Psychic Artifacts & Relics

Legendary Items of Psychic Might

Throughout the Imperium's long history, certain psychic artifacts have gained legendary status. These unique relics grant their bearers extraordinary abilities, often tied to specific chapters, orders, or factions.

Imperial Artifacts

The Imperium's most revered chapters and orders maintain powerful artifacts that enhance their psychic warriors or defend against warp influences.

The Armor of Antilochus

Ultramarines
Armor of Antilochus

This ancient artificer armor once belonged to Antilochus, one of the first Librarians of the Ultramarines after the Horus Heresy. The armor's psycho-reactive material amplifies the wearer's connection to the warp while maintaining stability.

Tabletop Effects

  • Grants +1 Willpower to the wearer
  • Allows re-rolls of Psychic tests once per turn
  • Provides 2+ armor save and 5+ invulnerable save

Legend says Antilochus successfully resisted possession by a Lord of Change for seven days, using the armor's unique properties to contain and eventually banish the daemon.

The Black Lotus Icon

Sisters of Silence
Black Lotus Icon

A mysterious null-energy focus used by the Silent Sisterhood. This ancient device amplifies the Sisters' natural pariah gene, allowing them to project waves of anti-psychic energy in combat situations.

Tabletop Effects

  • Once per battle, unleashes a nova blast of null-energy
  • All enemy PSYKER units within 12" suffer D3 mortal wounds
  • Enemy units within 6" cannot use psychic powers in their next Psychic phase

The Black Lotus Icon was created during the Age of Strife from materials harvested from a dead star. It contains a fragment of the anti-psychic energy that emanates from the core of the Black Ships used to transport psykers to Terra.

The Cogitator Intensifier

Grey Knights
Cogitator Intensifier

A rare device that enhances the cerebral implants of Grey Knights Librarians. When activated, it temporarily boosts cognitive function and psychic potential, allowing for more complex and powerful manifestations.

Tabletop Effects

  • Improves the Librarian's psychic phase capabilities
  • Allows the psyker to attempt to manifest one additional psychic power per turn
  • When manifesting Smite, it inflicts D6 mortal wounds instead of D3

The Cogitator Intensifier was developed by Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl in collaboration with the Grey Knights, using technology recovered from an ancient vault on Mars.

Crown of the Psykanium

Astra Telepathica
Crown of the Psykanium

A ceremonial crown worn by high-ranking members of the Astra Telepathica during important rituals. The crown contains psycho-reactive circuits that enhance the wearer's telepathic range and precision.

Tabletop Effects

  • Increases the range of the wearer's psychic powers by 6"
  • Allows the wearer to target units that are not visible, provided they are within range
  • Once per battle, can be used to send a psychic message to any friendly unit on the battlefield, allowing them to act as if it were their turn

The Crown of the Psykanium dates back to the early days of the Imperium, crafted under the Emperor's supervision to coordinate the nascent Astropathic Corps during the Great Crusade.

The Tears of the Emperor

Adeptus Custodes
Tears of the Emperor

A set of crystalline formations said to be Emperor's actual tears, shed during the creation of the Primarchs. These shards contain a fraction of the Emperor's psychic essence and offer protection against warp entities.

Tabletop Effects

  • Bearer gains a 4+ invulnerable save against mortal wounds caused by psychic powers
  • All DAEMON units within 6" suffer -1 to their hit rolls
  • Once per battle, can be activated to nullify all psychic powers within 12" for one turn

The Tears of the Emperor are kept in a stasis field within the Imperial Palace when not in use. Only the most trusted Custodians are permitted to carry them into battle, and only against the most dire daemonic threats.

The Scrolls of Magnus

Space Wolves
Scrolls of Magnus

Fragments of psychic lore written by Magnus the Red before his fall to Chaos, preserved by the Space Wolves as a reminder of the dangers of unbridled psychic power. Despite their reluctance to use sorcery, these scrolls contain invaluable defensive techniques.

