LunarHouseRules/ExpandedLunarArtifacts
Strength of the Pact
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The idea that Lunars receive Artifacts at the same rate as Solars stuck me as rather silly. Solars are individuals who stumble upon the remnants of their First Age incarnations, most of which are guarded quite carefully. That's why they get so few Artifacts for their expenditure. DBs and Abyssals are parts of sprawling empires that regularly produce Daiklaives, magical plate, and the like. That's why they get so many Artifacts.
Lunars fall somewhere in between. The Silver Pact is an organization that has been actively creating magical items for the last thousand years, unlike the Solars, and it doesn't hurt that their First Age weaponry hasn't been confiscated and placed in heavily guarded tombs. Moonsilver is relatively common compared to Starmetal, and Lunars even has a Charm, Moonsilver Scenting Sense, to aid them in materials-gathering. Plus, there are twice as many Lunars as Solars and Siderials put together, and more manpower means more Artifacts passed down.
However, moonsilver is not nearly as common as jade, and the Silver Pact is less likely to give you items than a Deathlord, who has ghostly slaves manufacturing Daiklaives for him. It still follows, however, that an organization the size of the Silver Pact would be able to muster a greater surfeit of magical goods than the newly-resurfaced Solars and the materials-strapped Siderials. Whether aspring heroes can keep their treasures is a different matter.
Lunars have different property values than the Realm and other such "soft" nations. In the Realm, the daiklaive is yours because it is your birthright, and you have a little plate on the blade that says, "This Daiklaive belongs to X." In the Silver Pact, an artifact is yours because every single person who tried to take it from you ended up in a pool of their own blood. Your comrades in the Silver Pact have every right to challenge you for the ownership of your gear, and only their respect for you prevents them from doing so. The better the gear, the more others will covet it, so if you're bearing Floating Silver Dream, the ikth-ya who could pound your ass into the dirt better think you're worthy of that blade.
Tools of the Beast-Gods
This background modification is intended to reflect the prevalence of magical artifacts in the Silver Pact, and the trials one must go through to hold on to them. To have the honor of bearing an item of great power, you must have proven yourself worthy to the Pact as a whole, earning Renown in the eyes of your elders. Each level of the background provides you with a certain number of artifact points to spend. However, a maximum Artifact level is also listed. To go over this Artifact maximum, you must purchase a point of Renown for each level above the maximum.
X - You have no trinkets of magical power. Perhaps you are not trusted?
* - You have 2 points to spend on Artifacts, and an artifact maximum of 1.
** - You have 3 points to spend, and a maximum of 2.
*** - 4 points, maximum 3.
**** - 6 points, maximum 3.
***** - 8 points, maximum 3.
Notes
My last incarnation of this page, which contained comments from AlecAustin, Jabberwocky, and FourWillowsWeeping, died in fire, so I reposted this one. Enjoy! hplovescats\
Non-Silver Pact Lunars gain the benefits and drawbacks of this background, but Casteless Lunars use the standard Solar Artifact background.
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