To summarize, my Warlock player is fiend pact with Asmodeus as his patron, while simultaneously being a scourge Aasimar with a Deva Guide. He roleplays it as a tug of war sort of battle for his soul and his character wants to tread somewhere between good and evil and follow his neutral alignment. Through a series of events, he acquired a hags soul stone, which I had Asmodeus turn into This.
As a result, he learned what it is and hasn't attuned to it, but instead wants to destroy it. He's gone through a journey with the party to Gauntlgrym where a powerful cleric is going to help destroy in, but there really isn't a spell that I can find that will do what I want. So, my question is how would it best be destroyed? If I made of a ritual, what kind of components would be needed to destroy a powerful cursed item completely?
I also have some plans to further tempt him into keeping the heart, primarily because he's expressed a desire to eventually become a lich, though the manner of doing so sours the idea somewhat. If I can use the heart as a way to replace his own (say, he dies). It would give him the same sort of ability as a lich, though it would be as a fiend instead of an undead. He'd also have to power up the heart by a substantial margin to do so, but it was an idea.
So, is there a spell I'm missing or should I just try and fudge components?
"The <Heart of Darkness> cannot be destroyed, <Warlock Player>, son of <Warlock Player's Father>, by any crafts that we here possess. The <Heart of Darkness> was made in the fires of <Place>. Only there can It be unmade. It must be taken deep into <Location> and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence It came."
Yup. What Sedge said. You can treat it like an artifact which does have some guidelines in the DMG. In terms of a spell the only thing that could possibly work is maybe a Wish spell at your discretion. It's usually used to create but you could possibly give it a chance of working.
Personally I think creating some specific conditions that need to be met to destroy it would be more fun.
I was thinking of something along those lines. And it doesn't help that my players already keep finding little tidbits and quests that are lord of the rings-y. I ended up making a cursed gold ring that when you put it on, splits you between the astral and material plane, so you can sort of see into both. named it "That One Ring".
As for the item, I think I'm going to do a "collect three things to empower your holy self and purify the item" sort of quest and during it, Asmodeus will tempt him with the whole "Use the heart as a "fiend-lactery" plan.
Could make for some splendid story-telling if the third thing was his soul via willing self-sacrifice. Let the item begin activating/corrupting and require him to lay on a sword, etc to save friends/family/world from doom.
Wrap it up with some niceties afterwards with a celestial resurrection as gift from his patron or whatnot.
Seems like to destroy it your PC just needs to use it, the description says on a Nat 1 the heart crumbles to dust. That doesn’t imply it’s permanently destroyed, it could end up in another dimension, or something. But, thats something to work with right there.. your PC could become an anti-hero.. by summoning a demon the heart dries up and becomes vulnerable. In this vulnerable state it can be destroyed with <insert weapon, or spell here>.
Dragon fire can be a potent option too. I've used that one. "<item> can be destroyed only by the fire of an ancient dragon who agrees to destroy it." The character gets a quest not only to find the dragon of sufficient age, but also to find a way to convince it to destroy something of obvious value, which may require additional quests. It may not be ideal in this case, but this kind of thing is engaging story-telling, I think. Sounds like you have a good story going!
They've done a lot to try and kill it, or lock it away, but it reappears in his hand after ever long rest. A powerful cleric has agreed to help them, but he needs an artifact called Moradin's Hammer, which is kept in a corrupt king's vault.
So far, I started the story with the Lost Mines of Phandelver, and they've set up shop in Neverwinter since then. It's three PCs and the dwarven cleric I made to help them. After they finished the premade module, Ornstein (Cleric) setup an adventurer's guild named Glory's call there. I made all the shops and fleshed out Neverwinter as a bustling and busy place, and they love it. Long story short, during the last Arc, they were sent into the sword mountains after there was a problem at Wave Echo Cave and the mining operation they have stake in. Something opened an old passage to the Dire Mine (basically Moria) and a direct path to the Underdark. Fearing they might see an incursion of drow or worse, Ornstein sends them to where the mine's gate is. They ended up going in and doing a dungeon crawl, kept hearing a roaring noise that echoed through the cavern system. One they were convinced they killed the problem (A large bulette), they were leaving and a Behir showed up, ended up chasing them out before they collapsed the tunnel behind them. Then they lied about killing the Behir...
