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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Siran Dunmorgan" data-source="post: 4825482" data-attributes="member: 39268">The most recent editions of Dungeons & Dragons have, as it happens, featured explicit support for many of the concepts presented in this thread.For instance, the 3.5 Edition Player's Handbook II featured an extensive chapter entitled "Affiliations" [1]; many of the racial affiliations presented, e.g. the Caravan of Shadows, or the Bloodfist Tribe, can be construed as representing a character's extended family or, literally, tribe.  The Dragon Island affiliation is an example of an affiliation that, while not specifically familial in nature, enhances the social and cultural position of the character in the world.Much of the game mechanics of affiliations has been carried over into 4th edition in the form of the artifact rules [2], with the differences that the score is now referred to as "concordance", and the relationship is with an object rather than a social organization.  The principle remains roughly the same: if the character fulfills certain conditions, and the artifact 'likes' the character better.  Typically, these conditions include the character gaining levels; since higher levels typically translate into higher concordance scores, gaining levels typically results in 'unlocking' new powers or properties of the artifact.The term "heirloom" is used explicitly in Adventurer's Vault, in the context of items that scale in power with their wielders:This system can even be used to turn mundane items into magic items.  A PC's nonmagical heirloom longsword might be empowered by exposure to magic or a heroic deed to become a signature magic weapon. [3]The system presented in Adventurer's Vault describes how increases in power in a character's heirloom weapon can be handled mechanically by depriving the character of a treasure parcel that they might otherwise have used to purchase a more powerful weapon, i.e. instead of receiving treasure that's then used to purchase items, the character is simply assumed to have progressively updated their existing item in lieu of the gold they would normally have received.It can be seen from these examples that Dungeons  & Dragons does not, as a matter of policy forbid players from incorporating heirlooms, legacies and similar items to enhance their sense of immersion in the game-world—Siran Dunmorgan[1] Noonan, David, Player's Handbook II (Wizards of the Coast: 2006), p. 163 ff.[2] Wyatt, James, Dungeon Master's Guide (Wizards of the Coast: 2008), p. 164 ff.[3] Bonner, Logan; Eytan Bernstein; Chris Sims; Adventurer's Vault, (Wizards of the Coast: 2008), p. 198</blockquote>

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