Director of Games
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Relics of War Week 3 Contest Winners
Hi everybody. Week 3 of the Relics of War “Design an Item” contest is now closed, which means the release of the set now only a few weeks away. This week, the item was a suit of vile demonhide armor. As with past weeks, we received a lot of great submissions, but this week one clearly stood out above the rest. Woontal’s Daemonhyde armor, a suit worn by the lead singer in a death metal band, was truly original and fun to read. Woontal will receive 1 display box of Relics of War booster packs when the set releases in late November.
We have another honorable mention this week to give out. Lilith’s Wrath of Tolkeen for the rifts system was a great entry with a solid background behind it. On behalf of the contest team, I would like to thank all of this week’s participants and I look forward to seeing all of your entries for week 4. Moving away from the evil demonhide armor, we though this week would be a good time to look at another relic of good, the Unicorn’s Horn.
All of the entries for weeks 1, 2 and 3 can be found on our messageboards at www.paizo.com, along with the submission and discussion threads for week 4.
Jason Bulmahn
Item Card Lead Designer
WEEK 2 Winner – Woontal
Daemonhyde
d20 Modern
“In the early 80s three little known young men huddled eagerly before hours of MTV and playing air guitar to such acts as Alice Cooper and Metallica. These young men have come a long way from working bars to their current status as leaders in Death Metal music.
Kyle Hiddard, Carlen Grady and Mike Fatten (Daemonhyde) played their first gig at the Dark Equinox Festival (Seattle) in 1986, terrifying the crowd with their revolutionary take on death-metal music. Their first album, Daemons at the Gate, saw no radio broadcasting for over a decade and was sold in only a handful of local record bars. Their second album, Scorched Wings, is still arguably their most beloved, or hated, album by hardcore fans all across the world.
It was not until their third album that the band’s signature piece, the Daemonhyde, made its first appearance. Lead guitarist Hiddard is seen wearing the bestial flesh while playing a flaming Gibson on the album’s insert. In interviews Hiddard refuses to speak of the origins of his ‘armour’, though Grady and Fatten have mentioned in interviews that the prop appeared during their UK tour:
“I remember some witches talkin’ to Kyle in a punk bar, all four of them took ‘im out the back, we thought he was gettin’ a good time…”
Since then Hiddard is rarely seen onstage without the armour, undertaking reckless stunts such as electrocuting himself and setting himself on fire for the entire extended version of Reign in Hell. Crowds have gone wild for the onstage antics of the guitarist, to the point where Daemonhyde’s live performances have become legendary for their violence and only the most hard-core fans dare attend.
In 1995 Daemonhyde was removed from the Abyssal Lords tour along the East Coast, organizers stating that their insurance could not cover the eventualities of their performances. This would be the beginning for the end of the band, for their sixth album, Lord of the Dead, saw Hiddard replaced for half of the tracks by Janet Terra (due to the collapse of her group, The Kin).
The album sold poorly and Terra began replacing Hiddard at live shows. Fans saw less and less of the guitarist, and album number seven (Blood Rage) saw the band publicly admit that Hiddard had simply disappeared completely, not even they knew the fate of their band member.”
Behind the Music – Daemonhyde
Daemonhyde’s album insets state that the armour is made from the skin of a real demon, though few have had the opportunity to study it for long. It is effectively a suit of +3 moderate fortification hide armour which grants the wearer electricity and fire resistance 10 as well as a +4 enhancement bonus to their Charisma score. Its major enchantment allows its wearer to influence crowds of thirty people or more during performances with a +10 competence bonus to both Diplomacy and Perform (stringed instrument) checks.
Type: Artifact (magic); Caster Level: —; Purchase DC: 50; Weight: 35 lb.
WEEK 3 Honorable Mention — Lilith
Wrath of Tolkeen (Rifts, Palladium)
The war between Tolkeen and the Coalition States has been brewing for a long time. Determined to see victory over the oppressive Coalition, some among the Federation of Magic sought dark knowledge that would grant them victory.
Only one succeeded in contacting those dark entities, Alezhedo Markus. In truth, while he thought he had contacted a demon, he in fact contacted one of those dark entites from the blasted dimension of Wormwood. When Alzhedo found out the truth of his forbidden knowledge, he sought further counsel with a much more terrestrial threat - the Splugorth. Masters of biomechanical wizardry, the Splugorth gleefully accepted the chance to acquire some of Wormwood's creatures for their own vile experimentation.
Alzhedo Markus did manage to get the upper hand, though, no mean feat with such creatures as the Splugorth and their minions. He stole the prototype Wrath from the biovats on Atlantis and escaped through one of the many dimensional ruptures around Atlantis.
The dimensional rifts are an unstable thing - Alzhedo did not escape unscathed. Using the Wrath's natural regenerative abilities, he renewed his health and once again strode into the front line war against the Coalition States.
The Wrath of Tolkeen is a potent suit of armor, particularly in the hands of a spellcaster. The Wrath of Tolkeen acts as a PPE battery with the same capacity as the wearer. When near a ley line or ley line nexus, the PPE capacity increases dramatically. The Wrath of Tolkeen also grants its bearer supernatural strength (MDC damage with melee strikes) and the ability to fire a barrage of mortar-like hellfire bombs.
Such power is draining, and the wearer slowly becomes addicted to it, much like a juicer's addiction to their body-enhancing chemicals. Those that die while still wearing the Wrath become tortured creatures, stalkers that seek out sources of PPE so they can fuel their pain-wracked bodies.
The original Wrath of Tolkeen was lost in the battle that came to be known as Sorcerer's Revenge. Alzhedo Markus died with the original Wrath still on his skin, and it is said that he preys upon those that dare enter into that waste. Many copies of the Wrath of Tolkeen exist, but none come close to the power that Alzhedo Markus had while wearing the original.
And people said that Guitar Hero would get me nowhere...
Congrats Woontal...that kicks butt...the wearer of the armor now needs vorpal guitar picks as thrown weapons!! 'grats to Lilith as well.
Yes, both contributions are quite inspired. Congrats, Woontal and Lilith.