Post your homebrewed vestiges here !

[Evilhalfling]

vestiges from a familiar and a begger?

Nice stories, but they seem a little weak for immortal souls doomed to wander, each with enough power that others can borrow it.

The level 1 vestige that gives weapon focus and specilization in your choice of a number of blades seems far too strong for the level. I don't have the tome on hand - what weapon benefits are normally gained?

 

[amethal]

vestiges from a familiar and a begger?

Nice stories, but they seem a little weak for immortal souls doomed to wander, each with enough power that others can borrow it.

The level 1 vestige that gives weapon focus and specilization in your choice of a number of blades seems far too strong for the level. I don't have the tome on hand - what weapon benefits are normally gained?

Plenty of vestiges give you weapon proficiency.

Other than that, the only one I can think of is that Leraje gives you a +1 competence bonus to hit if you are already proficient with bows.

A few of them give feats which are only useful in combat - e.g. weapon finesse - but certainly not weapon specialisation.

I don't think a first level binder should have access to a feat which is available to fighters at 4th level and warblades at 6th (I think).

Maybe have a benefit which scales with level instead; a first level binder gets weapon focus, a 4th level one gets specialisation as well.

 

[JiCi]

So ... House Rules forum?

He he he... woops... noticed that after post it... My bad.

Ok, maybe if I put Solovem as a 2nd-level vestige, it would be balanced, what do you think ?

 

[JiCi]

Here are some other vestiges... based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series

Mahad, the Dark Magician
Vestige Level: 6
Binding DC: 30

Legend: Long ago, in a desert kingdom, there was a large citadel governed by a prosperous pharaoh. The pharaoh and his servants were renowned for their powerful summoning magic. The secret resided inside mystical items that could control these beasts of darkness, sealed into massive stone tablets. These beasts were actually the materialization of a person’s evil locked deep into their heart.

On one night, a thief broke into the elder’s tomb to steal its treasure and then broke into the throne room, pulling and pushing the disrupted pharaoh tomb up to the new pharaoh throne. In response to this disgraceful act, the servants summoned monsters in order to fight the thief, but the thief had learn how to summon such creatures, surprising the court and taking the upper hand in the battle. The pharaoh then stepped in and summoned a creature with god-like powers and repelled back the thief.

One of the pharaoh’s servants was Mahad, a childhood friend of the pharaoh. Devout and determined to bring this thief to justice, he settled an ambush inside a catacomb in order to lure the thief in and trap him inside. The thief arrived at the catacomb with a lust for treasure, but found only Mahad. The servant blocked the entry the catacomb and challenged the thief to a duel, and making the winner the only survivor of the match. Both summoned their beasts, a snake demon and an armored mage, and battled fiercely, but the thief had the upper hand and took Mahad down to his knees.

In a last ditched effort, Mahad stood up and activated his summoning tool to merge with his mage and launched a final assault, so hard that it caused a cave-in, destroying the catacomb and the demon. Unfortunately, the thief had been able to escape the cave-in, and in the sunrise, he laughed at his victory and clenched Mahad’s summoning tool in his hand.

Mahad, however, became one of the summoned beasts of darkness when he merged with his mage, so when the cave-in occurred, he was pulled back into the stone tablet. While he was still alive as a summoned beast, he was not dead either and his soul could not pass to the other world. Mahad’s spirit now awaits his command as a vestige, dedicated to his lord.

Manifestation: The seal starts to glow with a bright yellow light and the middle of the seal become vaporous. A dark humanoid emerges from the seal. It looks like a human with a purple-tinted armor, a curved helmet and a dark purple surcoat. It holds a turquoise staff tipped with a perfect emerald orb. His face is revealed shortly after. His face looks human with blue eyes and dark hair.

Sign: Your hair becomes pitch-black.

Influence: You become very protective to magic items, locations, arcane temples and spellcasters. You’re willing to give your life to defend allied spellcasters.

Granted Powers:
Dark Magic Attack: Once every 5 rounds, you may blast an area with pure arcane energy, dealing 1d6 points of damage per binder level in a 20-foot-radius spread. You may launch this attack at any point within 25 feet + 5 feet per binder level. The damage is none of existing energy type, and you are immune to this attack if you are caught in the blast.

