Challenge of Champions

Noncombat challenges can be difficult to set up in a DnDish game, so there is no shame in using others' noncombat challenges for your own purposes.  These are most commonly found as deliberate puzzles, but can also include finding and opening hidden doors or finding and getting around traps for a more natural means of in-game puzzle use.

Teferi's Puzzle Box by Donato Giancola

While there are many books and pdfs and blog posts and videos that provide such content, some official sources come from the pages of Dungeon Magazine: the Challenge of Champions I-V.  Each of these is billed as being for four PCs of any level.

The Challenge of Champions adventures can be found in Dungeon Magazine issues 58, 69, 80, 91, and 108.  The first three are for AD&D rulesets, with the last two being for 3.x, not that ruleset really matters.

It doesn't matter because the puzzles included are aimed more at the players than at their PCs.  The conceit being that there is an Adventuring Guild sponsoring each Challenge, enforcing rules about items and magic available to participants.  Looking at them, this guild exists in an incredibly high-magic world.

Anyhow, each Challenge comes with handouts and illustrations - and approved solutions given the parameters of each challenge.  Those handouts can make it a challenge to use many of these online, but ideal around the kitchen table.  Each challenge also provides some NPCs to round out the team, as well as a list of other competing teams and those teams' final scores.

Using these as-is works, but moving some of them into your homebrew adventure may require a bit more effort, unless you're running a funhouse, where most of these challenges are right at home.  The preferred solutions of the challenges go out the window when PCs/players have full access to all their spells and items, and honestly, this is perfectly fine.  I say this because a good puzzle encounter is one that engages most or all players and can be solved multiple ways or merely ignored until later.

This last is important, because PCs/players should always be able to move forward or backwards without solving the puzzle (or finding the secret door or making correct die roll).  Puzzles (and secret doors and die rolls) are ideal for hiding cool loot, shortcuts, and side quests, but using them to block forward passage can result in frustration and an overall dissatisfying game session.

Especially if some players in the group don't do puzzles.

Luckily, you talked about puzzles during Session Zero, so you as DM already know how puzzles are going to work out with your players.

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There's a fine line between traps and puzzles, and resources for one often include resources for another. So here are some additional puzzle resources for your games - I address trap resources in another post (and should probably update that one).

Puzzles and Riddles

Puzzles, Predicaments, and Perplexities series

the Riddle Room series from Cloud Kingdom Games (some volumes seem to be ebay only).

and lots of videos on the YouTube.

Unicorns, the MtG Way

I have a confession.

I really like unicorns.

After all, I have sampled several unicorn-branded beers, own two unicorn t-shirts, and use a Squatty Potty every morning.

Mostly, though, I enjoy playing Commander with Lathiel, the Bounteous Dawn Commander decks.

Because unicorns, man.

Such a beautiful card in both forms.

Note that if you only want images, jump to EDHRec. For decklists, scroll to the end of this post.

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Lathiel is a wonderful commander for several reasons.  First is colors - GW are allied colors and this card showcases what they do. A 2/2 for 4 cmc may not seem like much, even with lifelink, but its ability is what pushes it over the top.

At the beginning of each end step, if you gained life this turn, distribute up to that many +1/+1 counters among any number of other target creatures. (Emphasis mine).

Each end step means your opponents' end steps as well as your own.  So, if you've a means to gain life when it isn't your turn, you profit while Lathiel is in play.  

Note that Lathiel cannot place those +1/+1 counters on itself, but can place them on any other creatures, to include your opponents' critters.  

All of this means that Lathiel is a great commander for those wanting to play politics, in addition to being a great commander for steamrolling people with massive creatures.

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Having lots of life - even infinite life - won't win the game on its own.  

Even if you have infinite life, there are still ways around it: 21 Commander damage, 10 Poison Counters, running out of cards, a variety of 'if this, then victory' cards, and all of the combos that result in an opponent just winning the game.

Despite this, Lathiel has several routes to victory based on life totals.  Chief among them is smashing face with giant creatures, but there is also the time-honored option to use life as a shield until you can cast Approach of the Second Sun twice. Instead of defense, life can also be used in the offense with Aetherflux Reservoir. In addition to these methods are Test of Endurance and Felidar Sovereign.  With these, Lathiel has its own 'if this, then victory' cards.  