Tabletop Effects

  • The bearer knows one additional psychic power from any discipline
  • Each time the bearer successfully denies a psychic power, the enemy psyker who attempted to manifest it suffers 1 mortal wound
  • The bearer can attempt to deny one additional psychic power each turn

The Scrolls are technically forbidden by the Rune Priests of the Space Wolves, who maintain they are kept only to better understand their enemies. Nevertheless, they are consulted in times of great need, when the chapter faces powerful sorcerous foes.

Chaos Artifacts

The forces of Chaos possess corrupted relics that enhance their sorcerous abilities, often at a terrible cost to their users or those around them.

The Crystal of Tzeentch

Thousand Sons
Crystal of Tzeentch

A mysterious ever-changing crystal that contains a fragment of Tzeentch's ever-shifting essence. The crystal constantly morphs in form and color, reflecting the chaotic nature of its patron god.

Tabletop Effects

  • At the start of each Psychic phase, randomly determine a benefit:
  • +2 to Psychic tests for one power
  • Cast one additional power
  • Double the range of one psychic power
  • On a result of 1, the bearer suffers D3 mortal wounds as the crystal turns on them

The Crystal of Tzeentch is said to contain visions of multiple possible futures, granting its bearer flashes of prescience but slowly driving them insane with forbidden knowledge.

The Tome of Malefic Dreams

Chaos Sorcerers
Tome of Malefic Dreams

A forbidden grimoire bound in human skin that contains the nightmares of a thousand slain psykers. The text within constantly shifts and changes, revealing different incantations and rituals to its reader.

Tabletop Effects

  • Before the battle, select up to three psychic powers from any discipline
  • The bearer knows these powers in addition to their others
  • Roll a D6 each time the bearer manifests a power from the Tome; on a 1, they suffer a mortal wound

The Tome is rumored to have been created by a conclave of renegade Librarians from various chapters who turned to Chaos during the 13th Black Crusade. It feeds on the psychic essence of its owner over time.

Talisman of Twisted Fate

Death Guard
Talisman of Twisted Fate

A corroded pendant containing a bubbling mix of toxic fluids that shifts and changes according to the will of Nurgle. The bearer can manipulate disease and decay through psychic manipulation.

Tabletop Effects

  • At the start of your Movement phase, select one enemy unit within 12". That unit suffers 1 mortal wound.
  • If the bearer manifests a psychic power with a Warp Charge of 7 or more, the closest enemy unit within 7" also suffers 1 mortal wound.
  • Bearer gains +1 to Psychic tests when manifesting Nurgle-aligned powers.

The Talisman was created by Mortarion himself after his ascension to daemonhood, containing samples of the most virulent plagues from Nurgle's Garden.

Butcher's Nails Amplifier

World Eaters
Butcher's Nails Amplifier

A horrific device that interfaces with the infamous Butcher's Nails implants, converting the bearer's rage and pain into uncontrolled psychic manifestations that enhance combat prowess.

Tabletop Effects

  • Once per turn, when the bearer loses a wound, roll a D6. On a 4+, every enemy model within 3" suffers a mortal wound.
  • The bearer loses the ability to manifest normal psychic powers but gains +2 Strength and +1 Attack.
  • At the end of any phase in which the bearer loses a wound, they must pass a Leadership test or attack the nearest unit, friend or foe.

These devices are rare even among World Eaters, as they often lead to the user's complete mental collapse and eventual mutation into a mindless spawn.

Xenos Artifacts

Alien races possess their own unique psychic technology, often based on principles unfathomable to human understanding.

Ghosthelm

Aeldari
Ghosthelm

An advanced psychic focusing device worn by Aeldari Farseers that helps mask their presence in the Warp, protecting them from psychic predators and daemonic attention.

Tabletop Effects

  • The wearer does not suffer Perils of the Warp on a double 1, only on a double 6
  • Enemy psykers subtract 1 from Psychic tests when targeting the wearer
  • Once per battle, can completely negate one psychic power attempting to target the wearer

Ghosthelms are crafted by Aeldari Bonesingers using psycho-reactive wraithbone that adapts to its wearer's mind over centuries of use.