Thousand Knives: Once per day, you may conjure a cloud of sharp daggers and direct them toward a corporeal target within 30 feet. If the target fails a Fortitude save, it dies instantly; if it succeeds, it takes 1d6 points of piercing damage per 5 binder levels.

Spellbinding Circle: Once every 5 rounds, you can conjure a magical glowing rune-inscribed circle that binds a target within 30 feet. If the target succeeds a Reflex save, the effect is negated; if it fails, it becomes entangled and immobilized* into its space, locked into position. Furthermore, the entangled target suffers Strength damage equal to 1 per 2 binder levels. If the target succeeds a Fortitude save, the Strength damage is halved. The circle stays in place for 1 round per 4 binder levels.

*Check Tome of Magic page 140 for more details.

Dark Magic Curtain: Once every 5 rounds, you may use dimension door, using your binder level as caster level.

Mystic Box: Once every 5 rounds, you may switch places with an opponent within 10 feet per binder levels. The target is entitled to a Reflex save to evade the effect, which is cancelled if the target succeeds.

Book of Secret Arts: You gain a bonus equal to your binder level to Concentration, Craft (alchemy), Knowledge (arcana), Spellcraft checks and Use Magic Device.

 

[JiCi]

Mana, the Dark Magician Girl
Vestige Level: 4
Binding DC: 26

Legend: Mana comes from the same era as Mahad. She was also a childhood friend of the pharaoh and started the studies of magic with Mahad as her mentor. When she learned that Mahad turned into the Dark Magician and that the thief escaped the trap, she made a vow to become the best spellcaster of the kingdom, and she offered her services to the pharaoh in the name of her master.

However, things did not stay peaceful for long. The thief, who has been identified as Zorc, resurfaced from the darkness and launched an assault against a nearby village. The pharaoh took this chance to recapture the thief and avenge Mahad’s defeat. However, Zorc’s snake demon has grown even stronger since his battle versus Mahad and the pharaoh’s servants summoned their monsters to repel the attack. However, neither of these was strong enough to stop the snake demon in its track. In a cruel strike, Zorc ordered his beast to kill the pharaoh. Mana did not want to see another of her friends killed, so she summoned her own mage and merged with it, become like her master a beast of darkness. She launched a magic attack at the demon, but the spell fails to destroy the beast. Fortunately, she has bought enough time for the pharaoh to retreat. Zorc, having conquer and set aflame the village, left the village to reform his troops and prepare his next raid.

Mana was able to save the pharaoh, but at the cost of her own life. Like Mahad, she became sealed into a stone tablet, lives as a vestige to this day.

Manifestation: The seal starts to glow with a bright yellow light and the middle of the seal become vaporous. Suddenly, a humanoid jumps out of the seal and levitates in a sit position. Mana appears as a human teenage girl with flowing blond hair. She wears an azure blue breastplate, boots, bracers and a curved helmet, as well as a short pink dress, revealing her shoulders, arms and legs.

Sign: Your hair turns blond and grows longer, about twice its normal length.

Influence: You become very attracted to magic items, locations, arcane temples and spellcasters. You’re willing to give your life to defend allied spellcasters, as you admire them with a passion.

Granted Powers:
Dark Burning Attack: Once every 5 rounds, you may shoot a pulsing orb of dark energy at a target within 60 feet. Upon a successful ranged touch attack, the orb deals 1d6 points of damage per binder level. The damage is half fire and half pure energy, and thus it is not negated by resistances or immunities.

Magical Hats: Once every 5 rounds, as a standard action, you may conjure a number of large cylindrical hats equal to 1 hat per 4 binder levels. Each hat can be placed in any square within 10 feet of you. One of those hats covers you completely, granting you total concealment. You are then teleported inside one of the hats; you DM secretly rolls a %d to determine in which hat you end up under. If an opponent hits an empty hat, the hat disappears. However, if an opponent hits a hat where you are standing under, you take normal damage and all hats disappear.

Loyal Apprentice: If you have Mahad, the Dark Magician bound to you while you have Mana, your dark burning attack increases to 1d8 points of damage per binder level, deals pure energy damage and threatens a critical hit on a 19 or 20.

Hidden Book of Spell: Once per day, if you can cast spells, you may take a standard action to recall one spell per 4 binder levels of any level you know. If you have spell-like abilities, you may use this ability to regain uses of one or several spell-like abilities.

