Among halflings, tradition demands that young people must perform a noteworthy task before they can cross the threshold into adulthood. As a sign of their success, most earn or claim some minor token or memento. Though these keepsakes rarely have much value, halflings tend to cherish them and often carry them to their graves. However, for those few who hear the call of the gods, these tokens sometimes prove far more useful.
The sacred keepsakes detailed below give halflings new options when casting a particular 1st-level divine spell (sacred keepsakes have no effect on arcane spells). When used as an additional divine focus for the spell, a keepsake gives the caster the option to make that spell more effective or simply different. Each keepsake earned at the end of a halfling’s coming of age task is unique and usually irreplaceable. However, a halfling who loses his keepsake might, if especially devoted, gain a nearly identical copy as a reward for completing a particularly important quest or assignment that directly benefits his faith.
Many halflings who are divine spellcasters attach their keepsakes to their holy symbols to prevent loss and to keep the keepsakes handy for casting spells. If the keepsake is too large or unsuitable for attaching to a holy symbol (such as the half-deck or game piece), it is worn on a strap around the neck or wherever the holy symbol is worn. If the keepsake is near the holy symbol, a halfling can grab them both at the same time with one hand and cast the spell as normal. If the keepsake is hidden away, the halfling must spend a move action to retrieve it before casting the spell.
Only the halfling who earned the keepsake can use it for the following purposes. These keepsakes are not magic items and do not radiate magic. Since they only offer the chance to cast a variation of one specific 1st-level spell, these keepsakes have little real impact upon a particular character. GMs who wish to make a keepsake more powerful, perhaps by offering up variant spells for each spell level, should probably require that the character spend a feat to balance out the advantage gained.
Black Bead: Usually a trophy seized from a foe, this bead often commemorates tasks involving defeating a threat through manipulation or deception rather than direct action. A halfling who uses the bead while casting Cause Fear can target multiple creatures within range of the spell so long as their total Hit Dice does not exceed 5. A creature that fails its saving throw becomes shaken for 1d4 rounds; a successful save means that the spell has no effect.
Blessed Button: This brass button often commemorates tasks requiring the youth to destroy or drive of a threat to the community without directly engaging it in hand-to-hand combat. A halfling who uses it while casting Bless Weapon on a sling enables the sling to confer the spell’s benefits to the ammunition it fires.
Constable’s Nail: This bent iron nail is often given to young halflings to commemorate tasks involving capturing a criminal or another outlaw and bringing her safely to trial. A halfling who uses it while casting Magic Weapon may have the spell give the weapon the merciful ability instead of an enhancement bonus. In the hands of anyone but the caster, the weapon loses the merciful ability and reverts to the normal effect of magic weapon.
Decisive Game Piece: This object, gathered from a larger set of game pieces, often commemorates tasks involving gaining a strategic advantage over a more powerful foe. A halfling who uses it while casting bane may give opponents who fail their saves a –2 penalty to CMD instead of the normal spell effect.
Half-Deck: This partially intact deck of cards often commemorates tasks in which the young halfling must successfully take calculated risks in order to achieve a noteworthy goal. A halfling who uses it while casting Divine Favor gains a luck bonus on all skill and ability checks instead of on attack and damage rolls.
Harvester’s Pouch: This simple leather pouch, designed to dangle from a belt so the wearer could easily drop freshly picked fruits or vegetables into it, often commemorates tasks in which the halfling provided food for the elderly or infirm. A halfling who uses it while casting Goodberry can focus all of the spell’s magic into a single berry. If eaten, this berry cures 1 point of ability damage. A creature can only benefit from this version of the spell once during any given 24-hour period.
Jagged Dice: This pair of ruined dice is often given to young halflings to commemorate tasks that involve coordinating a group in order to accomplish something that benefits the community as a whole. A halfling who uses it while casting Deathwatch can, instead of learning about the injuries of nearby creatures, gain a rough understanding of their relative power. The GM should offer a ranking of creatures by their CR (without stating their actual CR) from most powerful to least.
Knotted Strap: This coarse bit of leather, drawn into a tight loop, often commemorates tasks involving defending a wild place from encroaching civilization. A halfling who uses it while casting Shillelagh can cast the spell on a sling to give it the abilities of a +1 sling. Ammunition launched from this sling deals damage as if fired by a Large creature (bullets 1d6, stones 1d4) regardless of the halfling’s current size. If not wielded by the caster, the weapon behaves as if unaffected by this spell.
Midnight Bandana: This dark bit of cloth often commemorates tasks involving eliminating a threat to the community by stealth or sabotage. A halfling who wears it while casting Sanctuary on herself can cause the spell to affect only one creature instead of all opponents within range. This creature gets a saving throw as normal to resist the effects of the spell. If it fails this saving throw, the halfling can attack it without automatically ending the spell. Each round in which the halfling makes an attack against the target, regardless of the number of attacks or whether or not any actually succeed, the target may make another saving throw in order to overcome the spell and retaliate. Whenever the halfling successfully strikes the target, she reduces the remaining duration of the spell by 1 round. For instance, if the spell had 5 rounds remaining and the halfling struck the target three times in a single round, the spell has only 2 rounds left on its duration.
Noble Needle: This sharp, sturdy needle often commemorates tasks that involve great risks or sacrifices. A halfling who uses it while casting Cure Light Wounds can deal up to 1 hit point of damage/level (maximum 5) to herself and then add this amount to the number of hit points recovered by the target of the spell.
Persuasive Arrowhead: This arrow fragment often commemorates tasks involving protecting a specific animal from hunters or other threats. A halfling who uses it while casting Charm Animal gains a +10 bonus on Handle Animal checks regarding the charmed animal.
Resilient Spring: This tightly wound spring often commemorates tasks that involve great physical prowess. A halfling who uses it while casting Jump can, as a swift action, choose to sacrifice some or all of the spell’s bonus on Acrobatics checks (up to a maximum of her caster level) for the remaining duration of the spell in order to gain an equal bonus on any one skill or ability check that turn relating to Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
Trainer’s Whistle: This simple whistle often commemorates tasks in which the halfling finds ways to eliminate the threat posed by particular sorts of animals without actually killing them. A halfling can, when first gaining this keepsake, designate one specific kind of animal (bears, wolves, cats, and so on) for which she has a particular affinity. When she uses the keepsake while casting Calm Animals, she can affect her chosen animal kind plus one other kind of animal (instead of the spell’s normal limitation of affecting only one kind of animal). Alternatively, she can only affect her chosen kind of animal, and then adds her caster level to the number of HD of animals affected (this is in addition to the normal 2d4 + caster level worth of HD affected).
Vital Cup: This battered clay cup often commemorates tasks involving making the community a safer and more wholesome place. A halfling who uses this cup while casting Bless Water can pour the resulting water on one weapon or piece of ammunition to imbue it with the power of the holy water. The first creature the halfling strikes with this weapon during the next 24 hours takes additional damage as if it had been struck by a flask of holy water (assuming the creature is harmed by holy water).
Whirling Earring: Usually fashioned from a broken shield or armor, this bent earring often commemorates tasks involving daring risks which paid off not so much through skill or cunning but rather by sheer luck. A halfling who uses the earring to cast Entropic Shield can, as an immediate action, end the spell to make a ranged attack against her automatically miss. She must make this decision before the attacker actually makes the attack roll.
