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Item 9283 of the Achy Joints

—

by

Dale
in

The origin of these specific items is traced back to the damp, subterranean workshops of the Moss-Keepers, who found that the humid air of their environment caused the joints of their avatars to seize and throb with a dull, persistent ache. They fashioned these items from the cured sinew of deep-earth burrowers and treated them with a pungent, heat-retaining oil extracted from fire-moss. The item carries a faint, lingering scent of wintergreen and old leather. It is said that the physical discomfort the item causes is a purposeful trade-off, designed to keep the mind of the character sharp and tethered to the physical sensations of the avatar, preventing the disorientation that can sometimes occur during the merging process.

The item appears as a pair of thick, copper-threaded leather wraps that are designed to be bound tightly around the knees or elbows of the avatar. The leather is weathered and stained a deep ochre, with fine runes etched into the copper threads that glow with a dim, rhythmic amber light when the avatar moves. The interior is lined with a coarse, stiff wool that provides constant irritation against the skin or fur of the wearer.

  • Slot: This item occupies two specialized Limb Slots (Knees or Elbows) and counts as two worn attuned items.
  • Stats: +2 to base Health Points, -1 to Agility-based movement checks due to the stiffening effect on the limbs.
  • Skills Gained While Openly Worn: The avatar gains the “Weather Sense” skill, allowing them to predict changes in local atmospheric pressure or incoming storms within 5 miles as the aching in their joints intensifies or dulls in response to the environment.

Passive Magics:

  • The Dull Throb: While the item is attuned and worn, the avatar is constantly aware of the location of their limbs even in total darkness or while blinded, providing a minor advantage to maintaining balance on unstable surfaces.
  • Stiffened Resolve: The constant physical discomfort grants the character a minor resistance to magical effects that attempt to induce sleep or mental lethargy, as the persistent ache keeps the consciousness focused.

Active Magics:

  • Heat Release: Once per day, the wearer may focus on the copper threads to cause the wraps to emit a localized burst of intense heat. This provides the avatar with temporary protection against mundane cold environments for one hour, though the ache in the joints increases in intensity for the duration.
  • Sympathetic Pain: By touching a creature, the avatar can momentarily transfer the sensation of their joint pain to the target. This does not deal damage but causes the target to flinch, potentially interrupting a non-magical action or causing a momentary distraction.

Tags: Common, Worn, Attuned, Limb, Sensory, Earth, Thermal, Physical, Saṃsāra, Joint, Copper, Sinew, Bracing, Weather, Discomfort, Chronic, Keeper

Item 9283 of the Achy Joints may be obtained through various avenues depending on the region of Saṃsāra the avatar currently occupies. One common method is through direct discovery in damp, abandoned environments such as the moss-clogged ruins of subterranean outposts or the overgrown basements of alchemical laboratories where the Moss-Keepers once resided. Explorers might find these leather wraps discarded in lockers or still gripped by the skeletal remains of former owners who perished during the merging process. Another method of acquisition involves completing tasks for local laborers or guides who work in humid climates; these individuals often possess such items as family heirlooms and may part with them if a character provides significant assistance in securing their territory or clearing a local threat.

The shops where this item is bought and sold are typically specialized establishments that cater to the physical needs of avatars rather than high-end magical boutiques.