So whichever route you choose (and you have 100 cards, so choosing some or all is an option), Lathiel can win games.

But how to gain the life we need to fuel the counters?  Ideally, we are doing so every turn, passively.

By passive life gain, I mean not having to cast any spells or attack.  Just sit back, let the card trigger, and giggle.  Giggling is the important part.  Venser's Journal is my favorite, but not the only option.  The Soul Sisters gain life for each creature that enters play, regardless of who plays said creature.  

Lifegift provides a life for each land that enters play on any battlefield, while Courser of Kruphix, Druid Class, and Retreat to Kazandu only trigger when your lands enter play - note that even at 100 cards, you fast run out of room, so choose wisely. Crazy Shattered Angel triggers solely when opponents play land - ideal with Lathiel triggering on any turn.

Glorious Sunrise and Primeval Bounty are special, because they provide several options that work well with a Lathiel deck.  Hence this separate sentence.  If you've only room for one, though, Bounty does more and more often.

Do not forget the spells that provide a one-shot boost of life, often as an add-on to something else, but not always.  Three of my favorites are Momentous Fall, Lifeblood Hydra, and Pelakka Wurm.  While Lifeblood Hydra is pricey, the other two easily slip into a budget deck - and should.

More important are the evasive creatures with Lifelink.  If they aren't evasive, that's okay, but not as preferable.  White gives us flyers with Lifelink, but any deck can run Rogue's Passage, and Lathiel is no exception.

Related to the evasive lifelinkers are the cards that let you win the way Richard Garfield intended (maybe) - glorious combat.  

Bond of Discipline may be my favorite white sorcery.  A well-timed BoD can result in game over, be it by your creatures or someone else's.  True Conviction and Predatory Focus are two more cards to seal the win - I would even argue that Focus is even better than Overrun, at least in this deck.

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This being an article about Commander, the Magic format of over-the-top plays, I want to talk about how we gain MOAR life, which leads to MOAR counters, and therefore ridiculous amounts of damage.

Boon Reflection isn't the only life-doubler.  Rhox Faithmender and Alhammaret's Archive do so as well, and being permanents do it all the time.  Beacon of Immortality is an instant that can target any player, so it saves you or lets you politic.  Either way, it's a solid inclusion.  

Best of all is that this doubling counts as gaining life in the rules.

A second way to push lifegain over the top is with cards that add 'life plus 1 instead', like Cleric Class.

Angel of Vitality, Heron of Hope, Honor Troll, and Knight of Dawn's Light are other options here, but to be honest, I pulled most of these creatures from my budget list and didn't consider them for the nonbudget list.  Cleric Class made both because it provides life and counters. 

Other than that, you have a mix of spells that change life totals or add X life, which all can be considered based on budget or your whims.  One interesting card is Eternity Vessel, because all of its life changes count as life gain and it is a may effect, so it should never reduce your life total.  Note that Eternity Vessel looks at the counters on the card, so proliferating and other tricks (like Doubling Season, Vorinclex, or Quarry Hauler) means more life gain is possible with every Landfall trigger. 

Note that in many of these cases, Nykthos Paragon can be your creatures' best friend, but is only truly ridiculous in a go-wide build.  Speaking of go-wide, Congregate loves such a deck, especially when Storm Herd (with Soul Warden and/or Archon of Sun's Grace on the battlefield) is involved.  

Because stacking dice upon dice is fun!

Infinite or near-infinite combos fall into this category.  Adding Kitchen Finks, Archangel of Thune, and Spike Feeder to your Lathiel deck allows for this.  That said, depending on your final build, there are MANY ways to go infinite in Selesnya colors.  Many more than I realized!  Kitchen Finks is combo-licious, as I suspect most of the creatures with Persist are.

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In addition to lifegain, Lathiel is a +1/+1 counter deck.  Which means we want to capitalize on gaining ever more counters.

