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Iron & Aether
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Part 7: Aether   ☰

Relics

Relics are enchanted items that are so incredibly, wondrously powerful, and the process to create them so complex and beyond Sentient understanding, that their kind cannot be replicated, which may be for the best, as many of them hold incredible destructive potential within them. So great is their power that simply by attuning to them – which, strangely enough, can happen near-instantly – the user will be both blessed with some sort of boon and cursed in some way.

You can attune to only one relic at a time and cannot unattune from it without destroying the relic. The features, including boons and curses, bestowed by a relic you have attuned to last until the relic is destroyed or you die; some relic benefits require the relic to be on your person, and a relic’s description will say if this is the case. If you die and are resurrected within 24 hours, such as through a Soul Jar, the relic is still attuned to you; however, if you die and are not resurrected within that time, the relic is no longer attuned to you. During this 24 hours another person cannot attune to the relic. Lastly, if you ever lose or misplace the relic, it reappears in your possession next midnight.

Given here is a list of relics, along with the boons and curses gained from attuning to them, and some lore to give them some backstory and an idea of their power, though the information given is vague enough to allow the GM to modify it at their leisure. Any and all of the information pertaining to a relic, from their very existence to their powers, may be known or unknown to the characters, or even to the common populace, depending on the nature and history of your GM’s world and their discretion. You may learn this knowledge through research, from an ally, or through attuning to the relic itself.

In addition to its normal properties, which are gained when the user attunes to the relic, each relic can also be awakened, which occurs after the user has unlocked the relic’s true inner potential. The requirements to do this vary from relic to relic, and a relic’s description will say what it needs in order to awaken.

Lastly, destroying a relic is, as one might imagine, not easy. Each relic has its own special requirements to be destroyed, detailed in the relic’s description; otherwise, the relic is immune to damage.

Relic Boons

Given here is a list of boons, both major and minor, that a relic may bestow when the user attunes to it. The boons should be decided by the GM; when deciding what boons the attuning character receives, you may pick and choose or roll appropriately. If a boon has a * at the end of it, it cannot be granted more than once.


d20 Boons
1 You gain 2 Mana to use on one random Elemancer spell list, determined at the time of your attunement. You regain this Mana at the end of a rest. If you are an Elemancer, add this to your existing Mana.
2 One random ability score increases by .5, to a maximum of 6.
3 Proficiency in one Action Skill of your choice increases by 1, to a maximum of 5.
4 Proficiency in one Tool Skill of your choice increases by 1, to a maximum of 5.
5 You immediately become fluent in one random language.
6 You become immune to disease.*
7 You have advantage on saves against poisons.*
8 You gain resistance to one random damage type that is not true or fatigue.
9 Whenever you are healed from any source, you have advantage on the roll to determine the amount.*
10 Your Armor score increases by 2 while the relic is in your immediate possession.
11 One of your saves, chosen at random, increases by 1.
12 Your speed increases by 1m/sec.
13 While you have 1 or more Health, you regain 1 Health at the start of each of your turns.
14 You become immune to a random one of the following: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, sickened, slowed, or stunned.
15 If you are an Elemancer, you regain 1 Mana every half hour; otherwise, roll again.
16 You are able to hold your breath for an extra 2 minutes.
17 You gain infrared vision if you did not already have it; otherwise, roll again.*
18 Your jump height and distance are doubled.
19 Your maximum Health is increased by 1d10.
20 For the purposes of combat, you cannot be surprised.*


