Scales of Cosmic Balance

From: Numisism

Description: A pair of intricately crafted scales, one side adorned with symbols of creation and the other with symbols of destruction. The scales resonate with Ledgera’s energy, attuning to the cosmic balance.

Magical Properties: When held by a follower of Numisism, the scales can detect imbalances in nearby energies, revealing hidden intentions and potential disruptions. The scales can also be used to channel energy for defensive or restorative purposes.

Lore: The Scales of Cosmic Balance are ancient artifacts of Numisism, believed to have been imbued with Ledgera’s divine essence during a pivotal moment in the history of the faith. It is said that Ledgera herself blessed these scales to aid her faithful followers in upholding the cosmic balance. Crafted by skilled artisans under celestial guidance, the scales are considered sacred relics that symbolize the delicate equilibrium of creation and destruction.

Values and Tier One Stats:

• Detection Range: 30 feet
• Defensive Energy Absorption: 5 points per use
• Restorative Energy Channeling: Restores 10 hit points per use

Skills:

• Balance Attunement: Proficiency in understanding energy fluctuations and cosmic harmony.
• Divination: The ability to decipher hidden intentions and imbalances.

Cost and Requirements:

• Cost: The Scales of Cosmic Balance are considered priceless artifacts, and their value cannot be quantified with conventional currency. They are typically passed down from generation to generation among devout followers.
• Requirements: Only those who have shown a deep understanding of Numisism’s principles, have displayed commitment to the cosmic balance, and have received the blessings of Numisism’s priesthood are considered worthy of wielding the scales.

Tags:

• Artifact: The scales are ancient relics with unique and powerful abilities.
• Divine: Linked to the divine energy of Ledgera.
• Detection: Can detect hidden imbalances and intentions.
• Additional: Equilibrium, Harmonious Judgment, Energy Weighing, Celestial Calibration, Karmic Resonance, Truthbound Measure, Sacred Scales, Divine Arbitration, Universal Alignment, Astral Equilibrium

Sale and Acquisition: Selling the Scales of Cosmic Balance is a rarity, as they hold immense spiritual and symbolic significance to the followers of Numisism. Instead of being sold, these scales are usually passed down through the generations within sacred families or given as a reward for exceptional service to the faith. In some cases, they might be placed within the sanctuaries of Harmonium, where worthy individuals can access and use them for the greater good.

Environment and Combat Usage: The Scales of Cosmic Balance are used in environments where the delicate balance of energy and intention is paramount. They are often used within Harmonium Sanctuaries during ceremonies, meditations, and discussions about maintaining cosmic harmony. In combat scenarios, a follower wielding the scales can hold them aloft to detect hidden threats or imbalances in the surrounding energies. The scales can reveal the intentions of adversaries who seek to disrupt balance, giving the wielder insights into potential attacks.

In combat, the scales can be used defensively to absorb and neutralize energy-based attacks. The wielder can invoke the scales’ power to create a protective barrier that absorbs incoming energy, converting it into balanced energy that harmlessly dissipates. Additionally, the scales can be used for restorative purposes, channeling cosmic energy to heal wounds and restore vitality to allies. This healing energy is a manifestation of Ledgera’s guidance, promoting physical and spiritual well-being.

The Scales of Cosmic Balance are not just weapons but tools of divine insight and empowerment. Wielded by a follower attuned to the teachings of Numisism, they become a force for maintaining cosmic equilibrium and ensuring that the balance between creation and destruction is upheld.

Perception of Activation:

• User’s Perspective: As the scales activate, a deep resonance hums through the air, vibrating through the user’s hands like the pulse of the universe itself. A subtle warmth spreads from the scales, as though holding a living force that breathes in harmony with creation and destruction. The golden side glows with a soft, steady radiance, while the darkened side shimmers like the edge of a collapsing star. The weight of unseen forces shifts, making the user feel momentarily lighter or heavier depending on their alignment with the balance. Their vision flickers, revealing faint trails of energy flowing between all things—intentions, emotions, and the unseen currents of fate. A whisper, neither language nor sound, echoes in the depths of the mind, asking: “Will you tip the scales?”
• Observer’s Perspective: The scales seem to float an inch above the user’s hands, trembling as if measuring unseen forces. The engravings of creation pulse with golden illumination, while the destruction side darkens like a void consuming light. A low, resonant chime echoes outward, seemingly distant yet all-encompassing. Those nearby may feel a shift in air pressure, as if reality itself is adjusting to the unseen verdict. Shadows lengthen, lights flicker, and for an instant, everything seems unnervingly still before resuming its natural flow.
• Positives:
  • Enhances perception of hidden forces, revealing deceptions, imbalances, or concealed energies.
  • Allows for precise energy manipulation, granting insight into stabilizing or disrupting forces.
  • Strengthens attunement with the cosmic balance, promoting clarity, wisdom, and intuitive decision-making.
  • Can be used to absorb or redirect energy, protecting the user from harmful magical or spiritual forces.
• Negatives:
  • Prolonged exposure to the scales’ energy can cause mental fatigue or emotional detachment as the user begins to see the world only in terms of balance.
  • The scales judge without bias; if the user has acted out of alignment with cosmic harmony, they may feel physical weakness or mental unease.
  • Overuse may cause unintended shifts in surrounding energy, leading to unpredictable environmental or magical disturbances.
  • The scales may reveal truths too great for the mind to comprehend, forcing the user to make difficult moral or existential choices.
• Extra-Sensory Perceptions:
  • Karmic Flow: The user perceives the weight of past actions flowing through the air like unseen currents, binding all things.
  • Ethereal Resonance: The user feels their body subtly vibrating at a different frequency, momentarily attuned to the cosmic hum of creation and destruction.
  • Balance Pulse: A rhythmic sensation, neither heartbeat nor breath, pulses through the user’s core, synchronizing them with the unseen equilibrium.
  • Temporal Glimpse: Faint impressions of past or future consequences flicker at the edges of perception, offering cryptic glimpses of what has been or could be.
  • Celestial Whisper: A voice not of sound but of understanding lingers in the mind, speaking in a language older than words, guiding the wielder’s thoughts toward harmony.

Recipe: Forging the Scales of Cosmic Balance — To recreate an item akin to the Scales of Cosmic Balance, one must blend divine craftsmanship, rare celestial materials, and an attunement to the equilibrium of creation and destruction. The process requires both physical mastery and spiritual insight, ensuring the scales function as conduits of universal balance.

• Materials Needed:
  • Celestial Alloy (5 lbs.) – A metal infused with cosmic energy, found only in meteorite fragments that have absorbed the essence of both solar and lunar forces.
  • Void-Touched Obsidian (2 shards) – A deep black stone formed in places where destructive energies have naturally concentrated, such as volcanic sanctuaries or ley line ruptures.
  • Gold of Dawn (3 ounces) – A purified alchemical gold harvested from the first light of sunrise over sacred ground, symbolizing the forces of creation.
  • Silver of Dusk (3 ounces) – An enchanted silver alloy bathed in the last light of sunset, representing the forces of destruction.
  • Balance-Infused Quicksilver (1 vial) – A rare, flowing metal blessed by Numisian priests, stabilizing the energies within the scales.
  • Numisian Inscription Ink (1 bottle) – A mixture of sacred pigments, crushed stardust, and divine blessings used to engrave the sacred runes of equilibrium.
  • Elders’ Invocation (1 ritual) – A formal blessing spoken by a priest of Numisism to align the scales with cosmic balance.
• Tools Required:
  • Celestial Smith’s Anvil – An anvil consecrated under the twin moons, ensuring the forging process remains harmonized.
  • Arcane Tempering Forge – A specially attuned forge that can maintain precise temperatures to fuse materials without disrupting their metaphysical properties.
  • Sacred Engraving Chisel – Crafted from star-metal, used to inscribe the scales with the divine runes of Ledgera.
  • Alchemical Crucible – Required for blending the Gold of Dawn and Silver of Dusk into a perfect equilibrium.
  • Aetheric Weighing Stand – A calibration tool to ensure the scales remain in perfect balance before final attunement.
• Skill Requirements:
  • Master Smithing (Expert Level): The ability to forge celestial alloys without destabilizing their magical properties.
  • Runic Inscription (Advanced): The knowledge to carve divine symbols that reinforce the scales’ connection to cosmic forces.
  • Alchemy (Intermediate): The ability to mix and stabilize Balance-Infused Quicksilver without corrupting its properties.
  • Divine Attunement (Basic): Spiritual sensitivity to align the artifact with Numisism’s teachings.
• Crafting Steps:
  • Step 1: Preparing the Base Components
    • Smelt the Celestial Alloy in the Arcane Tempering Forge, ensuring equal exposure to solar and lunar energies over three days.
    • Using the Alchemical Crucible, fuse the Gold of Dawn and Silver of Dusk into a perfect mixture, cooling it in a vessel of sanctified water.
    • Shape the Void-Touched Obsidian into two counterbalancing plates, polishing them until they hold a faint ethereal glow.
  • Step 2: Forging the Scales
    • Pour the liquefied alloy into a twin-mold, forming the arms of the scales. Once solidified, etch intricate balance channels along their length to conduct energy flow.
    • Attach the Obsidian Plates to each arm, ensuring that neither creation nor destruction outweighs the other.
    • Infuse the frame with Balance-Infused Quicksilver, allowing it to settle naturally to maintain equilibrium.
  • Step 3: Inscribing and Final Attunement
    • Using the Sacred Engraving Chisel, inscribe Numisian Inscription Ink onto the scales, detailing the symbols of creation, destruction, and cosmic equilibrium.
    • Place the scales upon the Aetheric Weighing Stand, allowing them to calibrate over seven days under the alignment of celestial bodies.
  • Step 4: Consecration and Activation
    • Once the alignment is stable, bring the scales before a Numisian priest to perform the Elders’ Invocation, binding them permanently to the forces of cosmic balance.
    • Upon completion, the scales must be tested—either through detecting an imbalance in a sacred space or being presented before a council of the faithful to ensure their accuracy.

