The Armor of Good - Epic Paladin-themed armor

[Bakkan]

This set of armor is designed to be gained over a period of time, during which the wearer's powers will grow dramatically. I had in mind that the first pieces of the armor would probably be gained between 25th and 30th level, and the last piece could be gained around 40th level. Naturally, this armor could be made appropriate for lower levels by removing special qualities or lowering bonuses. The intended result is the most powerful mortal, martial force of Good in existence, but not someone completely invincible.

The Armor of Good
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:11-12)
The Armor of Good is a set of seven items, including a breastplate, a shield, a belt, bracers, boots, a helmet, and a sword. It is given by Heironeous (or an appropriate Lawful Good deity) to his most powerful and devout mortal followers. A creature who wears all seven items becomes a Champion of Good, and is nearly as powerful as the most powerful angels. Typically, when a Champion of Good reaches the end of his mortal life, he is transported directly to his appropriate afterlife and the Armor of Good is returned to the Heironeous until he decides to bestow it on another Champion. However, a Champion can be killed, and in that case, the Armor may or may not be instantly returned to the control of Heironeous. Champions of Good are almost always paladins, though some clerics and fighters occasionally become Champions.
Heironeous only allows Lawful Good creatures to become Champions. If a Lawful Good creature wears or wields any of the parts of the Armor of Good without Heironeous’ blessing, he takes 2d6 damage per round and suffers 1d6 Constitution and 1d6 Wisdom damage per piece of the Armor he is wearing until he takes it off, and the Armor provides him with no benefit of any kind. If a Neutral Good or Chaotic Good creature wears any piece of the Armor, he takes 4d6 damage per round and suffers 2d6 Constitution and 2d6 Wisdom damage per piece of the Armor he is wearing until he takes it off, and the Armor provides him with no benefit of any kind. If a Lawful Neutral, Neutral, or Chaotic Neutral creature wears any piece of the Armor, he takes 4d10 damage per round and suffers 2d6 Strength, 2d6 Constitution, 2d6 Intelligence, and 2d6 Wisdom damage per piece of the Armor he is wearing until he takes it off, and the Armor provides him with no benefit of any kind. If an evil creature puts on any piece of the Armor, not only does it provide him no benefit, but he must also immediately make a Will save (DC 40) or be instantly destroyed. If he succeeds on the will save, he takes 2d12 damage to all of his ability scores and 6d12 damage per round, and must make another Will save to avoid destruction every round, with the DC for the check increasing by 5 every round. In addition, in order to cast any spell, use any spell-like ability or use a magic item, he must make a Concentration check (DC 25 + spell level). If more than one piece of armor is worn, increase all save DCs by 10 for each piece of armor beyond the first. Note that all damage described above bypasses all damage reduction and does not heal naturally (i.e. nonmagically).
Note that these penalties only apply to creatures wearing or wielding the items, and not to those just touching them, although any evil creature touching the armor, including making touch attacks made against someone wearing the breastplate, must succeed on a Will save (DC 25) or be under the effects of a fear spell for 2d4 rounds. An evil creature that can see any piece of the armor must succeed on a Will save (DC 20) against each piece of armor he sees or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. Multiple effects of this type to not stack but rather overlap. An evil creature who makes any save is immune to that effect for 24 hours. Each piece of the Armor creates its own effect, i.e. an evil creature must save against all pieces it can see before it becomes completely immune.

Armor Pieces
“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Eph. 6:13)
In the following descriptions, X represents the number of pieces of the Armor worn. The Requirements section of each entry gives specific conditions that the wearer must abide by. If the wearer breaks a condition, that piece of armor loses all of its power for the wearer and causes 2d6 damage per round as long as he keeps it on. The item cannot be re-equipped until at least one month has passed and the character has been the target of an atonement spell. During that time, the wearer is not allowed to use any other magic item or piece of equipment in its place.
In order to wear any of the pieces of the Armor without incurring the penalties described above, a character must have the Blessing of Heironeous feat.
All the pieces of the Armor glow with a golden light that provides bright illumination for 30 ft. and dim illumination for 30 ft. beyond that. All spells and spell-like effects have caster level 20.

