| Dragon | Dragon 45 | - | Miscellaneous Magic | 1st Edition AD&&D |
Pet Rocks are magical items that exactly
resemble Luckstones,
Loadstones,
and Stones of
Controlling Earth Elementals. There are
two sorts of Pet Rocks, one beneficial
and one cursed.
The former sort of Pet Rock will, at a word
of command (such as
“Attack!”) leap from the possessor’s hand
and fly at any one opponent of the owner’s choice within 60 feet. It will
score a hit as if the
owner had fired a missile weapon at close
range at the opponent, but
the possessor’s Dexterity bonuses and Strength
bonuses to hit and
damage (if any) will NOT count. The rock
is, however, + 3 to hit otherwise, and causes 2-12 points of damage upon
scoring a hit. Upon
striking a Stone
Golem or Clay Golem, the Pet
Rock will shatter immediately, but will inflict 3-30 points of damage upon
the creature. If
the rock misses or scores a hit and is
not destroyed, it will return to the
owner in the same round it was “thrown.”
It may be commanded to
attack once per round, for as many rounds
as the owner desires. At
a 2nd word of command (“Heel!”), the Pet
Rock will hover 3-4
feet off the ground within 2-3 feet of
the owner, and follow him or her
around at a maximum movement speed of 12”.
The rock must be
grasped again in order for it to attack
an enemy. 30% of these rocks
are enchanted to perform 1-4 other commands
of little particular use
to the owner except for show (“Roll over!
Sit up! Play dead! Shake
hands!“) Note that a Pet Rock cannot be
struck during combat, or
when commanded to attack or heel. Otherwise,
it has an armor class
of -4 and takes 30 hits to destroy.
Experience point value: 2000
Gold piece sale value: 15,000
Some 40% of all Pet Rocks are of
a malevolent variety. Immediately upon grasping the cursed Pet Rock, the
character must save vs.
magick at -4, or become enchanted with
the rock’s appearance and
refuse to set it down during all waking
hours. The character will, of
course, carry the rock in his or her good
or preferred hand, making
weapon
use impossible, ruining spells involving somatic components,
making most thieving
functions impossible, etc. The character will
resist all attempts by anyone or anything
to take the rock away, and
will take precautions to assure his or
her continued possession of the
rock. This obsession may be broken by casting
a Dispel Magick of 10th.
level or greater power, a Wish
or Limited Wish, or the destruction
of
the rock (which the character in question
will try to prevent by any
means possible!)
Experience point value: -
-
Gold piece sale value: 1,000