Soul Mask

Players in dramas and operas once wore these masks to show the audience a feeling such as joy, terror, hatred or grief. Unlike ordinary props, soul masks soaked up so much emotion from performers and crowds that they woke to life. That outpouring of feeling is their food, and without it they wither, so a mask hunts for a place full of strong emotion or for a host to feed on. Physically it is just wood or clay.

At will, a soul mask can use emotion, just like the wizard spell of 4th level, on everyone able to see it. Which feeling it sends depends on the mask; any of the spell's eight emotions are possible, though most masks deal in fear, sadness, hate or happiness. A creature who saves becomes immune to that particular mask's projection.

Its second power needs a successful hit against a humanoid or some other creature it can cling to. Armor does not help unless it is a helmet, and a helmet that covers the whole face makes the wearer immune. On a hit the mask fuses to the victim's face, and the victim saves vs. paralyzation. Failure means she launches into a scene from some drama or opera, fully playing the hero but in the mask's emotion. The scene runs 2d6 rounds, then she saves again, with the same result if she fails.

After a successful save she can resist performing for 1d6 turns, though she remains under the emotion effect, then must save again or return to the stage. A remove curse from a priest or wizard, combined with a successful save, lets her resist for a day. Spells meant to counter the mask's emotion fail, and the mask makes its wearer immune to spells such as fear and emotion. Dispel magic pries it loose and leaves it inert for 1 round before it starts projecting and attacking again. Any physical blow to a grafted mask also hits the host.

There is a dubious upside: the wearer acquires the Acting proficiency, able to perfectly play any role the mask knows, since she is not really acting but truly feeling the mask's emotion.

Soul masks seldom gather unless they awakened at the same time. Sometimes two masks of opposite feelings travel together, and their victims tend to fall into lovely counterpoint dialogue.

These parasites lose 1 hit point for every day they go without emotional food. A dead mask sells for the price of a normal one, a few silver pieces at most. They keep no treasure of real worth, but their repertoires can be huge, which may interest bards and actors.