Fast forward to two levels later, and Gundren shows up half dead at the guild. Phandalin is in ruins and the Behir killed their favorite NPC's there. They end up killing it (at level 7, no less) and help fund the effort to rebuild. They also find a broken spear in the back of the Behir's neck, that zaps the rogue when she pulls it out. Looks very much like a drow weapon. The Warlock gets the Heart of Darkness shortly after during a quest for their favorite NPC in Neverwinter, and have been trying to find a way to get rid of it ever since.
The corrupt king they meet was going to be under the spell of a Drow Priestess of Lolth, and is digging into old ruins under Gauntlgrym to open a passage to let her forces rise up to overtake them and conquer the city. I think. We'll see.
Well if you're interested, I have a book series in the works on Amazon you can look into. Just search Rozzie Harris, should be the first two results.
For the campaign, they're going to find a Drow Assassin tries to kill them during a long rest with a note from a drow inquisitor giving their description and details about their visit to the corrupt dwarven king. Hopefully, they get the lead that someone in the castle isn't who they seem, and if they find them out, they can use it to free the king from their control. If not I'll get them into a situation where the king believes them to be on a quest to kill him or something along those lines and provoke a response.
All this is leading up to a sudden incursion of drow to rise up from the ruins the king was digging into, and the party will have to fight to save the city. Then, they can decide if they want to go into the Underdark and try and deal with the drow directly or ignore it entirely and hope all's well that ends well.
Take off. Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Sorry. Sorry.
I go for incredibly simple, but, ultimately un-thinkable things. Like, when it powders, you have to mix it in a drink, drink it, then have Remove Curse cast on you. Or, when it powders, cast Mending on it and it comes back as a normal, but now dead and magic-less heart. Or, let a raven peck it until it breaks down. I think the "Fires of Mount Doom" are cliche and over-done. I try for things the players are not likely to think of, and when they're given the answer by a raving madman, they think it's just their madness.
To summarize, my Warlock player is fiend pact with Asmodeus as his patron, while simultaneously being a scourge Aasimar with a Deva Guide. He roleplays it as a tug of war sort of battle for his soul and his character wants to tread somewhere between good and evil and follow his neutral alignment. Through a series of events, he acquired a hags soul stone, which I had Asmodeus turn into This.
As a result, he learned what it is and hasn't attuned to it, but instead wants to destroy it. He's gone through a journey with the party to Gauntlgrym where a powerful cleric is going to help destroy in, but there really isn't a spell that I can find that will do what I want. So, my question is how would it best be destroyed? If I made of a ritual, what kind of components would be needed to destroy a powerful cursed item completely?
I also have some plans to further tempt him into keeping the heart, primarily because he's expressed a desire to eventually become a lich, though the manner of doing so sours the idea somewhat. If I can use the heart as a way to replace his own (say, he dies). It would give him the same sort of ability as a lich, though it would be as a fiend instead of an undead. He'd also have to power up the heart by a substantial margin to do so, but it was an idea.
So, is there a spell I'm missing or should I just try and fudge components?
"The <Heart of Darkness> cannot be destroyed, <Warlock Player>, son of <Warlock Player's Father>, by any crafts that we here possess. The <Heart of Darkness> was made in the fires of <Place>. Only there can It be unmade. It must be taken deep into <Location> and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence It came."
[ Site Rules & Guidelines ] --- [ Homebrew Rules & Guidelines ]
Send me a message with any questions or concerns
Yup. What Sedge said. You can treat it like an artifact which does have some guidelines in the DMG. In terms of a spell the only thing that could possibly work is maybe a Wish spell at your discretion. It's usually used to create but you could possibly give it a chance of working.
Personally I think creating some specific conditions that need to be met to destroy it would be more fun.
That's what happens when you wear a helmet your whole life!
My house rules
I was thinking of something along those lines. And it doesn't help that my players already keep finding little tidbits and quests that are lord of the rings-y. I ended up making a cursed gold ring that when you put it on, splits you between the astral and material plane, so you can sort of see into both. named it "That One Ring".
As for the item, I think I'm going to do a "collect three things to empower your holy self and purify the item" sort of quest and during it, Asmodeus will tempt him with the whole "Use the heart as a "fiend-lactery" plan.
Could make for some splendid story-telling if the third thing was his soul via willing self-sacrifice. Let the item begin activating/corrupting and require him to lay on a sword, etc to save friends/family/world from doom.
