House Rules

I Chih

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Auspicious Treasures

There are few magical talismans left in the hsien heritage in the Fifth Age. Many of the devices left behind were created by the gods themselves. Others were gifts from other shen. Others' origins are complete mysteries. However, it is known that the hsien created some of their own Auspicious Treasures. The technique for doing so is highly ritualistic and not known to many Shinma in this Age. However, for those who discover the proper means, the system for creating a magic talisman is outlined below.

• A talisman is normally imbued with only one effect, which is based on any I Chih (Storyteller's discretion). This is permanent, though the Storyteller may impose an activation cost of yugen to make the I Chih work. For this reason, most Treasures are created as gifts for others -- the talisman cannot be made to do what the creator cannot already do with his normal I Chih.
  
  
• There is a specific ritual involved in the creation of an Auspicious Treasure, though it may vary from region to region, Court to Court. Spirits are invoked, prayers are uttered, meditation is engaged for hours on end, and all the trappings of divinity are acquired in order to please the heavens for permission to create the device.
  
  
• The object of the Auspicious Treasure, whatever it may be -- a weapon, a piece of jewelry, a vase, any one thing of a host of choices -- must be of the highest quality. Often, the hsien must pay enormous fees to a master artisan if he cannot do the work himself.
  
  
• The magic of the Treasure's creation resembles a ritual effect of the very I Chih that the hsien wishes to imbue the item with, with the following changes:
  
  1. After all modifier levels, the success threshold is then doubled before Fortunes are calculated (almost insuring this effect must be performed as a "grandiose" ritual).
  2. The hsien spends one yugen per roll instead of one yugen for the whole spell (or even more yugen in the event of Cohort and non-Cohort effects; such spells are very costly indeed!).
  3. The hsien must sacrifice one permanent point of Chi -- Yin or Yang, depending on the Chi balance of the I Chih -- in order to seal the magic in the device. Multiple I Chih will demand additional sacrifices!

Needless to say, this last price is the primary reason so few Treasures abound. Few hsien are willing to give up their precious Chi. Fortunately, this Chi can be earned back normally, and although the hsien gives up the permanent point, she retains half of her temporary Chi checks.