Ancestral Reliquary

[Paul Worthen]

Ancestral Reliquary
Aura: Minor Necromancy
CL: 3
Slot: Necklace
Price: 1,000 gp
Weight: 1 lb.
Description: This device, prized by sorcerers, is fashioned into a piece of jewelry, typically a golden sunburst amulet hung from a necklace of heavy chain. It contains a small fragment of a corpse, such as a fingernail or a single drop of blood, suspended within a tiny phial of greenish liquid. When worn, the Reliquary provides a bonus to a wearer who shares the bloodline of the corpse contained within, granting a +2 bonus to the caster level of all bonus spells granted by the bloodline ability. Different versions of this item exist for each sorcerer bloodline.
Construction:
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Gentle Repose
Cost: 500 gp

[Clark Peterson]

I wish the format was a bit better and spell names werent capitalized. But ever since that last bloodline item Wolfie commented on, I have liked the idea of a bloodline item. Creative. Unique. No item exists to my knowledge that does this. This one is clean and simple. Its simplicity is perhaps its weakness. But it seems clean to me. And I think it is Superstar to find the unfilled niche and fill it, which this does. That shows an understanding of what is valuable design, as opposed to simply submitting another figurine of wondrous power.

Inclined to consider further.

[Wolfgang Baur]

I'm happy to see another bloodline item; this seems the better of the two.

Not convinced this is superstar material, though. The description is fine, the relatively low-power/cost is fine, but it's not super-exciting to me.

And the bloodline connection here is actually a restriction on play. This is an item that doesn't really work as treasure in a random hoard, because of the need to be related to the ancestor.

[Sean K Reynolds]

Actually, I wouldn't think there would need to be a relationship to the body at all ... it's using Bloodline in the class-feature sense, not the heredity sense. So the relic could be from Bob the Lich-Touched (undead bloodline), and it works for you, Wolf the Vampiric (undead bloodline), even though you and Bob aren't related in a familial sense.

I like the item. It isn't particularly sexy, and I haven't thought about the pricing (mainly because this is a new area in the PFRPG and we haven't established standards for it yet), but the fact that this person saw an opportunity for new design and planted a flag there, and spotting unfilled design niches is a good talent to have. You can train people to write sexy, but training them to spot opportunities is much harder.

Keep.

[Clark Peterson]

Kept.

[Jason Nelson]

Congratulations on making it into RPG Superstar 2009!

I agree with Sean's thought on bloodline - that bloodline here simply means "sorcerous bloodline," not being family. The item is good and fun and does fill a new niche in the PF universe of magic items. Sorcerer bloodlines are a new thing, and magic items ought to gravitate to them.

The ability is simple and to the point, and that is a point in its favor. For such a low cost, I would probably only make +1 caster level - even though it's limited to your bloodline spells, those spell lists are generally pretty useful spells - but that's quibbling a bit over details.

Summary: I like it. It gets big points for being a useful low-level item that connects with a new game mechanic. The concept of a reliquary is also very fun as flavor and a perfect match with the idea of it being a blood line. Nice work.

[Christine Schneider]

Discovering empty design space is a great plus in my opinion. You did that by making the item interact with the bloodline mechanic. Good work.
I also read that as "sorcerous" bloodline, so no deductions for that.

Positive:
It uses Pathfinder rules and has a good match of flavour with mechanic.
I enjoyed the name. It convoked images of age old tombs and long spanning family dynasties in me, which fits what the item does.

Negative:
Although the flavour is nice, the item's effect is a little bland and just too strong.
Hey, you could add this property for 1500gp onto any other necklace. I don't think there is a reason not to do that once you hit the mid-level range. Especially because caster level check DCs (like SR and dispel checks) scale evenly (you need about an 11+ to succeed) most of the time. This item will be worthwhile during your entire career and every sorcerer would want one.
It is not automatically bad when this happens (everyone needs a cure potion once in a while), but in this case I think it is.

After reading all entries:
Coming back, I see this item somewhere in the midst of field. A few items did get too much on the power scale too, while others matched this in flavour and execution. I am not that troubled with the formatting issue, but ultimately I urge you to pay attention to this. It unnecessarily costs precious votes. You need these votes ;-)

[Rob McCreary]

I'm a big fan of the new Pathfinder sorcerer bloodlines, so great job at picking up those mechanics and using them for your item, "filling a niche" as the others have said. I do think it needs to be spelled out in places that you're talking about a sorcerer bloodline. (The phrase "a wearer who shares the bloodline of the corpse contained within" definitely makes it sound like you're related to the dead guy in the item, for example, especially since the items is an ancestral reliquary). You want to be as clear as possible in these things to avoid misinterpretation and possible abuse. Cool name, too - I like it. I can't say much more about this - it's simple (in a good way), useful for the price, and gives those new Pathfinder sorcerers something made just for them. Well done, I'm looking forward to see what you'll come up with in future rounds. Congratulations on joining the ranks of RPG Superstar!