  • Apothecary and Liniment Emporiums: These shops are characterized by the heavy scent of herbs, oils, and boiling salves. They are often cluttered with jars of fire-moss extract and bundles of cured leather. In these locations, the sellers are usually knowledgeable about the physical ailments of avatars and will market Item 9283 as a therapeutic tool for those struggling with the damp. In a well-supplied city where fire-moss is readily harvested, the price may be as low as 15 silver pieces. However, in an arid floating city where the components must be imported via steam-skiff, the cost can easily rise to 45 silver pieces.
  • General Gear and Surplus Outfitters: These are chaotic, sprawling warehouses filled with used equipment, mechanical parts, and reclaimed attire from fallen adventurers. The owners of these shops operate strictly on the “buyer beware” principle and may not fully understand the magical properties of the copper threading. If the shopkeeper views the item as merely stiff, uncomfortable leather, a character might negotiate a price of 8 silver pieces. If the seller has used the Mind’s Eye to identify the stats and skills associated with the item, the price will likely be inflated to 25 silver pieces or more.
  • Subterranean Trading Posts: Located in deep-earth settlements or mining colonies, these posts are the primary source for Moss-Keeper artifacts. Because the demand is high among the local population who suffer from joint seized by the humidity, the market is very tight. Sellers here often demand trade in kind rather than coin, but if gold is used, the item frequently sells for 5 to 7 gold pieces due to its immediate utility in the local environment.
  • Traveling Steam-Caravans: Merchants who move between island countries often carry a variety of curiosities. Because these traders face high risks and transport costs, they often have the highest markups. A merchant on a steam-caravan might ask for 1 platinum piece, justifying the cost by the rarity of the item outside of its native subterranean origins and the protection it offers against the cold during high-altitude travel.

When a character attempts to sell the item, they must navigate the same sellers’ market logic. In a region where the item is common, a shopkeeper might only offer 4 or 5 silver pieces, intending to resell it for a small profit. In a location where such items are unknown, a character might be able to convince a curious collector or a desperate laborer that the item is worth significantly more, potentially fetching 1 or 2 gold pieces. The lack of standardized pricing across Saṃsāra means that the character’s ability to negotiate and their understanding of the local economy are just as important as the inherent value of the item itself.

Practical Applications of the Achy Joints

The utilization of Item 9283 of the Achy Joints in the world of Saṃsāra requires the avatar to lean into the physical sensations of discomfort to gain a tactical edge. Because the item is designed to bridge the gap between the character’s memories and the avatar’s physical form through pain, its application varies significantly depending on the surroundings.

  • In Subterranean or Damp Environments:
    • Offense: In the high-humidity tunnels of underground megacities, the copper threads remain in a state of constant, low-level vibration. An avatar can use this to their advantage by timing their strikes with the rhythmic pulses of the amber light. By activating the Sympathetic Pain magic, they can force an opponent to experience the same crushing pressure of the deep earth, momentarily locking the foe’s joints and creating an opening for a decisive blow.
    • Defense: The Weather Sense skill becomes a defensive early-warning system in these areas. The intensifying ache in the avatar’s knees or elbows can signal a sudden shift in pressure that precedes a cave-in or the release of toxic gases. Roleplaying this involves the avatar suddenly bracing against a wall or signaling a halt to the party seconds before the environment becomes hostile.
  • In High-Altitude or Frigid Environments:
    • Offense: When traveling via steam-skiff or traversing the peaks of floating islands, the avatar can trigger the Heat Release magic to turn their own limbs into weapons. By grappling an opponent while the copper threads are emitting intense heat, the avatar can inflict thermal burns while ignoring the cold that might be slowing the enemy down. The roleplay emphasizes the avatar’s gritted teeth as they endure the increased joint pain to maintain the heat.
    • Defense: The primary defensive use in cold climates is the preservation of mobility. While other creatures might find their muscles seizing in the frost, the “Stiffened Resolve” passive ensures the character remains awake and alert. The avatar might be seen constantly rubbing their ochre leather wraps, using the dull throb of the pain to keep their mind from drifting into the lethal lethargy of hypothermia.
  • In Urban or Crowded Environments:
    • Offense: In the tight alleyways of a merchant district, the avatar can use the “Dull Throb” passive to navigate obstacles without looking. This allows for offensive maneuvers where the avatar moves backward or sideways through clutter while keeping their eyes fixed on a target. They rely on the persistent ache to tell them exactly where their limbs are positioned relative to the crates and steam pipes around them.
    • Defense: During a confrontation in a crowded marketplace, the avatar can use the Sympathetic Pain magic defensively to deter a pickpocket or an assassin. A simple, firm touch to the aggressor’s arm transfers the sensation of a century’s worth of labor-induced joint decay, causing the attacker to recoil in confusion and agony. The avatar remains standing, hardened by the fact that they live with this sensation every moment, whereas the attacker is completely unprepared for the sudden onset of such specific physical misery.
  • In Open Plains or Unstable Terrain:
    • Offense: On shifting sands or swaying suspension bridges, the avatar uses the heightened proprioception granted by the item to maintain a steady stance for ranged attacks or spellcasting. While others struggle to find their footing, the avatar’s constant awareness of their knees and elbows allows them to compensate for the ground’s movement, ensuring their “Silver Fire” or chanted spells are delivered with precision despite the environmental instability.
    • Defense: The defensive roleplay here focuses on the “Stiffened Resolve.” If an enemy attempts to use a psychological or magical effect to disorient the party, the avatar remains anchored. They might use the sharp wool lining of the wraps to press against a particularly sore spot, using the spike of physical pain to shatter a mental illusion or a sleep spell, staying upright and ready to protect their companions while others succumb to the enchantment.

