Grandmother's Candies
Description: Brightly colored hard candies shaped like various vermin - mice, moles, spiders, slugs and snails, and a whole selection of peculiar beetles. Roll 2d6 to see how many individual pieces there are, then roll that number of d8s to see which types are found. Then roll the dice again to see what color each candy is, but honestly they all taste the same regardless - a bit like black licorice, if you must know.
Shape Color
1- Mouse Red
2 - Mole Pink
3 - Spider Orange
4 - Slug Yellow
5 - Snail Green
6 - Bat Blue
7 - Beetle Purple
8 - Big Beetle Black
Magical senses reveal nothing of the true nature of these things, although their unusual shape may well cause suspicion. Some places have traditions about making regular candies that are visually identical. Others have laws forbidding that sort of foolishness.
Powers: Any creature that voluntarily places a piece of candy in their mouth is instantly transformed into a normal specimen of the appropriate type of vermin until the next sunrise. A test to resist magic is allowed if desired. The transformed creature retains its own mind and memories, although it may find its new body confusing at first. Unlike some transformative magics any possessions are left unchanged, usually leaving a pile of clothes and gear with some verminous critter perched atop it.
The magic in these candies won't function if they're thrown, dropped, or forced into an unwilling victim's mouth, nor will licking trigger them. They do function if they're accidentally eaten by an unsuspecting individual (perhaps hidden within other foodstuffs) but a resistance is still allowed. If some greedy pig shoves several of them in at once, roll randomly to see which of the pieces decides the form of vermin, while the rest are simply wasted. Only one save is made in this case, although if you consumed them one at a time you'd resist them one after another till you fail.
The candies can be dissolved, broken, or melted as though they were mundane treats, but their magic will be ruined in the process.
Possible Origins: Witches. Of course it's witches. Rumor claims Grandmother herself first created them, but she gets credit (or blame) for a lot of things. Actual witches do sometimes share the alchemical recipe for these things, and some hedge wizards and mystic hermits can make them as well. They require more than a little fresh human blood to make, which can be a problem. With a few willing donors you could make a few on a sustainable basis, or you could bleed someone dry and get enough for couple of dozen. On the plus side, they keep forever as long as they don't get wet or slowly devoured by ants or something.
Complications: Whoever eats one of these things is stuck in a tiny, fragile physical form till dawn. If the transformation came as a surprise this can easily be a fatal experience. Just carrying these things around can lead to some difficult questions, since there are plenty of stories about them being handed out to children by the evil-hearted on All Hallows' Eve. More adult (and plausible) tales speak of wily spies and thieves using them to infiltrate strongholds and treasure rooms and the like.
There's also the small possibility that Grandmother is directly involved in making these things. If so, stumbling across one of her "Special Batches" is always a possibility, and they'll have very different effects indeed.
Design Commentary: Potentially a great tool for sneaking into places you shouldn't be or escaping pursuit, but risky since you'll be stuck in a form where a bird or housecat could be a lethal danger till the sun rises. The candies do work just fine if you happen to carrying one or more of them when swallowed by some monstrous creature, which (assuming they fail their save) will leave them transformed and you covered in toothmarks and saliva but otherwise none the worse for wear.
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