I want to make an amulet artifact that doesn't do much on its own, outside of morphing to a shape determined by its wearer. If it comes within 1000 ft. of a particular material (not sure exactly what material nor how much yet), it mutates the wearer, granting a evolution point pool as an eidolon with an effective level equal to the wearer's HD as a transmutation effect, save that the amulet resizes to fit the new form rather than meld into the wearer's body. The first time someone wears one of these amulets, they decide the form for the amulet to take, and allocates evolution points when they first mutate and whenever they gain a HD. Once chosen, these decisions are set and carries with the wearer (if someone chose to have one of these amulets take the shape of a dog collar and grow claws when they mutated, all future amulets take the form of a dog collar and grant claws whenever they wear one).
I know that the amulet should be a major artifact, but I don't know what to call the artifact or what the destruction requirements should be. Any suggestions?
The destruction method might be related to the trigger material. Maybe it needs to be dissolved by a molten form of the trigger material then the material ground to powder by some particular supernatural force of Law, then finally the powder needs to be included in the dying smite of a being of a different such force. LE (devils) and LG (archons) respectively? I'm assuming that with the personalised polymorphs that this amulet represents Chaos and individuality rather than Law and conformity.
As to what to call it - depends on its origin story. If it was originally a leash on some chaotic being perhaps it's called {Being's} Chains. If it was created to allow some creepy impersonation (as with Uther Pendragon to get to Igraine, or perhaps Loki to lure away the giant's horse) then it might be named after that incident. If it was created as an instrument of war it might be given a name appropriate to a weapon. If it's some creation of the early ages of the world then the name might not mean anything to anyone living. More data needed to name it...
My campaign has a plane for souls waiting to be incarnated, embodied as animalistic races and sentient animals as their soul form in the meantime, instead of soul judgements and final afterlife destinations, where I plan to have the triggering material and the artifact to be primarily located, so I'll have the triggering material be Soul Silver, a metal that forms from expired souls, whether from age or mortal wounds to their soul form. As for the artifact, one is created each time the plane expands in response to the growing population.
Does that help?
It sounds like Soul Silver ends up in the Land of the Dead. Maybe you only have it get near the artifacts when undead spirits make weapons out of it.
How about were icons? You might even place a pentagram on one. I'm just thinking humans like to name these things.
Yes, that helps a bit, though it doesn't make it easy to me. If there's multiple examples of it then that cuts out whole types of names for one thing.
For another (more helpful) thing they're presumably named by people living these first/pre-lives in animalistic form, and they give their effects to such people around battlefields, murder scenes, or cemeteries, especially old ones. Associations from that look like mourning, anger at death, maybe taking power from the dead.
Death's Heart/Deathheart maybe? Or Skin of the Fallen, Teeth of the Fallen, something like that. Or if they see it as a reminder/memorial perhaps Elegy of Souls (or something similar but more visceral for animal-folk - Scent of Souls?)
It still leaves Were Talisman for amulets that do things for true lycanthropes. You have a nice list of individual talismans there.
If someone who made a joke character that's obsessed with cooking finds a new one, and it turns into a frying pan that ups their size twice, everyone will call it "The Noob". :)
Yes, they wear a frying pan around their neck.
I've come up with the following:
This non-descript locket shows a portrait of one of the previous incarnations of the last wearer (wearers that are currently incarnated never shows their current incaration; the portrait becomes blank if the last wearer doesn't have any previous incarnations). By pressing it to one's neck, it transforms into a neck accessory tied to the wearer that implements the locket, and reverts back to it's normal form when it is taken off.
When within 1 foot of an object containing Soul Silver per 10 pounds of Soul Silver in that object (less than 10 pounds will not trigger), the wearer mutates, gaining a pool of evolution points as an eidolon of an effective level equal to the wearer's HD to augment their form and abilities. Once the evolution points are allocated, they are set until the wearer gains HD. The accessory doesn't meld into the wearer's body when they mutate, instead resizing itself to fit the new form. Any Soul Silver that melds into the wearer's body can trigger the wearer's mutation, but not anyone else.
Both the accessory form and the evolutions carry with the wearer (i.e. if Chris decided to have Locket A become a scarf and grant claws as well as an extra pair of legs when he mutates, Locket B will also become a scarf and grant legs and claws when Chris wears it, while Locket A and B becomes a choker and grant bite, tail, and tail slap when Liz wears them).
Destruction: must be currently being worn by a denizen of the Plane of Souls as someone casts Miracle at CL 20 to ressurect one of the wearer's previous incarnations while being aided by a psychopomp. Such a ressurection causes the wearer to return to life as one previous incarnation of their choice (other than the incarnation intended by the caster of Miracle).
Should I make any changes, including the name?
So if reincarnate turns them into a goblin, destroying the amulet will change them back, right?
'Once the evolution points are allocated, they are set until the wearer gains HD.' - with eidolons all the EP can be re-picked when the summoner goes up a level. If that's not what you want here, better make it clear.
'When within 1 foot of an object containing Soul Silver per 10 pounds of Soul Silver in that object (less than 10 pounds will not trigger),' - better rephrase this, it's not clear.
Otherwise it looks fine to me.
Denizens of the Plane of Souls are basically just souls. While they have physical bodies and some can travel to the Material Plane, they are considered dead. Their incarnations are the people, or rather their bodies, that the soul was bonded to (i.e. Liz was incarnated as Joan the Cleric last, but she also was incarnated as Harry the Barbarian and June the Druid earlier). Reincarnate and other ressurection spells causes the Plane of Souls denizen to return to the Material Plane as one of their previous incarnations (a Druid cannot Reincarnate Liz, but they can Reincarnate Joan, Harry, or June), with the skills, class levels, abilities, and knowledge of that incarnation, plus the knowledge of the denizen.
'Once the evolution points are allocated, they are set until the wearer gains HD.' - with eidolons all the EP can be re-picked when the summoner goes up a level. If that's not what you want here, better make it clear.
I equate gaining HD to gaining summoner levels in this case.
'When within 1 foot of an object containing Soul Silver per 10 pounds of Soul Silver in that object (less than 10 pounds will not trigger),' - better rephrase this, it's not clear.
An object with less than 10 pounds of Soul Silver will never trigger mutation, while every 10 pounds of Soul Silver in a single object increases the range at which it triggers a mutation by 1 foot (in combat, an object of Soul Silver between 10-50 pounds will have to be either carried or stood on to trigger, between 50-100 pounds has a triggering range of 5 feet, or 1 square, and so on).
Still open to suggestions.
Should I make any changes?
I think there's a better name, but I can't think of it. Any suggestions?
Denizens of the Plane of Souls are basically just souls. While they have physical bodies and some can travel to the Material Plane, they are considered dead. Their incarnations are the people, or rather their bodies, that the soul was bonded to (i.e. Liz was incarnated as Joan the Cleric last, but she also was incarnated as Harry the Barbarian and June the Druid earlier). Reincarnate and other ressurection spells causes the Plane of Souls denizen to return to the Material Plane as one of their previous incarnations (a Druid cannot Reincarnate Liz, but they can Reincarnate Joan, Harry, or June), with the skills, class levels, abilities, and knowledge of that incarnation, plus the knowledge of the denizen.
Thank you for defining that. I was interpreting Reincarnate as giving them the form of their next life, possibly affected by Karma. For a strict interpretation, reincarnate just generates a random new body. If a wish turns them back, then another reincarnate may not give the same result.
Any suggestions?
Hello?
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How about calling it The Anima Memoria?