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The Berserker Armor [PLATE +1]
"May we run rampant with hatred and wild joy just to crush with these fangs the true light that burns us." – The Beast of Darkness
Those who don the Berserker armor experience the following:- The armor circumvents their bodies natural limiters, allowing them to exude terrible strength and speed [STR & DEX become 18 in combat].
- Damage Reduction 1 as the armor allows the wearer to ignore the pain from injuries.
- If an attack would reduce the wearer's HP to 0 or less, roll 1d8+1 and you gain that much temporary HP as the armor inserts metal rods to bind and mend the body to keep the wearer fighting. Each round afterwards you lose 1hp from blood loss and the armor's insertions, if the wearer's HP would become 0 due to the armor, the wearer dies.
- Once the wearer's HP has been reduced to 0 or less the armor's Berserker Rage activates; only melee attacks can be made and are rolled with advantage, all melee damage is doubled, and finally the armor begins to take the shape of a beast of the player's choice and the wearer can no longer differentiate between friend or foe, all within melee range are attacked.
- The wearer may attempt to end the Berserker's Rage at anytime by making a CHA check, however doing so before combat ends costs 1 permanent point of Charisma. A pass means the Berserker Rage effect ends. A failure means you lose 1 permanent point of Charisma and become temporally consumed by The Beast of Darkness; i.e losing control off the character for a number of turns equal to your CHA score. Only a sleep spell or death will end the Beast's rampage.
- If the wearer's CHA becomes 0 the The Beast of Darkness consumes the wearer's mind and exerts control over the body permanently (becoming a NPC that seeks to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible).
- Once combat is over the wearer loses all temporary HP gained and their HP becomes 1 + CON MOD (min 1) and must rest for at least a turn before continuing with the adventure. After the current adventure ends the wearer must rest for a minimum number of days equal to their CON score.
[Referee Notes: To me the CHA score has always represented force of personality or "spirit/soul and seems a good sub for Berserk's Ode].
The passing of Berserk's creator Kentaro Miura was the first time that I felt a personal sense of loss for someone that wasn't family or friend. I started reading Berserk when I was 16, I'm turning 32 this year, literally half my life. I can say with no exaggeration that Berserk gave me my love of manga and dark fantasy. The above magic item is my small homage to Miura, thank you for everything, and rest in peace.
