Chaos Coin

There's nothing like a shiny coin to attract the attention of any Adventurer. If that coin happens to be a Chaos Coin, and the Adventurer happens to be capable of performing magic, the outcome could be anywhere between hilarious and disastrous. This cursed item only affects characters capable of memorizing or preparing spells by adding a certain "random element" into their attempt to make use of the spell knowledge currently tucked into their brains.

Description

The Chaos Coin is, as its name suggests, a coin that appears to be made from a combination of gold and silver. Approximately 2in (5cm) in diameter, the coin body itself is made of gold - enough to suggest a value of approximately 10gp just for its weight. Stamped into both sides of the coin is the image of a human head surrounded by six swirl patterns. The debossed images are filled with silver such that the coin faces are smooth and featureless to the touch. The same image appears on both sides.

Effects

The Chaos Coin is a cursed item, but the curse is rather specific. If the coin is discovered somewhere by a character that lacks the knowledge and/or capability to cast prepared magic (i.e. magic from memory), the curse does not take effect. Such a possessor can dispose of the coin as they see fit.

If a spellcaster takes possession of the coin at any time, however, the curse effects immediately trigger, with the first effect being that the spellcaster will find they are unable to dispose of the coin in any manner. Attempts to toss it away result in suddenly spasming fingers clutching the coin. Even the most ingenious ideas for how to part with the coin invariably end up with the coin back in the spellcaster's pouch among other bits of wealth.

The second and far more insidious effect of the curse manifests the first time the caster attempts to cast a spell from memory. Instead of casting the intended spell, a randomly selected spell from among all those currently memorized by the caster is triggered. Intended spell targets remain the same; this can have disastrous results if the intended spell was some sort of buff to a companion and instead a lightning bolt fires off! (It is possible that the random determination of spell to be cast results in the intended spell firing after all -- that's just part of the chaos!)

Item Name

Chaos Coin

Alternate Names

Spellcaster's Payback, Spellcaster's Gamble

Rarity

Uncommon

Value

perhaps 10gp for a non-spellcaster

Effects

If a spellcaster that possess the coin attempts to cast any prepared spell (i.e. cast a spell from memory, a random memorized spell is triggered instead.

Limitations

Cannot be used for "coin toss" determinations (as it invariably lands standing on edge).

Cannot be disposed of in any manner by a spellcaster unless Remove Curse is cast upon it.

Limitations

Once a spellcaster takes possession of the coin, the curse cannot be broken until a sufficiently strong Remove Curse is cast upon it. The level at which Remove Curse must be cast is equal to the highest level of spell that the coin ever caused to be triggered.

An interesting limitation to the coin, which happens to be the only manifestation of mischief the coin will exhibit for a non-spellcasting owner, is the fact that the coin cannot be used deceptively when "tossed" to determine one of two outcomes. As it is a "two-headed coin", the possibility of doing so may occur to a devious character, but whenever this is attempted, the coin will invariably land on its edge rather than showing either of its "heads" to indicate an outcome.
Gamemaster's Notes

When a spellcaster casts any prepared/memorized spell, dice should be rolled to determine which of all potential prepared/memorized spells triggers instead. This determination should be as close to uniform as possible. (If on a Virtual Tabletop, don't hesitate to use something like "/roll 1d13")

If your game system includes some classes that do not have to specifically select spells to fill their spell slots, then all spells potentially accessible to them are used to determine the pool of potential random outcomes.

If the randomly selected spell requires some decisions to be made (for example, what to polymorph the target into, or what the illusion should look like), you should either randomly determine these yourself, or - if your table is of the right mindset - ask for suggestions to have the most chaotic - or ridiculous - results. Note that it is not necessary - or even desirable - for these "random" things to always be detrimental. Chaos can sometimes work for a party's benefit!

Credits

Swirls portion of runestone image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Head portion of runestone image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Metal disk portion of runecoin by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Side panel dungeon passage image by Evelyn Chai from Pixabay
Banner image by kalhh from Pixabay