Balor's Embrace
The warrior's footfalls echoed on the cobbles. His breath steamed in the cold, frosty air. He heard the frantic movement of assailants in the shadowed alley shuffling to surround him.
The warrior laughed. It was a bitter, dry laugh. 'It won't do you any good. I feel no pain. Prepare to meet Balor.'
History:
The suit of armour was crafted by a smith called Waylan the Hexed with the aid of servants of Balor. Balor is the god of the Dead and is associated with dark spirits and evil intent. Waylan was enticed into making the armour in return for wealth and immortality. He only worked on the armour at night while shadowed beings stood around him whispering instruction and enchantments. During the day he was often found asleep near his forge and he ate little. The black iron used in the making of the armour is otherworldly in origin. It is believed to come of the Shadowlands, the realm of the dead and the domain of Balor. The dark god saw the use of such armour in bringing more dead to him and should the wearer of the armour fall, Balor put a counter-measure in place.
Appearance:
Black iron armour, including gauntlets and greaves but no helmet is included. Skull designs decorate the buckle and knees of the armour. The metal remains cool to the touch no matter the ambient temperature.
Powers:
The armour provides protection as any iron armour would with the following bonues:
Simple undead (animated corpses and skeletons) cannot sense the wearer of the armour if the complete set is worn. The armour masks the living aura of the wearer.
The wearer can ignore pain. When the wearer is struck a numbing cold from the armour leeches into the wounded area, dulling the pain. This allows the wearer to withstand blows that would normally cripple a person.
When the wearer is about to fall unconscious, an unnatural cold will seep from the black iron of the armour into the muscle and organs of the wearer preventing him from falling unconscious. Should the wearer take enough damage to kill him, he will die but rise again after a day as a wight. This is Balor's last laugh on mortals that wear armour designed by the god of death.
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? Responses (8)
Welcome to the Citadel.
A short first post, but you convey everything in a concise manner. I feel it is perhaps a touch overpowered, but that might just be me.
Yeah, I found it tricky to describe as the game I run uses levels of 'Mystery' with magical items so as the user learns more about the weapon, more powers are activated. At face value it does seem overpowered I guess.
This hints at more, and I think covers the bases nicely. The bit about the dark spirits aiding the smith is a good one - I like this.
The nature of its chief ability - to counter pain - is loose enough to fit to many game systems mechanics, so really the determination of its power is up to the GM.
If I were to flesh this item out some more, what else would you like to see?
Can't speak for Val, but for myself, the following come to mind:
- Who's Balor? Yeah yeah, evil god, but they're a dime a dozen. What makes him stand out?
- Who's Waylan? Why is he hexed?
- Once Waylan made said armor, who used it? How? What became of it?
Aside from some peculiarly ubiquitous fantasy names--shadowlands, waylan, balor--I like this suit of armor. As Val mentioned, it could be used in practically any game system.
I liked the tiny detail about the 'numbing and unnatural cold' doing its thing.