The Skeleton Key

[Zilfer]

Hello had an idea for an item that I wanted to have in Ravenloft and I also ended up spending a bit of time writing a small story to go with it which I may or may not use for my 1 on 1 Ravenloft campaign with my roommate.


It's effects i'm still toying around with but I was thinking something along the lines of....


The Skeleton Key:

VIEW CONTENT:

Description: The Skeleton Key looks like a bone white key that otherwise looks unremarkable. The only mark of its origin has three letters on the head of the key in black lettering. RAC.

Effect: This key has a 80% (5-20 on a D20) chance of opening any door, lock, or portal including magical ones. This however comes at a price, each time the key is used to unlock a door in such a way it has a 10% (1 on a d10) to cause harm to the victim.

As you can see i'm having some trouble coming up with an exact effect and who knows maybe i'll just let it open 100% locks just to make it simpler. I may not even use a drawback as I expect the PC would probably use this item sparingly. Feel free to give suggestions! Oh and here is the extra little story I made about the item.









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Hello, and greetings. You need not tell me how you found me, or to knock three times every three minutes. You see I already know that you seek that which is only obtainable here in my shop. You dared the sewers of Richemulot and for those of the surface world that was no small feat reaching me, but you must be wondering if all you’ve gone through is worth the effort yes? Yes well come, come on in let’s not let the rats in. Heh, rats.

Take a look around; as you can see I am quiet the collector from baubles to tools. Take your time for I rarely get visitors down here, and sometimes it does get rather lonely. Perhaps you’d also like to stay for dinner….? No? Well if you’ve found me there must be something I have that you want, and from the looks of you, you’ll stop at nothing until you get it right? Now you’re probably thinking to yourself that you’ve brought with you a small fortune to pay for that what you seek but I don’t take any currency used above… we’ll discuss that later for now I think I see where your eyes are resting. That bone white key…. Yes it must be the item you’re searching for.

This key is a most peculiar key, and I’m not the first to have owned it and nor by the look in your eye, the last. Let me tell you a story about this particular key… then we’ll discuss payment.

The hunched man’s nose twitched side to side for a moment before he grinned with really sharp teeth…

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Mr. Richard Carpus one of the best thieves around. He stole for a variety of reasons but there was always one driving reason underneath it all. He lived for the thrill of working for something of great value. If someone had something they considered precious he just had to try and get it. His skills were well developed over a long period of time, and in that time he had managed to stay under the radar of both officials and most of the criminal underworld. This man was just as liable to steal a woman’s engagement bauble as he was to steal from a hidden safe that contained the families fortunes. Monetary value was secondary, and his intent was never malicious. He was born with a gift some would say…

Somewhere along the line he got wind of something he could just not pass up. Supposedly a family had bought a vault from a Dementlieu locksmith supposed to be uncrackable. Whatever they were hiding in there Mr. Carpus couldn’t help but covet. He devised a plan to get into the house unaware and take a shot at the safe. His first attempt failed…. His second… and his third. Soon it became an obsession he would crack this safe no matter what, and take whatever was in this vault. Getting into the manor was easily enough now, he had been around so long and at this job so long that he was actually a worker at the mansion.

It wasn’t long before he attracted the attention a young maiden who happened to be the solo heir to her father’s fortune. He was smitten at first sight with Ms. Rachel Lockehart. He told himself he fancied her because she might provide the essential clue for that safe or perhaps she’d show him how to open it one day. Not the ideal way he’d like to solve the issue but a probable solution he had used in the past. Truth was he was lying to himself, trying to convince himself his feelings for her was just because of what had begun as a job, and an obsession.

Richard ended up proposing to Ms. Lockehart, after trying hard to win the approval of her father by starting up his own locksmith business which made a moderate income. He found his skills at cracking safes, and getting around security helped him develop quite a few innovated locks or security measures. Having two keys was near unheard of at this time but he never came close to whoever built the safe of the Lockeharts. He inquired about the vault a few times before dropping the subject saying that if he could make locks like that one he’d be the richest man in the Core.

When Mr. Lockehart died, he expected his new wife to be curious about the vault and open it but she did the very opposite. She seemed disinterested and waived off her husband’s interests in it saying that the secret of the safe had died with her father and if they really needed money they could just break it open. A fact that Richard knew wasn’t true, he had tried that already…

Desperate now, he turned to the only place he had left to turn. He found someone with a power he didn’t fully understand, and he would never be able to explain. It is said that he found a Seer of sorts. Who for the right price could give you anything you desired. He met this person expecting to get swindled, and he only had to pay a large ransom to find this seer and after tracking him down he told the seer what he wanted.