Hardened Scales, Conclave Mentor, Wildwood Scourge, Lae'zel, Solidarity of Heroes, Hydra's Growth, Vastwood Hydra, and Invigorating Surge are easily afforded and acquired.  For those with deeper collections or pockets, there is also Benevolent Hydra, Kalonian Hydra, Primal Vigor, Vorinclex, Doubling Season, and my favorite, Branching Evolution.

I likely missed some, but these are my go-to options. 

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Doubling Season, Vorinclex, and Lae'zel not only affect +1/+1 counters, but also loyalty counters on Planeswalkers, which makes it tempting to add Planeswalkers to the deck.  

Or at least to the nonbudget deck.  After all, doubling loyalty counters is why Doubling Season and Vorinclex cost so much. 

The standout planeswalker is Ajani, Mentor of Heroes, because 100 life in one shot is too fun to pass up, and his +1 plays well with the rest of the deck.

Other synergistic options are Basri Ket; Gideon, Champion of Justice (even without shenanigans, he can ult quickly); Ajani, Steadfast; Ajani, Strength of the Pride; ... really, any G, W, or GW planeswalker that can ultimate immediately with Doubling Season in play is a consideration.

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Synergies are important to a Commander deck. Well, most Commander decks.  Those built to race to combo are a different animal.

Sunscorch Regent and Managorger Hydra play into Lathiel's strengths, even when Lathiel isn't in play.  Add both to any Lathiel deck you build, because both are around $1 each. 

Authority of the Consuls slows opponents down while providing life. For W.  

This deck craves proliferation.  Even without running Planeswalkers, there are all the +1/+1 counters that want to grow.  Evolution Sage is my favorite method, but Karn's Bastion shouldn't be overlooked. 

Titania's Command plays into a few strengths of Lathiel, and is worth its 6 cmc.  Especially against a mill deck.

My last recommendation on strong synergies is Children of Korlis, who even passes the Sun Titan test.  Maybe it falls under lifegain, but it matters not.

Add it to your Lathiel deck.

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Lathiel typically wins via permanents, be they creatures or enchantments.  Both of which are easy to remove.

So what's a poor Unicorn to do?

Asceticism provides blanket protection for creatures from targeted attacks, with Boots and Greaves being the standard choices for individual protection.  Darksteel Plate and the various Swords of X and Y help creatures out, as well.

These work, but show our hand, so we need instants to save us.   Luckily, GW provides some of the best protective instants in the game: Teferi's Protection and Heroic Intervention.  GW doesn't stop there, though.  Wrap in Vigor, Akroma's Will, Flawless Maneuver, Make a Stand, and Unbreakable Formation all save the team, with the last playing nice with Lathiel's +1/+1 counter theme.

In addition, there is a plethora of G and W cards that render individual creatures indestructible or hexproof until end of turn (or both, in the case of Loran's Escape). Sheltering Word, Snakeskin Veil, and Tamiyo's Safekeeping synergize well with Lathiel's goals.

Given that this deck relies on creatures, Vigor works to keep your team around if you cannot make them indestructible.  

So we have lots of options to help our permanents survive, but eventually they will get destroyed.  It's how the game is played.

Luckily, returning cards to play or to hand is something that both White and Green do well.  

Faith's Reward, Sun Titan, Eternal Witness, and Pulse of Murasa are just a few options that Lathiel has access too.  Best of all is that most of your options can be added to budget decks - especially Sun Titan.

With our permanents safe, we need to look to saving ourselves.

Purity saves us from direct damage and Blunt the Assault from combat (for a turn).  Spike Weaver can save us from lots of attacks, presuming it survives.

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While your opponents are gunning for you, you are gunning for them.  After all, in Commander, there can be only one.  Happily, GW decks have access to some of the best removal in the game, both targeted and mass - and you will want both.

Fracturing Gust is arguably the ideal choice for Lathiel decks, right next to Damning Verdict.  That said, there several other solid sweepers, and if your decklist ends up enchantment-heavy, Fracturing Gust can be more dangerous to yourself than others, as can Wave of Vitriol, Austere Command, and Day of Judgment.  Still, sometimes the inconvenience is worth it.

