Checkmate Armor - Magic Item (Patreon)

- Updated v 1.1 -

👑🛡️♟️ Hey folks! Let me tell ya about a super cool gnome named Seraphina! She was really, really good at chess and loved magical armor. She traveled all over the place, fighting big monsters and bad guys, all while wearing her special Checkmate Armor. It was this amazing medium armor made of magical wood, with a real chessboard on the front. Each little chess piece was carved beautifully and had some special tree magic in it! 🌳

Her little pawn piece could even take a hit for her, breaking into bits instead of letting her get hurt. When she’d yell, "Checkmate!" after a really clever hit, her enemies would get super confused, trapped in a magical mind maze! Everyone talked about Seraphina's adventures, from smarty wizards to young adventurers dreaming of their own journeys. They'd whisper about her cool chess strategy, her brave chess pieces, and how she won so many fights by being extra clever! 👑🛡️♟️

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Checkmate Armor

Armor (any medium), legendary (requires attunement)

It is carved from a rare, durable wood and adorned with enchanted, miniature chess pieces that occasionally animate to play out unseen strategies on the chessboard at the armor’s torso.

While wearing this armor, you gain a +2 bonus to AC.

King's Defense. Upon being critically hit by an attack, you can choose to activate the "Pawn Sacrifice". The critical hit becomes a regular hit, but you sacrifice a bit of your own vitality, reducing your maximum hit points by 1d8 until the next long rest.

Queen's Gambit. When you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to activate the spirit of the chessboard queen engraved on the armor. Upon activation, a spectral chess queen emerges, imposing herself between you and the attacker. The attacker must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 20). On a failed save, you can target a different creature within range of the original attack. If there are no other valid targets, the attack is redirected towards the attacker, if possible. You can use this property a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Checkmate. Upon scoring a critical hit against a creature, you can declare a “Checkmate”, forcing the target to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 20). On a failure, the target becomes unconscious until the start of your next turn.