Perception of Activation:

  • User’s Perspective: The character immediately feels a sharp, biting cold followed by a searing heat radiating from the elbows or knees. The coarse wool lining seems to grow more abrasive, and a rhythmic, low-frequency vibration hums through the avatar’s bones, synchronized with the pulsing amber light of the copper threads. Through the Mind’s Eye, the character perceives a sudden clarity in the avatar’s spatial positioning, as if the pain has mapped out the surrounding 20 feet in a grid of physical sensation. Extra-sensory perceptions include a phantom scent of ozone and the feeling of a heavy, static charge building in the air immediately around the limbs.
  • Observer’s Perspective: Witnesses see the ochre leather wraps tighten visibly as if being cinched by invisible hands. The etched runes and copper threads flare from a dim glow to a vibrant, flickering amber that casts dancing shadows on the ground. A faint wisp of steam or heat shimmer rises from the surface of the leather, and the pungent smell of wintergreen and hot oil becomes briefly overwhelming. Those standing within a few feet might feel a slight prickling sensation on their skin, similar to the tension before a lightning strike, as the magic manifests.
  • Positives: The avatar experiences a total elimination of mental fog; the physical discomfort acts as a grounding wire, making the character immune to the initial confusion of environmental disorientation. The “Dull Throb” provides a 360-degree awareness of the limbs, allowing for perfect balance even if the avatar’s eyes are closed. The thermal output from the “Heat Release” provides a comforting core warmth that defies external freezing temperatures, and the avatar feels a surge of predatory confidence knowing they can project their internal agony onto a foe via “Sympathetic Pain.”
  • Negatives: The activation causes a significant spike in the avatar’s base level of pain, which can lead to involuntary muscle twitches or a gritting of the teeth that hinders clear speech. The heat from the wraps can cause minor localized skin irritation or singeing of fur if the activation is maintained for too long. Furthermore, the extra-sensory static charge makes the avatar more detectable to creatures sensitive to magical flows, and the constant thrumming in the joints can be mentally exhausting, requiring a period of focus to settle the avatar’s nerves once the activation ceases.

