Eclipse – Sample Relics Part VI, Skills and Talents

   Here we have a few more Relics for Eclipse: The Codex Persona (available in print HERE and in a shareware .pdf version HERE) – in this case some practical – and relatively cheap – items for general adventurers.

   The Helm of Tolwyn:

   Tolwyn the Demonslayer was noted for her constant battles with the forces of the abyss, and the ease with which she penetrated their defenses. Over years of practice, she had learned to spot the inevitable weaknesses in the magical forces which protected demons, and to break through those weaknesses with her sacred powers.

   When Tolwyn grew too old to travel and fight, she attempted to teach the young warriors and paladins of the church her talent, with little success. Desiring to make sure that her ability was not lost, she called on the elders of the church to help her imbue her helmet with the knack, so that young students could experience it directly – a course which met with some success. After experiencing it, several of the students did learn to duplicate her skill – and the Helm became a treasure of the church.

   Inevitably, as such things do, this attracted the attention of the demonic forces that Tolwyn had dedicated her life to casting out. Before the massed attack, the temple was razed, the Helm was lost, and Tolwyn fell holding back the horde to allow her students time to escape.

   Today, the Helm remains lost, although her students have managed to pass on some part of her skill.

• Immunity/to the special defenses of Demons. This includes their Damage Reduction, Spell and Power Resistance, and immunities to particular spells (Common, Minor, Great, 12 CP).
  • If specialized in either damage reduction or protection from various spells, this costs 6 CP, and is equivalent to the X-Slayer Feat from The Practical Enchanter. In general, builds that use Immunities to penetrate defenses should be regarded with caution. On the other hand, as long as it’s limited to particular groups of targets, this is no more unreasonable than using Favored Foe bonuses to overwhelm such defenses. After all, if the game master doesn’t feel like sending in the specified opponent, being able to penetrate it’s defenses won’t help anyone very much.
• With a net cost of 12 character points, the Helm of Tolwyn is a 2 CP relic. Unlike many of the other relics on this list, it does not demand that the user invest his or her own character points in the Helm to use it. Of course, the church will want it back very badly if it ever surfaces – and the demon hordes will want to destroy it just as badly.

   Parrying Dagger:

   There are a lot of variants on this basic relic, since the desire behind it – not to get hit in combat – is pretty nearly universal. While there aren’t all that many people who have the ability to create relics, more than a few of them are willing to invest one character point in one of these.

• The powers of the Parrying Dagger are Corrupted: the user must invest his own character points in the blade to activate it.
• Imbuement, Specialized/”plusses” may only be used to buy the “Defending” power and in conjunction with it, double effect (4 CP), plus a Specialized version of the Focused modifier/only for buying “Defending” (3 CP).
• This results in a dagger that – when wielded – provides an AC bonus of +(Level-2)/2, rounded down. Presumably it will be carried in the user’s off-hand, since it doesn’t have any offensive abilities.
• With a total cost of 7 CP, this is a 1 CP Relic.

   The Parrying Dagger is a powerful defensive item – and well suited for games where the characters won’t be using very many magical items. A parrying dagger can, quite reasonably, replace the usual magical bonuses on a fighters shield and armor, or a mage’s protective bracers.

   The Rings of Mastery:

   These useful rings resemble the older Metamagic Rods – but are considerably more versatile, since they incorporate the generalized Metamagical Theorems of Eclipse, rather than the more limited classical Metamagic Feats. In essence, each is simple: The user may spontaneously add up to (Int Mod + Con Mod) levels of the relevant Metamagic to a spell up to (Int Mod + Con Mod) times per day, subject to a maximum of twelve spell levels worth of that particular Metamagic in any one day.

   Most Rings of Mastery bear an assortment of mystical symbols and are set with various stones, but there’s nothing that requires that – or even that they be in the form of rings.

• The powers of the various Rings of Mastery are Corrupted: the user must invest his own character points in them to activate them. They all, however follow the same pattern:
• They contain a Metamagical Theorem with the Glory modifier, Specialized/only for spontaneous use, may apply a maximum of twelve spell levels worth of the relevant metamagic per day even if the usual maximum (Con Mod levels worth Con Mod times per day) exceeds this limit (4 CP).
• Augmented Bonus/the user may add his (Int Mod) to his (Con Mod) for magical purposes, Specialized/only to drive the Glory modifier, above. (2 CP).
• With a net cost of 6 CP, the Rings are merely 1 CP relics – but very useful ones. There are plenty of times in a mages life when one or two pumped up spells may make all the difference – especially if

   There are presumably Rings of Mastery for each of the Metamagic Theorems where they’d be useful (they really aren’t applicable to the Battle Magic or Compact metamagics). There may well be more; they’re quite useful and – fundamentally – aren’t all that complicated to make.

   General Skill Enhancers:

   General Skill-Enhancing relics usually come in a few basic types:

• Items which boost a single skill usually just bestow ranks in it, or possibly specialize in a limited aspect of a skill for even larger bonuses or lesser costs. Such Relics are cheap, effective, and – when you come right down to it – rather dull. Most of them should have limitations, such as “will not more than double a characters effective skill level” or “provides a maximum bonus equal to the character’s level”, otherwise they may be a bit overpowering at lower levels.
• Items which provide low-level boosts for several skills, or which provide specific special abilities with them, usually use Innate Enchantment – most often employing “group of skills” versions of the Skill Mastery spell template from The Practical Enchanter. Such items have the advantage of being able to readily provide other specialized functions, but have the disadvantage of (unlike most relics) being subject to Dispel Magic and similar effects.
• Items intended to boost groups of skills by adding additional attribute modifiers are usually purchased as Augmented Bonus – adding a second attribute modifier to a character’s effective level in a particular group of skills.
• Items which add to the number of skill points a character gets at each level for free are also purchased as Augmented Bonus, but are far more expensive. As relics, they’re well worth it though – probably too well worth it. The game master should only allow them with extreme caution.
• Items intended for high-level characters, or to grow with lower-level ones, usually use “Professional” – often specialized for double effect in a particular area. This is quite cost-efficient at high levels, where the basic +(User’s Level/2) is quite effective, as is a version that’s been Specialized for double effect in a particular application.
• Items intended to extend what their user’s can do with a skill usually either use Immunity to the restrictions being bypassed or take Skill Focus at the 2 CP level so as to qualify for the Speed (6 CP), Stunt (6 CP), or Epic Stunts (+6 CP) abilities.
• A few items bestow Fast Learner (Specialized in Skills) and/or Adept, to half the cost of developing skills. These are cheap and extremely powerful for their cost – and so the game master should watch them with extreme caution. It might even be best to ban them entirely, otherwise they may wind up getting passed around when characters are about to level or are studying the relevant skills, thus providing a boost to the entire party.