With proper craftsmanship, patience, and divine attunement, the Scales of Cosmic Balance become powerful instruments of equilibrium, guiding those who seek to uphold harmony in all things.

Weighing of the Unseen

In the time before the world found its feet, before sky knew of horizon and rivers remembered their way, there was no balance, only shifting. Light would burn too strong, and shadow would swallow all. The earth would rise where it should sink, and the winds would pull the stars from their seats. And so the great discord wove itself into the fabric of existence, until the gods themselves grew weary, their voices lost in the chaos.

Then came Ledgera, she who saw all as it was meant to be, not as it was. She walked not among gods, nor among mortals, but in the space between, where time had no hold and choices had no end. She listened to the wind that howled and the stone that wept, and they spoke the same lament: “All things lean, yet none stand.”

And so Ledgera, in her knowing, took the stars from the sky and the bones from the earth, and from these she forged the Scales of Cosmic Balance. In one side, she placed the weight of creation, the breath of first life, the flicker of new flame, and the seed of growing trees. In the other, she placed the weight of destruction, the hush of last breath, the fading of ember, and the fall of great forests. And when she held them aloft, the world grew still.

It is said that with the first weighing, the scales trembled, for all things had been made heavy with greed and hunger. The side of destruction sank deep, while the side of creation hung light, unburdened. Ledgera saw this and spoke: “The weight is not wrong, but it is unknowing.” And so she sought out the makers and the takers, the builders and the ruiners, and bade them witness.

First, she called forth the King of Endless Hunger, whose lands stretched as far as the eye could reach, yet whose hands were always empty. She bade him look upon the scales, and he saw the depth of his taking, how it pulled all things downward. His voice broke, for he had never known the cost of his grasping. And in his sorrow, he took only what was needed, and the scales rose.

Next, she summoned the Weaver of Golden Threads, who spent each waking moment crafting beauty for others, yet kept none for herself. She gazed into the scales and saw how light her hand had been upon the world, how much had been given but never returned. And in her understanding, she took her own thread and wove herself into the pattern, and the scales lowered, finding their balance once more.

So it went, from the lowest beggar to the highest god—each saw their weight upon the world, and each found where they leaned too far. The rivers remembered their way, the sky met the horizon, and the wind left the stars in peace. For the first time, the world did not tip, nor tremble, but stood as it was meant to stand.

But there were those who would not look. Those who turned from the balance, fearing what the scales might show. The Blind Scribe of the Ashen Tower—who wrote laws that favored one hand over the other—covered his eyes. The Warlord of Silent Fields—who turned life to dust and called it triumph—turned his back. And the Saint of the Hollow Promise, who spoke of virtue but took without giving, shattered his own reflection rather than see.

Ledgera did not punish them, for punishment is the weight of another’s hand. Instead, she set the scales where all could find them, for those who would seek and those who would deny. And it is said that they remain, unseen yet unfailing, waiting for the hands that would hold them true.

For balance is not given, nor demanded—it is only known.

Moral: One does not tip the scales alone.

Suggested conversions to other systems:

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition) – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Item Type: Occult Artifact
• Sanity Loss: 1D4 when first used, 1D6 if the balance reveals an unsettling truth.
• Use: The user may spend 1D6 minutes concentrating on the scales, making a Hard Occult or Psychology roll to detect imbalances in a person, object, or location within 30 feet. Success reveals whether an entity is under a curse, deception, or supernatural influence. A critical success provides a brief glimpse into the cause of the imbalance.
• Effect:
  • Weighing of Intent: Once per session, the user may roll Persuade or Intimidate (Hard difficulty) after consulting the scales to gain a situational bonus in a social interaction.
  • Harmonic Absorption: The scales may absorb 5 damage from an energy-based attack once per day.
  • Karmic Restoration: Once per day, the user may heal 1D10 HP by balancing their internal energies through meditation with the scales.
• Drawback: Prolonged exposure (more than three uses per session) forces a Sanity Check (1D8/1D10 loss) as the user begins perceiving unseen cosmic forces beyond mortal comprehension.