Wrap it up with some niceties afterwards with a celestial resurrection as gift from his patron or whatnot.
[ Site Rules & Guidelines ] --- [ Homebrew Rules & Guidelines ]
Send me a message with any questions or concerns
Seems like to destroy it your PC just needs to use it, the description says on a Nat 1 the heart crumbles to dust. That doesn’t imply it’s permanently destroyed, it could end up in another dimension, or something. But, thats something to work with right there.. your PC could become an anti-hero.. by summoning a demon the heart dries up and becomes vulnerable. In this vulnerable state it can be destroyed with <insert weapon, or spell here>.
Dragon fire can be a potent option too. I've used that one. "<item> can be destroyed only by the fire of an ancient dragon who agrees to destroy it." The character gets a quest not only to find the dragon of sufficient age, but also to find a way to convince it to destroy something of obvious value, which may require additional quests. It may not be ideal in this case, but this kind of thing is engaging story-telling, I think. Sounds like you have a good story going!
Recently returned to D&D after 20+ years.
Unapologetic.
They've done a lot to try and kill it, or lock it away, but it reappears in his hand after ever long rest. A powerful cleric has agreed to help them, but he needs an artifact called Moradin's Hammer, which is kept in a corrupt king's vault.
So far, I started the story with the Lost Mines of Phandelver, and they've set up shop in Neverwinter since then. It's three PCs and the dwarven cleric I made to help them. After they finished the premade module, Ornstein (Cleric) setup an adventurer's guild named Glory's call there. I made all the shops and fleshed out Neverwinter as a bustling and busy place, and they love it. Long story short, during the last Arc, they were sent into the sword mountains after there was a problem at Wave Echo Cave and the mining operation they have stake in. Something opened an old passage to the Dire Mine (basically Moria) and a direct path to the Underdark. Fearing they might see an incursion of drow or worse, Ornstein sends them to where the mine's gate is. They ended up going in and doing a dungeon crawl, kept hearing a roaring noise that echoed through the cavern system. One they were convinced they killed the problem (A large bulette), they were leaving and a Behir showed up, ended up chasing them out before they collapsed the tunnel behind them. Then they lied about killing the Behir...
Fast forward to two levels later, and Gundren shows up half dead at the guild. Phandalin is in ruins and the Behir killed their favorite NPC's there. They end up killing it (at level 7, no less) and help fund the effort to rebuild. They also find a broken spear in the back of the Behir's neck, that zaps the rogue when she pulls it out. Looks very much like a drow weapon. The Warlock gets the Heart of Darkness shortly after during a quest for their favorite NPC in Neverwinter, and have been trying to find a way to get rid of it ever since.
The corrupt king they meet was going to be under the spell of a Drow Priestess of Lolth, and is digging into old ruins under Gauntlgrym to open a passage to let her forces rise up to overtake them and conquer the city. I think. We'll see.
That is an awesome story! I want to know what happens now, lol.
Well if you're interested, I have a book series in the works on Amazon you can look into. Just search Rozzie Harris, should be the first two results.
For the campaign, they're going to find a Drow Assassin tries to kill them during a long rest with a note from a drow inquisitor giving their description and details about their visit to the corrupt dwarven king. Hopefully, they get the lead that someone in the castle isn't who they seem, and if they find them out, they can use it to free the king from their control. If not I'll get them into a situation where the king believes them to be on a quest to kill him or something along those lines and provoke a response.
All this is leading up to a sudden incursion of drow to rise up from the ruins the king was digging into, and the party will have to fight to save the city. Then, they can decide if they want to go into the Underdark and try and deal with the drow directly or ignore it entirely and hope all's well that ends well.
Neat. Is the series set in the realms?
Take off. Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Sorry. Sorry.
I go for incredibly simple, but, ultimately un-thinkable things. Like, when it powders, you have to mix it in a drink, drink it, then have Remove Curse cast on you. Or, when it powders, cast Mending on it and it comes back as a normal, but now dead and magic-less heart. Or, let a raven peck it until it breaks down. I think the "Fires of Mount Doom" are cliche and over-done. I try for things the players are not likely to think of, and when they're given the answer by a raving madman, they think it's just their madness.
Nope, its it's own thing so far. Thinking I may do one set in faerun sometime but I have to finish what I'm in now first.