So I am currently having trouble coming up with idea's for some magic items that are the whole reason one of my PC's personal adventure. The magic items are supposed to be be based off the Hunting Horns from Monster Hunter World, but I would prefer to use a diverse combination of weapon and instrument combo's. That is just one of my problems, the other is coming up with interesting mechanics for magic weapons that can capture the feeling of being a Bard, while allowing it to be used by anyone (PC is a Barbarian).
*Note: Would prefer to avoid adding spells to the weapons.
TL;DR Need some help coming up with ideas for weapon/instrument combo's (i.e Hunting Horns)
What works for me is to look at previous editions and their magic items. Also the Dungeons, Dragons magazines often had magical and strange bazaars with crazy items. Can also look at spells and how you could create a different version of it which would fit on an item. Just browsing through the hombrew item section of DNDBeyond can give inspiration.
Bows that double as a harp is one option, maybe borrow some from the Instrument of the Bards in the DMG for some abilities ideas. For horns dealing damage either you can treath them like a greatclub for damage or you could have them deal thunder or psychic damage when played. Spells like Dissonant whispers could be castable, although you mentioned that was not your intent. You can make it so the weapon relies on charisma modifier for damage and to hit calculations like Shillelagh does for wisdom.
For some more potent abilities you could have the instruments interact with would be your inspiration, something like increasing the die by one size, giving extra uses per day, or allowing the inspiration to be used on more than one creature at a time. For the last one maybe you can use up a couple inspiration to make it an area effect or use up a number of spell slots to effect additional targets.
After that perhaps have one instrument made for, or themed around each subclass.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I created a magic item, Riley Fuzzle's Trick Longbow, which is not a musical instrument, but it is based around performance, which is something one frequently associates with a bard. And even if the character using it is not skilled at performance, it is still a +1 magic longbow with an interesting backstory.
THE AXE!!! a stringed instrument of such awesome power it doubles as a guitar (or a lute like instrument...)
Or if he is more a hammer guy, maybe one that has sonic effects related to hitting on something. Like it generates a thunder clap and rings like a rung bell when it strikes. Maybe he could play a jaunty tune while face smashing things. Could active abilities similar to shatter, does extra damage to constructs or crystal things. Maybe gives the effect of heroism to nearby allies after it makes a certain number of successful attack.
If he wants an instrument he could use to normally perform in like a bar setting, A hammer that has flute-esque holes in in so the blunt end can sit on the ground and you could play it like a woodwind. I feel it would sound like a bassoon or something.
So I am thinking that you say the weapon has to hit X number of times to trigger Song 1, 2, or maybe 3. The songs act like AoE cantrips or maybe some level one spells, One could be a mass Blade Ward, or mass Guidance, massMessage could be an interesting one depending on situation. Insert a hidden message into the song you play that you teammates can understand.
Sorry about missing the barbarian part Tl;DR I should read more closely.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
A Singing Sword that sings a bawdy song giving all friendly players the effect of the bless spell.
ELMINSTER'S JEST Attributed to (read: "blamed upon") Danilo Thann by Elaine Cunningham.
There was a knight who longed to wield a more impressive lance To carry into battle, and to aid him with romance. A wizard overheard the knight and granted his request. The knight at first was overjoyed to see how he was blessed.
Chorus:
Hey there, ho there, A lesson's coming through: Be careful what you ask for-- For your wishes may come true.
The knight went to a revel with his weapon thus enhanced. The lance made dining difficult and tripped him while he danced. The next day at the tournaments he won the jousting meets, For all who faced his fearsome lance fell laughing from their seats.
Chorus
The knight romanced a lady who admired his staff of oak. They'd scarse begun their gentle joust before the staff had broke. The knight sought out the wizard, who replied when brought to task, "Your wish bespoke how long it WAS, and not how long 'twould LAST!"
If they sing, then why not an item that allows the character to use his-or-her voice as a weapon? For example, Zoharad's Ring of Perilous Vocal Projection ( just made up the name ) allows a creature ( usually a Bard ) to use their singing ability as a proficient ranged weapon, out to 80' ( the creature can attempt to boost their volume to project the attach out to 320', but at disadvantage ), and the sonic attack does 1D6 + Charisma modifier Psychic damage.
