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## Magic Items in Guest Services
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Guest services contains four interesting magic items that the PCs can
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take.
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### Item: The Guidebook
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The guidebook is a leather-bound magical volume. It is found on a
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pedestal in guest services. It has several features:
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- One page for each exhibit. Every exhibit has a name, such as “The
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> Tavern of the South Gate.” Exhibits are sorted alphabetically by
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> name. The page has a blurb about the exhibit, just a paragraph or
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> two.
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```{=html}
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<!-- -->
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```
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- An index of residents. If you know the name of an person, you can
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> find the name of the exhibit they’re associated with.
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- A Cover with a painting of a compass. The compass is initially
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> pointing due north.
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- The Cover shows the name of the exhibit you are closest to, along
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> with a danger rating. In guest services, the book says “Closest
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> Exhibit: Guest Services. Danger: None”
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- A bookmark, attached to a string, attached to the guidebook’s spine.
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> The back of the guidebook explains that if you put the bookmark
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> into the page for an exhibit, the compass on the cover will point
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> toward that exhibit.
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The guidebook is very useful for finding an exhibit if you know the
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exhibit name or a person’s name. Unfortunately, it’s not useful for
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finding exhibits by content. If one of your players says, “I’m just
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going to read all the exhibits until I find one that has a spellcaster
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who knows *plane shift*,” say, “you read for a while, but the blurbs
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aren’t giving the information you need.” Give them the blurb from *The
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Radiant House* as an example. Point out that this exhibit definitely
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contains a wizard, Dardannon, but the blurb tells you next to nothing
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about him. There’s no information about whether he can cast *sending* or
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*plane shift*. There’s no mention of what magic items he might have in
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his house. It doesn’t even say what level of spellcaster he is. The
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point is: trying to use the blurbs to search for specific things just
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isn’t working.
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The rule for the guidebook is: if you know a person’s name or an exhibit
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name, the guidebook will help you locate the exhibit, and will also tell
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you a bit about the exhibit. But if you don’t have a name, it can’t
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help. Be upfront with the players about that simple rule.
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The other thing the guidebook can do is tell you what exhibit you’re
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standing on. This can be useful, for example, if you find an exhibit
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that contains a building, and you aren’t sure whether it is wise to
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enter or not.
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### Item: The Stabilization Iron
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When objects are taken from exhibits, they tend to stick around for
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about an hour, and then they vanish - in some sense, returning to their
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exhibit. They never vanish while you’re actively thinking about them or
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using them - they vanish when your attention turns elsewhere. This is
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the stasis effect in action.
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The stabilization iron looks like a tiny branding iron. Used like a
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branding iron, it will apply a stabilization glyph to any object taken
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from an exhibit. This will cause the object to last several days,
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instead of an hour. The stabilization iron can be found on a pedestal in
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guest services.
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Since both the guidebook and the iron are part of the guest services
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exhibit, they will both vanish after about an hour unless they are
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stabilized. This is advisable. To stabilize the stabilization iron
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itself, you will need two stabilization irons, so that the two can apply
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glyphs to each other. To get two irons, you have to take one from the
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pedestal, leave the room, and come back. Let the PCs figure out this
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little puzzle.
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The iron can be used an unlimited number of times per day. It can
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stabilize any object, animal, or person taken from an exhibit.
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Using the iron to stabilize a *person* who is part of an exhibit will
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have a surprising effect. NPCs in exhibits tend to forget new things
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very quickly. That is particularly true when you show them other
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islands: they have a mental block against thinking about other islands.
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These limitations make it largely impossible to have a productive
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conversation about the museum with an NPC. The stabilization glyph
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eliminates both these limitations. A stabilized NPC can remember
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everything you tell them for several days, and can observe and think
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about other islands. They can even travel with the party (if they’re
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able to climb ropes).
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The PCs may try to stabilize themselves. If they do, the stabilization
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glyph is indeed applied, but there is no effect.
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### Item: The Capture Device
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The *Capture Device* is used to create new exhibits in the museum. If
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there were written instructions, which there aren’t, this is what they
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would say:
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> Leave the museum, taking the capture device with you. Then, look for
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> an interesting person to add to the museum. Put the capture device in
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> the building with the interesting person. Activate the device, which
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> begins a countdown. Evacuate the building before the countdown
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> expires. When the countdown finishes, the entire building will be
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> captured as an exhibit.
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The device is found in guest services, in a locked closet. It can also
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be given to the PCs by the caretakers.
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The Capture Device is a metal cylinder, about three inches in diameter,
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and two inches tall. The cylinder has two halves, separated by a
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hairline crack. It radiates magic strongly. The two halves can be
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rotated relative to each other.
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If you activate it by rotating it, it says, “Exhibit capture in five
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minutes. Evacuate the building.” Then it starts a verbal countdown. At
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the end of five minutes, it tries to collect an exhibit. If it fails, it
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says one of the following error messages:
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- “Capture failed. Cannot capture inside the museum” - The device
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> simply doesn’t work inside the museum. You can’t capture what’s
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> already been captured.
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- “Capture failed. Powerful force resists capture” - The person being
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> captured gets to make a wisdom saving throw, DC15. If they make
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> the saving throw, then the capture fails. There are other
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> situations where a being or a place might be too powerful to
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> capture.
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- “Capture failed. Must be inside a structure” - The device is meant
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> to be placed inside a building or similar structure. It will
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> capture the whole building. It can also work inside a fenced-in
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> area. If it’s not inside a structure, the device doesn’t know what
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> area to capture.
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- “Capture failed. Exhibit does not contain an exotic person, animal,
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> or anomaly” - The exhibit must contain something worthy of the
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> Museum. This is up to the DM’s discretion.
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- “Capture failed. Exhibit may contain at most two people” - This
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> version of the device can only capture two people, maximum.
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If one of these errors occurs, it will be spoken at the end of the
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countdown, and again when somebody picks up the device. But if
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everything goes right, there will be a “whoomp,” and the area will get
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sucked into the Museum, along with its inhabitants. What is left behind
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is typically a crater.
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Of course, if you try to use this device inside the museum, you just
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keep getting the message “cannot capture inside the museum.”
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There is only one *Capture Device* - it is a rare object in the museum
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that is *not* in stasis. When you take it from its pedestal, the
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pedestal doesn’t refill. Unlike other things found in the museum, you
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can take it out of the Museum. When it successfully captures a new
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exhibit, the capture device goes to the Museum along with everything
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else in the exhibit. Then, the caretakers will put it back on its
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pedestal, and it will take several months to recharge.
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After the party finally escapes from the museum, they will have the
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capture device with them. If they activate the capture device and then
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fail to evacuate the building, then in theory, some of the party members
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could get pulled back into the museum. That would not be fun. Don’t
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allow this to happen: just make up an excuse. There are several excuses
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built-in to the device: it can’t capture more than two people (and the
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party is probably more than two people), and it allows a saving throw
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(at least one party member can probably succeed at the save). If those
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excuses don’t work, make up a different excuse.
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### Item: The Potion of Willpower
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In guest services, there is a small chest designed to help you with the
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harpy exhibit. The chest contains a monk robe and a “potion of
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willpower.”
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Orethys provides the potion as a means to resist the charms of the
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Harpies. But the potion is actually a general-purpose potion that gives
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a +5 on wisdom saving throws, for an hour or so. The PCs can
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successfully use it for anything wisdom-save related.
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