d20 Boons
1 You gain 4 Mana to use on one random Elemancer spell list, determined at the time of your attunement. You regain this Mana at the end of a rest. If you are an Elemancer, add this to your existing Mana.
2 One ability score of your choice increases by 1, up to 6.
3 Proficiency in one Action or Tool Skill of your choice increases by 1, up to 6.
4 You gain immunity to moderate or weaker poisons, strong poisons affect you as though they were moderate, and exceptional poisons only affect you as though they were strong.*
5 You gain immunity to one damage type of your choice that is not true.
6 Whenever you are healed from any source, you regain the maximum possible amount of Health.*
7 Animals become exceptionally friendly with you, granting you advantage on all of your Beast Handling checks and making them hesitant to attack you unless they feel they absolutely have to.*
8 Your Armor score increases by 5 while the relic is in your immediate possession.
9 Each of your save scores increases by 1.
10 Your speed increases by 2m/sec.
11 While you have 1 or more Health, you regain 1d6 Health at the start of each of your turns.
12 You become immune to any three of the of the following of your choice: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, sickened, slowed, or stunned.
13 If you are an Elemancer, you regain 1 extra Mana every 15 minutes; otherwise, roll again.
14 Whenever you are about to perform an action that would result in your misfortune, there is a 50% chance that the relic warns against it in some way, such as by vibrating, a sudden uneasy feeling, or a whisper in your ear.*
15 You are able to breathe safely when you otherwise wouldn’t, such as underwater or in dangerous vapors.*
16 You gain a total flying speed of 10m.
17 You immediately become fluent in one language, of your choice.
18 You gain arcane darkvision if you did not already have it; if you do, roll again.*
19 The relic glows with 2m of bright and dim light whenever a creature hostile to you is within 10m of you. You can suppress this glowing at will.*
20 Your maximum Health is increased by 10+2d10.

Relic Curses

Given here is a list of curses, both major and minor, that a relic may bestow when the user attunes to it. The curses should be decided by the GM; when deciding what curses the attuning character receives, you may pick and choose or roll appropriately. If a curse has a * at the end of it, then it cannot be received more than once.


d20 Curses
1 One random ability score is reduced by .5, to a minimum of 0.
2 Proficiency in one random Action or Tool Skill that you have > 1 proficiency in decreases by 1, to a minimum of 0.
3 You have disadvantage on saves against poisons.*
4 You gain vulnerability to one random damage type that is not true or fatigue.
5 Whenever you are healed by any source, you have disadvantage on the roll to determine the amount of Health you regain.
6 Your M-DEF score decreases by 2 (minimum 0).
7 One of your saves, chosen at random, decreases by 1.
8 You are able to hold your breath for 1 less minute (minimum 30 seconds).
9 Your maximum Health is reduced by 1d10.
10 You gain permanent disadvantage on saves against a random one of the following conditions: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, sickened, slowed, or stunned.
11 You gain a phobia you did not previously have, causing you to become frightened whenever it enters your field of vision or you believe it is within 4m of you.
12 You emit a terrible stench detectable up to 3m away.
13 You immediately go unconscious for 1d6 days and cannot be awoken by any means.
14 Tiny plants wither and die within 2m of you.
15 Tiny flames sputter and die within 2m of you.
16 Once every couple of hours, you suffer a horrible coughing fit that deals 1d4 true damage.
17 You lose one of the following, determined randomly: 1 eye, both ears, your nose, 1d4 fingers (not counting your thumbs).
18 When you are Enduring, your Endurance Save DR is always 2 higher than normal.
19 Whenever you attempt to speak, there is a 5% chance you instead speak gibberish.
20 You lose the ability to smell.*


d20 Curses
1 One random ability score is reduced by 1, to a minimum of 0.
2 Proficiency in one random Action or Tool Skill that you have > 2 proficiency in decreases by 2, to a minimum of 0.
3 You automatically fail saves against poisons, and weak poisons affect you as though they were moderate.*
4 You gain vulnerability to three random damage types that are not true or fatigue.
5 Whenever you are healed by any source, all of the dice rolls are taken at their minimum value.*
6 Your M-DEF score decreases by 5 (minimum 0).
7 All of your save scores are decreased by 1.
8 You are able to hold your breath for 3 less minutes (minimum 30 seconds).
9 Your maximum Health is reduced by 3d10.
10 Your body takes on the appearance of a half-rotted corpse, though you retain all mechanical functionality.*
11 You immediately go unconscious for 5d6 days and cannot be awoken by any means.
12 You become permanently deafened.*
13 You gain permanent disadvantage on saves against three of the following conditions, determined at random: blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, paralyzed, sickened, slowed, or stunned.
14 If you are an Elemancer, your Mana is permanently reduced by 2; otherwise, roll again.
15 You gain a new permanent madness.
16 Animals are now hostile towards and afraid of you, granting disadvantage on all of your Beast Handling checks and making them willing to attack you at the slightest provocation.*
17 You become blinded and deafened whenever the relic is not in your immediate possession.*
18 You forget one language, determined randomly.
19 You immediately age 4d10 years.
20 You lose a level; if you have taken a level in more than one class, which class you lose a level in is determined at random.