StP, PtE, K-Grip, Beast Within, and Generous Gift are the go-tos for targeted removal in most GW Commander decks, but this being about Lathiel, I want to point out that Scryfall shows several options that destroy a permanent AND gain life.  Of note is Heliod's Intervention - double X lifegain can be tempting.

GW provides a strong suite of creature-based removal, as well.  Froghemoth, Scavenging Ooze, Haywire Mite, Whiptongue Hydra (can be dangerous to self), Bane of Progress (also potentially dangerous), all provide answers while improving your boardstate.  

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Many Magic players enjoy running obscure cards in their decks, and sometimes, such cards are so niche that they don't fit anywhere else.  Or perhaps these cards do fit, but are soon removed for more efficient cards that do similar things.

Take Celestial Force.  A 7/7 8-cmc elemental that gains you life every turn.  It doesn't even have vigilance like most other large White creatures.  Most decks won't and shouldn't consider this card.

But Lathiel decks can, because Lathiel hands out +1/+1 counters at the end of each turn, just like Celestial Force gives you life each upkeep.  

From experience, Lathiel decks really needs Lathiel in play to shine.  So in addition to protection, consider two more niche cards: Sunbond and Light of Promise.  Light of Promise even passes the Sun Titan test.

Rounding out the niche cards is Scale the Heights, doing a little bit of everything, including gain life.

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Way up in the beginning, I mentioned that Lathiel is a great commander for politicking games.  GW provides several other cards in this vein, from the synergistic Primal Vigor to Gluntch, the Bestower.  

Sometimes these politicking cards fall under niche cards, like Healing Technique.  Other times, they number among the regular suspects in group hug and politicking decks.

While there are many options, a few choice cards stand out: Nils, Discipline Enforcer; Evolutionary Escalation; Oath of Lieges; Secret Rendezvous; Selvala, Explorer Returned; Fertilid; and Tempt with Discovery.  Yes, gud players won't go for land, but I don't play with gud players, I play with good players.  There is a difference.

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Lands are a crucial part of any Magic the Gathering deck, because without them, the deck doesn't play.  

While Lathiel decks can get by on Plains and Forests, there are a handful of nonbasic lands that all Lathiel decks should include: Rogue's Passage for beats, Gavony Township for more +1/+1 counters, Karn's Bastion for proliferating all kinds of counters, and Glacial Chasm for protection - if the deck is working correctly, you should be able to pay (and maybe recover from the graveyard to play and pay again) the cumulative upkeep for multiple turns.

Krosan Verge, Myriad Landscape, and your other favorite fetchlands are worth considering (because they all pass the Sun Titan test), but aren't necessary.  That said, Krosan Verge is arguably the best of these because it can fetch nonbasic Forests and Plains. Riftstone Portal is interesting, because it helps GW decks immensely, but only from the graveyard.

Given that most Lathiel decks rely on Green's burst draw spells of Hunter's Insight, Rishkar's Expertise, Momentous Fall, and/or a dying Lifeblood Hydra, Reliquary Tower is nice, but not a necessity.

A type of land is the land that blows up other lands, such as Strip Mine, Ghost Quarter, or the huggy Field of Ruin.  This is not only because sometimes lands need to be destroyed, but because the best response to a Tempt with Discovery is to search up one of these land destroyers.  The fact that these lands pass the Sun Titan test is bonus.

Lands provide other types of answers as well, so if you need graveyards exiled, creatures to be targetable, boards to be cleared, cards to be drawn, spells to be not countered, artifacts to be returned, creatures to have haste, stolen creatures to be returned, or several other game mechanics, look to lands to help you out.

Oh, and Command Tower should probably be in here because Lathiel is two colors.

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The biggest problem with Lathiel decks is that they require life gain to work well.  Yes, creatures can still swing, but it is far more efficient to do so when those creatures are VAST in size.  So if  lifegain is regularly played in your meta, some folks may start running the anti-lifegain cards.