[Clinton Boomer]

I assumed, from the get-go, that you actually HAVE to be direct blood-related to the chunk of dead sorcerer hanging around your neck to get the power - and that's why it's so cheap.

Maybe, at twice the cost, a villainous Reliquary crafter might figure out a way to stick bits of undead bloodline sorcerer in a necklace that any undead bloodline sorcerer could use ... noting, of course, that creation of this item DOES require a corpse. Not "voluntarily donated hair, fingernails or eyelashes" or even "severed toes" ... but something much more specific.

Which leads directly to sorcerers being hunted for pelts.

*grin*

Ah, rules-wording interpretations. Always leading me down the merry path to hunting other people for sport.

Point being: this is good design, as the Judges have already noted. And it's creepy and horrible in its own way, as any good item with the word "blood" in it should be - the selling point of this item isn't that it's a slick, precedent-setting addition to an untapped, universe-specific rule-set.

The Ancestral Reliquary is a slick, precedent-setting addition to an untapped, universe-specific rule-set that adds FLAVOR to the creation and development of a character.

"Where did you get that necklace?"
"My mother gave it to me."
"Oh, that's lovely - and what's that inside it?"
"Part of my grandfather's severed tongue."
"... I'm done talking to you, now."

Well done, congratulations, and I look forward to seeing more as Superstar! rolls on!

[Rob McCreary]

Clinton Boomer wrote:

"Where did you get that necklace?"

"My mother gave it to me."
"Oh, that's lovely - and what's that inside it?"
"Part of my grandfather's severed tongue."

LOL :D

[Jason Nelson]

Rob McCreary wrote:

Clinton Boomer wrote:

"Where did you get that necklace?"

"My mother gave it to me."
"Oh, that's lovely - and what's that inside it?"
"Part of my grandfather's severed tongue."

LOL :D

+1!

[Zombieneighbours]

I have two issues with the item. Firstly, the writing was a little dry. While being keeping and entry short and to the point is a good thing, if it takes a cool and vaguely creepy thing like a Reliquary and leaves it feeling(to me atleast) like a tax form, you have gone too far.

Secondly, price. For 500gp, a sorcerer would be daft not to own one of these. There is no reason not to own one. It is within the realms of possibility for 1st level, never having adventured sorcerers going into the second darkness to have one of these and I can see no reason in all the world why they wouldn't want to.

[Reckless]

Damn, at that price, I'd cut off a piece of myself (would fulfill both definitions of Bloodline) to make this thing! Just sayin, ya know.

[Corrosive Rabbit]

Reckless wrote:

Damn, at that price, I'd cut off a piece of myself (would fulfill both definitions of Bloodline) to make this thing! Just sayin, ya know.

The item description specifies "part of a corpse" though. So it'll work, but you won't be around to enjoy the benefits. *grin*

CR

[Reckless]

Corrosive Rabbit wrote:

Reckless wrote:

Damn, at that price, I'd cut off a piece of myself (would fulfill both definitions of Bloodline) to make this thing! Just sayin, ya know.

The item description specifies "part of a corpse" though. So it'll work, but you won't be around to enjoy the benefits. *grin*

CR

Ok, so a little grave digging in the back yard. Or a piece taken between death and resurrection. Either way, at that price it is too good for the benefit.

[Paul Worthen]

Wow, I made it! I am absolutely floored by this! My thanks to all the judges - I can't imagine how much work this is for all of you.

A few design notes:

The judges picked up on my initial idea, which was to find an area in the pathfinder rules that was new to the game, and then try to flesh that area out with an item. I noticed the new bloodline rules for sorcerers. Relinquae have always held a special place in my morbid little heart, and from there it was simply a matter of putting things together. Pricing the item was difficult due to the lack of precedent, and I eventually went with an ad hoc price, figuring that it was on par with similar items. My logic was that this item was similar to a magic weapon, but only functioned on a subset of your attacks. After submission, I gave it some more thought, and decided that an item like this should probably be priced on a sliding scale, as its ability becomes more powerful the more you level up. By then it was too late to make changes, and I'm not sure how well I would have done at trying to define a sliding scale for an item like this anyway. I also think it would be very cool if in order to have a more powerful version of this item, you needed to have a larger chunk of the corpse. Thus, in the mid levels, you're carrying around Uncle Bob's arm in a pickle jar full of preservatives, and by the near epic levels, you're carting around a good chunk of his upper body with you, perhaps in some kind of large earthenware vase or glass vat. Perhaps I'm just getting carried away with the idea!

I deliberately left the definition of "bloodline" vague (as does the Pathfinder Beta.) If I were to run a game, I'd want these to be items that were handed down through families, so you'd be carrying around great-grandpa's finger (or whatever) in a little vial around your neck. I thought that from a game design standpoint that was probably too restrictive, it would limit the ability for it to be dropped in random treasure, and besides, other DM's might want to use the item differently (Boomer's 'sorcerer poaching' idea is very cool.) As it turns out, some of the judges disliked the way it was worded, while others seemed to like it.