Relics


Lore. Throughout the pages of history this mythical sword has gone by many names: Excalibur, Masamune, Tyrfing, Andúril. Throughout all of the legends, one commonality arises: a blade of great and unmatched power, that makes kings and legends of its wielders. It is said that, throughout its life, Excalibur has slain millions, be it through warfare, single combat, public execution, or any other method. Today, no Sentient can possibly know where history ends and legends begin, but any who wield this mythical blade quickly find that with a weapon like this at your side, such feats are not outside the realm of possibility.


Boons and Curses. Excalibur bestows the following boons and curses: 2 Minor Boons, 1 Major Boon, 1 Minor Curse, and 1 Major Curse. Upon awakening, it bestows 1 more Major Boon and 1 more Minor Curse.


Properties. When attuned to Excalibur, the user’s STR or DEX (their choice) score immediately increases by .5, to a maximum of 6. Additionally, while Excalibur is always described as a sword, the user can take 3 seconds (independent of their DEX) to transform it into any weapon. Whatever form the weapon takes, and regardless of the user’s proficiency with the appropriate skill, attacks with it are made at 5 proficiency and have a +5 bonus. At the start of combat, the user also gains a +1 bonus to their initiative. Additionally, the mythical blade grants a +3 bonus to the user’s Armor score so long as Excalibur is on their person.

Excalibur’s final feature is also its most noteworthy: at any time while the user is holding it, they can choose to instantly engulf the blade in ice, fire, lightning, acid, or venom. Whichever they choose, the sword deals one extra die of damage of the appropriate type: freeze for ice, burn for fire, electric for lightning, caustic for acid, or poison for venom. So, if Excalibur were to become a dagger engulfed in flame, attacks made with it would deal 5d4 physical + 1d4 burning damage.


Awakening. Should Excalibur be wielded by a leader – such as someone with royal blood or an elected ruler – its true power unlocks.


Awakened Properties. Once awakened, Excalibur’s power increases the user’s previously chosen ability score by another .5 (up to 6), and it can now change form instantly. Additionally, the user’s proficiency when wielding Excalibur increases to 6, as does the bonus to its attacks. The initiative bonus also increases to +2, and the +3 Armor bonus becomes +6. The last change is that the damage of the chosen engulfment increases to two extra damage dice.


Destruction. Somewhere in the world, legend tells of a lake from whence Excalibur was gifted to its original wielder, whose name and deeds have been lost to time. Many scholars and mythologists believe that, should Excalibur be returned to this lake, it would disappear from the world forever, never to be seen or used again. Throwing the sword into the lake requires a successful DR 30 Willpower save; should the user fail the save, they must wait 24 hours before they can try again.




Lore. Bound in Sentient flesh and inked in Sentient blood, the Book of the Dead is the sum culmination of an insane warlock's studies, knowledge, worship, and contact with various beings from the Unknown Plane. As the receptor for such vile and corrupting alien energies, the Necronomicon is an unmatched collection of otherworldly knowledge and power, its power having grown so great as to gain a corrupting will of its own.


Boons and Curses. The Necronomicon bestows 1 Minor Boon, 1 Major Boon, 2 Minor Curses, and 1 Major Curse, as well as a new madness that cannot be cured while attuned to the book. Upon awakening, it bestows 1 more Minor Boon, 1 more Minor Curse, 1 more Major Curse, and another incurable madness.