Spell Shield Type-8: You may use greater dispel magic. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma bonus (minimum 1).

Magic Cylinder: If targeted by a spell, spell-like ability, power or psi-like ability, you may reflect the attack back at its caster as a immediate action. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma bonus (minimum 1). Only targeted spells can be reflected, but by expanding 3 uses of this ability, you may reflect spells and powers that affect you in an area.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Seriously?
.............................
I can't be giggling this much at work.

 

[JiCi]

You haven't seen nothing yet:

Kisara, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Vestige Level: 7
Binding DC: 30

Legend: Kisara is said to come from the same era as Mahad and Mana. She was just a young girl when the pharaoh’s servants began to arrest and incarcerate innocent villagers for having only a tiny spark of darkness in their heart. It has been told that the monsters that the servants were summoning were actually the incarnation of a person’s evil, and that evil surprised more than one servant when Kisara’s dormant darkness revealed itself as a mighty dragon of light.

When Seto, one of the servants, entered Kisara’s cell to examine her darkness, he felt almost guilty to have imprisoned such a young lady and decided to let her go. However, Kisara was not the only one in the cell: there were two other men, both taken prisoners for their darkness. The thugs wanted revenge for their incarceration and charges Seto so that he falls into a pit located in a corner of the cell. At the same time, both creatures of darkness materialized and attacked with the two men, pushing Seto and Kisara in the pit. Luckily, Seto grasped the edge of the pit and held Kisara by the hand. When all seemed desperate for Seto, Kisara materialized her dragon above the pit and wiped out the two prisoners. After witnessing this power, Seto released Kisara and ordered the guards to let her free.

What Seto was not aware of is that his father Aknamkanon, also a servant of the pharaoh, was plotting to overthrow the pharaoh and have his son taking over the throne. Using his dark magic, Aknamkanon charmed Seto into killing the current pharaoh. When Kisara saw Seto acting strange, she decided to follow him into the catacombs, where she saw the remaining servants confronting the sorcerer with his puppet Seto. As Seto was about to deliver the final blow to the pharaoh, Kisara came out and yelled the servant’s name. At that moment, Seto shook up his father’s spell and turned around to face him. However, Aknamkanon was more powerful and quickly out matched Seto with his powers. Seto was once again close to Death’s door, when Kisara ran to him and conjured her dragon to attack. As Seto stood up, Kisara collapsed in the floor, as her soul merged with her dragon, becoming one with the monster. Seto, enraged to have lost his friend, teamed up with the new Kisara and defeated Aknamkanon in one mighty burst of lightning.

Ever since that day, Seto has summoned Kisara in most of his battles, proving his might and power. Kisara now rest as a vestige, having make the sacrifice in order to save someone, like Mahad and Mana did for the pharaoh.

Manifestation: Kisara appears as a young, silver-haired girl dressed in simple peasant clothes standing in the middle of the sign. Suddenly, she becomes enclosed in a egg-shaped ball of light and bursts in a flash of lightning as a huge blue-eyed, white-scaled, winged dragon. Kisara then fixes the binder and acknowledges only with her head; she does not speak for the rest of the pact.

Sign: You become covered with white scales and your eyes become orbs of pure azure color.

Influence: You are very secretive. You speak little and act reclusively in front of others.

Granted Powers:
White Lighting: Once every 5 rounds, as a standard action, you may breathe a 60-foot long line of lightning. The line deals 1d6 points of electricity damage per binder level, and a Reflex save halves the damage.

Dragon’s Blood: As long as Kisara is bound to you, you are treated as a dragonblood creature, as per the dragonblood subtype.

Dragon’s Rage: You gain a +4 to Strength and Constitution.

Stamping Destruction: You gain the Trample ability. You may move up to twice your speed and run over opponents of your size or smaller. You deal 1d8 points of damage (if you’re Medium) plus 1.5 times your Strength modifier. Targets may either make an attack of opportunity with a -4 penalty to their attack roll or may try to dodge you by making a Reflex save and halving the damage.

Tyrant Wing: You may materialize a pair of draconic wings out of thin air, as the Flight of the Dragon spell. The caster level is equal to your binder level. Once the duration expires, or if you dismiss it, you cannot reactivate the wings until 5 rounds have passed.