Blessing of Heironeous [Exalted] (Epic Feat)
Description: You have been chosen by Heironeous to be his Champion of Good in the world.
Prerequisites: You must be chosen by Heironeous as his Champion of Good. There is no way to force him to do this. Heironeous will only choose an extremely powerful Lawful Good creature with impeccable moral character, bravery, faith, and devotion to be his Champion. Only one living creature can have this feat at a time.
Benefit: You may wear the Armor of Good without danger to yourself. You get a +1 bonus to all attacks and damage when fighting evil creatures.
Special: This feat can be considered a bonus feat that does not count against a creature’s normal feats or bonus feats from other sources. Alternatively, a creature who receives this feat may not be allowed to choose a feat the next time he becomes eligible for one (DM’s discretion). A creature with this feat who ceases to be Lawful Good, willingly commits an evil act, or displays cowardice or a lack of reverence toward Heironeous will have the feat (and usually the Armor as well, if he has any) instantly stripped from him. The feat cannot be recovered except through divine intervention, which must be appealed for directly and face-to-face from Heironeous. Spells that communicate between planes cannot be used for this appeal. Even then, unless it is abundantly clear that the offense will never be repeated, Heironeous is unlikely to return the feat. If the feat was granted in place of another, the creature does not receive another feat to replace it.

Belt of Truth
“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth.”(Eph. 6:14)
Description: This leather belt is a wide golden-colored band that glows slightly and has the holy symbol of Heironeous on its large golden buckle.
Requirement: The wearer must not knowingly lie or mislead any living creature. He is prohibited from using disguises or Illusion spells.
Properties: The belt gives the wearer a +X bonus to Charisma. In addition, the wearer is constantly under the effects of a true seeing spell and a discern lies spell, and may cast zone of truth at will. The wearer gets a +4 bonus to Fortitude saves made to resist poison.

Boots of Peace
“Stand therefore,…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”(Eph. 6:14-15)
Description: These leather boots are wrapped like sandals around the wearer’s feet and up to the knee. They glow with a golden light and seem to make the wearer almost dance across the ground.
Requirement: The wearer must be wearing the Bracers of Charity.
Properties: The boots give the wearer a +X bonus to Wisdom. In addition, the wearer gains a 20 ft. bonus to his base land speed, is constantly under the effects of a water walk spell and an endure elements spell, is immune to fear effects, and can cast dimension door at will.

Bracers of Charity
Description: These leather bracers have a golden glow and have healing symbols etched into them. They extend from the wrist to the elbow.
Requirement: The wearer must give aid to any who asks, as long as such aid will further a Good purpose. The only exception is when the wearer is on a specific and time-sensitive mission from Heironeous.
Properties: The bracers give the wearer a +X bonus to Dexterity. In addition, the wearer is constantly under the effects of a freedom of movement spell, is immune to all diseases, including magical and supernatural diseases, and can cast create food and water and mass cure critical wounds X times per day each.

Breastplate of Righteousness
“Stand therefore,…having put on the breastplate of righteousness.”(Eph 6:14)
Description: This golden-colored breastplate featured a cross shape intertwined with a six-pointed star. At each point of the star is a symbol representing one of the other pieces of the Armor which glows when that piece is worn.
Requirement: The wearer must be wearing at least one other piece of the Armor, and must spend two hours in prayer every 24-hour period (this is in addition to any time required for the preparation of spells).
Properties: This is a +X mithral breastplate of heavy fortification. The breastplate gives the wearer a +X bonus to Constitution. The wearer is under a continual magic circle against evil spell, and gains Spell Resistance 30+4X. In addition, the Breastplate grants Holy Youth: if the creature has taken any ability penalties because of aging, these are reversed, and the wearer is protected from such penalties for as long as he wears the Breastplate and for 24 hrs. after he removes it, as long as he still has the Blessing of Heironeous feat. The creature still gains bonuses from aging as normal, and when he reaches his age maximum, he dies or is taken directly to the afterlife (see above).

Helmet of Salvation
“And take the helmet of salvation.”(Eph. 6:17)
Description: This helmet is alight with a golden glow. It extends down to the shoulders of the wearer. It does not have a face mask, but does include a nose guard. A golden` lock of hair 3 feet long is attached to the top of the helmet.
Requirements: The wearer must always be on a mission of Good, preferably from Heironeous himself. He must be working towards the completion of the mission to the best of his ability. Once a mission is completed, the wearer has a 48-hour grace period before starting on another mission. Also, the Belt of Truth must be worn.
Properties: The helmet gives the wearer a +X bonus to Intelligence. The wearer becomes immune to enchantment spells and effects, is continually under the effect of a tongues spell and a darkvision spell, and he can cast greater dispel magic and remove curse X times per day each. In addition, the wearer can communicate directly with Heironeous once per week, as contact other plane, but he risks no ability damage. Heironeous might use more than one-word answers and there is no chance that Heironeous will lie to the wearer, but he might not respond for his own reasons.

