My Favorite Magical Item

[SmilingJack]

You love this item

You wish your new GM would let you bring it to a new campaign

You think about it the entire time during the adventure

If I only had.......


1. What's your favorite magical item?

2. What effect does it have?

3. How did you acquire it?

4. What made it your favorite?

[kiralon]

1. What's your favorite magical item?
The Sword of War, not original in naming but there was pressure at creation time.

2. What effect does it have?
Gives group bonuses to combat depending on the alignment of the wielder

3. How did you acquire it?
Well, we fought the four horseman of the apocalypse, stuffing war into a sword was the only way we could find to slow the sucker down. We had to wait for the right night, attract his attention and then had to beat him down and get out druid to bind him into the sword for 100 years.

4. What made it your favorite?
We had to defeat the other 3 horseman before we could turn war to our side (sort of hehe). We used the fountain of life water on Death, we went to rifts and met some faeries there who gave us the ultimate cureall and we stuffed that down pestilences gullet, and we locked famine in the horn of plenty. So the making of the weapon was time consuming, and it was also prophecied to kill the local king we were helping out at the time. (He eventuallywent bad and helped the bad guys)

[Hotrod]

A few years back, a GM posted here requesting some help creating a magic diary (called a codex) to be given to a character by an ancient Chiang-Ku. This was my suggestion. I never used it myself (I don't really play anymore), but this was my favorite because it was different and because it addressed a fundamental inconsistency that had bothered me for a while: If rune magic is an inherently evil process, why do good weapons exist?

The Codex

Purpose:
This book was given by an ancient Chiang-Ku dragon. Chiang-Ku are usually good dragons, and not likely to deliberately give some sort of cursed item to a friend. However, dragons are as a rule pretty mysterious critters, and the ancient ones can be difficult to understand in mortal terms.

I'd say that this ancient dragon sees the worth of the character he gave the Codex to. He wants to use the character's soul in creating a rune weapon, but since he's a good dragon, he's not going to kill the character to make it. Instead, he will use this diary. (Incidentally, this makes sense as a method for good beings to create rune weapons, an inconsistency that has always bugged me)

While the PC is bound to the Codex, a small portion of his soul is stowed within. As long as the PC is bound to the Codex, it will be a lifeboat for his consciousness and soul. When his body is dead, his soul will rejoin with its splinter in the Codex, which the dragon can use to embed the PC's soul into a rune weapon. Until that death, the Codex must remain useful enough to make the PC want to keep it.

Unconventional Manufacture:The Codex was made by Thoth himself. He has made several others like it. He entrusts these to key friends and allies, so that they can preserve the souls of the worthy for the ongoing fight against the forces of evil. They are very difficult and time-consuming to make, and require extensive knowledge in all major magical disciplines.
The final act in the Codex's manufacture is the giving of a single drop of Thoth's blood. This provides a great portion of the book's powers as well as a bond between Thoth and the Codex, allowing him to know when the Codex's owner is dead so that it can be collected.

Unconventional Materials:
The book is made of fine parchment and is bound in gold. It has a holding strap made of dragon hide.

Unconventional Design:
The cover and spine are covered with many symbols, runes, and languages, most dealing with the focusing of power, life, eternal life, protection, and knowledge.
The covers form a sealed box around the pages when the Codex is closed. When closed and fastened, the Codex is effectively indestructible. When opened, the parchment exposed CAN be destroyed, though it is much tougher than ordinary parchment(it has a few SDC per page). If the parchment of the book is destroyed, the shreds of the pages will burn to ashes and the cover and binding will turn to lead.

Powers:
Magic Diary:
The book effectively gives the character the power of total recall whenever it is used. The character can review any event in his life, but only from the moment that he was given the Codex. This book does not write or draw visibly, though. Whatever event the PC wishes to review will be on the next page that he flips. The book will tell the PC what he/she is looking for in terms and languages that the bonded PC would expect to find in a book. In other words, a cave man hunter would see pictographs, a medieval noble would see something like what a monk would produce, a 19th century soldier would see sepia photographs and paintings, and a 21st-century engineer would see full-color photographs, blueprints, and data graphs. No video or audio, though.
The Codex is clearly intelligent, but it is unresponsive to direct communications. It writes in the third person about the character from the perspective of a wise and benevolent, if somewhat detached, party. While it can provide insight, observations, and commentary on past events, it will not offer any direct advice (Thoth is big on free will).

Soul Refuge:
After the book binds to the PC (Takes a few days), a portion of the PC's soul is instilled within the book. Several protections are deliberately built into the codex to protect the owner's soul. Thoth did this to protect his investment; he does NOT want a possessed or controlled mind in a rune weapon.
-Immune to all forms of possession and mind control
-Mind block is effectively up all the time.

Blood of the God:
Unbenownst even to Thoth, a miniscule portion of Thoth's essence is transferred to the PC (That drop of blood does a little more than Thoth bargained for). This has some subtle and unexpected side effects and benefits that Thoth himself does not fully understand that evolve with the character the longer he/she is bonded with the Codex. If the Codex is destroyed, these perks are kept, but no new ones will develop.
-Add 1D6 PPE per level that the character has the Codex.
-Every three levels the character is bonded with the Codex, roll 1D4 and add it to a mental attribute, player's choice.
-After one level with the Codex, the character will have strange visions in his/her sleep on occasion. The content is relevant to the adventure, but it usually involves Thoth or the Old Ones (like a parable, but based on Thoth's memory). These visions may provide crucial information to the player. Basically, this is a plot and storytelling device.
-After two levels with the Codex, If the character is studying something Thoth knows about, an odd feeling of familiarity kicks in. +10% to all lore, language, and magic-based skills.
-After 5 levels with the Codex, the character understands the basics of a new magical discipline. He/she can now be taught either spells, wards, or circles, player picks one.
-At 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15 levels, add a minor psionic power of choice. If the character wasn't psychic already, he/she becomes a minor one 7 levels after bonding with the Codex.