--Brigid the Red, a dragon living secretly among humans
THE OATH STONE
Artifact (Minor)
DESCRIPTION
The Oath Stone is an ancient relic forged in the Age of Law by celestial smiths who sought to bind mortals to their word. This fist-sized sphere of polished obsidian bears golden runes that glow when oaths are spoken nearby. Legend claims it was created to enforce the first treaties between gods and dragons, ensuring neither party could betray sacred compacts. The stone radiates an aura of absolute authority, and those who handle it feel the weight of every promise they've ever made.
The Oath Stone is an ancient relic forged in the Age of Law by celestial smiths who sought to bind mortals to their word. This fist-sized sphere of polished obsidian bears golden runes that glow when oaths are spoken nearby. Legend claims it was created to enforce the first treaties between gods and dragons, ensuring neither party could betray sacred compacts. The stone radiates an aura of absolute authority, and those who handle it feel the weight of every promise they've ever made.
POWERS
The Oath Stone has both constant and activated effects, as well as a few special considerations.
The Oath Stone has both constant and activated effects, as well as a few special considerations.
Constant Abilities:
Oath Detection Aura: The Oath Stone continuously detects all spoken oaths, vows, and promises made within 60 feet. Any creature that makes a deliberate promise while within this radius becomes bound to the stone. The stone glows brightly when an oath is spoken and records the exact wording of the promise. This is a supernatural ability that cannot be dispelled.
Truth Sense: The wielder gains a +20 insight bonus on Sense Motive checks to determine if someone is lying about a promise or oath. This bonus applies only to matters directly related to sworn oaths.
Activated Abilities:
Oath Binding (Su): As a standard action, the wielder can force a creature within 30 feet to make a Will save (DC 25) or be compelled to speak truthfully about any promises they have made. The creature must answer three questions about their oaths. This ability can be used three times per day.
Mark of the Oath-Keeper (Su): Once per day, the wielder can touch a willing creature and grant them immunity to the Oath Stone's punishment for 24 hours. This allows the creature to renegotiate or be released from an oath without suffering retribution.
Special Qualities:
Indestructible: The Oath Stone cannot be damaged by any means short of a wish or miracle spell cast specifically to destroy it.
Oath Registry: The stone maintains a supernatural record of all oaths sworn in its presence. The wielder can spend 1 minute concentrating to review any oath recorded by the stone.
Oath Detection Aura: The Oath Stone continuously detects all spoken oaths, vows, and promises made within 60 feet. Any creature that makes a deliberate promise while within this radius becomes bound to the stone. The stone glows brightly when an oath is spoken and records the exact wording of the promise. This is a supernatural ability that cannot be dispelled.
Truth Sense: The wielder gains a +20 insight bonus on Sense Motive checks to determine if someone is lying about a promise or oath. This bonus applies only to matters directly related to sworn oaths.
Activated Abilities:
Oath Binding (Su): As a standard action, the wielder can force a creature within 30 feet to make a Will save (DC 25) or be compelled to speak truthfully about any promises they have made. The creature must answer three questions about their oaths. This ability can be used three times per day.
Mark of the Oath-Keeper (Su): Once per day, the wielder can touch a willing creature and grant them immunity to the Oath Stone's punishment for 24 hours. This allows the creature to renegotiate or be released from an oath without suffering retribution.
Special Qualities:
Indestructible: The Oath Stone cannot be damaged by any means short of a wish or miracle spell cast specifically to destroy it.
Oath Registry: The stone maintains a supernatural record of all oaths sworn in its presence. The wielder can spend 1 minute concentrating to review any oath recorded by the stone.
Restriction
The Oath Stone cannot be used to bind a creature to an oath that would require them to commit an evil act (as defined by the DM). Any attempt to do so causes the stone to go dormant for 24 hours and inflicts 4d6 points of damage on the wielder.