These cards are predominately Red and/or Black.  In addition to Rain of Gore (and its cousins False Cure and Tainted Remedy), are the cards that merely prevent lifegain: Archfiend of Despair; Erebos, God of the Dead; Everlasting Torment; Forsaken Wastes; Giant Cindermaw; Havoc Festival; Knight of Dusk's Shadow; Leyline of Punishment; Quakebringer; Rampaging Ferocidon; Roiling Vortex; Sulfuric Vortex; Tibalt, Rakish Instigator; and Witch Hunt.

Note there are also a handful of instants the prevent life gain for one turn, but I have never seen them played in Commander.

I hadn't realized that there were so many options to hate on lifegain.  Luckily, most are enchantments, which are easily handled by a well-made GW deck.  The rest being creatures and a lone planeswalker, which are also easily handled with GW.  

One Red card stands out as the bane to any deck wanting to gain life, and that card is Stigma Lasher.  

Stigma Lasher is dangerous because its anti-lifegain is permanent, even if Stigma Lasher leaves play.  At least it lacks haste - but most Red-based decks add haste-making, so watch yourself.  

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Wow, but I can blather on and on and on.  Thanks for reaching this part - we're almost done.

Yes, much of the above can be found by looking at cards on EDHRec or a dedicated Scryfall search (also Commander's Spellbook), but words are more my style.

Low Power Decklist - this is for a meta that doesn't do fast mana. It plays politics and is an away deck.

Budget ($100ish) Decklist - putting my words into practice.

Nonbudget Decklist - nonbudget, built with cards I own, hence no rocks that cost more than a few dollars and a preponderance of basic lands.

There you have it, way too many words on Lathiel.  Not quite a primer, but leaning towards one.

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Note that I drafted most of this before the whole Phyrexian Invasion or LotR sets were printed, so they aren't mentioned.  

Soulshrieker

Undead are popular monsters for a reason: they're scary and there is no reason to feel bad for putting them down, since they are animated corpses.  Gamemasters don't even need to create some bizarre biome or food web for them in an attempt at Gygaxian Naturalism.

Just place them in a tomb, catacomb, or other abandoned place, and have at it.

Soulshriek by John Bolton

The Soulshrieker is a rare form of undead that is primarily the result of mortals that died in mourning and abject sorrow.  That tangible sorrow wells up and is projected from the Soulshrieker's oversized mouth, as a wail of piteous defeat that leaves targets stunned with their own sorrow and depression.  

Mechanically, the soulshriek is a beam-shaped breath weapon, appearing as coruscating purple and green light (how I picture a particle beam to look, which likely doesn't help).  It inflicts sonic, necrotic, and cold damage while also having a chance to stun its target.  Once stunned, the targets are then ripped apart with the Soulshrieker's claws.  

Mostly encountered alone, a group Soulshriekers (probably a family before death and undeath took them) is best fled from.  That said, jamming wax in your ears provides a substantial bonus to the save vs stun.  

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Enterprising necromancers have not only discovered how to create Soulshriekers, but have also found a way to mimic the Soulshrieker's ability, through a spell fittingly called Soulshriek.

This Necromantic spell lets the caster unhinge their jaw and turn their very soul into a weapon that deals sonic, necrotic AND cold damage to the unfortunates caught up in its cone; the spell emanates as a cone from the unhinged mouth, the interior of the mouth glowing white hot as the necromancer's very essence powers it.  This shriek is devastating to opponents within earshot, leaving them damaged, stunned, and if too close to the point of origin, deafened.

While one casting of Spellshriek can be devastating to its targets, it proves problematic for the caster, as part of their soul is now forever gone.  

Mechanically, this means that math is required.  Because base ten is simple, the caster gets ten castings of Soulshriek before they are forever gone. As the soul dwindles with repeated castings, the caster's body begins showing signs of spiritual decay.  

