Lore: Legend tells of a young shepherdess who faced a relentless blizzard alone to protect her flock. When help arrived, she stood unharmed, a simple woven reed clutched in her hand. The blizzard had broken against it like a wave on a rock.
Graphic Appearance: A stylized image of a reeds standing tall against a swirling whirlwind. It may be rendered in muted colors or etched in stark metal.
Ideas Represented: Unbending determination, the ability to withstand hardship, survival against all odds.
Concept of Symbol: Protection, warding, stoic endurance.
Type of Symbol: Emblem of both personal strength and a plea for external protection.
Motivation: To bolster the avatar’s resolve in the face of adversity, to signal their steadfastness, and perhaps to attract the favor of protective spirits/deities.
Tier 1 Uses:
- Positive: Grants a small bonus to saving throws against effects that would hinder movement, inflict status conditions, or force debilitating choices.
- Negative: Reduces the avatar’s capacity for evasive maneuvers, as their focus becomes rooted in facing challenges directly rather than avoiding them.
Tags: Protection, Strength, Survival, Stoicism, Perseverance
The Reed and the Whirlwind
In a time before time, when the world was young and the winds howled with untamed fury, there lived a maiden of the plains. Her spirit was as gentle as a summer breeze, yet her heart held the strength of the mountains.
One day, a tempest descended upon the land, a swirling maelstrom of ice and fury. The maiden’s flock scattered, their cries lost in the storm’s roar. But she, clutching a single woven reed of straw, stood her ground.
The whirlwind tore at her, its icy fingers seeking to break her spirit. Snow lashed her face, the cold bit at her bones, yet she did not yield. For in that fragile reed, she saw not weakness, but resilience.
Hour upon hour the storm raged, the maiden rooted like an ancient oak. And as the first pale light of dawn touched the sky, the tempest faltered. Exhausted, it retreated, leaving behind a world transformed.
Where once there was only barren earth, now a carpet of vibrant wildflowers bloomed. The maiden, weathered but unbroken, held the reed aloft. And as the sun warmed her face, she knew the truth the reed had whispered.
Moral of the Story: From the humblest of beginnings, the greatest strength can arise. In the face of adversity, bend but do not break, for true resilience lies in weathering the storm and emerging anew.
Suggested conversions to other systems:
Call of Cthulhu
- Sanity Cost: 2-3 Sanity Points to emblazon self with the symbol.
- Effect: The symbol grants a +10% bonus to Stability checks made to resist fear, madness, or psychological effects. Additionally, while bearing the symbol, the character’s Sanity loss from particularly horrifying or destabilizing events is reduced by 1 point.
- Duration: The protection lasts for one significant scenario or a duration determined by the Keeper.
Blades in the Dark
- Action: Resist (likely using Resolve as the attribute)
- Effect: When making a Resist roll to overcome mental stress, the symbol grants a +1d to the roll. Additionally, if the roll fails, the character suffers 1 less level of Trauma.
- Resource: The symbol may be invoked a limited number of times per session (perhaps 2-3), representing its protective energy waning with repeated use.
Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)
- Item Rarity: Common or Uncommon magical item (attuneable)
- Effect: While attuned to the Symbol of Resilience, the character gains a +2 bonus to saving throws against being charmed or frightened. Additionally, they have advantage on the first saving throw they make after being subjected to any effect that would impose a debilitating status condition (stunned, paralyzed, etc.).
Knave
- Inventory Slot: Trinket
- Effect: When facing a situation designed to wear down your resolve (harsh conditions, demoralizing foes, psychological attacks), roll a d20. On a 10+, the character remains steadfast. On a failure, the character is overcome and suffers a thematic consequence depending on the nature of the challenge.
- Usage: Can be used a number of times per session equal to the character’s Constitution modifier (minimum of 1).
Fate
- Aspect: Symbol of Resilience (Tier 1)
- Invoke: Gain a +2 when facing challenges that test your willpower, courage, or ability to withstand adversity. This might include resisting fear, enduring pain, or clinging to hope in dire circumstances.
- Compel: The Symbol’s focus on resilience can lead to stubbornness or a refusal to retreat from overwhelming odds. Compels based on this could lead to dangerous situations or escalating conflicts.
Numenera & Cypher System
- Cypher: Symbol of Resilience (Tier 1)
- Type: Artifact
- Effect: Reduces the difficulty of any task aimed at resisting mental effects, fear, or environmental hazards by one step. Additionally, it can ease the difficulty of a single recovery roll by one step.
- Depletion: 1 in 1d100
Pathfinder (2nd Edition)
- Item: Symbol of Resilience (Tier 1 resonant item)
- Trait: Magical, Evocation
- Effect: Grants a +1 circumstance bonus to Fortitude saves as well as Will saves against fear and mental effects. Additionally, once per day, the item can be activated to negate a single status condition affecting the wearer.
Savage Worlds
- Edge: Symbol of Resilience (Novice)
- Requirements: Spirit d6+
- Effect: Adds a +2 bonus to Spirit rolls made to resist fear, taunts, or environmental hazards. Also, once per session when a Wild Card fails a Trait roll due to being Shaken, the character may immediately reroll.
Shadowrun (6th Edition)
- Focus: Symbol of Resilience (Tier 1)
- Type: Sustained
- Effect: Grants a +2 dice pool bonus to Willpower-based tests to resist mental manipulation, social pressure, or harsh conditions. Additionally, reduce the Drain Value of any resisted magical effect by 1.
- Sustaining: Requires maintaining concentration, potentially limiting other actions.
Starfinder
- Hybrid Item: Symbol of Resilience (Tier 1)
- Effect (Magical): Grants a +2 circumstance bonus to saves against mind-affecting abilities and environmental hazards.
- Effect (Technological): Provides a +2 insight bonus to Culture checks made to resist demoralization and remain focused on tasks under pressure.
Traveller (MgT2)
- Personal Gear: Symbol of Resilience (Tier 1)
- Effect: Provides a +1 DM to characteristic checks (Willpower, Endurance, perhaps Social Standing in relevant contexts) when facing hardship, danger, or attempts at undermining the character’s resolve.
Warhammer (40k or Fantasy)
- Blessed Talisman: Symbol of Resilience (Tier 1)
- Effect: Wearer gains the Adamantine Will special rule: Once per battle, the character may automatically pass a single Willpower/Fear/Morale test. Additionally, provides a slight bonus (+5%) against rolls aimed at causing psychological instability.