My one misgiving about this item was that it was too bland, and I see that all the judges picked up on that as well. It was only last week while reading some stuff that Clark wrote in the "some things from this year's batch" thread that I realized that this item should have had an additional power - perhaps allowing the wearer to maximize or extend one bloodline spell each day. I'm trying to remember how he worded it, something like: "a static bonus plus a limited-use power makes a good item."

[Mike Welham]

This is a good item. The description went on a little long, and I think more could be added to the powers of the item.

Good job picking up on a new rule in Pathfinder and running with it.

Congratulations!

[Sue Flaherty]

Kewl to use the new bloodlines for this. I like your addendums, and think that adding another boost (and upping the cost) would make this item very usable (says the lady with an Elemental Fire Bloodline Sorceress <G>)

[R D Ramsey]

Torn on this one. It does find the niche, so points there. Problem is that it finds it too well. The mechanic is highly desirable and the text sort of implies that they'd be pretty common. So everyone ends up having one, which circumvents certain balancing mechanics. That's enough for me to keep it down on tier two, I think.

[Russ Taylor]

Other than being too cheap (+1 to caster level for all spells is 20,000 gp), this item has a lot of flavor for such a simple mechanic. That's a plus - wondrous items should have good utility, and it's nice to not need to reference the rulebook during play for every little trinket.

I'd personally price this close to 8,000 gp for +2 caster level (10% of the cost of a +2 caster level item). Particularly in PF RPG, where the competition for the neck slot has loosened up a bit.

Edit: also, happy to see another item using the new areas of the rules.

[Charles Evans 25]

Like other posters I'm wondering if the item is undercosted, given the substantial benefits (in terms of damage output, dispelling chances and bypassing spell-resistance, for a start) of that +2 caster level.

However I would like to congratulate Paul for being in an apparently small minority who saw the opportunity to be innovative with a relatively new field.

[Montalve]

I like the item, but indeed i would go for the idea of "similar" bloodline working, otherwise it becomes useless as part of treasure...

but for creation you will have ta actually tombraid one of your own family members

[Vladislav Rashkovski]

At first I didn't relize it was related to the PF definition of bloodlines, but I figured it out on second reading. The cost is wayyy low, but that isn't a huge negative (to me). This entry is morbid, has attitude and is all sorts of useful. It's simplicity is also a positive trait; sometimes less is more.

I like that you don't restrict the needed part of the corpse, allowing for greater customization from the DM. Grim and lovely!

[Neil Spicer]

I agree that it's cool that you lined up something unique to work with the bloodline mechanic. I searched for that angle with my item, too...and wound only incorporating a bit of the fey bloodline as keeping my item up a notch. I like what you've done here to make it applicable to all the bloodlines with different kinds of reliquaries. Very cool. Very tight design. Welcome to the Top 32 and I look forward to seeing your villain in the next round.

My two-cents,
--Neil

[Erik Anderson]

The Ancestral Reliquary is well written, and it has a place in the game setting beyond just being a doohickey in the bags of a bunch of wild-eyed adventurers.

It is fairly simple, mechanically, and that's probably a good thing.

[Eric Morton]

Solid item. Clever how you targeted an unfilled niche.

Like above posters, I agree the reliquary could use an extra power. But I would actually give it some small, non-spellcaster related benefit. Maybe a bonus to skill checks when using skills that the appropriate sorcerer bloodline grants as additional sorcerer class skills.

[Paul Worthen]

Clouds Without Water wrote:

Torn on this one. It does find the niche, so points there. Problem is that it finds it too well.

Part of that is that there aren't any competing items out there that enhance bloodline spells. If there was another item, that say... let you maximize your bloodline spells a few times a day, and filled the same slot, you might think a few times about which one you wanted. I probably should not have made it an untyped bonus for just that reason.

[Paul Worthen]

Hey everyone! I just wanted to point out that lynora on the drawing thread drew a picture of my item! Check it out and then give her praise for her mad drawing abilities!

Click Here!

[Steven Helt]

Good use of the sorcerous bloodline to address a need that hasn't been touched yet. It's said over and over again in this contest "make something everyone wonders why it hasn't been made before". Smart move on your part to target a new mechanic and hit it.

You could have hit it with more strength, but you're through the hard part and now you just need to dazzle us with your villain. Good luck!

[Mike Speck]

What Steven just said. Congrats on Top 32!

[Joel Flank]

It's cool to see a bloodline related item in the mix, since the item I almost submitted was bloodline related also. I do have to agree that it's a bit bland, but I don't think it's underpriced (or maybe a little, but I don't know if I would buy this at more than 2K.) It only affects a very limited set of spells, and it therefore does a good job of encouraging a sorcerer to use their signature bloodline spells more, and be more distinctive from every other sorcerer around, which is a good thing in my book.

Good luck in the villain round.