Tuesday Magic Item – Incense of Swift Travel

Voddick watched the smoke curl up from the incense set on the milestone, he whispered to Gollaon.  “It is rare to see such ceremonies, their roots obviously date far back.”

“Well spotted,” replied Gollaon with an appreciative raised eyebrow.  “I do would place it origins in the mists of time before the Imperium.”

“Will it still work?”

“I suppose that we will find out soon enough.”

Incense of Swift Travel

This incense must be made specifically for each road requiring either careful study of the route or access to an existing formula.  It is usually made in discs or coils to be placed on shrines or milestones.

A piece of incense must be burned before a journey complete with appropriate ritual appeal to the spirits of the road ahead, this requires a successful Knowledge (Religion) check DC 14 or Perform (Oratory) check DC 18, if successful done, the effects of the incense last for one day plus one day for each five points above the DC the check is.

The effects of the incense are:

• A 10% bonus to the amount of distance they can travel in a day.
• Reroll one save or skill check directly related to that journey.

Each piece of incense is good for up to three people or animals.

Aura faint abjuration; CL 5th
Slot none; Price 60; Weight –
Construction Requirements
Brew Potion or Craft Wondrous Item and 5 ranks in Craft (Alchemy or Incense Maker), prayer; Cost 30

For D&D 5E:

Incense, common

First and last paragraph as above

A piece of incense must be burned before a journey complete with appropriate ritual appeal to the spirits of the road ahead, this requires a successful Intelligence (Religion) roll DC 12 or Charisma (Perform) roll DC 15, if successful done, the effects of the incense last for one day plus one day for each three points above the DC the roll is.

The effects of the incense are:

• A 10% bonus to the amount of distance they can travel in a day.
• Reroll one save or ability roll directly related to that journey.

Notes: Something for the travel theme of the month and incense and sacrifices is something that is not played with much in the main body of fantasy RPGs.  This works even in the Sea of Stars as it is an appeal to the elementals and spirits of the roadway rather than to major gods.  The Trail Guides are companions to the theme.

Art “Spring Rain Collection (Harusame shū), vol. 1: “Offering Incense to the Deity of the Stone” (Yōgōishi), from the series History of Kamakura (Kamakura shi)” by Kubo Shunman (Japanese, 1757–1820), Japan via The Metropolitan Museum of Art is licensed under CC0 1.0.