Name: Bremen Mask P/W/C Type: Courage Appearance: A columbina-style mask arrayed in white feathers that follow the wearer's head back past the ears before ending in tufts reminiscent of wings. There is a yellow beak that drops down over the nose and two, small red eyes with black pupils that allow the user to see. Description of Function: Donning this mask allows the user, with the aid of the Ocarina of Time, to force the maturation of young plants and animals in mere seconds. The wearer must learn the song that works in synergy the mask as well. Without the song, the Bremen Mask will have no effect on plants or animals and vice-versa. (I'm sure you'll probably want to change this so it's actually useful but I wanted to make it clear that I believe the effect of speeding up the aging process has everything to do with the Ocarina of Time being used instead of another instrument. I'm sure you don't want everybody running around turning Deku Sprouts into Great Deku Trees on the fly.) (The Bremen Mask may also allow one to lead animals around simply by wearing it. I believe this is evidenced by the dogs following Link when wearing this mask as it seems to me that the animation is different although this could be attributed to the fact that dogs may follow Link anyway. The cucco chicks follow Link around when he's wearing the mask too so this could be the main function of the mask and making them grow could be like a hidden power that only the wielder of the OoT will be able to uncover!) (Ingo's dimwitted minions will also follow you around if you engage the Bremen Mask around them so the mask could possibly have some effect on enemies or the undead?) Limitations: The persuasion of the mask itself won't force animals to follow you into danger or into situations to which they have a strong aversion. The wearer must also preform a march and play the song that compliments the mask for any effect to take place.
Right off the bat we have the problem of this needing the Ocarina of Time. The Ocarina of Time is a very unique artifact in the possession of the Royal Family of Hyrule. There is VERY little chance of this ever coming into the possession of a player on this site. It's an interesting theory that has some merit given the functions of the ocarina, but as far as roleplay goes this makes the treasure entirely inaccessible. I'm fine with the idea of the effects happening in conjunction between a mask and a song, but the way it's set up, the mask is mostly useless on its own. It can lead animals--but only if a certain song is played. It can grow animals or plants--but only if a certain song is played. As such you might as well just make it a song and have done with it.
As I explained, I'm sure you won't like the idea that only the OoT can turn young things mature, but I figured that since the other effect is useful and doesn't need the OoT, it might still be a decent item. Since the item is sourced from canon, the mask is only shown to have any effect on animals when Link is playing the song so that's why I put that in there. Without arrows, the bow is useless, and without Magic, the Lens of truth is useless but bows and the Lens are available and useful in the game so I think it kind of makes sense that the Bremen Mask is the conduit through which the music effects animals. The mask was used by the leader of the animal troupe and it seems to be the important component here, even more so than the song. I'll change what you want me to but please keep that in mind.
The bow is a common-tier item and thus doesn't apply to the problem. Same as the Lens of Truth's magic. The issue here is that owning just the mask is pointless; it does nothing on its own. Treasures on Hyrule Castle are boons for the possessor. If there is no boon provided on its own, it makes the entry in the Library largely pointless.
I think the mask would be useful for leading animals around. The leader of the troupe wore the mask but didn't play the OoT and the animals followed him but didn't grow faster so I'm not sure I agree that the mask has no inherent power. Is there some way I should change it?
Either having the Mask provide the tune on its own, or turning the treasure into a Song should suffice. I'd like to hear some other staff's input on the rest of the treasure in the meantime.
I don't love the idea but I suppose that a way to keep some obvious significance on the music being played, the mask could have the power to age young plants and animals when the wearer plays the song on any kind of an instrument/singing/whistling/humming. That way it's accessible to everyone but there's still some importance placed on the song as most Zelda games have placed importance on specific songs and music in general. Perhaps animals could be led without the song though?
Maybe I can try another crack at this since I can't keep RPing until I get this thing approved *cough*. Name: Bremen Mask P/W/C Type: Courage Appearance: A columbina-style mask arrayed in white feathers that follow the wearer's head back past the ears before ending in tufts reminiscent of wings. There is a yellow beak that drops down over the nose and two, small red eyes with black pupils that allow the user to see. Description of Function: Donning this mask allows the user, with the aid of music, to force the maturation of young plants and animals in as little as a few seconds. Without a source of music, the mask has the ability to sway the graces of plants and animals that are not already inimical to the user. This effect may cause animals normally neutral toward the user to become friendly. The same goes for sentient and semi-sentient plants. (Ingo's dimwitted minions will also follow you around if you engage the Bremen Mask around them so the mask could possibly have some effect on enemies or the undead?) Limitations: The persuasion of the mask itself won't force animals to follow you into danger or into situations to which they have a strong aversion. The crafting of the music used in conjunction with the mask has a direct effect on how long it takes a creature to mature. If the wearer merely hums a tune, it could take up to an hour to bring a plant or animal to full maturity (unless the user has some ability or training that makes his humming exceptional in some way). Whistling may take anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour depending on how good the character is at whistling. Playing an instrument usually shows results in 3-10 minutes unless it's a truly exceptional instrument, in which case, maturation may only take a minute. Any legendary instrument can mature a plant or animal in 10-30 seconds. So...maybe you like this one better? I hope so anyway.
