Relics

Second only to the names of great Heroes in the eyes of Legend are the names of their Relics, the tools of their divinity. Entire arcs can hinge on the search — or war — for a single piece of the Gods’ panoply. The name Excalibur excites as much fervor as the name of the Scion who wielded it, and Relics from that famous sword to the Golden Fleece to the Stone of Fál have been used to claim worldly power as well as divine. A Relic can represent a Scion’s inheritance, but it can also set her apart. It’s an obvious visible symbol of her growing Legend, one the World learns to associate inextricably with her. More practically, it grants her access to powers beyond those she earns from her parent pantheon. Thus, Relics are how a Scion forges her own unique identity as a fledgling God, mixing and matching power and theme to craft her personal divinity.

Acquiring Relics

Most Scions receive Relics during their Visitations, as tangible expressions of the destiny they’ve inherited. Their divine patrons may bestow more of their treasures upon them as their Legends progress. Beyond this, a Scion might quest for a Relic in the far reaches of the Terra Incognita, or unearth one in the World’s own forgotten places. She might steal one from another Scion, or a Titan, or even the Gods themselves. She could commission one from divine craftspeople, like Legendary creatures or titanspawn. Given the right Purviews and a hell of a workshop, she could even forge her own Relics.
A Relic could also be handed down from heroic forebears. A Scion might leave a Relic deliberately for a successor via prophecy, or she might inherit one naturally through the workings of Fate. Perhaps she and the Scion who went before were Incarnate from the same God, or perhaps she’s even a direct reincarnation of that Scion. Perhaps the Relic was stolen from one of her divine parent’s previous children, or that Scion betrayed his pantheon and sold the treasure to Titans, and she’s meant to restore its rightful lineage.
Whenever a player purchases a Relic, she and the Storyguide should work together to decide how it works and what form it takes. Below is a list of example Relics that players can easily pick up and use, based on the pantheons presented in this book. A player can also design her own. Look at the individual pantheons in Chapter 2 for more guidelines on what sorts of Relics are associated with each pantheon and its Gods.
Relics come in five varieties, although a single Relic might fit more than one:

• Classic: Classic Relics are original artifacts from myth and legend, ones the Gods themselves or their previous Scions used or owned that are already known for those associations. Example: Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.


• Archetypal: An archetypal Relic is one made to resemble an original artifact and call upon its legend directly. It might be a replica or an homage. Archetypal Relics more or less keep the forms of their predecessors. Example: Twofold Guise.


• Modernized: A modernized Relic is one that indirectly calls upon the legend of an original artifact but greatly alters form and function to fit in with the modern World. It might contain an actual piece of the original, might have been reforged from it, or might simply inherit its power through Fate and association. Example: iGjallar.


• New: A brand new Relic is one designed to follow the themes of a Scion’s parent pantheon and Callings while expressing her own growing Legend, with no specific ties back to existing Gods. A Scion might craft her own new Relic, or might have someone else do it for her. A new Relic is just as much a Birthright as any other — a Scion is entitled to such wonders as a matter of Fate and inheritance, regardless of where they come from.


• General or Mass-Produced: one of a series of identical or similar Relics, either copied from a unique and more powerful artifact or designed to be generic. They might allow an army or cult access to the pantheon’s power in a small way, or they might allow Scions of the same God or pantheon to each have a piece of a larger pie. Example: Amulet of Resurrection.

Anatomy of a Relic

Every Relic has a dot rating and an associated Deed. It may have the other listed traits.

• Rating: Each Relic is rated from 1-5 dots. Its rating informs how powerful and/or versatile it is.


• Deed: Upon acquiring a Relic, the player chooses one of his character’s Deeds — personal or band — with which to associate it. If he begins the game with it, it’s associated with the character’s Visitation instead. Whenever the Scion uses or flaunts the Relic while interacting with someone who knows about that Deed, he gains a social Enhancement based on his Tier: +1 for Hero, +2 for Demigod, +3 for God. This stacks with the Relic’s usual Enhancement where applicable, to a maximum of +3. Using a borrowed Relic this way grants an Enhancement based on the original owner’s Legend.


• Purview(s): The Purview or Purviews this Relic allows a Scion to channel for marvels and learn Boons in. A Scion can’t gain access to a Pantheon’s Signature Purview through a Relic. If a Scion already has innate access to a Purview a Relic would provide, or gains it over the course of play, then using the Relic to access that Purview grants the ability to eliminate one point of relevant Complication per dot of the Relic’s rating.


• Motif: A short phrase that determines the scope of the marvels that a Scion can — and thus, can’t — perform through the Relic. For instance, Eric Donner’s Giantsbane has a motif of “the flash and fury of the thunderstorm.” It can perform Sky marvels that are forceful and flashy, but couldn’t call up a gentle breeze or cause the sun to shine. A Relic’s motif describes the concept of its Legend, like a Legendary Title does for a Scion.


