I have created a homebrew item called "The Staff of Orcus." It is a magical staff, made to represent the Demon Lords own weapon - The Wand of Orcus.
Cultists, who believed that Orcus got his power from his wand, originally made the staff, in an attempt to usurp some of the Demon Lords power. When Orcus heard of this staff, he cursed it so that it whispered to the cultists their dreams, shattering their already fragile minds so that they went utterly insane and killed each other in their attempts to possess the staff.
After that, the staff disappeared for a while and later showed up in the treasure horde of a red dragon, who had also been driven insane by the whispering staff. When a band heroes finally killed the crazy dragon, they found The Staff of Orcus. The Cleric realised that it was a powerful cursed item and so she took it. She intended to bring it back to the temple of her God, where the curse could to nullified; however, the party of heroes never made it home.
The Staff began whispering to each of them in their dreams, turning them against each other. The Paladin and the Cleric held out the longest, but eventually, the power of the staff took them as well and they killed each other fighting for possession of it.
The Staff of Orcus (the whispering staff) then vanished again. It has shown up several times since then, but where ever it goes, where ever it shows up, madness, insanity and death follow.
However, I am not sure if this is the kind of thing that Orcus would do. Would he even bother cursing this item, so that it brought ruin and death wherever it went?
Also, how could I introduce this item to the party? It is currently in the hands of Lich, who has been raising undead and claiming to be the Scion of Orcus. The party needs to defeat this Lich, but once they do, they will have possession of The Staff of Orcus, and I am not sure how to introduce it to them, or what to do with it at that point.
Thoughts, opinions and ideas are all welcome.
Thanks guys
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Also, you don't need approval for these ideas, mainly because we're not your players. Put these ideas in your game, refine the ones that land, scrap the ones that flop.
Also, you don't need approval for these ideas, mainly because we're not your players. Put these ideas in your game, refine the ones that land, scrap the ones that flop.
I thought that the staff could raise undead and that wielder of the staff could command undead within a particular radius; this was the original intention of the cultists who made it, but it's also a cursed item that will, in the end, cause your downfall.
I had thought that the Lich was once just a Necromancer, who was driven insane by the staff and that insanity drove him down the path to Lichdom. Others may not have killed him, but the staff still drove him mad. It's whispering voice filled his mind and stripped him of everything he was, everything he could have ever been and left him as a broken shell - a Lich driven mad by the whispering of the staff, undeath and the solitude that he has endured all these long, long years.
He has no real motives, at least not ones that any sane person would be able to comprehend. He is just a bad man who likes hurting people because, in his twisted sense of the world, that's the only way that he can "feel alive". He is pure Chaotic Evil and somebody that I want my players to feel good about defeating.
Despite this, however, the Lich is pretty powerful and defeating him will be a struggle for my players level. I don't want him to be easy though; I want him to be hard so that when the players finally kill him, they can feel like "yes, yes, this was a hard battle, but we have done something right this day, and the world will be better without that monster in it!"
But what to do with the staff.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
The players can take the staff for themselves after defeating the Lich. Anybody can use it, as the ability to Raise Undead and Command Undead comes from the Staff itself and not the caster. However; everybody within a specific area of the staff is affected by it. The Staff whispers to them in their dreams, trying to persuade them that they are the rightful owner of it. That everybody else is trying to keep them from what is rightfully theirs and that they need to take it, by force if need be.
As long as the party keep the Staff, they will have to roll on the long term madness table from the DMG after every long rest. Whatever they get from that roll, will be what they are inflicted with until they finish another long rest. After several failed rolls, they will have to roll on the indefinite madness table. They will then be inflicted by whatever madness they roll for until cured.
However, the Staff is also a story item for quite a big side quest. The players don't have to do the side quest just because they have the staff, but they can not complete the side quest without the staff. If they go straight to fight the Lich, I will allow them to take the side quest, through NPC dialogue and quest boards, after they have acquired the staff. If they take the side quest first, defeating the Lich will become part of the side quest, so they receive the staff and can complete it.
The side quest is to find the bodies of the fallen NPC heroes and return them to their families and then to complete their mission, by taking the staff to the Temple, so the Clerics there can nullify the curse. At this point, the staff will just become a regular magical staff. The Clerics will want to destroy it, and the players will have the option to go along with that or take it for themselves. They will gain benefits from either option though Those benefits will be good or evil, depending on which option they choose.
Or, the players could leave the staff behind in the Lich's lair, or take it and keep it for themselves, and even use it under the conditions listed above. However, as stated, they can not complete the side quest without the staff. So if they leave it behind, going back to get get it will be part of the side quest.
Have you ever heard of the expression "Write less, say more?" You need to learn a bit of brevity and work on being concise. For the question I asked, this is an excessively long response. A simple "yes, this is a magic item that the players will be able to acquire and use".