OATH BREACH MECHANICS
Valid Oaths: An oath becomes binding when a creature deliberately makes a promise, vow, or sworn statement within the stone's 60-foot detection radius. The promise must be specific and include clear terms. Casual statements ("I'll try my best") do not trigger binding. Formal oaths ("I swear upon my honor to deliver the message by dawn") always trigger binding.
Detection Range: The Oath Stone can detect oath breaches anywhere on the same plane of existence once an oath has been recorded. Distance is irrelevant after the initial binding.
Breach Determination: The stone determines breach through supernatural judgment of intent and action. It evaluates:
* Whether the oath-breaker had the ability to fulfill the promise
* Whether they made genuine effort to honor their word
* Whether they deliberately chose to break the oath
Loopholes based on exact wording provide no protection—the stone judges the spirit of the promise, not merely the letter. A creature that is physically prevented from fulfilling an oath (imprisoned, killed, etc.) is not considered an oath-breaker unless they engineered their own inability.
Initial Punishment
When an oath is broken, the violator immediately suffers the following effects:
Searing Pain: The oath-breaker takes 3d6 points of damage (no save). This damage cannot be reduced by resistance or immunity.
Mark of Shame: A glowing golden brand appears on the oath-breaker's forehead, visible to all creatures. This mark grants all creatures a +4 bonus on Sense Motive checks against the oath-breaker and imposes a -4 penalty on the oath-breaker's Diplomacy and Bluff checks. The mark is a curse effect (caster level 20th).
Guilt Compulsion: The oath-breaker must succeed on a Will save (DC 25) or be compelled to confess their broken oath to the next intelligent creature they encounter. Failure to confess within 24 hours results in the oath-breaker becoming shaken (this condition does not stack with itself but persists until confession occurs). If 72 hours pass without confession to an intelligent creature, the compulsion becomes irresistible—the oath-breaker is magically compelled to actively seek out an intelligent creature to confess to, and cannot rest, hide, or avoid intelligent beings until they do so.
Escalating Penalties
Searing Pain: The oath-breaker takes 3d6 points of damage (no save). This damage cannot be reduced by resistance or immunity.
Mark of Shame: A glowing golden brand appears on the oath-breaker's forehead, visible to all creatures. This mark grants all creatures a +4 bonus on Sense Motive checks against the oath-breaker and imposes a -4 penalty on the oath-breaker's Diplomacy and Bluff checks. The mark is a curse effect (caster level 20th).
Guilt Compulsion: The oath-breaker must succeed on a Will save (DC 25) or be compelled to confess their broken oath to the next intelligent creature they encounter. Failure to confess within 24 hours results in the oath-breaker becoming shaken (this condition does not stack with itself but persists until confession occurs). If 72 hours pass without confession to an intelligent creature, the compulsion becomes irresistible—the oath-breaker is magically compelled to actively seek out an intelligent creature to confess to, and cannot rest, hide, or avoid intelligent beings until they do so.
Escalating Penalties
For each day the oath remains unfulfilled after being broken, the punishment intensifies. The stone grants a brief mercy period in the first week, allowing the oath-breaker a window to make amends before divine retribution reaches its full severity:
* Day 2-7: The oath-breaker takes 3d6 points of damage each dawn (no save) and suffers a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks.
* Day 8-30: Damage increases to 6d6 per dawn. The penalty increases to -4. The oath-breaker cannot benefit from natural or magical healing until they make genuine effort to fulfill or atone for the broken oath.
* Day 31+: Damage increases to 10d6 per dawn. The penalty increases to -6. The oath-breaker gains one negative level each week (Fortitude DC 25 to remove after 24 hours, as per standard negative level rules). These negative levels stack.
Ending the Punishment
* Day 2-7: The oath-breaker takes 3d6 points of damage each dawn (no save) and suffers a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks.
* Day 8-30: Damage increases to 6d6 per dawn. The penalty increases to -4. The oath-breaker cannot benefit from natural or magical healing until they make genuine effort to fulfill or atone for the broken oath.
* Day 31+: Damage increases to 10d6 per dawn. The penalty increases to -6. The oath-breaker gains one negative level each week (Fortitude DC 25 to remove after 24 hours, as per standard negative level rules). These negative levels stack.