Reconstitution of the Achy Joints

  • Materials Needed:
    • Four strips of thick, cured leather from a beast of burden or deep-earth burrower.
    • Ten meters of high-purity copper wire, hammered thin for threading.
    • One liter of fire-moss extract, distilled into a pungent, heat-retaining oil.
    • Two square feet of coarse, untreated wool from a mountain-dwelling herd animal.
    • A small vial of wintergreen resin for scent stabilization and mental grounding.
    • Finely ground amber dust to be mixed into the rune-etching pigment.
  • Tools Required:
    • A steam-powered leather punch for creating uniform apertures in the thick hide.
    • Fine-tipped etching needles for carving the resonant runes into the copper.
    • A temperature-controlled basin for soaking the leather in the fire-moss oil.
    • Heavy-duty bone needles and sinew thread for binding the wool lining to the leather.
    • A Mind’s Eye magnifying lens to ensure the copper threading aligns with the avatar’s intended limb geometry.
  • Skill Requirements:
    • The crafter must possess the “Anatomical Mapping” skill to ensure the wraps align with the joints of the avatar.
    • A minimum proficiency in “Runes of the Deep” is required to etch the amber-glow patterns correctly.
    • The crafter must have the “Alchemical Tempering” skill to handle the fire-moss extract without suffering chemical burns.
    • Tier 1 or higher character status is necessary to imbue the item with the “Sympathetic Pain” active property during the final binding.
  • Crafting Steps:
    • Submerge the leather strips in the heated fire-moss oil and wintergreen resin for a full 24-hour cycle, ensuring the fibers are saturated to provide the necessary thermal resistance.
    • Punch the copper-threading holes along the edges of the leather, following a pattern that mimics the nervous system’s path around the elbow or knee joint.
    • Etch the specific amber-dust runes into the surface of the leather, focusing on the symbols for “Persistent Pulse” and “Shared Agony.”
    • Thread the copper wire through the prepared holes, weaving it in a double-helix pattern that will act as the conduit for the magical energy.
    • Stitch the coarse wool lining to the interior of the leather wraps using the sinew thread, ensuring the fit is tight enough to provide the required physical irritation.
    • Hold the completed item and use a focused thought-conduit to activate the copper threads for the first time, “setting” the magic so it responds to the avatar’s movements.
    • Allow the item to rest in a damp, dark environment for three days to settle the moss-oil before its first attunement.

Great Seizing and Binding of Bitter Moss

In the times before the many islands floated, when the world was yet a single heavy stone and the sun was a dim eye in the ceiling of the high vault, there walked a being of many limbs named Keth-Ull. This Keth-Ull was of the First Merged, a character of great memory who inhabited an avatar of jointed shell and soft inner-meat. The air was then as water, thick with the breath of the Great Moss, and the dampness was a thief that stole the ease of movement from all who lived.

Keth-Ull labored in the deep dark, seeking the roots of the world-tree to drink the sap of wisdom. But the dampness entered the hinges of Keth-Ull’s form. The elbows became as rusted iron, and the knees were as stones that ground against stones. Each step was a scream that the mouth could not utter, for the Seizing had come upon the First Merged. The memory of Keth-Ull, which knew the dancing steps of stars in former lives, wept within the cage of the avatar’s frozen flesh.

It is written in the cracked scrolls that Keth-Ull crawled to the Grotto of the Heat-Bringers, those who tended the fires that do not burn wood but burn the very air. There, Keth-Ull found the Weaver of Stings, a rule-breaker who used the vibration of her own throat-cords to mold the earth. The Weaver saw the agony of Keth-Ull and spoke in the tongue of the deep-earth: “Why do you seek to flee the pain? The pain is the only thing that tells you where your shell ends and the world begins. If you cannot move because of the ache, then you must make the ache the reason for your moving.”

The Weaver of Stings took the hide of a burrowing beast that had died of its own strength. She bathed this hide in the tears of the fire-moss, which are oil and heat and bitterness combined. She took the copper of the earth’s veins and spun it into threads that looked like the hair of a sun-god. These she wove into the leather, but she did not make it smooth. She lined the interior with the wool of the thorn-sheep, which bites the skin as it warms it.

When Keth-Ull bound these wraps to the seizing joints, the scream of the avatar became a roar of power. The copper bit into the spirit, and the amber light flared. The Seizing did not vanish; instead, it became a fire that pushed Keth-Ull forward. The pain was a map. The ache was a compass. With the joints burning and the wool stinging, Keth-Ull stood and walked where others fell. The avatar was sterile, incapable of seed, but through the Achy Joints, it became a vessel of the character’s indomitable will.

When the foes of Keth-Ull, the faceless shadow-eaters of the damp, came to feast upon the frozen, Keth-Ull did not flee. Keth-Ull reached out and touched the shadows. The shared agony of the joints passed from the copper threads into the formless dark. The shadow-eaters, who had never known the weight of bone or the bite of cold, were shattered by the sudden arrival of Keth-Ull’s misery. They fled into the cracks of the world, for they could not endure the truth of the avatar’s burden.

