“The Dawnwardens do not merely hold the line. They become it.”
Description
Granted only to the supreme commanders of Aeloria’s military orders, the Aurelian Highwarden Plate is less “armor” and more office made physical. Its ivory plates are edged in sun-gilt filigree and sanctified knotwork, each line etched shallow enough to be elegant, deep enough to survive a lifetime of campaigning. The helm is enclosed and austere, a faceless vow beneath a hooded mantle, with a narrow visor designed to reduce glare when marching into dawn-light or spellfire.
The cuirass bears the Dawnwardens’ insignia in layered relief, and the mantle is stitched with prayer-scripts so fine they look like embroidery until they catch light and briefly gleam like morning on a blade. When worn by a true oathbearer, the metal warms at the seams, as if the first sunrise of the world still lives in the armor’s joints.
Despite its imposing mass, the suit moves with disciplined grace: articulated plates slide like well-drilled ranks, and the inner gambeson is threaded with gold-laced rune-fiber that steadies breath, posture, and focus. In council chambers it reads as authority. On battlefields it reads as certainty.
Magical Properties and Features
1) Dawnforged Bulwark
- You gain a +3 bonus to AC while wearing this armor (this is a +3 set of plate mail).
- You gain Resistance to Radiant damage and Resistance to Necrotic damage.
2) Highwarden’s Bearing
Your presence carries the weight of a banner.
- You gain Charisma +2 and Wisdom +1 (to a maximum of 22 for Charisma; 21 for Wisdom).
- You gain a +3 bonus to Persuasion and Intimidation checks.
3) Mantle of the First Light
Aeloria’s authority shelters those who stand with you.
- You emit a 10-foot aura while conscious. Allies of your choice in the aura gain advantage on saving throws against being frightened or charmed.
- Additionally, once on each of your turns when an ally starts their turn in the aura, they gain temporary hit points equal to your proficiency bonus.
4) Dawnwarden Spellseal
The armor’s runework amplifies disciplined divine casting.
- You gain a +2 bonus to your spell attack rolls and a +2 bonus to your spell save DC.
- You have advantage on Constitution saving throws you make to maintain Concentration on a spell.
5) Edict of Purity
Your command becomes a liturgy that burns through corruption.
- Once per Long Rest, as an Action, you can unleash an edict in a 30-foot radius centered on you. Each enemy of your choice in the area must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC.
- Failure: The creature takes 6d8 Radiant damage, and cannot regain hit points until the start of your next turn.
- Success: Half damage, and it can regain hit points normally.
- Fiends and undead make this save with disadvantage.
6) Standard of Command
The armor remembers formation and rewards it.
- Proficiency Bonus times per Long Rest, when you or an ally within 30 feet fails a saving throw, you can use your Reaction to let them reroll the saving throw. They must use the new roll.
Armor Bonuses
- Attribute Bonus: Charisma +2, Wisdom +1, Constitution +1
- Armor Bonus: +3
- Skill Bonus: Persuasion +3, Intimidation +3
- Proficiency Bonus: None
Drawbacks and Risks
Even holy authority casts a long silhouette.
- Unmistakable Office: While wearing the Aurelian Highwarden Plate, you have disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to avoid notice in well-lit areas or formal settings. This suit was not forged for anonymity.
- Oath-Anchor: If you willingly betray the Dawnwardens’ charge (DM’s discretion), the armor’s mantle dulls and you lose Dawnwarden Spellseal and Standard of Command until you complete a Long Rest and undergo a 1-hour rite of atonement (prayer, confession, or formal penance).
Lore and History
Only a handful of these suits exist, each commissioned at the ascension of a new Highwarden and inscribed with the lineage of command. They are crafted in consecrated forges where no bargaining is permitted, only vows. Tradition holds that the mantle-cloth is woven from banners recovered from lost battlefields, and that each breastplate bears a hidden notch on its inner rim, cut for every Dawnwarden order that has fallen and been raised again.
When a Highwarden dies, their armor is not inherited lightly. It is reclaimed, purified, and held until the faith agrees on the next bearer. The suit does not choose favorites, but it does “settle” more easily on those who carry conviction without cruelty.
Additional Roleplay Features
- Morning Hush: At dawn, the filigree softly brightens for a minute, then fades, as if the armor takes a single calm breath.
- Script of Authority: When you speak a vow or formal command, the collar-scripts faintly shimmer, readable only within arm’s reach.
- Aeloria’s Witness: In moments of dire choice, your reflection in polished metal looks a heartbeat steadier than you feel.
Armor Information
- Armor Type: Plate (Legendary)
- Armor Class: 21 (18 + 3)
- Weight: 65 lb.
- Market Value: 55,000 gp
- Black Market Value: 90,000 gp (often traded as favors, not coin)
Summary of Armor
The Aurelian Highwarden Plate is a Legendary +3 plate reserved for the leaders of Aeloria’s Dawnwardens. It fortifies the bearer with radiant and necrotic resistance, bolsters commanding presence, projects a protective morale aura, and significantly enhances spellcasting through improved spell attack/DC and superior Concentration. It is a battlefield crown: brilliant, heavy with responsibility, and impossible to ignore.
Plate consists of shaped, interlocking metal plates to cover the entire body. A suit of plate includes gauntlets, heavy leather boots, a visored helmet, and thick layers of padding underneath the armor. Buckles and straps distribute the weight over the body.
Notes: Bonus: Magic, Resistance: Necrotic, Resistance: Radiant, Bonus: Spell Save DC, Bonus: Spell Attacks, Bonus: Charisma Score, Bonus: Constitution Score, Bonus: Wisdom Score, Bonus: Intimidation, Bonus: Persuasion, Buff, Combat, Str. 15 Required, Stealth Disadvantage
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