This article is part of a series for both the April 2020 RPG Blog Carnival and the 2020 Blogging A to Z Challenge.

Bant is one of the five shards of Alara. Unlike the other four, this one is a haven of order, honor, and community. Traditions have thrived, and are protected by innumerable knightly orders, warrior angels, and a caste system designed to support the good of the many over the good of the few. Monks study the words of ancient prayers and mages and clerics practice magic of healing, prevention, protection, and growth, all the while druids and laborers care for the rolling fields, bringing nourishment to the population.

Bant is a land of towering castles and leotau-riding knights, angels and high castles on rolling meadows. It is a world that loves order and values the group. The ruling establishment is noble and righteous, and the society is well-ordered with a strong sense of right and wrong. There are still battles held on this shard, but they are battles of noble cause. The fighting isn’t just for the sake of fighting, but as a means to find resolution. When two factions disagreed, they have a structured combat to resolve the issue. Rather than risk the health of entire armies, each group picks one champion and sends him or her as their representative.

«Five worlds share one fate.»

For your campaign: Sigils

Knights in Bant practice the codes and forms of martial perfection, weighed down by the medallions of honor and patronage known as sigils. Sigils are magic-infused marks of support and allegiance in Bant. Royal Houses, nobles, knightly orders, towns, monasteries, and most notoriously angels are able to grant sigils to signify their support for someone. A few sigils can be bought, but most must be earned in combat or through noble deeds. All of them empower their wearer increasing their strength, healing their wounds, boosting their endurance or some other way.

New magic item: Sigils

Very similar to supernatural gifts (see DungeonMaster’s Guide, p. 227), sigils are different from blessing as they actually are embedded in an object, usually a golden medal with an angelic motif. Sigils can be simply carried with you in order to work, and they don’t require attunement. The best known sigils in Bant are the Smile of Jhess, the Serul Cove, the Truth and the Akrasan sigil.

• Truth: This sigil is earned by a decade of dedication to the so-called Ideal of Greatest Weight, and whoever bears the sigil becomes physically incapable of lying. While carrying the sigil, you are affected by a permanent zone of truth (DC )centered on you for which you can’t attempt a saving throw. If you do, the sigil breaks and becomes nonmagical. The sigil and its effects can be recognized with a Religion skill check (DC 13), which may make NPC attitude change towards it user.
• Akrasan Sigil: Once a year, Akrasa holds a joust that draws knights and their leotaus from every nation on Bant. The prize is an Akrasan sigil, but the true reward is the angel’s kiss. While carrying the sigil, you can use an action to replicate the effects of a hallow spell around you, except it has a Charisma saving thow with DC 16 and a duration of Concentration up to one hour. Once activated, you can’t use the sigil until you get a long rest.

Have the deities in your campaign ever given special blessings? Have you wished them to be objects instead? Let us know if these will be useful to you in any way and tell us all the details!