Well the seer didn’t want any of the man’s gold no, he said what he required was more… personal. The seer said what he asked for was of great value so the cost of such a thing would have to be just as great. Richard however didn’t care at this point, he told the seer no matter what he requested he would get it for him. He HAD to have what was in that vault.

The seer understood that he would not dissuade this man of his chosen path and told him what he would need to make the item. He would need his left hand. It was his dominate hand, and the request took him back… why did this seer need his left hand? But the seer wasn’t forthcoming with an answer and left the man to decide letting him know he would never get the vault open without this payment.

Richard railed for a good day or so at the man’s gall…. He would have him cut off his own hand probably just to spite him. When he returned home however and into the room with the vault he eyed a blade in his hand he didn’t remember grabbing. That vault… if the seer was lying… he didn’t know what he would do to the seer.

It wasn’t long before a bag with a severed hand dropped onto the seer’s table. It was said there was never a thief more willing to give up his hand…. The Irony is beautiful isn’t it? The Seer went away for a time, after a month went by Richard was sure he had been swindled by a cruel joke and he became depressed. That soon turned to anger, as he was going to find that seer and kill him. Just as he was planning on one day finally acting upon his impulse the seer sent a letter to come see him again. He went… with a hidden dagger in tow.

To his surprise the seer was happy and pulled forth a single bone white key. He claimed it could open any lock, no matter how complex be it held by magic, or mundane. Again Richard struggled against his logical side telling him he was being lead on but he swallowed his pride once more. If there was just the slightest chance it would open he had to take it.

Taking the key back to his home he hardly noticed anyone as he walked towards the room looking down at the key in his hand. It had his initials written on the bone, and somehow he knew this bone had been made from his hand. It sickened him, and twisted his insides to know that he was holding a piece of himself in his own palm. That it had been made into a… key. Even he could see the irony. His hand had been the key to so many things in his life and now it was an actual key.

His curiosity got the better of him as he tried the key on all his locks. He had scattered about the place… it opened every single lock. EVERY SINGLE LOCK! He looked up to the vault and walked over hands shaking he was about to find out what he had spent years trying to get into. Finally! He could hardly contain himself. The key slide in perfectly and with a turn the clicking noise started up until at least it came to a halt. He slowly opened the door and to his horror he saw something he never expected.

His brain took a moment to process just what he was seeing. He saw pictures of both his wife and father just below two pedestals. He approached still coming to the realization of what this was. He looked at his father-in-law’s pedestal seeing that whatever had been there was now gone…. Slowly he looked over to his wife’s picture that looked faded. She looked… the same… but from the age of the picture that shouldn’t be possible….

He reached for the object on his wife’s pedestal and it was soft and moist to the touch. It pulsated rhythmically… it was… her heart! He turned towards the vault door as the vault closed a perfect feminine hand disappearing right before it closed and he was plunged into darkness.

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Mrs. Corpus stood on the outside of the vault knowing she would finally have someone to spend eternity with. All she had to do was wait until he died within the vault and then cut his heart and place a photo of him to replace her fathers and she would be forever happy. It was a pity she’d have to kill him like this rather and an easier way but it had to be done. She waited for a good time listening to screams, wails and crying all the while gently caressing the vault that held her loved one. She didn’t want to put him through this but… there was no other choice now….
Suddenly she felt a pain in her chest….

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Richard was past all emotion now; he had figured everything out that he could. He had spent years of his life, probably the last years of his life trying to obtain the one thing he couldn’t steal. He already had his wife’s heart. He laughed now realizing he was trying to steal what he already had. His mood turned darker now, as he felt the pulse in his hand. It was one of the only sensations he had experienced for hours on end. He figured it was kind of like what a baby might feel like in a womb. Dark… and a constant ebbing….

Well there was no signs of the door opening up no matter what he had pleaded to his wife, it turned out she was some kind of heartless monster… literally. He would die in here, a one handed thief locked up in what might as well have been a prison. He was finally caught.

There was a sudden realization and he perked his head up in the darkness. He stood up facing what he hoped was the door with his hand outstretched. Took a deep breath…. There was one last thing for him to steal…. And squeezed.

________________________________________________________________________________

Quiet the story yes? No idea if it’s true but I can tell you for sure this key will open up any lock you might think of opening. Maybe steal from a few noble houses, or unlock a few hidden tombs? Trust me, I don’t lie to my only potential customers…

The man looks behind himself for a moment seemingly following your gaze.