• Enhancement: The rating of the equipment Enhancement that the character enjoys when he uses the Relic for its intended purpose, including for rolls to activate Boons in its Purviews.


• Knack: A Relic may provide access to a unique Knack. The Scion can access a Relic Knack anytime she has the item on hand. Depending on the Knack, she may need to actually use the Relic, or it may be enough just to have it on her person.


• Flaw: A Relic may have a Flaw that allows for more powerful effects at a price.

Some Relics also have weapon traits, armor traits, or vehicle traits.

Powers and Flaws

Relics may offer a number of different effects, from Enhancements or new Stunts to unique Knacks or access to Purviews. These are each assigned a point value in the table below; the total value of a relic’s effects cannot exceed its dot rating. Unless otherwise specified, relic effects can be chosen multiple times, and stack with themselves and each other.

A relic can also include Flaws in its design, which subtract from the total effects value by a maximum of the relic’s dot rating, offering greater power in exchange for drawbacks. Flaws developed from Complications or similar events don’t allow additional effects — only those included deliberately in the original design.

Many relics are items with their own existing traits, such as a sword. The basic Enhancements and tags for these tools don’t need to be “bought” with relic dots and aren’t included in sample entries, but a relic’s total Enhancement (from both basic traits and relic effects) cannot exceed +4 unless otherwise specified. Note that a relic can enhance rolls greatly divergent from its usual field as a tool, depending on its motif and other powers — ordinary binoculars offer Enhancement 1 to spotting details from a distance, but relic binoculars could also enhance stealth, botany, or public speaking, depending on the motif.

When translating a complex idea or artifact into a relic, it helps to boil its abilities down to their simplest elements:

• Does the relic help you with or make you better at a specific task, like a lightning-fast car? That’s an Enhancement, or an ignored Complication.
• Is it a tool with unusual properties, like a burning spear? Try adding a new tag or Stunt.
• Does it offer broad expressions of mythic power, influence, or authority, like a starforged gauntlet? That’s probably best represented as a Purview.
• Does it have a specific, isolated power that can’t be executed through a challenge or Stunt, like slippers of flight? Look to a new Knack or a standalone Boon, especially if one already exists that does basically what you want

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Relic Powers

Enhancements and Traits
•	Enhancement 1 that only applies in one narrow circumstance
•	Reduces a narrow Complication by 2 ranks, or a broad set of Complications by 1 rank
•	Weapons/Armor Only: Gains one point of tags, replaces one tag with another of the same point cost, or loses one negative point of tags (such as Loud or Slow)
•	Weapons Only: Gains infinite ammunition
••	Total relic Enhancement is halved and converted into an appropriate Scale rank (rounded down point value is separate from value of adding Enhancement
••	Enhancement 1 that applies to a broad set of actions
••••	Imbue 1 Legend to increase the relic’s appropriate Scale rank by one for the scene
Purviews
•	The Scion may learn one Boon from a Purview the relic doesn’t grant as a Boon of a Purview it does grant instead, appropriate to the relic’s motif; this doesn’t increase the Scion’s usual Boon maximum
••	Grants access to one Purview, up to two
••	Modifies Duration, Subject, or Range of one Boon the Scion already knows, appropriate to relic’s Motif; the Boon’s Cost, Action, or whether it requires a Clash may need adjustment when used through the relic, subject to Storyguide’s discretion
•••	Grants access to a third Purview; a relic can’t grant more than three Purviews
•••	Can store up to (relic dot rating/2) imbued Legend points for later use, rounded down. Imbued points count as spent for purposes of replenishing spent points, but draw obvious attention to the relic
•••••	Grants one Legend point that can be imbued or spent on the relic’s Purviews or appropriate Knacks, and returns after one full session once spent
Knacks
0	Carries some harmless, unusual sensory effect (e.g. glows, talks, is scented, hums paeans)
•	Enables one new Stunt not normally available for an item of its type
•	Grants one Heroic Knack; both Knack and Calling must be appropiate to its motif
•	Can function without fuel, electricty, or some other basic requirement
•	Can alter one physical attribute e.g. length, shape, material for the scene, as a simple action; this transformation can replace one tag with another of equal or lesser value, other than Aggravated, Melee, or Ranged.
•	Can be conjured and dismissed, each as a simple action
•	Has an alternate physical form with the same motif, but its own tags and Enhacements (those from relic effects are chosen separately for each form swapping between forms is a simple action
••	Grants one Immortal Knack; both Knack and Calling must be appropriate to its Motif
••	Indestructible except through divine intervention
•••	Can transform all its physical attributes for the scene, as a simple action; this transformation can replace any number of tags with others of equal or lesser value, other than Aggravated, Melee, or Ranged
••••	Has a consciousness and personality, and can be Fatebound using mortal character Conditions. In addition to the usual resolution options, the relic’s Condition could result in losing it somehow; this is not necessarily permanent, but if the Scion reclaims it, the Strength of the Fatebinding resets to zero.
•-•••••	Has a consciousness and personality, and is also a follower with dots equal to relic dots added; create the follower as normal when the Scion obtains the relic. Scion can spend a Momentum to allow relic to act independently, with its own spot in the initiative roster, for the scene; its actions no longer take up her turn.

