TEXT: EN World EN5IDER | We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve
  EN World EN5IDER | We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve
   
  writing Kiel Chenier
   color art Kim Van Deun
   
  editing James J. Haeck
   
  layout Eric Life-Putnam
  W
  hen the seasons change 
  and the air carries a chill, 
  when the leaves turn red and the 
  harvest is over, spirits of the dead and 
  damned press against the membrane of 
  our world. On Hallow’s Eve, they walk 
  among mortals once more, haunting and 
  wreaking havoc as they go. Our wise 
  ancestors learned to disguise themselves 
  as spirits and monsters to blend in with 
  them, to avoid their attention.
  Every Hallow’s Eve, we donned masks. 
  We wore the faces of the dead and the 
  monstrous. In doing so we were safe...but 
  the longer we wore these masks, the more 
  we risked becoming monstrous ourselves.
  We All Wear Masks
  Faces of Hallow's Eve
  
  We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve | EN World EN5IDER
  We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve | EN World EN5IDER
  This article features five new magic items: five 
  masks inspired by Hallowe’en. These masks are 
  for characters of any level, race, or class. Each 
  mask lets its wearer wield a different horrific 
  but useful power, perfect for a horror-themed 
  Fifth Edition adventure, but varied enough to be 
  useable in any kind of campaign.
   Each mask features the following rules and 
  worldbuilding details, useful for both players and 
  Game Masters:
   
  ▶ The history of the mask.
   
  ▶ The benefits granted to the wearer.
   
  ▶ Places where the mask might be encountered, 
  and NPCs who might be wearing them.
   
  ▶ Optional curses or drawbacks for Game 
  Masters to use.
  All of these magic masks are considered very rare 
  wondrous items. Each requires attunement to use. 
  A character cannot be attuned to more than one 
  of these masks at a time. They each take an action 
  to don or wear, adjusting the eyeholes or fit. They 
  can be removed as a swift action. 
  New Magic Items
  The Ghost Hood
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
   While wearing this hood you can perceive 
  invisible or intangible undead creatures (ghosts, 
  specters, wraiths, banshees, etc.) as if they were 
  solid and material. Undead creatures perceive 
  you as being a similar undead as well, and are 
  nonhostile unless you attack them or are clearly 
  associated with a creature that is hostile to them. 
   Additionally, whenever you calculate the 
  damage you would deal to an incorporeal undead 
  creature, you ignore its damage resistances. 
  Open Game Content
  The game rule information in this article is designated Open Game Content. All of the other material in this article, 
  including maps and illustrations (including illustrations in the public domain), narrative and descriptive 
  text, character and place names, trade dress, “EN Publishing,” “EN World,” “EN5ider,” EN Publishing 
  product and article titles, and EN World and EN Publishing logos, are designated Product Identity.
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   Appearance: The ghost hood is a pure white 
  linen sack with two prominent eye holes. Despite 
  its rough appearance, it feels smooth like velvet 
  and cold to the touch. 
  Hallow’s Eve
  A Hallowe’en-inspired festival and holy day
  Hallow’s Eve is exactly what it sounds like: it is a 
  Hallowe’en and fall harvest festival centered around 
  the dead rising from the grave to walk amongst the 
  living as ghosts, specters, ghouls, and other undead 
  creatures. It is also a totemic day for other horror-
  themed monsters like hags, liches, flesh golems, 
  witches, devils, and cultists of all kinds to carry 
  out evil deeds and rituals out of sight of the deities 
  who might normally keep them in check. Common 
  people wear horrific masks and costumes to dis-
  guise and protect themselves from such monsters.
   In addition, Hallow’s Eve could feature any of the 
  following traditions or effects in your game:
   
  ▶
  Children wear costumes and roam from 
  house to house, asking for candied treats and 
  baked goods.
   
  ▶
  Elves and dwarves might scoff at the idea of 
  Hallow’s Eve, whereas humans, halflings, and 
  other races might embrace it fully.
   
  ▶ The evil primal power of the holy day saps 
  divine magic of its power, so all divine spells 
  suffer penalties or are cast with disadvantage. 
  On the flip side, necromantic magic is buffed 
  and cast with advantage.
   
  ▶ The barriers between the living, the dead, 
  and the monstrous are broken down during 
  the twilight hours of Hallow’s Eve. Spells like 
  speak with dead and tongues can be cast as 
  rituals.
   
