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Random Magic Fountain/Pool Effects Chart

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Fonte no Parque de Quiñones de León, Vigo
Fonte no Parque de Quiñones de León, Vigo by Francisco Puente through Wikimedia Commons; licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License

I was searching for a chart that lists random effects if one drinks from a magic fountain or pool of water.  (I just think the idea is cool.)  I only found references to NetHack’s fountains, an article in Dragon #34 (which I looked up thanks to my Dragon Archive CD and it wasn’t really what I wanted), and one online chart that also wasn’t what I was looking for.  So I whipped up something that matches what I’m looking for.

You can use this in a couple of ways:

  • Predetermine the effect for each fountain and let it do the same thing every time.
  • Let it always do something different.
  • Just determine the fountain’s effect type and let it randomly do a different effect from the appropriate table with each drink.

Another factor to consider is does the fountain work multiple times on the same person?  Or does it depend on the effect?  Or perhaps once an effect is used that effect is no longer available or not available for the rest of the day.

You may also foreshadow for the players if the magical effects are likely to be beneficial or not.

Effect Type (1d8):

1-3: Negative Effects

4-5: Negligible Effects

6-8: Beneficial Effects

Negative Effects (2d6):

2: Character ages 1 year.

3: Character is poisoned for 1d4/level hit points.

4: Character Strength is reduced by 1d4 points for the day.

5: Character’s saving throws are reduced by 1 point for the day.

6: Character is slowed for the day. (As the spell.)

7: Character suffers a -1 to attacks for the day.  Or if he is a spellcaster with spells remaining, the highest level spell he has available is lost.

8: Character loses one one point from his highest attribute, but he adds one point to another attribute. (Player’s choice; may only be done once per character per fountain.) Effect is permanent.

Negligible  Effects (1d4):

1: Character is stunned for 1d4+1 rounds.

2: Character is drunk for one hour.

3: Character’s hair suddenly grows long.  Cutting it doesn’t cause it to suddenly grow again.

4: Character is fatigued for 1d4+1 rounds

Beneficial Effects (2d4):

2: Character’s Fortitude save (or his poison related saves, if using an older RPG rule set)  is improved by 1. Effect is permanent.

3: Character gains 1d4/level temporary hit points. (If he is injured these will heal him, if uninjured he keeps these until they are used.)

4: Character is invisible for the day. (As the spell.)

5: Character’s saving throws are improved by 1 point for the day.

6: Character is hastened for the day. (As the spell.)

7: Character gains a +1 to attacks for the day or the highest level spell he has cast is replenished. (Player’s choice.)

8: Character may add one point to an attribute, but must remove one point from another attribute. (Player’s choice; may only be done once per character per fountain.) Effect is permanent.