Grimjaw

Grimjaw
by Ed Greenwood

Named for the small common tongue
inscription found deeply engraved on the
inside top rim of the shield, this plain iron
shield is dented and blackened, and of
normal and unassuming appearance. It
bears no rust, and rusting will not affect it
regardless of the handling it receives, due to
protective magics cast upon it. Grimjaw was
first identified by the sage Ragefast of
Baldur's Gate, as borne by the adventurer
Krystus and having a certain awesome
power described hereafter. Krystus the
Proud soon met his death at the hands of a
dwarven patrol half a world away, in the
mountains near Tethyamar, in a dispute
over passage through the dwarven mines
there. Grimjaw is known to have been in
the hands of the ruling dwarven clan ?Iron
House? for many years, but was lost in
battle when orcs and evil mages drove out
or slew all the dwarves of Tethyamar. The
present head of the ?Iron House,? Ghellin,
wishes to regain the shield.

Grimjaw confers no magical armor class
bonus to its wearer, but it has a powerful
ability to affect any magical items that come
into direct physical contact with it, regard-
less of the shieldbearer?s wishes. The effects
of any single such contact are determined
by percentile dice roll, as follows:

01-20 Item has one charge drained from
it by Grimjaw; if the item has no
charges as such, its powers are
negated for 3-12 turns.

21-65 Item instantly turns and attacks
wielder for one round, either
striking as if the wielder were
attacked by someone of equal
class, strength, and level (if a
weapon), or firing one charge or
magical attack (if a charged staff
or similar item).

66-80 Item has all magical powers and
abilities negated for 2-12 rounds.

81-95 Item is completely drained of all
magical powers forever, as if
struck by a rod of cancellation.
Artifacts are likely to be unaf-
fected, but may, at the DM?s
option, teleport away to a random
location, with or without wielder.

96-00 Grimjaw discharges some of its
stored magical energy into the
contacting item; the item gains 1-6
additional charges (permanently),
or a +1 on ?to hit? and damage
bonuses for 1-6 turns.

If a magical weapon or item is wielded
against the shieldbearer, and the item
misses the armor class of the shieldbearer by
1 point (i.e., scoring what would have been
a hit except for the shield?s presence), then
it is considered to have struck the shield.

Dragon - Six Shields - Dragon #89

01-20	Item has one charge drained from it by Grimjaw; if the item has no charges as such, its powers are negated for 3-12 turns.
21-65	Item instantly turns and attacks wielder for one round, either striking as if the wielder were attacked by someone of equal class, strength, and level (if a weapon), or firing one charge or magical attack (if a charged staff or similar item).
66-80	Item has all magical powers and abilities negated for 2-12 rounds.
81-95	Item is completely drained of all magical powers forever, as if struck by a rod of cancellation. Artifacts are likely to be unaf- fected, but may, at the DM?s option, teleport away to a random location, with or without wielder.
96-00	Grimjaw discharges some of its stored magical energy into the contacting item; the item gains 1-6 additional charges (permanently), or a +1 on ?to hit? and damage bonuses for 1-6 turns.