Best Relics?

[BowStreetRunner]

I have been playing around with a Pious Templar build and have not chosen a deity yet for the build. Since the PrC has the True Believer feat as a prerequisite, I think it would be worth taking into account the relics which are available to each deity. Considering only the 46 relics listed in the Magic Item Compendium, which deity do you believe has the best relics to offer a Pious Templar?

[Cog]

An Orc Dungeoncrasher / Pious Templar of Gruumsh with the Shield of the Severed Hand could be pretty fun, probably as a shieldbashing build.

[BowStreetRunner]

Okay, to my knowledge these are all of the relics in the core books. I know there are versions of some of these in Complete Divine and elsewhere, but the Magic Item Compendium has newer versions of these that take precedence.

Bahamut - Gauntlets of the Talon, Platinum Helm
Boccob - Tome of Ancient Lore, Rod of Reversal
Corellon Larethian - Millenial Chainmail, Bow of the Wintermoon
Ehlonna - Raptor Arrow, Ehlonna's Seed
Erythnul - Morningstar of the Many, Executioner's Hood
Fharlanghn - Rapier of Unerring Direction, Boots of the Unending Journey
Garl Glittergold - Hooked Hammer of the Hearthfire, Gem of the Glitterdepth
Gruumsh - Shield of the Severed Hand, Spear of Retribution
Heironeous - Sword of Virtue Beyond Reproach, Helm of the Purple Plume
Hextor - Chain of Obeisance, Gauntlets of the Blood-Lord
Kord -Sword of the Mighty Thews, Belt of the Champion
Kurtulmak - Skewer-of-Gnomes, Enveloping Pit
Lolth - Rod of the Recluse, Vestments of Ebonsilk
Moradin - Shield of the Resolute, Axe of Ancestral Virtue
Nerull - Tabard of the Disembodied, Cense of the Last Breath
Obad-Hai - Armor of the Fallen Leaves, Staff of the Unyielding Oak
Olidammara - Rapier of Desperate Measures, Pipes of Frenzied Revelry
Pelor - Dawnstar, Shard of the Sun
St. Cuthbert - Cudgel that Never Forgets, Tabard of the Great Crusade
Tiamat - Chromatic Rod, Dragonscale Cloak
Vecna - Dagger of Denial, Tome of the Stilled Tongue
Wee Jas - Ruby Blade, Scrolls of Uncertain Provenance
Yondalla - Map of Unseen Lands, Cornucopia of the Needful

Since a Pious Templar will have both Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization in their deity's favored weapon, several sets of relics become more attractive (Erythnul, Gruumsh, Heironeous, Kord, Kurtulmak, Obad-Hai, Olidammara, St. Cuthbert, Vecna, or Wee Jas) as one of the relics is also a favored weapon of their deity.

Other than that, I am not sure there is if anything else stands out to me about these that would help me to decide.

[Emperor Tippy]

I've found the Enveloping pit to be the most useful.

[BIGMamaSloth]

Oh wow. theres an actual relic called "The cudgel that never Forgets"? Go with that. An ancient Divine artifact called "The big stick that knows what you did that one time" is a million times better than any possible mechanical effect.

[Garwain]

I'm playing a cleric of St-Cuthbert, and yes, the relic sounds like so much fun. Actually, it knows any evil your target has done. I'm looking forward to deliver a few punchlines through the cudgel

[eggs]

Oh wow. theres an actual relic called "The cudgel that never Forgets"? Go with that.
That's also the most hilarious one - it's a sentient item that intimidates creatures by rambling on about everything it's seen anyone around it do wrong, and if it doesn't know what they've done wrong, it guesses.

I think the best item is the Censer of Lost Breath, but it would shoe a Pious Templar into Blackguard spells, which I'm not familiar enough with to compare to Paladin spells.

For a Pious Templar, the safest bets are probably either the Ghost Touch Rapier that ignores miss chances or Heironeous's Holy Sword that delays mind effects.

[Socratov]

I've heard a friend use raptor arrows to decapitate by RAW anything. Even with invulnerability to vorpal by making the raptor arrows vorpal and dismissing surge of fortune in a ring of spellstoring. (and some trick to make the vorpal always work). It was quite the dirty build and it may have been not so nice but it worked by raw...

[TuggyNE]

I've heard a friend use raptor arrows to decapitate by RAW anything. Even with invulnerability to vorpal by making the raptor arrows vorpal and dismissing surge of fortune in a ring of spellstoring. (and some trick to make the vorpal always work). It was quite the dirty build and it may have been not so nice but it worked by raw...

I find myself intrigued (and extremely skeptical that it actually functioned), so would you mind trying to dig up the details of his trick?

[Mithril Leaf]

I've found the Enveloping pit to be the most useful.

Pretty much this. Dirt cheap and tons of utility is a good combination.

[Darrin]

Corellon Larethian - Millenial Chainmail



Fast Healing 3 is pretty hard to come by in an item. Means you have to play an elf, though.




Nerull - Tabard of the Disembodied, Censer of the Last Breath



This tabard is interesting. 10 rounds of ethereal jaunt, except your spells affect the material plane.

For the Censer, see if you can get ahold of some Chaos Flasks (100 GP, Planar Handbook). You can turn the flask into any kind of powdered gem you want with a Wisdom check, and there's no GP limit.




St. Cuthbert - Tabard of the Great Crusade



I like this one, too. Once per day, one of your allies can grab the tabard as a move action and get a heal spell. If you're going for the Cudgel That Never Forgets, you can double up on relics with this one.




Lolth - Vestments of Ebonsilk



Continuous spiderclimb, then at 13HD you get continuous freedom of movement.




Ehlonna - Ehlonna's Seed Pouch



Probably the best bang for your buck. 3/day, you can get a treant, wall of thorns, or an 11d6 fire seed.

[Socratov]

I find myself intrigued (and extremely skeptical that it actually functioned), so would you mind trying to dig up the details of his trick?

well, i don't know the exact trick anymore, but (further) enchanting the raptor arrows with vorpal (because raptor arrows are slashing) makes it possible to behead enemies with arrows. the cost is great since the arrows don't get destroyed, but return. then surge of fortune gives you a great bonus or, if you dimiss it, a free natural 20 -> resulting in someone's head rolling. the last part eludes me: the way to overcome the ways of overcoming headlessness...

[BowStreetRunner]

...surge of fortune gives you a great bonus or, if you dimiss it, a free natural 20 -> resulting in someone's head rolling...

The vorpal property requires both a natural 20 and a successful roll to confirm the critical hit, so doubtless this trick includes some effect that automatically confirms a crit.