  ▶
  Offerings of food and money are left on door-
  steps and in graveyards for the dead; which 
  thieves and goblins are quick to exploit.
  
  EN World EN5IDER | We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve
  EN World EN5IDER | We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve
   Background: A Hallow’s Eve tradition is to cut 
  eye holes in white sheets to disguise yourself as 
  a ghost. Years ago, a talented medium made such 
  a disguise, but found that she could see spirits 
  as plain as day while wearing it. Even after her 
  death, the disguise retained this eerie magic. 
  Over time the sheet became frayed and tattered, 
  until only enough remained to cover the wearer’s 
  face as a mask. 
   This mask has been passed on by supernatural 
  experts, shamans, and clerics who work to lay 
  unquiet spirits to rest. It is often found in either 
  consecrated places like churches, temples, or 
  shrines, or in haunted locations.
   Optional Drawback: Undead creatures of all 
  kinds are drawn to the character attuned to the 
  mask when it is not being worn. These creatures 
  single out that character and attack them 
  exclusively, driven to destroy the mask. The 
  opposite is true when the mask is being worn.
  Hag Mask
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
   While wearing this mask you feel the 
  bewitching powers of a green hag coursing 
  through you. You can cast the following cantrips 
  at will, requiring no material components: dancing 
  lights, minor illusion, vicious mockery. The mask’s 
  spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 12).
   This mask has 3 charges. While wearing it, you 
  can use an action to expend 1 of its charges to cast 
  the fear spell (save DC 12). The mask regains 1 
  expended charge daily at midnight. If you expend 
  the mask’s last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the mask 
  shrivels away into nothingness and is destroyed.
   Appearance: The hag mask looks like the 
  leathery face and head of a green hag with warts 
  and strands of hair. It has eyeholes and a mouth 
  slit. In dim light or darkness, the mask is just 
  realistic enough to fool some people into believing 
  the wearer is an actual hag.
   Background: The mask is the sliced off face 
  skin and scalp of a green hag named Auntie 
  Bittersweet. She lost a bet with her coven sisters, 
  and the only way to remain part of the coven was 
  to cut off her own face. Taking it as a trophy, the 
  other hags stitched it into a grotesque mask and 
  imbuing it with magic.
   This mask fell out of possession of the hags 
  when their coven was destroyed by adventurers. 
  Morbid collectors and wannabe witches have 
  owned it in the past. The mask is currently on 
  display in an oddity shop, its owner eager to sell 
  it while being completely unaware of its magical 
  properties.
   Optional Drawback: Auntie Bittersweet the hag 
  is still alive and still faceless. When a character 
  wears the hag mask, Auntie Bittersweet can see and 
  hear what the wearer does. Whenever the wearer 
  uses its fear spell power, Auntie Bittersweet can 
  speak through the wearer’s mouth. She bides 
  her time, collecting information on the wearer 
  and taking every opportunity to poison their 
  friendships. Auntie Bittersweet wants her face 
  back, and she will eventually claim it once more.
  Mask of the Shamed Royal
  Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)
   While wearing this comical mask you bring 
  a sense of mirth to those around you, putting 
  them at ease. You have advantage on Charisma 
  (Persuasion) checks made to interact with people 
  who dislike the noble your mask depicts. Once 
  per day, you can speak using the actual voice of 
  the noble the mask is made to depict, allowing 
  you to cast the charm person spell (save DC 12).
   Appearance: This highly detailed mask is 
  modeled after a notorious and generally disliked 
  royal NPC (choose whichever NPC from your 
  game that you think fits best). It covers the face 
  and head entirely, with small eye holes and a 
  larger hole for the mouth, complete with an 
  attached wig styled and colored like the royal 
  NPC’s hair. The mask is not flattering, and when 
  paired with a good vocal impression, it delights 
  common people and nobles alike who share a 
  distaste for that particular royal NPC.
   Background: The mask was made by a court 
  magician who served under the royal NPC but 
  was unfairly dismissed. This court magician 
  