Before you start worrying about overpowering a character or giving them sort of breath weapon, compare those attack stats to a shortbow - it's really just re-skinning the shortbow stats :D With that base, you can also start tweaking it to give it little more personality - perhaps allow the addition of more effects if and only if the Character makes a Performance check, at a DC tied to the effect s/he is trying to produce - and what happens to those effects and/or the entire attack when they roll a natural 1!? You can run with the basic idea, and switch it up all you want: maybe you want to use a different base weapon for your stats.
There's also no reason why other classes other than Bard couldn't use it - but they may not be able to use the Performance check based special abilities as well as a Bard could. I'm not sure which is more amusing: the idea of a Barbarian being really bad at singing and struggling with the weapon's special abilities, or the party's astonishment upon discovering that the Barbarian is secretly a virtuoso singer :)
I may introduce this "weapon" into my own campaign :)
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Vedexent's idea is a very brilliant solution, in my opinion. Psychic damage very under used. If the player is really interested in making it some sort of combo item, why not also create a small table for additional effects based on the Performance check? Low roll, and the booming voice also causes all allies within hearing range to make a saving throw or take the same /half psychic damage... a roll of natural 20 doubles the area of affect against enemies, or somewhere in between causes all glass or trees in the area to shatter creating suddenly difficult terrain, that sort of thing. That way, the item can have occasional use but add tension to combat.
I like the idea of a table of known effects, for sure.
I think still allowing the Character to experiment and create or discover new effect could also be interesting, and allow for some interesting Player creativity. I'd still try and have it governed by plausibility, however - and perhaps limit additional effects to cantrip level spell effects - but I'd need the Player to describe the effect they're trying to create and - more importantly - how they picture sound creating the effect they wish: e.g. using sound to blow out a window is clearly a Thaumaturgy type effect - no issue there - and is clear how that would work with sound. A Player would have to be pretty creative ( read, high DC - like 30 :p ) to try and sing open a lock at a distance using a Mage Hand like effect.
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Last thing I'll mention is that I think one thing to keep in mind is that - - to whatever small or large degree - - D&D is largely controlled by the whims of a die roll. It's unpredictable, random nature (roll a 1 or 20 on a d20) makes, in my opionion, half the fun, and any effects or combos you may ultimately determine for this special item only increases that fun in a risk/reward scenario so long as the DM is adaptable to matching that fun. Fully agree with Vedexent: this item can grow with the character, taking feedback and desires for improvements or abilities, but linking them to long term success (level ups, quests) gives the player/character much greater agency and interest.
Other thought: you did mention originally you didn't want spells attached, but could possibly ask the player/character to "prepare" 4 out of X number of desired effects (not spells) at dawn so the item still has some restrictions and forces the player/character to consider likely hazards for the upcoming day same way as a wizard can do. Didn't prepare the "rally" effect? Too bad, can't "rally" the party for advantage on Dex saving throws with a rock n roll ballad when the waves turn rough while at sea. . . Prepared the soothing lullaby? Awesome, the barbarian now has the chance to allow the party to slink stealthily through suddenly yawning guards because their passive Perception dropped.
I do like What John had to say, Sound ideas that can give some more flavor/personality to the weapon. In that regard, something I want you to think about is "Who made this weapon?" Because it would definitely be an interesting character to create such a weapon. Maybe his reasons for making the weapon, influenced his choices of abilities imbued in the weapon. Good luck, and have fun!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
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So I am currently having trouble coming up with idea's for some magic items that are the whole reason one of my PC's personal adventure. The magic items are supposed to be be based off the Hunting Horns from Monster Hunter World, but I would prefer to use a diverse combination of weapon and instrument combo's. That is just one of my problems, the other is coming up with interesting mechanics for magic weapons that can capture the feeling of being a Bard, while allowing it to be used by anyone (PC is a Barbarian).
