Relics

Some extraordinary magic items grow in power along with a character, gaining abilities that add to an adventurer’s legend. These are called relics, and owning one can define a character more than any other magic item could.

Relics begin as a simple item, called a relic seed, which is little more than a functional item with a minor magical effect associated with it. As the owner of the relic grows in power, so does the relic. It develops gifts, which are new magical abilities and activations. These abilities might be themed to the relic, the character, or the nature of the campaign. If a relic is passed to another character, this process begins anew, sometimes granting the same abilities again over time, but possibly unlocking entirely new powers. If someone else takes the relic from its owner, it usually works for a while, though it might lose its power incrementally over time if not returned to its owner. How the relic changes in such a circumstance is up to you, and should fit the story.

The decision to add relics to the game is entirely up to you as the GM. If you decide to add them, you’ll need to adjust treasure somewhat. It’s also wise to consider how many players you expect to end up with relics. Will they each get one? Or will there be just one or two tied to the theme of the campaign?

Relic Aspects

Each relic is associated with aspects—typically two—that speak to its overall concept and purpose. The individual gifts each have an associated aspect. You should almost always select gifts that have an aspect matching one of those found on the relic. For example, a brass dagger recovered from the City of Brass might have the fire and mind aspects, which means that it could have the flare bolt gift (which has the fire aspect), but not the rolling geode gift (which has the earth aspect).

Usually you can determine at least one aspect of a relic easily by looking at the history of the item or personality of the character. For example, if a player decides that their background relic is a rusty mace wielded by the character’s great grandmother in battle against rising undead hordes, the mace might have the life aspect, as it was used to slay countless undead creatures. There’s no harm in letting the player choose an aspect for a background relic; through play, the item will reveal another aspect associated with it. In the previous example, the mace might reveal itself to have powers against demons as well, in which case its aspects might be celestial and life.

Adjusting Treasure

When you incorporate relics into your game, you can adjust the treasure gained by the party down to account for the relics increasing in power. Essentially, some of the treasure from Table 10–9: Party Treasure by Level on page 509 of the Core Rulebook should be replaced with relic seeds and gifts instead. You can use the relic’s minimum level, replacing a permanent item of that level, or you can use the gp equivalent. Keep in mind that relic gifts are often a little more powerful than other items with the same Price even when they start out, and they often scale without any additional costs, so PCs with relics will usually be a bit more powerful.

If you prefer, you can grant relics in addition to other rewards. This means PCs will be much more powerful, but you’re rewarding their investment in the story.

Making Relic Seeds

A relic seed can be quite simple: imagine a standard item with two aspects and an appearance that matches the theme. You can also use an existing magic item for a campaign relic; pick two aspects for it, and tweak its appearance or characteristics to make it clearly different from other items of its type. You can choose a tradition for the seed and apply that trait to the seed and all the gifts of the seed. This tradition might be derived from the background of the item, or it might appear or change through story moments involving the relic.

If you want a relic to have an additional special benefit, you can design it to grant a bonus to a skill, typically a +1 item bonus for a 3rd-level relic.

PLAYER-DRIVEN RELICS

Though these rules assume you as the GM are providing relic gifts as a form of treasure with input from the players, you can instead have the players make all the decisions for their relics. Encourage the players to choose different styles of items and aspects to match their characters’ themes, rather than simply choosing the most powerful combination of options. Have players describe how their relic gets more powerful in the story. What acts from previous sessions lent the relic power? What special meditations or practices did they perform to unlock new gifts? How does it feel to have the relic grow? As the item and the character level up, the player chooses which gifts the item gets from the list as a part of character advancement. You still adjust treasure as normal for incorporating relics into your game. In fact, if the player tries to optimize the combinations, they will likely be more powerful than under the standard method.