  We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve | EN World EN5IDER
  We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve | EN World EN5IDER
  loathed the royal, and crafted this mask to mock 
  them during private parties. Being a magician, 
  they figured a couple extra enchantments upon 
  the mask couldn’t hurt.
   This mask is currently in the possession of a 
  group of thieves working out of a dungeon. It can 
  be made available to characters in a treasure chest 
  in any dungeon thieves and bandits might occupy.
   Optional Drawback: The mask has been 
  saturated in negative energy from all of the 
  mockery it has endured at the expense of the royal 
  NPC it is modeled after. Every time the mask’s 
  charm person spell is used, there is a 10 percent 
  chance the mask will permanently bond with the 
  wearer’s face, transforming their appearance into 
  that of the royal NPC. Now the wearer physically 
  appears to be the hated person they mocked.
  Visage of the Vampire
  Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)
   While wearing this vampire mask you are 
  imbued with some of the traditional gothic 
  powers of a vampire. This mask has 3 charges. 
  While wearing it, you can use an action to 
  expend one of its charges to use the vampire’s 
  shapechanger ability, and are able to transform 
  into a bat or into a cloud of mist. The mask 
  regains one expended charge daily at sunrise. If 
  you expend the mask’s last charge, roll a d20. On 
  a 1, the mask shrivels away and is destroyed.
   While wearing the mask, you have 
  disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls if 
  in direct sunlight.
   Appearance: This finely crafted porcelain mask 
  is made to resemble a vampire lord’s stony visage. 
  It covers the face but leaves the mouth and chin 
  exposed. While its porcelain is quite thin and 
  fragile looking, it is heavy and cold upon the face 
  and is seemingly unbreakable. It glows a faint 
  green in darkness.
   Background: The mask is a relic from a 
  faraway gothic human country shrouded in mist. 
  It was made to be worn during Hallow’s Eve 
  masquerade balls in its country of origin. How 
  it came to rest so far away from its homeland is 
  unknown.
   This mask is currently in the possession of a 
  travelling merchant woman who sells trinkets out 
  of the back of her wagon. She will trade the mask 
  for expensive wine or liquor or a pretty piece of 
  jewelry. She seems eager to part with the mask, 
  and as she leaves she calls out that “great and 
  terrible things await any who wear it at night!”
   Optional Drawback: The mask is modeled 
  after a real vampire lord from another country. 
  This vampire lord does not take kindly to others 
  wearing his visage or using his powers without 
  being a vampire themselves. Whenever you 
  use the mask’s shapechanger ability, make a 
  Constitution saving throw (DC 12). Failure causes 
  you to thirst for blood. Until you consume a pint 
  of fresh blood, you have disadvantage on all 
  ability checks, even once the mask is removed.
  
  EN World EN5IDER | We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve
  EN World EN5IDER | We All Wear Masks: Faces of Hallow’s Eve
  The Slashed Faces
  Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
   While wearing this vampire mask you are 
  overcome by rampant bloodlust and the urge to 
  kill. Once per day, you may enter a Rage, as if you 
  were a 1st level barbarian. The rage ends after 1 
  minute or if the mask is removed.
   Appearance: This frightening mask is made 
  from the human flesh and hair of three faces 
  stitched together. It fits over the head completely, 
  and has holes for the mouth, eyes, and nostrils. 
  The mask’s skin is leathery and shriveled, stained 
  with dark splotches of blood. On the inside of the 
  mask it smells strongly of blood and smoke.
   Background: This mask is the twisted remains 
  of three long dead murderers: a female human 
  butcher known as Lysa the Slicer, a male dwarf 
  called Urgeth Two-Teeth, and a male halfling 
  only known as The Green Poisoner. A malevolent 
  force exhumed their graves, removed their faces, 
  and stitched them together into this vile murder 
  mask. It retains the vile impulses of the killers it’s 
  fashioned from.
   This mask currently lays upon an altar devoted 
  to a death god in random dungeon, waiting to be 
  claimed. 
   Optional Drawback: The mask’s murderous 
  personalities can assert themselves over the 
  attuned wearer, even when the mask isn’t being 
  worn. Whenever the wearer uses its rage ability, 
  there is a 20 percent chance that during the 
  wearer’s next long rest they are compelled to kill 
  in their sleep. The wearer sleepwalks, putting on 
  the mask, and venturing out into the night to kill. 
  The wearer doesn’t perceive this happening, and 
  wakes up with no memory of the random killing 
  of a single stranger that they committed in the 
  night. e
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/EN World EN5ider/EN5ider 174 - Masks Hallows Eve.pdf