Flaws

Dot Value
•	Relic only functions if user inputs a password or speaks a particular phrase, takes an action; once confirmed, Relic functions for the scene
••	Relic must be reloaded, refueled, or recharged after each use, which takes an action
••	One function or tag’s numerical value is randomized and works differently each time Relic is used, subject to a dice roll or Storyguide’s discretion
••	All Difficulties to use Relic increase by 1 for the scene if it’s exposed to a particular weakness, e.g. submerged in water, used to take a life, etc.
••	Reduce one tag’s numerical value by one or remove one effect at the end of each scene in which Relic was used as intended without its user fulfilling a Virtue; restore to full functionality as soon as user fulfills a Virtue while using it.
••	Once per arc, Relic’s divine patron requires a favor; gain the Paying Tribute Condition
•••	Each time Relic is used, roll a die with target number 4 to determine whether it functions or not
•••	Relic is volatile and causes an attack of some kind on everyone within short range if destroyed or pushed beyond its normal limits, or if user rolls a botch for its use
•••	Relic is jinxed; each time it’s used, the Storyguide adds one point to the Tension Pool.
•••	Reduce one tag’s numerical value by one or remove one effect at the end of each scene in which Relic was used as intended without its user fulfilling a specific type of Virtue; restore to full functionality as soon as user fulfills a Virtue while using it.
••••	Relic is cursed; each time it’s used, it takes an influence action against her using her own traits to urge a certain behavior or change her Attitude about someone. If the character succumbs to the urge, she earns a point of Momentum.
•••••	Relic is unstable or has an unstable power source; each time it’s used, it makes an attack against its user with either its normal traits or traits determined by the Storyguide
•••••	Relic is inextricably Fatebound to its user somehow and requires 2 Momentum to use each time; if Relic is stolen or harmed, Scion suffers consequences determined by player and Storyguide when Flaw is chosen, e.g. fatigue penalties, hallucinations, a geis, etc.
•••••	Scion must imbue Relic with a dot of Legend; access this dot as normal while in possession of Relic, but without it lose access to that dot and all its benefits
Varies	Weapon or armor gains a tag with a negative point value equal to this Flaw’s dot rating, such as Loud, Two-Handed, or Weighty.
Varies	Relic has a built-in Complication with a rank equal to this Flaw’s dot rating, e.g. “Heavy,” “Complex,” “Flashy,” etc.
Varies	Relic is strongly tied to Fate; in each scene it’s used, the Scion must resolve a Fatebinding of the player’s choice with Strength equal to this Flaw’s dot rating

Motifs

Relics that grant access to Purviews also possess motifs. A relic’s motif describes its nature and themes in a short phrase. Two relics that share the Sky Purview seem very different if one’s motif is “a cloak of feathers and flight,” and the other is “I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down.” These motifs obviously allow the two Scions to perform different kinds of marvels and also suggest the other powers these relics might each provide through their themes; they also suggest the kinds of marvels they can’t perform, which is in some ways a more useful benchmark.

Like the Scion who wields it, a relic isn’t just a collection of powers. Players should determine how each Enhancement, Knack, or Flaw actually works — its flavor in the world of the story — using the relic’s motif as a guide. Does an amulet provide a disguise Enhancement by clouding the minds of others, by casting shadows across its wearer’s face, or by containing an ampoule of exceptional makeup? If it needs to be recharged after use, does that mean praying over it, polishing it clean, or brewing more magical cosmetics?

When designing a relic, a player who already has a strong image for it can come up with a motif first and then choose suitable powers based on that. Others might work backwards, choosing the abilities they want and reverse-engineering a suitable motif and flavor — a gun with infinite ammunition and the Fire Purview could shoot bolts of flame, for instance, with the motif “fire-breathing dragon.” This imagery in turn lends itself to Flaws like burning the wielder’s hands, or powers like a Stunt for setting targets on fire.

If a relic encounters unusual milestones or picks up interesting Flaws during the crafting process, don’t be afraid to tweak its final design to accommodate the changing story of its creation. Legends can be born from such unexpected twists of Fate.