Shield of Faith
“Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.” (Eph. 6:16)
Description: This golden shield is etched with a design similar to the one found on the breastplate, but does not include the symbols representing the other items.
Requirements: Must be wearing the Breastplate of Righteousness and wielding the Sword of the Spirit.
Properties: This is a +X heavy mithral shield of arrow catching. The shield gives the wearer a +X bonus to Strength. The wearer gains immunity to all Mind-affecting spells and effects. Additionally, X times per day, the wearer may attempt to extinguish fire-based creatures, in which case the shield deals 5d10 damage to the creatures, or 10d10 damage to fire elementals (Will save halves damage; DC 25). The wearer can target up to X Medium or smaller creatures with this ability, or an equivalent number of larger creatures. When the wearer has accomplished a great deed for Good, Heironeous may decide to grant the Champion the use of a miracle spell. When this occurs, the star symbol on the breastplate glows with a silver light. At any time when the star is glowing, the wearer can invoke the miracle (a standard action). If the wearer wishes to use the miracle for any Nongood action or in a way that does not further his current mission, Heironeous will refuse to perform the miracle and the use is wasted. In any case, once the miracle is invoked, the star stops glowing.

Sword of the Spirit
“And take…the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God.”(Eph. 6:17)
Description: This sword, though it appears golden, is harder than steel. It glows in anticipation when fighting evil creatures, and gives off a high tone like a bell whenever it scores a critical hit.
Requirements: The wielder must be wearing at least one other piece of the Armor, must not attack any Good creature with lethal force, and must spend 4 hours every week studying the holy scriptures of Heironeous.
Properties: This Sword is a +X keen adamantine axiomatic holy burst longsword (if the favored weapon of the deity is not a longsword, use that instead). The Sword grants the wielder the ability to use Smite Evil X times per day, as the paladin class feature, using the wielder’s Charisma modifier and HD for the bonuses to the attack and damage rolls. If the character already has the ability to Smite Evil, the Sword grants him X more uses of it per day. The Sword can score critical hits on any evil creature, even those normally immune to critical hits. The Sword cannot be used to make a sneak attack against creatures immune to sneak attacks. In addition, any time the Sword delivers a killing blow to an evil creature, it stores up “life points” equal to half the HD of the slain creature. The Sword can hold a maximum of 10X life points. As a free action, the wielder can spend some or all of the life points in the Sword to heal himself or an ally within 30 ft. for a commensurate amount of damage. Alternatively, when the wielder scores a critical hit against an evil creature, he can choose to spend some or all of the life points in the Sword to add that many points of damage to the hit (this damage is not multiplied in the critical hit). This extra damage bypasses all damage reduction and immunities, and cannot be healed by any nonmagical means.

Synergy Properties
The Armor only works to full effect when all the pieces are worn. In addition to the variable numerical values in the description of each piece, the following bonuses apply to anyone who wears a certain number of the pieces. The effects are cumulative, except the damage reduction, resistances, and Holy Turning.

Pieces Worn - Benefits
1 - Aura of Good, Holy Insight, daylight at will, Natural armor +2
2 - Holy turning 5, DR 5/-, Natural armor +4, Energy Resistance 10
3 - Natural armor +6, mass heal 1/day
4 - DR 10/-, Natural armor +8, searing light 3/day
5 - Holy Turning 10, Natural armor +10, Energy Resistance 20, mass heal 2/day
6 - Celestial Wings, DR 15/-, Natural armor +12
7 - Holy Turning 15, DR 20/-, Natural armor +14, Energy Immunity, mass heal 3/day, sunburst 3/day, Champion’s Perfection

Aura of Good: Anyone who wears at least one of the pieces of the Armor radiates an Aura of Good as a paladin of his level.

Holy Insight: When wearing at least one piece of the Armor, the creature can instantly tell the alignment on the Good-Evil scale of any creature he can see. The effect essentially functions as a combined detect evil and detect good spell. If a ceature the wearer sees is under the effect of an undetectable alignment spell, the wearer realizes it and can make a check (1d20 + 2X + wearer’s Wisdom modifier vs. DC 20 + caster level of undetectable alignment spell) to discern its alignment anyway.

