Paladin Treasure

[Ryujin]

There's also the possibility that dad and grandad were somewhat heroic in aspect, but mundane (a Commoner or Warrior) from a character standpoint. Sure, dad was 6th level and helped to defend the town from hobgoblin incursions during the war, but he just didn't have that spark that sets a true Hero from the rest of the population.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

Mercedes Lackey wrote about a special purpose sword that I've always liked.

"Need" greatly augmented the magical abilities of one who could fight but not use magic, boosted the fighting abilities (i.e. took over the body) of one who was a magic user but couldn't fight, helped with both for one who could do neither, and helped with neither for one who could do both.

There was a lot more to 'her,' but something like this aspect would also explain why the special powers didn't manifest for earlier generations - they simply didn't need them . . .

 

[Shoe]

what I often do in cases like this is allow the character to discover through roleplay that his family items are actually artifacts and he "unlocks" the abilities of the Item as he grows in knowledge/power. similar to the 3.5 weapons of legacy book, but more customized and with less rules in place for the requirements to "unlock' abilities

-Shoe

 

[Anguish]

And... showing that Paizo are way ahead of us...

Pathfinder Companion: Adventurer's Armory page 30. New trait. Heirloom Weapon. Long story short is you get to have a weapon which is masterwork at 1st level without paying for it. You're proficient and get a +1 trait bonus to attacks with that specific weapon. Thus in the future you can magic it up as normal.

Wouldn't be any stretch of the imagination to have an Heirloom Armor trait too.

This is a neat book, and the price is right. I recommend it.