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Savage Fetishes (Part 1 of 2)

Savage Fetishes (Part 1 of 2)

cheetahsNew magic items for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game that you take directly from your foes’ corpses.

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As the cheetah studied its prey—an oblivious antelope grazing no more than 50 ft. away—it paid no attention to its own stalker, the young orc warrior Grim-Eye. Only after bringing the frightened animal down did the winded cat realize its predicament, readying itself for another battle.

Defeating the cheetah, Grim-Eye took great care in removing its rear paw as his elders had taught him. He carried his trophy, as well as the dead antelope, back to his tribe, who ate well that night. In return for his successful hunt, the tribal shaman bestowed upon Grim-Eye a measure of the cheetah’s power.

Many savage humanoids believe beasts and other humanoids have inherent power. When they slay a creature, they can take its power for themselves in the form of a fetish—a trophy from the kill. In civilized societies, people frown on individuals who adorn themselves with teeth, tusks, and feathers; they actively persecute those who obviously wear gruesome trophies from humanoid races…

To gain a trophy’s power, a character must 1) deal the killing blow to a creature, 2) deal at least half of the creature’s full hp in damage to the creature before it dies, and 3) be of a level equal to or less than the creature’s CR. The character must then extract the fetish (Profession [trapper] or Survival DC 15).

Once extracted, the fetish can be empowered (Wisdom DC 13); this works only once for a particular trophy. In place of a Wisdom check or to sustain the fetish’s power, characters can imbue items (themselves or with assistance from magically proficient allies) using the feats below. If the fetish’s owner does not repower the fetish within 1 week’s time, the fetish no longer functions as a magic item.

If a character defeats a creature (subject to the restrictions above) that possesses its own fetishes, that character may take and benefit from them. (Typically, a tribal shaman or chieftain owns the most trophies.)

Imbue Fetish (Feat)

You use your magical abilities along with the recipient’s blood to imbue a fetish with power.

Prerequisites: CL 5th, ability to cast summon monster I or summon nature’s ally I.

Benefit: You perform a ceremony that takes 1 hour/250 gp of fetishes you imbue with power. After you complete the ceremony, you reduce the saving throw DCs and variable numeric values of all your spells by 1 point/250 gp of items empowered. Additionally, this ceremony reduces the maximum hp of the fetish’s possessor by 1 point/250 gp. Both effects last for 1 day.

Invest Fetish (Feat)

You use your rage to power a fetish you own.

Prerequisites: Rage class feature, 2 rage powers.

Benefit: You perform a ceremony that takes 1 hour/250 gp of fetishes you wish to invest with power. For the day after you complete the ceremony, you reduce your total rage duration by 1 round/250 gp of fetishes empowered.

Stay tuned next week for the conclusion of “Savage Fetishes.”

(This post is Product Identity.)

10 thoughts on “Savage Fetishes (Part 1 of 2)”

  1. I’m sorry, maybe I’m not reading this right, what benefit is there from REDUCING your Hp, Spell save DCs, and the time you can spend Raging? Don’t you mean INCREASE by 1pt/fetish per day?

  2. Because we do not know what kind of benefit a fetish will give I can only assume that the author balanced the fetish by incurring penalties.

    Let’s wait for the second installment to see what a fetish can do.

  3. @ DoomedPaladin – Quite clearly states that the effects you mentioned are temporary, as in will go away in 24 hours. Meant to simulate the power you have invested in the fetish and the resulting fatigue, no doubt.

  4. I think there probably should have been an extra section for each feat that said cost or something. You could then have the benefit be “you create a fetish from the following list of fetishes (with gp value next to each), etc” while the cost section would clearly stipulate both the gp cost of the fetish but also the loss in power (spell power, rage rounds, etc.) This might have saved any possible confusion.

    Fantastic idea nevertheless! :)

  5. Thank you Mr. Larwood, that’s my issue. The cost shouldn’t be listed under “benefit” it should be under “special”. I’m sorry that I didn’t explain my problem better. I look forward to seeing the variety of fetishes you’ve cooked up Mr. Welham.

  6. Good point, Mr. Larwood, and Doomed Paladins’s idea about putting the cost under the “Special” heading is a great solution. I apologize for the confusion, and I hope you like the array of fetishes in next week’s article.

  7. You don’t have to call me Mr. Larwood. It makes me sound like I’m in front of a classroom again. Just call me Phil. :)

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