Subsystems and You 13: Spellhearts
(art by Galder on DeviantArt)
The trope of a magical gem or other doodad that you can plug into a weapon or armor set to alter or enhance it’s power is at this point a classic trope, though it’s mostly seen in video games. It’s only a matter of time before folks try to replicate it in the tabletop space. (they might have already done so somewhere of course, by my knowledge is limited).
However, in Second Edition Pathfinder, the only way this initially existed was by way of talismans, which are used up after only one usage, a far cry from the swappable accessories buffing your weapons and armor.
Which is where spellhearts come in. Simply put, spellhearts are similar to talismans in that they can be attached to weapons or armor, but they have daily uses that recharge rather than being consumables. Additionally, each one can be used on both weapons and armor, with different effects for each item type. While the armor effects are generally passive, the weapons tend to have effects that trigger when the user casts spells of certain types. As such, they seem to be best used by mixed spellcasting and combat characters such as paladins, some rangers, and of course, the magus class.
Many also have the ability to cast a single spell as well.
While it still takes 10 minutes to affix or remove them, if you have that 10 minutes spellhearts become quite versatile tools, able to be switched from offensive to defensive modes when you swap one from your weapon to armor and vice versa, as well as removing one and affixing a new one to change up your abilities entirely.
Typically spellhearts grant a small amount of resistance to a specific damage type when used on armor, and briefly buff a weapon with an additional bit of damage of the same type when the user casts an appropriate spell, such as fire from fire spells, mental from enchantment, and so on, while the spell in their arsenal is typically a minor offensive spell of that type.
However, some have effects that trigger when the weapon hits instead, or have spells that are defensive instead, and more powerful versions exist with even more powerful spells and effects as well.
The result is a fun way to have a permanent but exchangeable buff for your equipment that you don’t have to keep buying more of, and definitely gives that “magical core” vibe of so many slot-heavy equipment in video games.
That does it for today, but we’re not even halfway through yet. See you tomorrow!
