At first sight, the Item appears to be nothing more than a piece of bone worn down to a near sphere. Through painful experimentation the Vanguard has determined it's true nature and abilities. Here are their findings: When a creature holding the Knucklebone of Fickle Fortune looks upon it, he sees that the bone is actually a perfectly shaped die with 20 sides, each side bearing a glowing red symbol of power. When the creature rolls the die, instead of falling to the floor it rolls upward in mid-air, stopping at the eye level of the creature who rolled it. It then takes its effect, based on the side immediately facing its caster. Some effects are lost if the die is rolled again.
The Knucklebone of Fickle Fortune is theorized to disappear if its Eha-Zah face (a 20 on the die) comes up on 20 consecutive rolls. Some of the Vanguard believe that this does not destroy the Item, and it instead reappears at some random spot in the world. Such knowledge is purely conjecture, for it is not known whether anyone has accomplished this improbable task.
The Knucklebone of Fickle Fortune is one of the five Items locked away in The Vault by the Vanguard.
(Some language in the table will be presented in game terms.)
| D20 | Rune Name | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eya-Doh | The character gains 1 permanent negative level. |
| 2 | Bvu | The character is subject to a powerful compulsion never to roll the Knucklebone of Fickle Fortune again. He can shake this compulsion only by succeeding a DC 25 Will saving throw. He can attempt this saving throw only once per day. |
| 3 | Eij | The character is affected by a harm spell (caster level 15th). |
| 4 | Hor | The character is subject to a powerful compulsion to roll the knucklebone three more times immediately (Will DC 25 negates). All three of these rolls are made with a —5 penalty on the knucklebone's die roll (minimum 1). |
| 5 | Veh | The character is blinded as with blindness/deafness (no saving throw). |
| 6 | Chu | The character takes 5d10 points of cold damage (DC 25 Fort save for half) and moves at half speed for the next hour (a successful saving throw does not negate the reduced speed). |
| 7 | Roh | For the next 24 hours, the character suffers a —2 penalty on all skill and ability checks. |
| 8 | Seh | The character is paralyzed for 2d12 hours, as with hold monster, except he cannot attempt new saving throws to overcome the effect. |
| 9 | Kog | For the next week, the character emits a horrible smell. He suffers a —4 penalty on Diplomacy and Stealth checks. |
| 10 | Vis | Once, during the next 24 hours, the character can reroll a single die roll he has just made and take the second result, as if using the good fortune ability from the Luck domain. |
| 11 | Fyeh | The character gains 100 points of fire immunity, as if using protection from energy. |
| 12 | Xal | The character gains the benefits of a heroism spell for the next 200 minutes. |
| 13 | Yaq | For the next 24 hours, when the character hits a target he is flanking with a melee weapon, the attack does +1d6 points of precision damage. |
| 14 | Gib | Once in the next 24 hours, the character can cast faerie fire (caster level equal to his character level). This ability is lost if the character rolls this result again with the knucklebone of fickle fortune before the 24 hours is concluded. |
| 15 | Xku | The character is immune to fear for the next 24 hours. |
| 16 | Lev | Once in the next 24 hours, the character can cast a lightning bolt (caster level equal to his character level). This ability is lost if the character rolls this result again with the knucklebone of fickle fortune before the 24 hours is concluded. |
| 17 | Nhi | For the next 7 days, when the character is the target of healing magic, he heals an additional 2d8 hit points. This effect is lost if the character rolls the knucklebone of fickle fortune again before the 7 days are concluded. |
| 18 | Smi | For the next 24 hours, whenever the character succeeds on a saving throw against a harmful effect that does half damage or partial effect on a failed save, the knucklebone's character takes no damage or suffers no effect. |
| 19 | Tem | For the next 24 hours, the character automatically confirms all critical hits. |
| 20 | Eha-Zah | The next time the character dies, he comes back from the dead the very next morning as if the subject of a resurrection spell. This effect is negated if the character rolls the knucklebone of fickle fortune again before he dies. |