*Note: Would prefer to avoid adding spells to the weapons.
TL;DR Need some help coming up with ideas for weapon/instrument combo's (i.e Hunting Horns)
What works for me is to look at previous editions and their magic items. Also the Dungeons, Dragons magazines often had magical and strange bazaars with crazy items. Can also look at spells and how you could create a different version of it which would fit on an item. Just browsing through the hombrew item section of DNDBeyond can give inspiration.
Bows that double as a harp is one option, maybe borrow some from the Instrument of the Bards in the DMG for some abilities ideas. For horns dealing damage either you can treath them like a greatclub for damage or you could have them deal thunder or psychic damage when played. Spells like Dissonant whispers could be castable, although you mentioned that was not your intent. You can make it so the weapon relies on charisma modifier for damage and to hit calculations like Shillelagh does for wisdom.
For some more potent abilities you could have the instruments interact with would be your inspiration, something like increasing the die by one size, giving extra uses per day, or allowing the inspiration to be used on more than one creature at a time. For the last one maybe you can use up a couple inspiration to make it an area effect or use up a number of spell slots to effect additional targets.
After that perhaps have one instrument made for, or themed around each subclass.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
I created a magic item, Riley Fuzzle's Trick Longbow, which is not a musical instrument, but it is based around performance, which is something one frequently associates with a bard. And even if the character using it is not skilled at performance, it is still a +1 magic longbow with an interesting backstory.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
The character is a barbarian and just loves music and performing so unfortunately some of the suggestions don't quite work.
BU THE BEST ONE DOES
THE AXE!!! a stringed instrument of such awesome power it doubles as a guitar (or a lute like instrument...)
Or if he is more a hammer guy, maybe one that has sonic effects related to hitting on something. Like it generates a thunder clap and rings like a rung bell when it strikes. Maybe he could play a jaunty tune while face smashing things. Could active abilities similar to shatter, does extra damage to constructs or crystal things. Maybe gives the effect of heroism to nearby allies after it makes a certain number of successful attack.
If he wants an instrument he could use to normally perform in like a bar setting, A hammer that has flute-esque holes in in so the blunt end can sit on the ground and you could play it like a woodwind. I feel it would sound like a bassoon or something.
So I am thinking that you say the weapon has to hit X number of times to trigger Song 1, 2, or maybe 3. The songs act like AoE cantrips or maybe some level one spells, One could be a mass Blade Ward, or mass Guidance, massMessage could be an interesting one depending on situation. Insert a hidden message into the song you play that you teammates can understand.
Sorry about missing the barbarian part Tl;DR I should read more closely.
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."
How about a sword that can cast magic? That is all.
A Singing Sword that sings a bawdy song giving all friendly players the effect of the bless spell.
ELMINSTER'S JEST
Attributed to (read: "blamed upon") Danilo Thann by Elaine Cunningham.
There was a knight who longed to wield a more impressive lance
To carry into battle, and to aid him with romance.
A wizard overheard the knight and granted his request.
The knight at first was overjoyed to see how he was blessed.
Chorus:
Hey there, ho there,
A lesson's coming through:
Be careful what you ask for--
For your wishes may come true.
The knight went to a revel with his weapon thus enhanced.
The lance made dining difficult and tripped him while he danced.
The next day at the tournaments he won the jousting meets,
For all who faced his fearsome lance fell laughing from their seats.
Chorus
The knight romanced a lady who admired his staff of oak.
They'd scarse begun their gentle joust before the staff had broke.
The knight sought out the wizard, who replied when brought to task,
"Your wish bespoke how long it WAS, and not how long 'twould LAST!"
Does the character sing, or just play?
If they sing, then why not an item that allows the character to use his-or-her voice as a weapon? For example, Zoharad's Ring of Perilous Vocal Projection ( just made up the name ) allows a creature ( usually a Bard ) to use their singing ability as a proficient ranged weapon, out to 80' ( the creature can attempt to boost their volume to project the attach out to 320', but at disadvantage ), and the sonic attack does 1D6 + Charisma modifier Psychic damage.