Keth-Ull ascended from the deeps, the amber light of the joints marking the path for all who followed. Even as the tiers of the world were established and the gods limited the engines of the people, the memory of the first binding remained. The Item 9283 of the Achy Joints is but a shadow of that first binding, yet it carries the same truth of the First Merged. It is a tool for those who understand that the avatar is a temple built of sensation, and that even the sharpest sting can be a conduit for the Silver Fire.

It is said that Keth-Ull lived for many centuries, never finding the sap of wisdom, for the sap was within the endurance of the journey itself. The wraps never fell from the limbs, and when the avatar finally perished to leave behind its crystal, the leather was found to be unblemished, still pulsing with the warmth of a struggle that never ceased. The story was lost in the drowning of the great lands and the rising of the seventy-three countries, but the ache remains in the bones of the world.

The Moral of the Story: The pain that reminds you of your existence is a greater gift than the comfort that allows you to forget it.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Artifact of the Grinding Sinew

  • Description: These ochre-stained leather wraps appear to be ancient medical braces. They pulse with a faint, bioluminescent amber glow in low light.
  • Game Mechanics:
    • The Dull Throb: While wearing the braces, the investigator gains a Bonus Die on all Climb, Jump, and Swim rolls due to a preternatural awareness of their limb positioning.
    • Stiffened Resolve: The constant irritation provides a +10% bonus to POW or Sanity rolls made to resist falling asleep or being affected by hypnotic trances.
    • Sympathetic Pain: Once per combat encounter, the wearer may spend 5 Magic Points and touch an opponent. The target must succeed on an Extreme CON roll or be stunned for 1D3 rounds as they experience a localized phantom agony.
  • Drawbacks: The constant ache results in a Penalty Die to Stealth rolls and any Dexterity rolls requiring fine motor skills.
  • Sanity Loss: 0/1D4 to attune to the item.

Blades in the Dark

The Moss-Keeper’s Braces

  • Item Type: Clothing/Armor (1 Load).
  • Tier: Common (Fine quality for a Tier 0 or 1 Crew).
  • Game Mechanics:
    • Weather Sense: When you Survey the environment to predict changes in weather or atmospheric pressure, you gain +1d to the roll.
    • Thermal Heat: You may take 1 stress to activate the copper threads. This grants you Potency when resisting effects of extreme cold or when using the heat to burn through small restraints.
    • Proprioception: You get +1d to your resistance roll against being disarmed or knocked off balance.
  • Flavor: The leather is permanently damp and smells of wintergreen. It is “Fine” because of its unique alchemical properties, though it is physically uncomfortable to wear for long durations.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Item 9283: Wraps of the Achy Joint

  • Wondrous Item, Common (Requires Attunement)
  • Slot: Legs or Arms
  • Properties:
    • Limb Awareness: While wearing these wraps, you have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks made to maintain your balance.
    • Resilient Focus: You have advantage on saving throws against being magically put to sleep.
    • Heat Release: As an action, you can cause the wraps to become warm. For the next hour, you have resistance to cold damage and suffer no ill effects from extreme cold environments. Once used, this property cannot be used again until the next dawn.
    • Sympathetic Pain: When a creature within 5 feet of you hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to force the creature to make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d4 psychic damage as it shares your joint pain.
  • Curse (Minor): You have a -1 penalty to Initiative rolls because of the stiffness in your joints.

Knave (2nd Edition)

Braces of the Buried

  • Slots: 2 (Worn on limbs)
  • Armor: +1 (Acts as light padding/leather)
  • Mechanics:
    • Dull Throb: You cannot be surprised by foes while in total darkness, as the wraps provide a tactile “sense” of the space within 10 feet.
    • Stiffened Resolve: You gain a +2 bonus to saves against mental exhaustion or magical sleep.
    • Active – Heat Burst: Once per day, the braces can emit heat to dry clothes or keep the wearer warm in freezing temperatures for 2 watches.
    • Active – Shared Agony: Once per day, on a successful melee hit, you may deal an additional 1d6 damage as you transmit your chronic pain to the target.
  • Weight/Cost: These are heavy and stiff. All movement-related checks are made with a -1 penalty.