Blades in the Dark – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Item Type: Arcane Asset
• Load: 1
• Effect: The scales attune to unseen imbalances, allowing the user to detect hidden motives and energy fluctuations.
• Abilities:
  • Judgment’s Measure: Spend 2 Stress to study a target for one minute. The GM reveals whether they are acting out of alignment with cosmic balance, providing +1d to Consort or Command rolls against them for the next scene.
  • Harmonic Barrier: Once per heist, the user may negate the first instance of harm from an ethereal or magical attack by absorbing its energy.
  • Equilibrium’s Touch: The user may spend 1 downtime activity meditating with the scales to remove 1 additional Stress or heal a minor harm (up to level 1).
• Drawback: The GM may introduce a Devil’s Bargain where the scales reveal a truth too great to ignore, leading to an unavoidable moral dilemma or unforeseen consequence.

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition) – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Wondrous Item, Rare, Requires Attunement
• Detection of Imbalance: As an action, the user may hold the scales to detect alignment shifts, magical influences, or hidden deceptions within 30 feet. This functions similarly to Detect Evil and Good, but also reveals whether a target is in harmony or discord with their fate.
• Defensive Absorption: Once per long rest, the user may invoke the scales to reduce the damage of an incoming attack by 5 HP. If the damage source is necrotic, radiant, or force-based, this increases to 10 HP.
• Karmic Restoration: As a bonus action, the user may touch an ally and transfer cosmic energy, healing 10 HP once per long rest.
• Curse of Balance: The scales judge the user as much as they judge others. If the user knowingly acts in extreme excess—either taking without giving or giving without balance—they must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or suffer 1 level of exhaustion as cosmic forces attempt to correct their imbalance.

Knave – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Magical Item
• Uses: 3 per day
• Effects:
  • Equilibrium Sense: Expend 1 use to detect hidden magical effects, curses, or lies within 30 feet for the next 10 minutes.
  • Energy Absorption: Expend 1 use to reduce incoming damage by 1D6, negating all damage if the roll exceeds the damage taken.
  • Harmonic Restoration: Expend 1 use to heal 1D8 HP by balancing the body’s energies.
• Drawback: Each use risks a 1-in-6 chance of the user being overwhelmed by cosmic insight, imposing -1 to their next action due to mental strain.

Fate – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Arcane Relic, Requires an Aspect Related to Judgment, Balance, or Fate
• Stunt: Measure of Truth – Once per session, the user may invoke the scales to gain a +2 bonus when overcoming an obstacle related to detecting lies, uncovering hidden motives, or identifying supernatural influences.
• Stunt: Harmonic Absorption – Spend 1 Fate Point to reduce the damage of an incoming attack by 2 shifts as the scales absorb the imbalance.
• Stunt: Equilibrium’s Blessing – Once per session, the user may reroll a failed roll related to maintaining order, resolving disputes, or restoring harmony.
• Drawback: If the user acts in extreme excess—taking without giving, or disrupting natural balance—the GM may introduce a compel where the scales weigh against them, causing temporary misfortune or moral dilemmas.

Numenera & Cypher System – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Artifact
• Level: 1D6+2
• Depletion: 1 in 1D20 (Check after every use)
• Effects:
  • Balance Sense (Action, 2 Intellect Points): The user can perceive imbalances in energy, detecting hidden lies, curses, or unnatural influences within 30 feet for 10 minutes.
  • Energy Absorption (Reaction, 3 Intellect Points): Reduce incoming damage by 5 points. If the damage source is energy-based (such as heat, radiation, or magic), the reduction increases to 10 points.
  • Restorative Equilibrium (Action, 4 Intellect Points): Once per day, the user may heal themselves or an ally for 1D10+Artifact Level HP by channeling cosmic balance.
• Drawback: Prolonged use may cause the user to experience visions of cosmic disharmony, imposing a 1-step difficulty increase to their next mental task as they process the knowledge.