I see you’ve taken a notice of that vault I have. Key’s aren’t the only things I sell. Never been able to get it open however, but then again I have no need to. I happen to be content with unexplained mysteries…. Now about that payment….

Says the man beginning to grin.

[alhoon]

Hmm...
I would suggest the following:
5th edition
The key counts as thieves tools but gives a +10 to open locks. When using the skeleton key, if the user rolls a natural 1 or 2 in 1d20, then he/she falls under the curse of the key.
For the following week bad luck plagues the victim. The DM may apply disadvantage up to 3 times to saving throws or skills or apply advantage to enemy attacks on the target. When using those penalties, the DM could ask for a skill check for trivial activities, not normally rolled, that could result in injury.
The effects of bad luck don't stop there; the character finds himself in dangerous or harmful situations more often.

3e rules: You can use the key as if you were proficient in open locks and it gives a +10 equipment bonus. When using the skeleton key, if the user rolls a natural 1 or 2 in 1d20, then he/she falls under the curse of the key.
For the following week bad luck plagues the victim. The DM within a week may apply a -4 circumstance penalty up to 3 times to saving throws or skills or give +4 circumstance bonus to enemy attacks on the target. When using those penalties, the DM could ask for a skill check for trivial activities that may result in injury.
The effects of bad luck don't stop there; the character finds himself in dangerous or harmful situations more often.


examples:
After using the key, a burglar tries to climb down a ladder to escape. The DM asks for a skill check DC 5 to climb down the ladder, and applies disadvantage/penalty. A step of the ladder breaks and the character may fall.
Using the skeleton key to escape a cell while the guard is asleep, the DM applies the penalty to the stealth check of the character as a mouse overturns a cup.
The character visits his favorite tavern just to find a group of drunken thugs inside that "mistake" him for someone that insulted them in the past and try to beat him.


That kind of thing

[MichaelTumey]

The first idea that popped in my head regarding a cursed key that magically opens most locked doors is that when the curse is activated, a portal to some darker realm opens (within close proximity to the user of the key) allowing a dark denizen to enter the world at your location. Its a key, right? So shouldn't its negative effect involve the opening a door to someplace you don't want opened? I know this is for Ravenloft, so you're already in a dark place so opening an alternate dimension would work for a normal setting and less so for Ravenloft, but it could open and stir an awakening of a powerful undead being that will hunt down whomever woke it from its "slumber". Just giving a cursed key a standard negative effect (minus to attacks, saves or something) make it an unextraordinary cursed object. If you're going to take time to create a specific cursed item, its cursed effect should be directly related to what the item does. Thus a cursed key opening someplace worse than where you are now, or releasing an otherwise trapped negative entity seems far more appropriate than some minor normal mechanical effect.

[Zilfer]

Hmm...
I would suggest the following:
5th edition
The key counts as thieves tools but gives a +10 to open locks. When using the skeleton key, if the user rolls a natural 1 or 2 in 1d20, then he/she falls under the curse of the key.
For the following week bad luck plagues the victim. The DM may apply disadvantage up to 3 times to saving throws or skills or apply advantage to enemy attacks on the target. When using those penalties, the DM could ask for a skill check for trivial activities, not normally rolled, that could result in injury.
The effects of bad luck don't stop there; the character finds himself in dangerous or harmful situations more often.

3e rules: You can use the key as if you were proficient in open locks and it gives a +10 equipment bonus. When using the skeleton key, if the user rolls a natural 1 or 2 in 1d20, then he/she falls under the curse of the key.
For the following week bad luck plagues the victim. The DM within a week may apply a -4 circumstance penalty up to 3 times to saving throws or skills or give +4 circumstance bonus to enemy attacks on the target. When using those penalties, the DM could ask for a skill check for trivial activities that may result in injury.
The effects of bad luck don't stop there; the character finds himself in dangerous or harmful situations more often.


examples:
After using the key, a burglar tries to climb down a ladder to escape. The DM asks for a skill check DC 5 to climb down the ladder, and applies disadvantage/penalty. A step of the ladder breaks and the character may fall.
Using the skeleton key to escape a cell while the guard is asleep, the DM applies the penalty to the stealth check of the character as a mouse overturns a cup.
The character visits his favorite tavern just to find a group of drunken thugs inside that "mistake" him for someone that insulted them in the past and try to beat him.


That kind of thing

I do like your idea here about bad luck following you around after using such an item, and yes I came up with this idea from the topic I responded to you something about a skeleton key and then I just started thinking about it. xD

I'd like the key to be able to open up even the most difficult of locks so that's why I didn't want to go with the +10 equipment bonus because some of the harder locks wouldn't be able to be gotten even by a normal person rolling a 20. Though I will take that cursed idea perhaps for another item however, I think I might have one that I would like to apply it too.

