
The lodestone’s effects become obvious
to any characters
moving within 90 feet. The force upon
metal objects, while definitely
noticeable, is still not capable of pulling
a character against
his will.
A character who comes within 30 feet of
such a powerful lodestone
becomes threatened. Iron objects hanging
on the character
are pulled toward the lodestone with a
force that can snap a
thin leather strap. The character must
make a Strength Check for
all hand-held objects containing iron.
If the character is wearing
iron armor, he must make an additional
Strength Check or be
pulled 10 feet closer to the lodestone.
If the Strength Check is successful, the
character retains hold
of the item, or holds his ground and does
not get pulled toward
the stone. No further checks are required
as long as the character
does not move closer to the stone.
When the stone is approached, whether
voluntarily or not, the
Strength Checks must be repeated each
10 feet. A character suffers
a -2 penalty to his Strength when 20 feet
away, and a -4 penalty
if only 10 feet away.
Removing any iron object stuck to the lodestone
requires a
Strength Check with a-6 modifier. If the
check fails, the character
is forever unable to remove the object.
These lodestones lose all
their powers if removed from their natural
settings.
| The Underground Environment | - | - | - | DSG |