Ending the Punishment
The curse ends when:
* The oath-breaker fulfills the original promise (or as much as is still possible)
* The oath-breaker performs a quest of atonement determined by the Oath Stone's wielder (minimum one month of service)
* The creature to whom the promise was made formally releases the oath-breaker
* An atonement spell is cast by a cleric of 15th level or higher, followed by a successful DC 30 caster level check
* The oath-breaker dies (punishment does not follow into afterlife or affect resurrected versions unless the same soul deliberately breaks a new oath)
Multiple Breaches
* The oath-breaker fulfills the original promise (or as much as is still possible)
* The oath-breaker performs a quest of atonement determined by the Oath Stone's wielder (minimum one month of service)
* The creature to whom the promise was made formally releases the oath-breaker
* An atonement spell is cast by a cleric of 15th level or higher, followed by a successful DC 30 caster level check
* The oath-breaker dies (punishment does not follow into afterlife or affect resurrected versions unless the same soul deliberately breaks a new oath)
Multiple Breaches
A creature that breaks multiple oaths suffers the effects of each breach simultaneously. Damage stacks, and the worst penalty to rolls applies (penalties do not stack with each other).
CURSE/DRAWBACK
Claiming ownership of the Oath Stone carries its own hazards.
Wielder's Burden: Any creature that claims the Oath Stone as their own or carries it for more than 24 hours becomes subject to its judgment. The wielder cannot break any formal oath as defined in the Valid Oaths section—deliberate, specific promises with clear terms and explicit conditions—without suffering the full punishment as described above. Casual remarks, off-hand comments, and vague statements do not bind the wielder, regardless of context. However, the wielder is held to a stricter standard of clarity than other oath-breakers: ambiguous or poorly-defined oaths are interpreted against the wielder's favor, and the stone requires only a preponderance of evidence (rather than absolute certainty) that an oath was broken.
Compulsive Honesty: The wielder suffers a -10 penalty on all Bluff checks and cannot voluntarily make false promises or oaths. Any attempt to do so causes 2d6 points of damage and fails automatically.
Weight of Justice: The wielder becomes obsessed with enforcing oaths and punishing oath-breakers. Each week, the wielder must succeed on a Will save (DC 20) or become preoccupied with hunting down known oath-breakers, spending at least 4 hours per day on this pursuit. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect.
Separation Anxiety: If the wielder is separated from the Oath Stone by more than 100 feet for more than 1 hour, they suffer a -2 penalty on all rolls until reunited with it. This penalty increases by -1 for each additional day of separation (maximum -10).
Claiming ownership of the Oath Stone carries its own hazards.
Wielder's Burden: Any creature that claims the Oath Stone as their own or carries it for more than 24 hours becomes subject to its judgment. The wielder cannot break any formal oath as defined in the Valid Oaths section—deliberate, specific promises with clear terms and explicit conditions—without suffering the full punishment as described above. Casual remarks, off-hand comments, and vague statements do not bind the wielder, regardless of context. However, the wielder is held to a stricter standard of clarity than other oath-breakers: ambiguous or poorly-defined oaths are interpreted against the wielder's favor, and the stone requires only a preponderance of evidence (rather than absolute certainty) that an oath was broken.
Compulsive Honesty: The wielder suffers a -10 penalty on all Bluff checks and cannot voluntarily make false promises or oaths. Any attempt to do so causes 2d6 points of damage and fails automatically.
Weight of Justice: The wielder becomes obsessed with enforcing oaths and punishing oath-breakers. Each week, the wielder must succeed on a Will save (DC 20) or become preoccupied with hunting down known oath-breakers, spending at least 4 hours per day on this pursuit. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect.
Separation Anxiety: If the wielder is separated from the Oath Stone by more than 100 feet for more than 1 hour, they suffer a -2 penalty on all rolls until reunited with it. This penalty increases by -1 for each additional day of separation (maximum -10).
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