Properties. The Necronomicon is a sentient grimoire chock-full of evil, eldritch, otherworldy spells, containing 10 + 1d10 otherworldly spells (some of which can be Elemancer spells), and 25 Mana with which to cast them; exactly which spells are up to the GM, and the book regains all 25 Mana at midnight. While attuned, the Necronomicon is telepathically linked to the user, and will corrupt them and bid them toward vile deeds as frequently as it sees fit.

Another property of the Necronomicon is that, while attuned, any spell the user casts through it has a 10% chance of misfiring.


Awakening. There are a handful of passages within the Necronomicon so absolutely vile and corrupting that simply reading them aloud has a tangible effect on both the user and the tome itself, awakening it.


Awakened Properties. Upon awakening, 3d4 more spells appear or become readable to the user in the tome, and the book gains 25 more Mana with which to cast them. Secondly, the chances of a spell misfiring when cast through the book increases to 15%.

Lastly, the overpowering will of the book itself becomes stronger as well: whenever the Necronomicon bids the user to perform its bidding, the user must succeed on a DR 18 Willpower save or perform the desired action; every time this save is failed, the DR increases by 1.


Destruction. By otherworldly powers the Necronomicon was created, and so by those same eldritch forces it must be undone: should the Necronomicon be consumed by an Other or subjected to 500 points of damage from otherworldly spells within the span of 1 hour, it will be destroyed and wiped from this universe forever. Other worlds' Necronomicons, however...




Lore. The Magnum Opus, the Elixir of Life, the White Stone; the Philosopher’s Stone goes by all of these names and many more. Considered the absolute pinnacle of alchemy, the Stone holds the power to make nigh-undying emporers of those who can master its power. It is unknown when or how the Stone was forged, and all attempts to replicate it have failed, but many historians and archaeologists have found material that suggests doing so requires the sacrifice of living beings.


Boons and Curses. The Philosopher’s Stone bestows the following boons and curses: 2 Minor Boons, 1 Major Boon, 1 Minor Curse, 1 Major Curse. Upon awakening, it bestows 1 more Minor Curse.


Properties. One of the most well-known and widely misrepresented features of the Philosopher’s Stone is that it can permanently transform any substance, regardless of physical makeup, into any other substance of any other physical makeup (popularized as "turning lead into gold", though the Stone could turn any substance into gold, or anything else for that matter).

Upon attuning to the Stone, the user’s proficiency with Alchemy Tools immediately increases by 3, up to 6. While the Stone is in their immediate possession, they can brew any concoction without the need for non-Aetherite resources in half the time; likewise, enchanting items takes half as long as it normally would.

Additionally, the Stone has 25 Mana, which the user can use to cast the Shape Matter spell, with the following changes:

  • The Casting Time is only 1 second;
  • The Area of Effect is a 5-meter cube;
  • The Range increases to 20 meters.

The third property of the Stone is that through it, the user can transmute flesh to both heal wounds and extend their own life. In addition to the Shape Matter spell, the user can also take 1 second and expend >1 Mana to restore 1d10 Health to any living creature they can touch; for every 1 extra Mana they spend to do this, the amount of Health they restore increases by 1d10 - this does not restore missing organs or appendages, but will seal fatal wounds. The Stone regains all 25 Mana at midnight. Additionally, the Stone slows the user’s aging process; while attuned to it, the user ages 1 year for every 10 years that pass.

Fourth and lastly, the knowledge the Stone imparts increases the user’s INT score by .5, to a maximum of 6, and increases their Arcana and Nature proficiencies by 1, up to 6.


Awakening. Awakening the Philosopher’s Stone requires that which it does best: transmutation. Should the user spend all of the Stone's Mana on casting the Shape Matter spell 10 times, the Stone will awaken.


Awakened Properties. When the Stone awakens, the Mana at its disposal increases to 50, all of which it regains at midnight; it can now also replenish the Health of any creature that has died within 24 hours and restore lost organs and appendages (if the target's soul is unable or unwilling to return to its body, the body will be revived as a Revenant). It also further increases the user’s INT score by another .5, up to 6, and increases their Arcana, Nature, and Alchemy Supplies proficiencies by another 1, up to 6.