I think it looks fine to me, given that any song can cause the effect. I have two questions though, what do you mean by Ingo's minions? Also, where you say any legendary instrument can mature a plant or animal in 10-30 seconds, is that just in there for flavor? Because as RD said, the chances of you or anyone else actually getting the Ocarina of Time is next to none. Anyway, I give it my approval: [1/2]
Yeah, I mean that in the case of anyone SOMEHOW obtaining the Oracina of Time, Saria's Ocarina, the Bone Flute, the Harp of Ages, etc., one would be able to maturate a plant or animal very quickly. And the thing about Ingo's minions is parenthetical because it doesn't need to have anything to do with the treasure but in canon, the Bremen Mask can subdue Ingo's minions. That one is for whoever actually officiates the treasure to decide I suppose.
Oh, I totally forgot about the Ingo's minions thing. It's been too long since playing MM lol. Anyway, you've got my approval, its up to RD or one of the other mods now.
Cool, thanks for the thumbs up! And RD, thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I think I found out about the Ingo's minions thing online, that battle wasn't really the kind of time I would normally try a random mask!
HH, you don't need to bump things. We know this is there, and there's a lot of behind-the-scenes discussion between staff that goes on about treasures. Bumping it just makes us feel nagged, and it also means that we could miss newly proposed treasures. I'm glad to see that you're eager, but reign it in a bit :P No. First off, that's just an Easter Egg, and also because that pushes the mask into powers that could easily be abused. The pacification and maturation powers of the mask should, I think, be limited to non-magical plants and animals. All the things about "exceptional" should be left out; what with the tendency to grace PCs with above-average equipment, and with the vagueness of that word, I think we can just do without those clauses. Also, you say that the pacification effects of the mask only work on sentient plants and animals (things that can think and usually move around), but I don't really think it matters if plants and animals that don't think and don't usually move around are affected at all, so I'm thinking that we can leave out those bits about sentient and semi-sentient. There were some concerns over abuse (ex: growing a room full of Degu Toads to adulthood in one fell swoop), and making the Mask work on a one-at-a-time basis may help to prevent such abuse. So, let me see if I've got this right: The Bremen Mask pacifies non-magical plants and animals and can persuade friendly or neutral ones to aid the user (danger and aversion aside). If the user plays music while wearing the Bremen Mask, he may greatly speed the maturation of a single non-magical plant or animal. The amount of time that it takes to grow the target would depend on how the music is made: for example, humming would take about an hour, whistling a half hour, and singing or playing an instrument ten or fifteen minutes. How's dat look to everyone?
Please allow me a moment of candor if you will, I don't think it's fair for any fan to decide that something in a Zelda game is an easter egg or not since it is in the game and it can help Link. Just feels like that's a very arbitrary view of canon (even though it could totally be non-canon). Thanks for indulging me in my tangent. That aside, as a moderator of HC, you've got the authority to call it an easter egg for the sake of the role play and I agree that it shouldn't have an effect on enemies. I merely brought it up for you to discuss, maybe it came across that I wanted it to be part of the mask. The part about sentient plants is unnecessary if you don't want the mask to have any effect on Deku Babas and Mad Scrubs (etc.). The mask sounds fine, it's doubtful I'll ever use it for any of these purposes anyway, lol. Thanks for replying and sorry it's taken me a bit to get back, I've been very busy.
Quill's statement of that function of the mask being an Easter egg isn't much of a matter of authority, but more of a statement of its relevance both to the game and to HC. Using it against Igo's minions in that way served little real purpose since Link still had to march while doing so. In the same way, it shouldn't really have an application to combat to reflect that. Moreover, not all items that have been ported from the games have the same function that they did. This is so that they better suit the site. Following that, while you may not use it for anything rule/universe breaking, our job as staff is to ensure that the treasures system of HC remains balanced, regardless of the original creator's intent, as this is a community site. Going back to what Quill has said, I am in agreement that the growth should require a relatively large amount of time to occur, though obviously a rule of "as long as the intended target remains in site through the duration of the music/song" should be imposed, for obvious balance issues. While the overall effect may not be terribly powerful, it's still time manipulation and should therefore be subject to fairly strict regulations. Going from what Quill propsed, though, it could still remain relatively useful for roleplaying purposes.
This has been collecting dust in the main TC forum and will be moved to the Unaccepted TC subforum. HH, if you want this to be revived, PM a mod.