Fate (Core/Condensed)

Wraps of the Amber Ache

  • Aspect: Constant Low-Level Joint Agony.
  • Stunt – Weather Sense: Because I wear the Wraps of the Amber Ache, I gain a +2 to Notice or Lore when I am attempting to predict atmospheric changes or incoming storms.
  • Stunt – Stiffened Resolve: Because I wear the Wraps of the Amber Ache, I can use my constant physical discomfort to anchor my mind. I gain a +2 to Will when resisting mental effects that would induce sleep or lethargy.
  • Special Mechanic (Sympathetic Pain): Once per session, when I am in the same zone as an opponent, I may use my action to force them to experience my pain. This counts as a Mental Attack using my Will versus their Will. If I succeed, the target takes stress as their own body briefly rebels against them.
  • Cost/Drawback: The item acts as a persistent “Stiffened Limbs” aspect. If a GM invokes this to make a movement-based task more difficult, the player receives a Fate point as per standard rules.

Numenera & Cypher System

Joint-Bind of the Moss-Keepers

  • Level: 1d6 (Common)
  • Form: A set of heavy leather limb-bands threaded with glowing copper circuitry.
  • Effect: While worn and active, the user gains an Asset to all Speed defense tasks involving balance or proprioception due to the constant tactile feedback of the “Dull Throb.”
  • Passive – Mental Anchor: The wearer gains an Asset to Intellect defense rolls against sleep or hypnotic suggestions.
  • Action – Heat Release: By spending 1 Intellect point, the user activates the internal copper heating elements. For one hour, the user is immune to damage from mundane cold and gains a +1 bonus to Armor against cold-based attacks.
  • Action – Shared Agony: By spending 2 Intellect points, the user touches a creature. The target must make a Might defense roll. On a failure, the target takes damage equal to the level of the item and is dazed for one round.
  • Depletion: — (This is an artifact-style item that does not typically deplete unless used at maximum heat for extended periods, at which point it depletes on a 1 in 1d100).

Pathfinder (2nd Edition)

Item 9283: Bracers of Persistent Sensation

  • Item 1 | Common | Abjuration | Invested | Magical
  • Price: 15 gp (Adjusted for sellers’ market)
  • Usage: Worn (Bracers); Bulk: L
  • Proprioception: You gain a +1 item bonus to Acrobatics checks to Balance.
  • Stiffened Resolve: You gain a +1 item bonus to Will saves against effects with the Sleep trait.
  • Weather Sense: You can spend 1 minute focusing on your joint pain to gain the effects of a Predict Weather spell, but only for the immediate 5-mile area.
  • Activate (Reaction): Sympathetic Pain (Enchantment, Mental, Visual); Frequency: Once per day; Trigger: A creature within your reach hits you with a melee attack. Effect: You force the creature to share your burden. The creature must attempt a DC 14 Will save.
    • Success: The creature is unaffected.
    • Failure: The creature is Sickened 1.
    • Critical Failure: The creature is Sickened 2.
  • Drawback: While invested, you take a -5-foot penalty to your Land Speed due to the stiffness of the cured leather and wool.

Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)

The Burrower’s Binding

  • Type: Minor Artifact.
  • Weight: 2 lbs.
  • Proprioception: The constant throb grants the wearer the Steady Hands Edge. If they already have it, they gain a +1 to all Athletics (balancing) rolls.
  • Weather Sense: With a successful Survival roll, the wearer can predict the weather for the next 24 hours with precision.
  • Heat Release: As a limited action, the wearer can activate the bands. They gain +4 to Vigor rolls made to resist Cold environmental hazards.
  • Sympathetic Pain: As an action, the wearer may make a Touch Attack. If successful, the victim must make a Vigor roll (at -2 if the wearer got a Raise). On a failure, the victim is Distracted until the end of their next turn as their joints seize in mimicry of the wearer’s pain.
  • Drawback: The wearer suffers a -1 penalty to all Pace rolls and “Agility-based” Athletics rolls (such as sprinting) due to the stiffness and constant ache.

