Director of Games
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RELICS OF WAR “ITEM CREATION” CONTEST
Relics of War is coming and now is your chance to unearth some of these forgotten treasures. Every week, from now until the set releases on November 23rd, we’ll post one magic item card from the set. To win all you have to do is design a magic item to go along with the card, using any currently published game system, and post it to the contest submission thread. Each week, we’ll pick the best one and the winner will receive one display box of Relics of War item cards. There will be 5 winners in all.
Entries will be judged based on originality, clarity, grammar, and adherence to the game system’s rules. Entries must be no longer than 500 words in length and must be posted before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the day of the contest’s end. Relics of War is a set of 110 unique item cards for use with any fantasy roleplaying game.
WEEK 4
This week’s contest ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, Sunday, November 12, 2006.
Submit entries in this thread
To discuss the contest, see our messageboards.
Contest Rules
• Only one entry per person.
• Entries may be up to 500 words in length.
• Entries may conform to any current game system and should use the current format of that system. The name of the game system must be included in the entry.
• Entries are due at 11:59 p.m. PST on the final day of the contest period.
• The staff of Paizo Publishing, LLC, decides each week’s winner. All decisions are final.
• Contest winners will receive 1 display box containing 12 Relics of War booster packs.
• 1 winner will be announced each week, for a total of 5 winners at the contests end. Previous winners are not eligible to win again.
• All entries become the property of Paizo Publishing, LLC.
• Paizo employees and its affiliates are not eligible to win.
Enchantica'a Wand (Mutants & Masterminds 2E)
Andrea Mahnos was a selfish and mischievous 12-year-old brat that continually got herself into trouble. One day, on a class trip to Freedom City's Hunter Museum of Natural History, she managed to sneak away from her group to get a closer look at one of the prize show pieces, a real unicorn horn.
Little did Andrea know the horn was subtly calling her, drawing her to it, for she was actually a distant descendant of the Greek goddess, Circe, to whom the horn once belonged. Touching it before the museum guards cold stop her, the horn transformed her into the visage of the goddess herself and transferred to her its great magical powers. And with great power came great abuse of power.
Using her new magic, Andrea decided she could do whatever she wanted, and so did just that. Though Andrea retained her own mind in her new form, the horn made her even more malevolent and cruel than normal, and her spree caused a lot of damage and some harm to innocents. But, it wasn't long before the hero Daedalus, who had donated the horn to the museum, discovered what had happened and confronted Andrea, who now called herself 'Enchantica'.
Though her power was formidable, Enchantica proved to be no match for Daedalus. She was sentenced to spend time at Freedom City's youth correctional institute for her crimes, but has escaped from there no less than 4 times in the last 18 months, due to her uncanny ability to gain access to her 'wand'.
Enchantica's wand is the source of all of her powers, and if it is taken from her, she loses access to those powers, as well as her adult 'goddess' form, though she can still manipulate it as though she has the wand's ESP and Telekinesis power (usable only on the wand) if it lies within a 5-mile radius of her.
Enchantica's Wand (Cost: 37 points)
Device +12 (3 pt/rk, disarmable) {power feat: Restricted (Bloodline of Circe Only)}
Flight +4
Force Field +12
Magic +15
-Animate Objects +10
-Blast (Fire) +15
-Concealment +15
-ESP (Visual/Audio) +15
-Illusion (All Senses) +7 {power feat: Progression x2 (25 ft Radius)}
-Mind Control +15
-Morph (Humanoids Only) +15
-Obscure (Visual/Audio) +15
-Snare +15
-Telekinesis +15
-Teleport +10 {extras: Accurate}
Rod of Lunia (d20)
Despite the unassuming name, the rod of Lunia is a black, vile artifact. Severed from the head of a dweller of the first layer of Celestia, the horn was used as the focal point of a dark ritual that would cause Pazunia, the first layer of the Abyss, to merge with sections of the Prime Material.
While the ritual of Caliginous Fusion has been lost to time, the rod of Lunia still remains potent in its somber powers. The rod functions as a +2 unholy punching dagger of wounding when wielded as a weapon, as well as providing the beneficial effects of unholy aura. The other effects of the rod of Lunia follow:
At will: bane, curse water
3/day: desecrate, darkness, unholy blight
1/day: deeper darkness, unhallow
1/week: blasphemy, greater planar ally
1/month: gate
Creatures with a good alignment suffer a negative level when attempting to wield the rod. Necromancy spells, or spells with the Evil or Death descriptor, are cast with an additional +1 to their DC.
Strong necromancy; CL 20th; Craft Rod, Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Spell Focus (Necromancy), bane, blasphemy, curse water, darkness, deeper darkness, desecrate, gate, greater planar ally, unhallow, unholy aura, creator must be of an evil alignment; Price 950,000 gp.
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The Alicorn
A Magic Item for Dungeons & Dragons
This delicate, spiralled horn, cut from the head of a noble unicorn, has been enchanted to maintain some of that creature's innate magic. Three times each day, upon speaking the name of the unicorn from which it was cut, it can be used to cast a cure light wounds spell, and once per day it may cast cure moderate wounds.
Though seemingly benevolent, the Alicorn has a far more sinister usage. The Alicorn may be wielded as a mundane dagger, though it only deals 1d3 damage. While not particularly malevolent in and of itself, the darker aspect comes in manipulating the Alicorn’s healing power. Upon making a successful sneak attack or critical hit with the Alicorn the wielder may elect, as a free action, to speak the command word and activate one of the Alicorn’s healing spells. When this occurs the target enjoys the benefit of the spell but Alicorn becomes fixed in place.