 

[JiCi]

Gearfried, the Iron Knight Swordmaster
Vestige Level: 5
Binding DC: 24

Legend: Gearfried used to be the best warrior of his tribe. His challenges and battles were renown throughout the land. Nothing could surpass Gearfried’s sword, and many tribe warlords fell to his blade. Gearfried was destined to be the greatest king of the land. However, with power grew hatred and rebellions. Members of opposing tribes ganged up on Gearfried in order to strip his powers away, but he was too strong to stop.

One day however, an entire village rebelled against Gearfired, all attacking him, all alone. The aftermath was devastating: Gearfried had defeated every villager, man and woman alike. Realizing his powers and their dangers, Gearfried asked his tribe’s elders to seal his might away. They came up with a magical suit of armor that could contain all of battle prowess. Gearfired thought to find peace in his mind by wearing this armor.

However, his thirst for conquering new lands and warriors continued to grow. Gearfried decided to challenge another warlord inside his temple. The fight started quickly and both warriors fought with determination. At the end, both stepped back and charged at each other. According to witnesses, the impact of their blades was so brutal that it created a shockwave that caused the temple to crumble on both warriors. After the incident, the villagers and guards dug out the corpse of the warlord, but Gearfired was nowhere to be found.

According to sages, it is rumored that, upon impact, Gearfried’s armor shattered and he released all of his powers on that last strike, consuming him and causing the crumbling. Since his soul was not taken by the gods, Gearfried now wanders the worlds as a vestige, looking for a suitable vessel and opponent.

Manifestation: Gearfried appears in the sign as a muscled, barrel-chested man with long flowing dark hairs. He wears short trousers with a heavy belt, thick boots and bandages around his hands and forearms and carried a large sword on his back. Moments later, Gearfried levitates in the air his arms and legs extend, as if some invisible forces pull them to hold him. Large pieces of metal start orbiting around Gearfried and start merging with him. Seconds after the warrior drops to the ground, now wearing a thick full plate and a masked helmet, one of his hands has a sword and the other a shield. He then ask the reason of his arrival.

Sign: Your hair become long, about four times their length, and have a dark color.

Influence: You are eagerly looking for a challenger, although you prefer to see first if that person is a good match.

Granted Powers:
Sword Mastery: You receive proficiencies for all simple, martial and exotic sword-like weapons, including short sword, longsword, greatsword, bastard sword, falchion and two-bladed sword. You also receive Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization for all sword-like weapons.

Legendary Sword: As a swift action, you may imbue a sword with magical powers, depending on your binder level, as follows:

[B]Effective Binder Level[/B]             [B]Sword Enhancement[/B]
10th or lower			   [I]+1 sword[/I]
11th – 14th			   [I]+2 sword[/I]
15th – 18th 			   [I]+3 adamantine sword[/I]
19th or higher			   [I]+4 keen adamantine sword[/I]

Furthermore, when a sword is enhanced, it becomes immune to sunder, and you gain a +1 bonus per 2 binder levels to resist disarm attempts. The enhancements disappear if the weapon leaves you grasp for more than 1 round. You must wait for 5 rounds to pass until you can imbue your sword again.

Iron Cocoon: As a move action, you may summon an iron full plate. This armor grants you a +8 armor bonus, but imposes a +1 maximum Dexterity bonus to AC. While this armor is worn, you gain Spell Resistance equal to 5 plus your binder level, immunity to energy drain and damage and you cannot be possessed or controlled by creatures, such as ghosts and symbionts. You still can be charmed or dominated as usual. You may dismiss the armor as a free action.

Release Restraint: While wearing the Iron Cocoon, as a standard action, you may dismiss it in an explosion of shrapnel. You deal 1d4 points of damage per binder level in a 20-ft radius centered on you, and a Reflex save halves the damage. However, those who fail their Reflex save are stunned for 1d4 rounds. Once this ability has been used, you may not use the Iron Cocoon until 5 rounds have passed.

