Hat of Disguise

Start-class article · First seen: s16 · Last seen: s17
Hat of Disguise
top hat · the disguise hat · Phil's hat
Hat of Disguise, Wondrous item, uncommon portrait
Item
StatusDestroyed
First seens16
Last seens17
TypeWondrous item, uncommon
AttunementRequired (Vasquez, attuned during the s16 boat trip; attunement ended on destruction)
Holdernone (destroyed)
OriginFound in Phil Flowerforge's hidden stash crate, session 16

The Hat of Disguise was a top hat from Phil Flowerforge’s hidden stash in the Eldwythe sewers, found in session 16 when a crate was tipped over and the spell hiding its contents fizzled in the water [12][11]. Althea Stormsoro identified it by ritual: it “allows the attuned creature to cast the disguise self spell” [13]. Vasquez attuned to it on the skiff and turned from a “devil-kin-looking individual to a dwarf”, which was to get the party into Aurelia [24]. Session 17’s retcon, in which Vasquez and Althea were left behind, had the hat explode, and it is gone [25][10].

Overview

The Hat of Disguise was the party’s plan for getting Vasquez, a half-demon elf with horns, into Aurelia. Phil Flowerforge mentioned it in session 15, the party found it in session 16 and Vasquez used it once on the skiff. It did not outlast the retcon at the start of session 17 [1][2][8][9][10].

Description

A top hat [11]. It had been hidden by a spell that failed when the contents of its crate went into the sewer water [12]. Nothing else was said of its look.

Mechanics (as played)

  • Effect. The DM’s reading after Althea’s Identify: it “allows the attuned creature to cast the disguise self spell” [13].
  • Attunement. It took an hour, and then it worked [14].
  • Use. Vasquez’s test on the boat turned him from “a devil-kin-looking individual to a dwarf” [9]. Before the Identify, Caelumn tried to slam the unidentified hat on Vasquez’s head as a test, and Vasquez caught his wrist [15][16].

Open questions

  • How was it destroyed? The DM said only that it “exploded” in the retcon, and the pieces are in the river or the ocean [10][17].

History in the campaign

Session 15: The Death of Ruin and Althea Joins

Main article: Session 15

Terry joked that the party needed “a nice top hat” to pass Vasquez’s horns off in Aurelia [18]. Phil took the idea seriously. He had “an old stash near the exit of the sewers” with a disguise item that could make Vasquez a better-looking version of himself, “Maybe a dwarf?” [1]. He called it a hat of disguise, “somewhere in one of the crates”, used once on a job to pose as a noble [2]. Hugo said the party should keep going to get it [19].

Session 16: Through the Sewers, Onto the Skiff

Main article: Session 16

Below Eldwythe, Caelumn and Terry tipped over the stash crate. The spell on its contents fizzled in the water, and a top hat lay among the spilled goods [20]. Terry knew it at once as the hat of disguise they had been promised [21]. Caelumn tried to slam it onto Vasquez’s head to test it, and Vasquez caught his wrist [15][16]. Althea identified it by ritual [22][13]. Later, on the skiff, Hugo suggested a test; Vasquez attuned for an hour, and the hat worked [23][24].

Session 17: New Hands, the Black Mask’s Renegotiation, and the Rimeclaw

Main article: Session 17

Opening the session, the DM said the party would pretend that Vasquez and Althea had split off and never returned, and that the party had chosen to leave them behind [25]. He added that the hat “friggin exploded” [10], and it was now “bits and pieces” in the river or the ocean [17]. Terry objected: “I want a different retcon. I want one where he keeps the fucking hat.” [26]. It stood. Later Mike asked who had the disguise hat; “that’s gone we lost it,” said Terry, and Hugo told him to blame Nick [27].

Status

As of session 17. Destroyed. Vasquez had it when the retcon took him and Althea out of the party, and nothing of it is left [25][10][28].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 15, line 668: Phil: "an old stash near the exit of the sewers that has a disguise magic item".
  2. ^ Session 15, line 693: Phil: "I think it was a hat of disguise that I had somewhere in one of the crates.".
  3. ^ Session 16, line 58-72: Crate tipped over; the spell fizzles; Caelumn pulls out a top hat and Terry recognises it.
  4. ^ Session 16, line 89-160: Althea ritual-casts Identify; confirms Hat of Disguise / Disguise Self.
  5. ^ Session 16, line 1639-1676: Vasquez attunes during the boat trip; tests as a dwarf.
  6. ^ Session 17, line 130-137: "the hat uh friggin exploded it's gone"; destroyed in the retcon in which Vasquez and Althea are left behind.
  7. ^ Session 17, line 1562-1567: Mike asks who has the disguise hat; Terry says it is lost.
  8. ^ Session 16, line 65-69: Inline citation.
  9. ^ Session 16, line 1676: Inline citation.
  10. ^ Session 17, line 134: Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 16, line 66: Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 16, line 65: Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 16, line 159: Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 16, line 1671-1673: Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 16, line 72: Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 16, line 86: Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 17, line 136: Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 15, line 667: Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 15, line 785: Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 16, line 58-66: Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 16, line 67-69: Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 16, line 106: Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 16, line 1639-1641: Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 16, line 1671-1676: Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 17, line 130: Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 17, line 137: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 17, line 1562-1566: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 17, line 135: Inline citation.