Each round that the Alicorn remains the target bleeds profusely through the horn's hollow core and the victim suffers 1d4 points of damage from blood loss. Removing the Alicorn causes 1d6 points of damage.
Faint transmutation, conjuration (healing); CL 4th; Craft wand, cure light wounds, cure moderate wounds; Price 2,517 gp.
<b>Heart of Vengeance</b>
A Minor Artifact for Dungeons & Dragons
The story of this artifact is really the story of a group of young heroes (a ranger, an acrobat, a barbarian, a thief, a cavalier and an apprentice wizard), who were unwittingly summoned to a magical world from their mundane one through the power of the benevolent Master of the Dungeon.
He gifted them with vastly powerful magical items to aid in their return home, being careful not to tell them that there were there by his will. Whilst their first concern was to return home it soon became apparent that the Master’s arch enemy, a powerful half-breed demon, would not allow them to leave with the items they carried.
Not all the creatures they met in the magical world were so dangerous. On their first quest, they met a baby unicorn who took an immediate liking to the boy barbarian. In fact, the two soon became inseparable.
Many times they came close to finding their way home, however the intervention of the half-demon prevented their return. Finally, frustrated by their repeated failures, the ranger hatched a desperate plan to confront and slay their enemy and his shadow demon minion.
The plan was to lure their enemy into the lair of a five headed chromatic dragon, hoping to weaken him – despite the protestations of the cowardly cavalier. History records that they faced him there, though the fate of the heroes remains unknown.
Whether they returned home or perished, not even the Master of the Dungeon could say. However, rumours persist that the baby unicorn’s horn carries their power and fighting spirit, after having been driven into the heart of the half-demon for whom it was named.
The tragedy is that the half-demon was in truth the son of the Master and that the heroes were brought there to redeem him. His fate also remains in question.
The Heart has seven major powers – one supposedly from each of the heroes and from the unicorn. The Acrobat grants the bearer +10 competence bonus to Jump and Tumble checks. By drawing a circle with the point of the Heart, the bearer can call upon the power of the Wizard to draw items out of a pocket dimension, replicating the effects of both a rust-coloured Bag of Tricks and a Robe of Useful Items (where the patches replace themselves each week).
Each of the following powers can be employed twice per day.
• The Thief: <i>greater invisibility</i>
• The Ranger: empowered <i>flame arrow</i> (enchants arrows to do arcane damage)
• The Cavalier: <i>wall of force</i> (dimensions specified by the bearer).
• The Unicorn: <i>teleport</i> (bearer only)
The final, most devastating power can be employed once per week.
• The Barbarian: <i>earthquake</i>
Strong Conjuration, Evocation, Transmutation. CL: 18th Weight: 2lbs
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Horn of Valdain (D&D 3.5)
The mighty unicorn Valdain bequethed his horn to a female paladin with his final breath. The horn grants any equine the majesty of a unicorn.
When held to an equine (warpony, draft horse, etc.) creature's forehead, the horn adheres and transforms the animal into a unicorn (Monster Manual page 249). The unicorn serves whoever placed the horn on its head regardless of gender, but will not carry out any suicidal actions. Any equine transformed by the horn gains the ability to comprehend the language of the user who placed the horn on its forehead. The horn may be used any number of rounds up to four hours per day. The horn will not function for a user of any evil alignment.
Moderate transmutation; CL 5th; Craft Wonderous Item; Summon Nature's Ally IV; Price 13,500 gp; Weight 1 lb.
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I don't know if I'm eligible for this contest as a contributor, but it sounded like too much fun to pass up! Here's my entry, just in case it's eligible. :)
Fang of Kreenoyx (A Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 minor artifact)
While commonly mistaken for the horn of a unicorn due to a spiral formation of its shaft, this rod-like minor artifact originated from a much less noble source and continues to radiate a great unholy power.
The demon Kreenoyx the Devourer was an overlord of his abyssal layer and a master of corruption. Reputedly able to twist and distort even the most vile of his kin into more abhorrent forms, he held sway over a vast region of his plane until an invasion of celestial forces led by an ascended ghaele eladrin named Vaeltar brought an end to his infestation. With a single sweep of Vaeltar's vorpal greatsword, Kreenoyx's gaping maw was emptied and the 26 Fangs of Kreenox were born out his death. The celestial invasion was ultimately repelled at great cost to the demonic legions, and the Fangs were scattered throughout the abyss. Some eventually made their way to the prime material plane in the hands of lesser demons and other planar travelers. It is said that reuniting the fangs could bring about the rebirth of Kreenoyx--but while some powerful beings search tirelessly for the Fangs, none have ever found them all. It is rumored that the Fangs can only be destroyed by grinding them to dust in the central gears of mechanus, though it is unclear of any of them have ever met this fate.
When held by a chaotic non-good creature, a Fang of Kreenoyx emanates a constant unhallow effect in a 40 ft. radius centered on the rod. The bearer can also cast alter self as a spell-like ability, at will. The artifact will not function in any way for a lawful being, and any lawful good creature touching the Fang is stricken by an unholy blight spell as if cast by a 16th level cleric during each round of contact. The item's resemblance to a unicorn's horn has lured many innocents to an early death in this way, a fact which would no doubt please the demon whose death spawned these insidious artifacts.
The following spell-like functions can each be used by the bearer of this rod, once per day:
cloak of chaos
polymorph any object
rusting grasp
Strong Transmutation and Evocation; CL 16th; Weight 3 lb.