The first idea that popped in my head regarding a cursed key that magically opens most locked doors is that when the curse is activated, a portal to some darker realm opens (within close proximity to the user of the key) allowing a dark denizen to enter the world at your location. Its a key, right? So shouldn't its negative effect involve the opening a door to someplace you don't want opened? I know this is for Ravenloft, so you're already in a dark place so opening an alternate dimension would work for a normal setting and less so for Ravenloft, but it could open and stir an awakening of a powerful undead being that will hunt down whomever woke it from its "slumber". Just giving a cursed key a standard negative effect (minus to attacks, saves or something) make it an unextraordinary cursed object. If you're going to take time to create a specific cursed item, its cursed effect should be directly related to what the item does. Thus a cursed key opening someplace worse than where you are now, or releasing an otherwise trapped negative entity seems far more appropriate than some minor normal mechanical effect.

This I reaaaaaally like. It's like using the key opens a gate to a spirit realm and possibly lets one through. I could go a few ways with this idea....

A) The Person unleashes a horror upon the world that doesn't bother him immediately, however morally they'd probably be obligated to hunt said creature/spirit down. (Since this is possibly for a Mordentshire 1 on 1 campaign and the PC is a town guard that investigates the more weirder mysteries, this might be useful. He'd probably feel guilty if it got out and someone died but he wouldn't know the key's effect until it happened. I could run that easily.

B) It opens up creatures that attack you as they try to come through and be a part of this world. Not only does this take you from being 'sneaky' about getting into that office where Sherrif Owen Finhallen might be hiding something important to solve the case, to causing a commotion that you can't 'rightly explain' that some paranormal portal opened while he just 'happened' to be walking by. (Gives it more of a chance to have draw backs when used as intended.... also possibly would discourage PC use or at least make him more reserved about using it as the first option to bypass an obstacle)

C) It opens up this other dimension and... Sucks him in!!!! [Insert Alternate Dimension Side Quest or hook]

D) Should a creature escape perhaps it would eventually hunt down the person with the key in order to unleash more of.... itself. Or more of whatever it is.

E) It opens a door somewhere else in the world and walking through 'teleports' you to that location. Now this seems like a boon rather and a curse however imagine if you opened the door to say a criminal's cell? Or Someone you knew. Would you just close the door on them if they saw you? The moment they get up to go check where you just were you'd be gone. Just another interesting idea to chew on for now....

Both ideas are pretty good. this is why I love brainstorming here so much more good ideas spawn from suggestions.

[MichaelTumey]

Well, not that you need to play Kaidan, but #30 Haunts for Kaidan, there's a magic item called a Skeleton Key, which is a normal skeleton key, when tied suspended to the hair of a recently dead person, all haunts in a 30' radius are detected, but the item also points the way to Kaidan (like a compass). So if you choose to suck your cursed PC into another realm for a short duration, perhaps that place might be Kaidan... the mention of a skeleton key and my version in mind, is the reason I looked at this thread in the first place.

[Dark Angel]

The first idea that popped in my head regarding a cursed key that magically opens most locked doors is that when the curse is activated, a portal to some darker realm opens (within close proximity to the user of the key) allowing a dark denizen to enter the world at your location. Its a key, right? So shouldn't its negative effect involve the opening a door to someplace you don't want opened? I know this is for Ravenloft, so you're already in a dark place so opening an alternate dimension would work for a normal setting and less so for Ravenloft, but it could open and stir an awakening of a powerful undead being that will hunt down whomever woke it from its "slumber". Just giving a cursed key a standard negative effect (minus to attacks, saves or something) make it an unextraordinary cursed object. If you're going to take time to create a specific cursed item, its cursed effect should be directly related to what the item does. Thus a cursed key opening someplace worse than where you are now, or releasing an otherwise trapped negative entity seems far more appropriate than some minor normal mechanical effect.

In a similar vein, the key unlocks something within a suppressed memory or series of memories or something completely off (past lives, the residual essences of those near them who died or whom were killed by the player, etc). These can lead to a series of fear checks initially, but quickly escalate to horror and eventually madness checks. Now the initial downside to this is how to get them to use the key. Without a thief or magic to open locks, they may feel the need to use the key as a last option. This is assuming they realize the key is the cause. If they don't they would keep using it without issue as long as they like. Maybe giving a magical tome with sinister content and a magical lock that needs the key to be opened. Or if they realize the issue, but someone is already 'hooked', then have them waking up in the night after opening a locked portal or chest (or three). Do what they will, but they cannot avoid using the item at least once every week (regardless of what measures are taken).