Staff of Tomorrow

Aeldari
Staff of Tomorrow

An ancient staff used by the most powerful Aeldari Farseers, allowing them to not only see but influence future events through precise psychic manipulations of fate's threads.

Tabletop Effects

  • At the start of your Command phase, select one die result that will be rolled by either player that turn. When that roll is made, you can choose to change it to the result you declared.
  • Once per battle, the bearer can re-roll all failed Psychic tests in a single Psychic phase.
  • The bearer knows one additional power from the Runes of Fate discipline.

The Staff of Tomorrow contains crystallized fragments from the broken Aeldari god of fate Morai-Heg, granting glimpses of multiple futures and the power to subtly influence them.

Synaptic Amplifier

Tyranids
Synaptic Amplifier

A specialized bio-construct grown by the Hive Mind for enhanced Zoanthropes and Neurothropes, allowing for more efficient control of the swarm and devastating psychic attacks.

Tabletop Effects

  • Increase the bearer's Synapse Range by 6".
  • Add 1 to the result of Psychic tests taken for the bearer.
  • When manifesting Smite, it inflicts D3+1 mortal wounds or D6+1 on a roll of 11+.
  • Friendly TYRANID units within 12" of the bearer gain +1 to their Leadership characteristic.

Each Synaptic Amplifier is uniquely grown for a specific Tyranid psyker organism and cannot be used by others. If the host is killed, the amplifier quickly atrophies and is reabsorbed into the Hive Fleet's biomass.

Waaagh! Conduit

Orks
Waaagh! Conduit

A crude but effective device fashioned by Ork Weirdboyz that channels the collective psychic energy generated by nearby Orks into devastating blasts or empowering effects.

Tabletop Effects

  • For each friendly ORK unit within 12" of the bearer, add +1 to the bearer's Psychic test (to a maximum of +3).
  • 'Eadbanger power inflicts D3+1 mortal wounds instead of D3.
  • Roll a D6 each time the bearer successfully manifests a psychic power. On a 6, that power can be manifested again in the same phase without risk of Perils of the Warp.
  • On a roll of 1, the bearer suffers D3 mortal wounds as the Waaagh! energy becomes unstable.

The Waaagh! Conduit is typically a collection of skulls, scrap metal, and strange stones bound together with crude psychic runes. Many Weirdboyz are reluctant to use them as they're just as likely to explode as they are to work properly.

Necron Artifacts

Ancient beyond understanding, Necron anti-psychic technology represents the pinnacle of nullifying warp energies through technological means.

Gloom Prism

Necrons
Gloom Prism

A mysterious blackstone artifact created during the War in Heaven to counter the psychic powers of the Old Ones and their creations. The prism emits a dampening field that disrupts warp-based abilities.

Tabletop Effects

  • Enemy psykers within 18" of this artifact must subtract 1 from their Psychic tests.
  • The bearer can deny one psychic power per turn as if they were a psyker.
  • Once per battle, at the start of the enemy Psychic phase, you can activate the Gloom Prism to prevent all enemy units within 12" from attempting to manifest any psychic powers during that phase.

The Gloom Prism contains microscopic fragments of the same material used in the pylons on Cadia. While nowhere near as powerful, these devices are still highly effective at disrupting the connection between psykers and the Warp.

The Nightmare Shroud

Necrons
Nightmare Shroud

A terrifying device that projects the horror of the bearer's soulless existence into the minds of nearby sentient beings, causing crippling fear and psychic shock.

Tabletop Effects

  • At the start of each Fight phase, each enemy unit within 6" of the bearer must take a Leadership test. If failed, that unit fights last in the Fight phase.
  • Enemy PSYKER units within 12" subtract 1 from their Leadership characteristic.
  • Once per battle, the bearer can activate the Nightmare Shroud as an action. If completed, each enemy unit within 12" must take a Leadership test or suffer D3 mortal wounds.

The technology behind the Nightmare Shroud dates back to the ancient Necrontyr empire. It functions by projecting the existential horror of biotransference into the minds of the living, who experience a sliver of the eternal emptiness that defines Necron existence.