Before you start worrying about overpowering a character or giving them sort of breath weapon, compare those attack stats to a shortbow - it's really just re-skinning the shortbow stats :D With that base, you can also start tweaking it to give it little more personality - perhaps allow the addition of more effects if and only if the Character makes a Performance check, at a DC tied to the effect s/he is trying to produce - and what happens to those effects and/or the entire attack when they roll a natural 1!? You can run with the basic idea, and switch it up all you want: maybe you want to use a different base weapon for your stats.
There's also no reason why other classes other than Bard couldn't use it - but they may not be able to use the Performance check based special abilities as well as a Bard could. I'm not sure which is more amusing: the idea of a Barbarian being really bad at singing and struggling with the weapon's special abilities, or the party's astonishment upon discovering that the Barbarian is secretly a virtuoso singer :)
I may introduce this "weapon" into my own campaign :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Vedexent's idea is a very brilliant solution, in my opinion. Psychic damage very under used. If the player is really interested in making it some sort of combo item, why not also create a small table for additional effects based on the Performance check? Low roll, and the booming voice also causes all allies within hearing range to make a saving throw or take the same /half psychic damage... a roll of natural 20 doubles the area of affect against enemies, or somewhere in between causes all glass or trees in the area to shatter creating suddenly difficult terrain, that sort of thing. That way, the item can have occasional use but add tension to combat.
I may also steal this idea Vedexent;
Boldly go
I like the idea of a table of known effects, for sure.
I think still allowing the Character to experiment and create or discover new effect could also be interesting, and allow for some interesting Player creativity. I'd still try and have it governed by plausibility, however - and perhaps limit additional effects to cantrip level spell effects - but I'd need the Player to describe the effect they're trying to create and - more importantly - how they picture sound creating the effect they wish: e.g. using sound to blow out a window is clearly a Thaumaturgy type effect - no issue there - and is clear how that would work with sound. A Player would have to be pretty creative ( read, high DC - like 30 :p ) to try and sing open a lock at a distance using a Mage Hand like effect.
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Thanks a lot of these ideas are incredibly helpful and I will probably be using all of them if I can.
Wish you the very best Veng!
Last thing I'll mention is that I think one thing to keep in mind is that - - to whatever small or large degree - - D&D is largely controlled by the whims of a die roll. It's unpredictable, random nature (roll a 1 or 20 on a d20) makes, in my opionion, half the fun, and any effects or combos you may ultimately determine for this special item only increases that fun in a risk/reward scenario so long as the DM is adaptable to matching that fun. Fully agree with Vedexent: this item can grow with the character, taking feedback and desires for improvements or abilities, but linking them to long term success (level ups, quests) gives the player/character much greater agency and interest.
Other thought: you did mention originally you didn't want spells attached, but could possibly ask the player/character to "prepare" 4 out of X number of desired effects (not spells) at dawn so the item still has some restrictions and forces the player/character to consider likely hazards for the upcoming day same way as a wizard can do. Didn't prepare the "rally" effect? Too bad, can't "rally" the party for advantage on Dex saving throws with a rock n roll ballad when the waves turn rough while at sea. . . Prepared the soothing lullaby? Awesome, the barbarian now has the chance to allow the party to slink stealthily through suddenly yawning guards because their passive Perception dropped.
Boldly go
I do like What John had to say, Sound ideas that can give some more flavor/personality to the weapon. In that regard, something I want you to think about is "Who made this weapon?" Because it would definitely be an interesting character to create such a weapon. Maybe his reasons for making the weapon, influenced his choices of abilities imbued in the weapon. Good luck, and have fun!
"Where words fail, swords prevail. Where blood is spilled, my cup is filled" -Cartaphilus
"I have found the answer to the meaning of life. You ask me what the answer is? You already know what the answer to life is. You fear it more than the strike of a viper, the ravages of disease, the ire of a lover. The answer is always death. But death is a gentle mistress with a sweet embrace, and you owe her a debt of restitution. Life is not a gift, it is a loan."