Destruction. Should the Stone be consumed by a pregnant Sentient, that child will be born a Rebus - a hermaphroditic 2nd level Mattemancer and Space Elementia, with an additional amount of Mana at their disposal equal to half their Elemancer level, rounded up; additionally, the Rebus will live 10 times longer than they otherwise would. When the Rebus dies, the Philosopher’s Stone is destroyed. If the pregnancy does not come to term, such as through an abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth, then the Sentient who ingested the Stone will vomit it back up when the fetus dies.




Lore. Beings with power second only to the gods, Titans are creatures of immense power and colossal size, of which only a handful have ever existed, and even fewer have been killed; to say that this is an incredibly difficult feat would be a massive understatement, but it is not impossible. However, when they are killed, that then allows the slayer to take one or more of their scales as a trophy, which themselves contain a fragment of the Titan’s power. Over time, a Titan’s body rots away and decays, and only two remnants of their existence remain: their skeletons, which are monumental in and of themselves; and fragments of their scales, which are occasionally found and dug up, granting their wielder the powers of a Titan.


Boons and Curses. A Titan Scale bestows the following boons and curses: 1 Minor Boon, 1 Major Boon, 1 Minor Curses, and 1 Major Curse. Upon awakening, it bestows 1 more Minor Boon and 1 more Minor Curse.


Properties. When the user attunes to a Scale, it becomes part of their body as it embeds itself in their flesh. In so doing, it imparts several of the Titan’s powers to the user, and for all of them except the STR increase and Drake fluency, the Scale has 3 charges at its disposal to use them; it regains all of the expended charges at midnight.

The first and second of these powers immediately increases the user’s STR score to 5 (or increases it by .5, up to 6, if the user’s STR score is already 5 or 5.5) and makes them fluent in Drake if they weren’t already.

The third and more noteworthy power is the Titan’s breath weapon. There are 6 possible breath weapons: acid, fire, ice, lightning, psychic energy, and poison; the obtainer of the Scale gains use of one of these (GM’s choice). At the cost of 3 seconds (independent of the user's DEX) and 1 charge, the user can choose to exhale a stream of their breath weapon in either a 20m line or a 10m cone. In either case, every creature caught in the blast takes 6d6 of the appropriate damage (caustic for acid, burn for fire, freeze for ice, electric for lightning, 6d8 psychic for psychic energy, and poison for poison).

The fourth and final power is the Titan’s flight, which manifests as a pair of magnificent wings that sprout from the user’s back at the cost of 3 seconds (independent of the user's DEX) and 1 charge. These wings grant the user a flying speed of 3m/sec for 1 hour.

The last property of the Scale is not a power of the Titan’s, but more its mark. When the user attunes to the Scale, in several random places on their body, scales of the Titan’s color begin to grow (black, blue, green, purple, red, or white), increasing the user’s Natural Armor score by 2.


Awakening. Should the user obtain and “attune” to a second Scale from the same Titan, the Scale will awaken.


Awakened Properties. When the Scale awakens, the user’s STR score becomes 6 if it wasn’t already, and the Scale gains 3 more charges with which to use its powers. Additionally, each of the powers undergoes the following changes: the breath weapon’s range increases to 30m (line)/15m (cone), and the damage increases to 8d8 (8d10 for psychic); the flight speed increases to 5m/sec; the scales grow, becoming thicker and covering more of your body, increasing your Natural Armor score by another 2; and lastly, your Intimidation proficiency increases by 1, up to 6, as the might and sheer power of the Titan fills your body, mind, and soul.


Destruction. A Scale can only be destroyed by another Titan’s breath. A Scale has 50 Health (100 if awakened) separate from the user, and should the user be hit by another Titan’s breath weapon, any damage they take is likewise applied to the Scale. If the Scale’s Health is reduced to 0, it shatters, and the scales that have grown on the user’s body rot and fall off.