Pathfinder 2E – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Wondrous Item, Rare, Divine, Attuned
• Activation: [Two Actions] (Divination, Divine) – The user may weigh the balance of a creature within 30 feet, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to Perception checks against deception and Diplomacy checks against that creature for 10 minutes.
• Absorption of Imbalance: [Reaction] (Fortune, Divine) – Once per day, when the user is targeted by an attack, they may activate the scales to reduce the damage by 5 HP (or 10 HP if the damage is force, necrotic, or radiant).
• Restorative Judgment: [Two Actions] (Healing, Divine) – Once per day, the user may touch an ally and restore 10 HP, transferring cosmic harmony into them.
• Curse of the Weighing: If the user continuously acts outside the principles of balance, they must make a DC 18 Will save once per week or become Fatigued until they rectify their actions.

Savage Worlds – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Arcane Item
• Power Points: 5
• Abilities:
  • Sense Imbalance (Action, 2 PP): The user may roll Notice (TN 4) to detect hidden truths, deceptions, or supernatural auras within 30 feet for the next 10 minutes.
  • Deflecting Harmony (Reaction, 3 PP): When struck by an attack, the user may reduce the damage by 1D6+2 before applying Toughness.
  • Karmic Equilibrium (Action, 4 PP): Once per scene, the user may heal 1D8 HP for themselves or an ally by restoring their inner balance.
• Drawback: After each use, the user must make a Spirit roll (TN 5). On failure, they suffer -1 to their next Smarts-based roll as they struggle with cosmic knowledge.

Shadowrun (6th Edition) – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Legendary Magical Item (Foci, Force 6)
• Category: Metamagic Foci (Judgment & Balance)
• Force: 6
• Effects:
  • Karmic Judgment (Simple Action, 1D6 Drain): The user may roll Judge Intentions + Intuition (3) Test to determine whether a target within 10 meters is acting out of alignment with their fate, revealing hidden motives or imbalances.
  • Absorption of Harm (Interrupt, 2 Edge): When targeted by an attack, the user may roll Willpower + Body (4) Test to reduce damage by Force x 2 before resistances apply.
  • Equilibrium Restoration (Complex Action, 3 Edge): Once per scene, the user may restore 1D6+Force Stun or Physical damage to themselves or another by channeling cosmic balance.
• Drawback: Each use beyond twice per scene imposes 1D3 Stun Damage as the scales weigh against the user’s own karmic equilibrium.

Starfinder – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Level 9 Hybrid Item
• Item Level: 9
• Price: 14,500 credits
• Capacity: 5 Charges (Recharges at Dawn)
• Usage: 1 charge per activation
• Effects:
  • Judgment’s Gaze (Standard Action, 1 charge): The user studies a target within 30 feet, gaining a +2 insight bonus to Sense Motive and Diplomacy checks against them for 1 hour.
  • Energy Absorption (Reaction, 2 charges): Reduce incoming damage by 10 HP. If the damage is force, necrotic, or radiant, the reduction increases to 15 HP.
  • Restorative Balance (Full Action, 3 charges): The user may transfer cosmic energy, healing 20 HP to themselves or an ally once per day.
• Drawback: When used more than twice per day, the user must make a DC 20 Will save or become shaken for 10 minutes due to the overwhelming presence of cosmic forces.

Traveller (Mongoose 2E) – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Artifact (Ancient Relic, Unique)
• TL: 17
• Effect:
  • Measure of Truth (1D6 Minutes of Focus): The user may roll Insight + Social (8+) to discern whether a target is acting in accordance with or against their destined path, providing Advantage to Persuasion checks against them for the next hour.
  • Harmonic Shielding (Once per day): The user may roll Willpower (10+) to reduce damage from an attack by 1D6+2 points.
  • Karmic Equilibrium (1/Week): The user may roll Intellect + Awareness (10+) to gain a cryptic insight into an upcoming event, allowing them to take a single re-roll on any future action related to the revealed event.
• Drawback: The user must make a 1D3 Stress Test after each use, as prolonged exposure to cosmic balance causes mental strain.

Warhammer 40K (Wrath & Glory) – Scales of Cosmic Balance

• Relict-Class Artifact (Rare, Mystical)
• Tier: 4
• Keywords: Wyrd, Fatebound, Relict
• Abilities:
  • Divine Judgment (Action, 2 Wrath): The user may roll Scholar (DN 5) to study a target’s aura, gaining +2 bonus to Persuasion and Insight tests against them for the next scene.
  • Balance of Power (Reaction, 3 Wrath): When targeted by an energy-based attack, the user may roll Willpower (DN 6) to reduce damage by 1D6+6 points.
  • Karmic Intervention (Action, 1 Wrath, 1/session): The user may roll Scholar (DN 7) to glimpse the near future, allowing them to reroll one failed action before the end of the session.
• Drawback: If used excessively, the user must make a Corruption Test (DN 4) as prolonged exposure to cosmic judgment may lead to moral rigidity or existential detachment.