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Objects of incredible power and danger, relics are the mysterious artifacts of the west that can make a normal man into a magical powerhouse... Scroll down, or choose one of the following: |
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Objects of incredible power and danger, relics are the mysterious artifacts of the west that can make a normal man into a magical powerhouse... Scroll down, or choose one of the following: |
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History
Martin Luther was a Christian Reformist from Germany many centuries
ago who's many disputes with the all powerful church of that period
made him famous for standing up for his own beliefs no matter
what the cost - in the end he was excommunicated from the church
but hailed as a heroic rogue and visionary after his death. The
crucifix that he carried around with him most of the time was
blessed by the powers that be and still exists today. Many believe
it was brought over from Europe to America early in the 18th century
as it passed hands from the Germans to the French then to the
British and finally onto the Americans.
Appearance
An oaken cross about 1 foot long with the arms of the crucifix
extending 4 inches either side. It is actually very plain, just
a hunk of aged wood basically and the only distinguishing features
are the letters "I" "N" "X" "S"
carved across the horizontal member
Power
The Crucifix has several astonishing powers when used in the hands
of the pure of heart:
1) The bearer of the Cross recieves a +4 bonus to all Faith rolls. This includes rolls to invoke Miracles.
2)This Holy Relic strikes fear into the hearts of unholy abominations. The relic, and it's bearer, have a Terror factor of 9 against the undead, evil cultists, and any other "intelligent" agents of darkness. An evil creature may substitute it's Spirit for it's Guts in this case if it desires
3) If anybody thinks to use the cross as a weapon then it inflicts a whopping STR+4d10 damage in combat (using the Fightin:Club aptitude to hit in the first place) against "evil" targets. Be very conservative when labelling something as "evil", an evil person or being is someone who is an agent of darkness or the Reckoners, not just a mean bank robber. Against non-evil targets the cross does only STR+1d4 damage
Taint
The Cross of Martin Luther is actually possesed by the spirit
of Martin Luther himself - hence the incredible powers of the
relic! Martin's spirit is here for one reason only, to fight all
that is evil and un-Godly, and he will not have the bearer of
his crucifix running around commiting any kind of crime or sin.
Every time the bearer of the cross attempts to commit what Luther
deems a "sin" (this includes lying, cheating, harming
a non-evil human being, murder, soliciting with whores, getting
too personal with women in general and anything else you can think
of!) he must first win an opposed Spirit roll with Martin Luther's
spirit (which has a Spirit total of 5d12+8!!!). If the cross bearer
is successful then Luther may not intervene. If Luther wins then
he stops the cross bearer from being able to commit the sin and
saps him of 1d6 wind as punishment (regained at 1 per hour). If
the cross bearer ever goes bust on his Spirit roll then Luther
actually takes control of the mortal vessel for 1d20 minutes and
may do as he wishes in that time.
Another drawback of owning the cross is that it tends to have
a mind of it's own (well Luther's mind anyway!) and sometimes
becomes attached to the bearer. If the cross is thrown away it
will reappear again at the next convenient moment. It will only
change hands if Martin Luther, or some other higher power, wants
it to...
History
The Lash of the Penitant was used by Pontias Pilot to lash Jesus
Christ in an attempt to appease the mobs who would see him crucified.
The Bible suggests to us that he failed in his bid...
The Lash was then filled with the Wrath of God and given a power
of it's own to inflict pain on mortal man at the slightest touch,
reminding him of the pain that his own sins have caused unto others
The Lash has now cropped up in the Weird West having being taken
from a museum in France by an unknown theif. Has the Lash been
liberated by a religious organisation intent on owning the Holy
Relic or has it simply been stolen by some power hungry madman?
Appearance
The grip of the Lash is made from gold and has the inscription
"Repent, ye sinners" written in Latin along the side.
Otherwise it is very much like an ancient version of a bullwhip
- except that the blood of Christ has stained it red...
Power
DamageEvery time a target is struck by the Lash (using the Fightin':Whip
or Lariat aptitude) they take no damage from the weapon, as it
is too aged to be of much use. Instead they take imaginary damage
equal to STR+1d6 with wind damage caused at a rate of 1d10 per
imaginary wound instead of 1d6 per wound as the target feels the
pain that all of their own sins have caused unto others. No physical
wounds appear on the target - it is all within the confines of
their mind as their body burns and sears with the agony of a severe
lashing. Consequently all wound penalties to dice rolls caused
by the lash are doubled. If the lash causes 2 imagined wounds
then the target suffers -4 to his dice rolls due to the extreme
suffering he endures. The Blessed and other "innocents"
such as children may resist this imagined damage on a Spirit (5)
roll - the pain of their own sins being less than most. The imagined
wounds subside and disappear after 3d6 minutes
Madness On top of this the pain suffered is enough to drive any
normal person quite mad. Every imagined wound caused by the Lash
signifies the victim must pass Spirit(5) check to avoid having
to roll on the Dimentia table, the agony having an effect upon
the victims very psyche if they are not mentally strong enough
to resist the pain. Passing the Spirit test means a roll on the
Dimentia table is not required
Taint
The Lash's power does not come cheaply. Every time the wielder
of the Lash of the Penitant strikes an opponent with the relic
they will suffer horrible flashbacks of the lashings of Christ
the next time they sleep, represented by suffering a single night
of Night Terrors as described under the Hindrances section of
the main Deadlands rulebook, per usage of the Lash. Whoever owns
this item of power is probably easily identifyable by the large
bags under their eyes...
Got any comments, suggestions, ideas? Send em' to me at Smilingbandit2@yahoo.com!
1999 Smiling Bandit Productions. All rights Reserved.