Relics

[alsih2o]

Relics in D+D tend towards their own definition rather than what comes ot my mind when I think "Relic."

I think of a fragment of bone or shroud or lock of hair.

Please come up wiht a relic for the rest of us. The vial with the teardrop of a fallen silver dragon that allows any who peer through it to detect lies, the unguent of hero sweat that increases endurance in anyone who swabs it under their arms or the sholeace of St. whatshisname that causes any wound tied off with it to go inanimate until healing is administered.

What have you got?

 

[Mallus]

Funny you should ask...

...my PC's just saved The Bodice of St. Tart (and the priestess wearing it) from being incinerated in a giant Tiki torch.

Terezia Tartelme (aka St. Tart) is the Saint of Shamelessness in the faith of Aja Opal Blossom, formal mortal courtesan now worshipped as the Goddess of Love. St. Tart's Bodice is said to be made from the bone of a talking whale and decorated with the Weeping Rubies of the East. The wearer can 'raise the dead' an unlimited number of times per day.

And cast Raise Dead 1/week...

 

[Jdvn1]

I think relics are different than you'd think because the pantheon and world is different from what you're used to in real life. I like coming up with my own relics off the cuff, though.

The Cleric performed a great deed for his Church, he receives a ring on a chain. The ring was a personal effect of the great historical spiritual leader Maximus Taryn, who was known for his mighty battles against hordes of undead. The item grants a +4 to turning checks and +2d6 to turning damage. In addition, it provides a Greater Turning Attempt 1/day.

Or, y'know. The intelligent item abilities are a good sources of ideas too.

 

[fusangite]

I'm currently running my own personal D20-BRP hybrid game that tries to model proper medieval relics; a bunch of exciting stuff will show up in the game but so far, all the characters have is the calf bone of Saint Marcellinus.

There are really upsetting relics from the original pre-Benedictine athletes of God in the East. I believe people stood under St. Simeon Stylites pillar quite often to obtain the "relics" his body emitted every day.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I never really thought about it before. But I feel compelled to post on this thread, so I'll contribute:

Artifacts - powerful magic items that were created intenionally. Examples: The One Ring, Excallibur

Relics - powerful magic items taht were created untintentionally. Exmples: ... er ... actually the only "real life" ones I can think of were all of religious origin and I don't feel like going there.

Relic for alsih2o (aka Clay)

Blooddrenched Spear of the Fallen Unicorn

There once was a paladin who grew disillusioned with his chosen faith and came of the opinion that the only way to prevent man from turning on man was to enforce dire law that would control all thought and expression. His chosen diety wept, but did not stay his hand for that would only enforce the now fallen paladin's beliefs. The paladin swore devotion to a foul demon and pledged loyalty in exchange for power. The demon required sacrifice. So the paladin -- who's newfound vile ways was not yet known to mortals -- slew the most majestic of good creatures, a unicorn, and mounted it's horn on a thin pole made of cold iron. The demon was pleased and gave dire blessings on the paladin (now a blackguard).

The paladin/blackguard was slain 20 years prior to the current date of the campaign. His assasin was an Ogre Mage who lusted after the blackgaurd's power. The spear has since been lost to history but is presumed to be serving the purposes of evil.

Powers
* this weapon is treated as a +3 unholy longspear for general use.
* at the end of the weilder's turn, he or she gains one hit point. This is made after any stabalization checks, if any are required.
* The weapon grants pemanent mind blank on the user
* the wilder has a +4 circumstance bonus to Bluff checks
* All Sense Motive checks made on the user have a secret -6 circumstance penalty

* at the start of the weilder's turn, he or she loses one hit point. This is made before any stabalization checks, if any are required.
* in the event of death, the character's soul is permanently given to the vile demon who made the paladin swear aligence. No attempts to raise or ressurect the weilder will succeed. When the character dies, his body will shrivel as if it was dehydrated to a husk and the spear will be a font of blood.
* The character will suffer a -8 circumstance penalty to Diplomacy and Animal Empathy ... the spear radiates a slight aura of fear.
* all creatures of type animal within 10' of the weilder will be considered to be Unfriendly.

* special effect: the Blooddrenched Spear of the Fallen Unicorn constantly drips blood in proportion to how much bloodletting it has caused. Since it always does at least 1hp/round (to the weilder) there is always a slight trickel. In combat, it can gush blood and make for a horrific vision the like of which will cause many a nightmare.


How's that?

 

[alsih2o]

How's that?

That's the ticket.

 

[D+1]

What have you got?

I've got a distinction between "relic" and "artifact". A relic tends to have religious or sociological significance and is more likely to have been used in the past and have tales and legends told about it. An artifact on the other hand is simply a leftover thing from a bygone era. Its appearance in a game world is more of an unexptected event, unheralded by legend or prophecy, but ends up having the same kind of impact on a world as a relic simply due to its great powers.

So the Mace of Cuthbert would be a relic - a legendary weapon known by all to have been wielded by the Saint-turned-deity, with tales not just of use by Cuthbert by mortals who may have used it - or who are destined to use it in the future.

The Hand and Eye of Vecna are relics, again because they have well-known legends associated with them, their powers are almost certainly detailed in any number of accounts (though they may well all be dead wrong) and there are likely tales regarding what happened in the past when people encountered them.

The Machine of Lum the Mad on the other hand is an artifact. There may be information about it recorded in forgotten tomes but generally isn't known about by anyone until it actually surfaces in someones possession who makes use of it. It may have been used long ago at length but there's no prophecy about it being used again, no tales of it having been used since ancient days, and little or no knowledge of what it is or does - even inaccurate knowledge.

Just my own thoughts on the matter...

Personally, I've almost never used artifacts or relics in my campaigns anyway - I certainly can't recall any that I've let actually become a significant part of the game. I've played in campaigns where they HAVE come into play and generally seen those campaigns go into tailspins when they do. Either they just bump power levels up to unreasonable levels, or if power levels already are at unusually high levels they fail to serve the purpose of being adventure or campaign foci - they become merely another powerful tool in PC/NPC arsenals and the game loses some of its touch with reality. Just my experience with it - yours may vary. As such I've never had need to actually design my own.

 

[Psion]

Much like I don't think of my car's steering problems when I refer to "alignment" in a game context, I don't think of the same thing when I think of relics in game terms.

For me, in game terms, I pretty much use the 1e approximate definition. Namely, an artifact (exceptionally powerful and nearly indestructable magic item) with religious origin or significance.

 

[RangerWickett]

Quick idea from my game: The Leg of Diogenes.

People know that Diogenes, the famed spellduelist who tricked Grand Inquisitor Leska to her defeat, lost a leg at the hands of her torturers. The Leg of Diogenes is a relic, preserved in a long wooden case, the flesh turned black from the ages. When a person with any severed limbs touches the leg, his limbs regenerate. Additionally, the bearer of the leg has no miss chance when teleporting, and can teleport despite any sort of dimensional inhibiting.

Sadly, this is not actually Diogenes' leg. It's probably just some other saint's leg. But it was found by a handless Wayfarer, and perhaps it simply granted his wishes.