 

[JiCi]

and finally:

Exodia, the Forbidden One
Vestige Level: 8
Binding DC: 31

Legend: Exodia is said to come from the same era as Mahad, Mana and Kisara. However, its origin as a shadow creature is still a mystery. Shimon Muran, a servant of a powerful pharaoh named Aknamkanon, was adept at using the shadow creatures to defend his citadel from bandits and raiders. His summoned beast of choice was inadvertently the most powerful beast ever sealed into a tablet: Exodia. However, that kind of power came with a price. On the night of a raid that occurred in the kingdom’s capital, Shimon assisted the pharaoh to repel the enemy, but ended it up killing each and every one of them. Shocked by the raw power of this creature, Shimon swore to seal up Exodia and split his power to further prevent it of being summoned again after this day

Exodia was sealed for about 20 years. In the meantime, Atem, Aknamkanon’s son, claimed the throne and was like his father a great summoner of unmatched talents. This talent eventually led a greedy thief named Bakura to assault the pharaoh’s palace in order to steal all of the summoning tools possessed by Atem and his servants. Little did they know that the thief was actually a powerful demon named Zorc Necrophades, polymorphed into a human being. After being thwarted countless times, Zorc launched a full-scaled assault on the pharaoh’s city. A few servants tried to evacuate as many civilians as they could, while others fled the city in order to take back the summoning tools stolen by Bakura. Shimon led a small force of soldiers to slow down Zorc while the servants put their plans into actions. The situation was desperated and Shimon made a daring decision: to free Exodia. Brandishing his key-shaped tool, he called forth the mighty creature from the earth and Exodia broke its shackles to fight.

Unfortunately, while Zorc was bruised by Exodia, the demon launched a massive blast of energy that disintegrated Exodia into nothingness. Shimon upon seeing his beast vanish was killed in an instant as his life force was linked to Exodia. Everything seemed lost for the people of the desert Kingdom. Miraculously, Atem was able to call forth the gods and managed to banish Zorc forever.

The kingdom was able to recover from the attack and lived in prosperity. Many shadow creatures were freed and banish to another plane of existence where they could cause no harm to humans. As for Exodia, however, it was not a true living creature, so its soul was not be taken or reanimated, and with no tablet to contain it, its form was propelled to the multiverse as a vestige.

Manifestation: The seal glows lightly and then the light levitates and turns sideway to face the binder. A low rumble is heard and massive stone colossus appears on the sign, its hands and feet shackled to it. It bears a menacing look, with a skull-like visage and large crests protruding from its head, like a pharaoh’s crown. Its chest bears an ankh and complex symbols. Exodia speaks little, saying only key words such as “pact”, “why”, “agreed” and “never”, which essentially means that the binder made a poor pact and will suffer Exodia’s influence. When the pact is done, Exodia forcefully breaks his shackled before vanishing.

Sign: You have shackles on your wrists and ankles. You cannot remove or equip bracers, gauntlets and boots while Exodia’s sign is visible, though a binder may suppress it and reactivate it after equipping items.

Influence: Exodia makes you bitter against peoples who restraint others from achieving their full potential. That includes slavers, dominating nobles and tyrants.

Granted Powers:
Obliterating Force: Once every 5 rounds, as a full-action, you may launch a powerful beam of light toward opponents. The beam is a 120-ft long line that deals 2d6 points of damage per binder level. A Reflex save does not halve the damage but instead deals 5d6 points of damage, as per the disintegrate spell. Creatures reduced to 0 hit points by the beam are entirely disintegrated, leaving behind only a trace of fine dust. You may use this power without risk once per day per Charisma modifier (minimum 1). After that, you take a cumulative 1d6 points of non-lethal for each beam you shoot on that day until the pact is over. However, each hour you spend resting reduces the backlash damage by 1d6, up to a minimum of 1d6 points of non-lethal damage.

Break the seal: You gain a competence bonus equal to your binder level to Escape Artist check and Strength check to slip free or break binds, such as ropes, chains and shackles.

Stone armor: You gain a +1 natural armor bonus for each 2 binder levels you possesses. Furthermore, you gain DR 1/- for each 4 binder levels.

Seal Protection Wall: As a swift or immediate action, you may conjure a stone tablet that grants total cover. The tablet erupts in front of you and is about your height. It disappears at the end of your turn or at the end of your next turn, depending how you conjured it. You must be standing on the ground in order to use this ability and you must wait 5 rounds before conjuring another tablet.