Shadowrun (6th World Edition)

Achy-Joint Limb Wraps

  • Type: Armor Clothing (Accessory)
  • Rating: 1
  • Capacity: 1
  • Game Mechanics:
    • Proprioception: While worn, the user gains a +1 bonus to Defense Rating when defending against melee attacks or environmental hazards that involve balance, as the constant pain provides immediate feedback on limb location.
    • Stiffened Resolve: The wearer gains a +1 dice pool bonus to resist any magical or mundane effects that cause Sleep or Daze, as the nagging ache keeps the consciousness anchored to the physical body.
    • Sympathetic Pain: Once per combat, when the wearer makes a successful unarmed or touch-range attack, they may spend 1 Edge to force the target to experience a localized neural overload. The target must succeed in a Body + Willpower (2) test or suffer a -2 penalty to all actions on their next turn due to phantom joint agony.
  • Drawback: The user suffers a -1 dice pool penalty to all Stealth tests and any Agility-based tests requiring high speeds (such as Sprinting) due to the stiffness of the copper-threaded leather.

Starfinder (2nd Edition / Playtest)

Item 9283: Bio-Resonant Joint Braces

  • Item 1 | Common | Tech | Magical
  • Price: 125 credits
  • Usage: Worn (Limb Slots); Bulk: L
  • Game Mechanics:
    • Internal Navigation: You gain a +1 item bonus to Acrobatics checks to Balance or remain steady on moving surfaces.
    • Thermal Regulator: As a move action, you can activate the copper coils. You gain Cold Resistance 2 for 1 hour. This ability cannot be used again until you complete a 10-minute rest to let the leather cool.
    • Sympathetic Pain (Reaction): Trigger: A creature within your reach damages you with a melee attack. Effect: The creature must attempt a DC 13 Will save. On a failure, the creature is Off-Target until the end of its next turn as it experiences a sympathetic surge of your joint pain.
  • Drawback: You take a -5-foot penalty to your Land Speed while these braces are worn and attuned.

Traveller (Mongoose 2nd Edition)

Moss-Keeper Kinetic Braces

  • TL: 4 (Equivalent technology level for non-electronic mechanical aids)
  • Cost: Cr 250
  • Game Mechanics:
    • Kinetic Awareness: The braces provide a constant tactile “map” of the limbs. The wearer receives a +1 DM to all Athletics (Dexterity) checks involving balance or climbing in low-gravity or zero-gravity environments.
    • Climate Adaptation: The chemically treated leather and copper wiring protect the wearer from Cold environments. The wearer treats the temperature as one category warmer than it actually is.
    • Neural Feedback: If the wearer makes a successful unarmed strike against an unarmored opponent, they may attempt a Difficult (10+) Medic or Science (Life Sciences) check. On a success, the target suffers an additional 1D6 stun damage from the sympathetic nerve response.
  • Drawback: The stiffness of the braces imposes a -1 DM to all Stealth checks and any Athletics (Strength) checks involving sprinting or rapid movement.

Warhammer (Age of Sigmar: Soulbound)

The Bracers of the Grinding Soul

  • Rarity: Common
  • Traits: Worn, Stiff
  • Game Mechanics:
    • Anchor of Agony: The constant ache makes the wearer harder to influence via mental sorcery. The wearer gains a +1d6 bonus to their pool when making a Mind (Determination) Test to resist being put to sleep or magically calmed.
    • Weather Sense: The wearer can spend 1 minute focusing on the throbbing in their limbs to automatically determine the weather for the next 4 hours within the immediate Region.
    • Shared Burden: Once per encounter, when the wearer takes damage from a melee attack, they can force the attacker to make a DN 4:2 Body (Fortitude) Test. On a failure, the attacker’s joints seize, and they are Restrained until the start of their next turn.
  • Drawback: The “Stiff” trait reduces the wearer’s Speed by one category (e.g., Normal to Slow) while the bracers are equipped.