[Divine] Artifact - Hexaegis
🕑 Added 2022-08-08 14:00:09 +0000 UTCThis shield is a fragment of Yllyana the Frostborn Maiden, granted to a worthy champion of the God of Love and Preservation. It is always cold to the touch, though the chosen few remain warm through their devotion. The God presents this shield to those who would protect others from harm, especially from the machinations of other gods.
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Hexaegis
Shield, artifact (requires attunement)
To attune to this shield, you must spend the duration of the attunement period standing at least knee-deep in a natural body of ice water with the shield at your side. The shield gains a thin layer of frost at the end of this period.
Envoy. The shield grants the following benefits while you are Yllyana's Envoy:
- While holding this shield, you have a +1 bonus to AC, which is in addition to the shield's normal AC bonus.
- While you wield this shield, you are immune to the negative effects of cold weather.
- When you finish a long rest, the shield grants you 25 temporary hit points that you can divide however you choose among you and any allies that spent their long rest with you. Any temporary hit points granted this way disappear when you finish your next long rest.
Herald. The shield grants the following additional benefits while you are Yllyana's Herald:
- The shield's bonus to AC increases to +2.
- The temporary hit points granted by the shield increases to 35. A creature with these temporary hit points now gains an icy appearance, has advantage on Constitution saving throws, and cannot be magically aged.
- While you wield this shield, you have resistance to cold damage.
Champion. The shield grants the following additional benefits while you are Yllyana's Champion:
- The shield's bonus to AC increases to +3.
- The temporary hit points granted by the shield increases to 50.
- While this shield is on your person, any structure you are in is immune to damage.
- At the end of each of your turns, if you have moved 5 feet or less since the start of the turn while you wield this shield, you can grant half cover to one ally of your choice within 5 feet of you. You share this cover until the start of your next turn, until you move, or until the ally moves more than 5 feet away from you.
Destroying the Shield. To destroy the Hexaegis, it must be brought to the burning magma vents of the Edgemantle miles beneath the planet's surface. The shield must lay in the magma for one month, after which it finally succumbs to the heat and melts into golden dust.
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DESIGN COMMENTARY
Yllyana as a god was first mentioned in Animal Accoutrements (erroneously titled the Frostmother), whose shrine and adorable sweaters protected animals and people alike. I really like the mini-inspiring speech that flexibly protects your allies, scaling to a ~3rd level spell in terms of healing. I also like extra protection that you grant when you don't move much, which really embodies the slow glacier/heavy shield aesthetic. That's basically going to be my tower shield template from now on - which works better than plopping down the shield as a map obstacle.
I'm not too thrilled with the final colors/rendering/silhouette, but I guess that's a learning process for my next shield.