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

Love the story. Not sure what to do with the item's rules. My gut says:
a) to fit the story, it's got to open any lock, period. Not a bonus, not a percent chance. It just opens them.
b) From a game-balance perspective, there's got to be a hefty penalty to go with that, or as a DM, you can forget about locking anything ever again. It's got to be something that only gets used in dire need.
c) To fit with the story, maybe it requires the user to give something up as the original owner did, to activate it. Perhaps not as drastic as a hand, but a permanent loss of a few hp or a constitution drain (Which can't be healed by magic).
d) alternately, perhaps the cost is something along the lines of what Michael or DarkAngel said. Opening something that should not be opened. Perhaps after it's used, sometime in the next day, when the user walks through a door, they find it leads somewhere they didn't expect (this effect would not be noticed before crossing through the door. If you don't like splitting the party, make it take effect when the last of the party walks through, or it takes effect immediately on crossing the doorway, but those who haven't been affected yet see an illusion of their friend safely on the other side.) Suddenly, they are in a monster's lair, or a jail cell, buried in a coffin, or locked in a cage with a beast of some kind, or simply in a private meeting they weren't supposed to see. Wherever they end up, it should be more than a minor inconvenience. Preferably, it would involve real danger. And naturally, the key won't work now to get them out of it.

[Ender]

This reminds me a lot of my favorite miniseries: The Lost Room. Without getting into spoilers, in the series, there exists a key that can open any key and tumbler lock. It opens into a motel room that exists... somewhere. Upon leaving this room, you only have to think of a location and it will allow you to exit through the nearest door to where you thought. The Key has no specific downside, or at least, nothing that can be easily quantified. It becomes apparent over time, however, that using The Key has repercussions. One of the characters says the following:

AII that matters is the price. That's what nobody gets. There's aIways a price to pay for using [The Key]. Whether you know it or not, there's aIways a price.

If it were me, I'd probably make the downside of using the key something intangible. If I did use mechanics, I might use Powers Checks. Using the key is easy. You could let the players use it as frequently as they want... and maybe they do abuse it... but the more they use it, the closer they get to the darkness. The key is an easy out and that's exactly what the Dark Powers look for.

[Zilfer]

Love the story. Not sure what to do with the item's rules. My gut says:
a) to fit the story, it's got to open any lock, period. Not a bonus, not a percent chance. It just opens them.
b) From a game-balance perspective, there's got to be a hefty penalty to go with that, or as a DM, you can forget about locking anything ever again. It's got to be something that only gets used in dire need.
c) To fit with the story, maybe it requires the user to give something up as the original owner did, to activate it. Perhaps not as drastic as a hand, but a permanent loss of a few hp or a constitution drain (Which can't be healed by magic).
d) alternately, perhaps the cost is something along the lines of what Michael or DarkAngel said. Opening something that should not be opened. Perhaps after it's used, sometime in the next day, when the user walks through a door, they find it leads somewhere they didn't expect (this effect would not be noticed before crossing through the door. If you don't like splitting the party, make it take effect when the last of the party walks through, or it takes effect immediately on crossing the doorway, but those who haven't been affected yet see an illusion of their friend safely on the other side.) Suddenly, they are in a monster's lair, or a jail cell, buried in a coffin, or locked in a cage with a beast of some kind, or simply in a private meeting they weren't supposed to see. Wherever they end up, it should be more than a minor inconvenience. Preferably, it would involve real danger. And naturally, the key won't work now to get them out of it.

Some nice suggestions here. I'm thinking Permanent HP loss for a week when they use it might be a determent enough to stop willy nilly use of it or 2 con damage for a week before it heals naturally. I'm not sure i'd have the penalties necessarily stack for each use like if their were multiple locks they were doing or had to bypass. I'd have to think on that.

I'm starting to like the idea of it opening portals to other doorways as well, though if it has a possibility to go wrong it might not just be doors. For example they break into the guard warden's quarters for some files they use the key to open it and reach in only to pull out a bloody heart, or someone's dead arm from a coffin. Perhaps pulls jewelery from a noble that will report it missing and if they are caught with it then.... well bad thiefs! XD

I've edited the story a little bit with the help of a friend but the basis of the story is the same just with grammar corrections and sentence restructure. Maybe a few sentences taken out or altered. Not sure if anyone would want to see that version but if you do i'll post it up again.