Spells: When wearing 1 or more pieces, a creature gains the ability to cast daylight at will. Then wearing 3 pieces, he can cast mass heal once per day. For every two additional pieces worn, the number of times he can cast mass heal per day increases by one. When wearing four or more pieces, he can cast searing light three times per day, and when wearing all seven pieces, he can cast sunburst three times per day. All spells are considered to have caster level 20.

Natural armor: The wearer of the Armor gains a bonus to natural armor equal to twice the number of pieces he is currently wearing. This stacks with all other effects that increase natural armor.

Holy Turning: When a creature wears two pieces of the Armor, he adds 5 to his effective cleric levels when turning undead. This bonus increases to 10 when he wears five pieces and 15 when he wears all seven.

Damage reduction: The wearer of two or more pieces of the Armor gains damage reduction according to how many pieces he wears. This damage reduction stacks with all others.

Energy Resistance: When the creature wears two to four pieces of the Armor, he gains Energy Resistance (acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic) 10. When he wears five or six pieces of the Armor, the resistance increases to 20. When he wears all seven pieces, he gains Energy Immunity (acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic).

Celestial Wings: The wearer of six or more of the pieces of armor grows wings as a half-celestial does. The Breastplate of Righteousness is designed to not interfere with the wings at all. The wearer gains a fly speed of twice his base land speed with good maneuverability.

Champion’s Perfection: When a creature puts on all seven pieces of the Armor, he becomes the ultimate mortal power of Good. His type changes to native outsider, and he does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe. He gains the ability to cast Maximized holy smite and gate at will (caster level 20), holy word at will (caster level equal to the Champion’s HD), resurrection 3 times per day and hallow once per day. The Champion's Aura of Good increases in strength dramatically, so that he has an aura as a paladin of twice the Champion's level. He is instantly alerted mentally if he is about to take any action that would endanger his standing with Heironeous.

[Eighth_Seraph]

*Applause* I really like this. The effects fit the verses very well, with the literalization of some of the apparently metaphorical parts working quite well (Nice application of the word "extinguish" with the Shield of Faith, for example). I'm not sure how well this all works in terms of power once one gets into epic levels, but at most all you would have to do is put 2x instead of simply X for some effects. I really like it a great deal, especially the use of aesthetic factors of the Breastplate and Shield into useful signs of the Armor's power.

One suggestion that I would have is to modify the Boots of Preparation a bit, maybe even renaming them the Boots of Peace (I've always heard them referred to as "the Gospel Boots of Peace") and granting immunity to fear effects (The LORD will give you peace). Also, the Helmet of Salvation and the Shield of Faith might grant some bonuses against Mind-Affecting abilities, especially when being manipulated into doing something contrary to Yahw-er, I mean-Heironeous' will. The two of them together could grant immunity, perhaps.

Just a minor nitpick, but the Aura of Good ability would be really cool if you were to make it so that a it doubles (or otherwise gets an obscene boost) when all seven pieces are worn. We are talking about the greatest mortal emissary of Good in the Multiverse, after all.

One question, though. Let's say that the Champion removes the Helmet of Salvation. Would he still need to be on a mission at all times (barring the grace period)? In other words, could a family man be named champion and take a few months to raise his children? I seriously want to use this in a game, so I'd like some details.

[Bakkan]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I like your suggestions. I think "Boots of Peace" sounds better than "Boots of Preparation," so I'll change that. I'll also add some immunities to the Boots and the Shield, and I like the idea of making the Aura of Good much stronger with seven pieces.

Regarding the Helmet, the requirement to be on a mission starts the first moment he puts on the Helmet while he has the Blessing of Heironeous. Generally, until he goes to his final reward or loses the Blessing, the Champion must be on a mission as described. The Champion can appeal directly to Heironeous for a sabbatical, but the length of the hiatus must be defined precisely when the request is submitted, and the reasons for the sabbatical must be compelling and logical. A family man desiring six months break to help raise his newborn son would probably be granted a sabbatical unless he was on a mission of great urgency, but someone who wanted to take some time off to focus on his basket-weaving hobby would not be.

[SurlySeraph]

This is a very good epic item set. Pun intended, but the non-pun sense applies too. *applauds*