Ten Visual Signs of Spiritual Decay (effects are cumulative)

1. Skin pales, hair turns grey, loses interest in all sexual activity.
2. -1 strength.  
3. -1 constitution
4. -1 strength. Hair begins falling out.  
5. -1 constitution. Physically appears the same, but long rests are interrupted with nightmares. Wake in a cold sweat geased to scribe Soulshriek onto a half-dozen scrolls and leave them where they're likely to be found and copied.  Once the scrolls are written, the nightmares end (or the caster is used to them - either way, long rests are no longer affected by them).  Note that the scrolls never reveal the downsides of the spell.
6. -1 strength
7. -1 constitution. Lose interest in cleanliness.
8. -1 strength. Weight loss continues.
9. -1 constitution. A walking husk with eyes that glow with an inner, disturbing light. Easily mistaken for undead.
10. The lights in the eyes go out as the body collapses in a heap, open for possession or to become a true undead.  Cannot be raised or resurrected or even the target of speak with dead.

With the tenth casting, the soul is forever gone.  Without a soul, the caster's body withers entirely, and if not possessed by some random fiend or spirit, they rise up as a Soulshrieker in 24 hours.  

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While the more competent necromancers can avoid the worst effects of Soulshriek, lesser casters learn to their chagrin that Soulshriek is a living spell, a spell that demands to be cast, and will be cast.  

Once Soulshriek has been first cast, there is forever an emptiness in the soul, a cancerous emptiness that desires to grow.  As such, whenever the necromancer casts a spell, there is a chance that Soulshriek replaces the desired spell, even if Soulshriek isn't memorized - because it now resides within the caster.  

First, the spell cast has to be level 3 or higher.  Second, a save is required - just a flat DC 12 save.  With time, as Spellshriek is cast again and again, that DC increases by 1 with each casting.  So that after nine castings, it is a DC 20 save to not Soulshriek one final, glorious time.

It is whispered that Grandfather Favarro has discovered a means to purge Soulshriek from a caster, but given that its Grandfather Favarro, the cure is likely to be as bad as the disease.  It assuredly involves more than just high level remove curse, dispel magic, and greater restoration spells.

The Gilded Skull

The Gilded Skull is a thing of legend whispered about in the shadowy alcoves of Mage Academies scattered across the multiverse, from Strixhaven to Hogwarts to Winterhold to Brewkessel and beyond.

Aside from it being a potent artifact of great magic, none of the whispers can agree on just how potent it is, nor exactly what it does.  Yet the whispers persist until shushed by a proctor or hall monitor.

Skull of Orm by Daren Bader

The whispers are silenced because the proctors have a much better understanding of what the Gilded Skull is and can do.  A few even have awful first-hand experiences with the Gilded Skull, so shush out of mercy to the magelings.

What the Gilded Skull actually is, is a spellbook of sorts.  The bearer of the skull (not the carrier, and wielder isn't the proper verb) has access to a vast catalogue of arcane spells - several only available through the Skull.

Among these unique spells is a simple spell with the innocuous title Receive Knowledge.  This spell is the equivalent of a cantrip in complexity, but is actually a complex trap, because once casting of Receive Knowledge begins, it cannot be halted until complete.

Which is a lie, as killing the caster (who is also the unwitting target) of Receive Knowledge halts the spell in a particularly gruesome and painful fashion, as the caster's head explodes (like in the movie Scanners).

Not halting the spell results in the Gilded Skull replacing the caster's skull, slice by bloody slice, trading places, with the Gilded Skull disappearing from the bottom up and the caster's skull appearing from the bottom up.  For all the world, it looks like a 3-D printer in action.

As might be imagined, it is a painful process.

Horribly painful.

Like saving throw to remain conscious and a second save to remain sane painful.

Witnesses must save versus fear or run away, and even passing the save leaves the witnesses shaken and with nightmares.  

Once the spell is complete and the skulls transferred, the caster now has access to the knowledge within the Gilded Skull.

That knowledge includes not only the aforementioned spells, but also dark secrets that bring nightmares and madness, and the souls of former bearers of the Gilded Skull - because upon death, the body immediately wastes away, leaving the Gilded Skull behind.  

Which is how it is often found - in the head position of an empty set of clothes that looks vaguely wizardish in nature.

This is why the proctors try to quell the whispers, for they fear what happens should the Gilded Skull claim 1001 souls.

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Yes, this is not fully fleshed out (unintentional, I promise) for any particular ruleset, but is enough to riff off of, so feel welcome to do so.

Opinions - is this too much drawback for what it provides, or not enough?