Do you actually have rules for this item in place? It's all well and good having this fancy fluff, but if you don't have anything in place to give a player to put in their character sheet, it's moot. Speaking of which:
Anybody can use it, as the ability to Raise Undead and Command Undead comes from the Staff itself and not the caster.
I'm pretty sure everyone here knows how magic items work, there's no need to explain how to suck eggs.
However, the Staff is also a story item for quite a big side quest. The players don't have to do the side quest just because they have the staff, but they can not complete the side quest without the staff.
This is a problem; you have an evil relic with curses and downsides and the players need to acquire it for a 'big' side quest? What if they do the logical thing and chuck it into a volcano or banish it to another plane? You've just locked them out of a quest with no alternate route.
Maybe come up with a homebrew item you can link to, that'll help this be less like pulling teeth.
Also, there's no need to write quite so much, brevity is the soul of wit.
I think the "yes" was implied and SocialFoxes was anticipating the obvious next question: what does it do?
To answer your question: after the battle, if the players haven't protected themselves from its magic, follow the Law of Unintended Consequences. It's ok to have yet another band of adventurers fall to its curse, and become lost. Just make sure the players know death or worse is possible with the staff in play.
If they leave it behind, then the staff probably won't be there when they get back.
I'd do something around those lines.
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Hi, everyone
I have created a homebrew item called "The Staff of Orcus." It is a magical staff, made to represent the Demon Lords own weapon - The Wand of Orcus.
Cultists, who believed that Orcus got his power from his wand, originally made the staff, in an attempt to usurp some of the Demon Lords power. When Orcus heard of this staff, he cursed it so that it whispered to the cultists their dreams, shattering their already fragile minds so that they went utterly insane and killed each other in their attempts to possess the staff.
After that, the staff disappeared for a while and later showed up in the treasure horde of a red dragon, who had also been driven insane by the whispering staff. When a band heroes finally killed the crazy dragon, they found The Staff of Orcus. The Cleric realised that it was a powerful cursed item and so she took it. She intended to bring it back to the temple of her God, where the curse could to nullified; however, the party of heroes never made it home.
The Staff began whispering to each of them in their dreams, turning them against each other. The Paladin and the Cleric held out the longest, but eventually, the power of the staff took them as well and they killed each other fighting for possession of it.
The Staff of Orcus (the whispering staff) then vanished again. It has shown up several times since then, but where ever it goes, where ever it shows up, madness, insanity and death follow.
However, I am not sure if this is the kind of thing that Orcus would do. Would he even bother cursing this item, so that it brought ruin and death wherever it went?
Also, how could I introduce this item to the party? It is currently in the hands of Lich, who has been raising undead and claiming to be the Scion of Orcus. The party needs to defeat this Lich, but once they do, they will have possession of The Staff of Orcus, and I am not sure how to introduce it to them, or what to do with it at that point.
Thoughts, opinions and ideas are all welcome.
Thanks guys
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
What does the item do?
As for if it 'makes sense', why not read up on the Wand of Orcus and the Demonlord himself?
Also, you don't need approval for these ideas, mainly because we're not your players. Put these ideas in your game, refine the ones that land, scrap the ones that flop.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
I thought that the staff could raise undead and that wielder of the staff could command undead within a particular radius; this was the original intention of the cultists who made it, but it's also a cursed item that will, in the end, cause your downfall.
I had thought that the Lich was once just a Necromancer, who was driven insane by the staff and that insanity drove him down the path to Lichdom. Others may not have killed him, but the staff still drove him mad. It's whispering voice filled his mind and stripped him of everything he was, everything he could have ever been and left him as a broken shell - a Lich driven mad by the whispering of the staff, undeath and the solitude that he has endured all these long, long years.
He has no real motives, at least not ones that any sane person would be able to comprehend. He is just a bad man who likes hurting people because, in his twisted sense of the world, that's the only way that he can "feel alive". He is pure Chaotic Evil and somebody that I want my players to feel good about defeating.
Despite this, however, the Lich is pretty powerful and defeating him will be a struggle for my players level. I don't want him to be easy though; I want him to be hard so that when the players finally kill him, they can feel like "yes, yes, this was a hard battle, but we have done something right this day, and the world will be better without that monster in it!"
But what to do with the staff.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Is this an item the players will be able to acquire and use?
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
The players can take the staff for themselves after defeating the Lich. Anybody can use it, as the ability to Raise Undead and Command Undead comes from the Staff itself and not the caster. However; everybody within a specific area of the staff is affected by it. The Staff whispers to them in their dreams, trying to persuade them that they are the rightful owner of it. That everybody else is trying to keep them from what is rightfully theirs and that they need to take it, by force if need be.
As long as the party keep the Staff, they will have to roll on the long term madness table from the DMG after every long rest. Whatever they get from that roll, will be what they are inflicted with until they finish another long rest. After several failed rolls, they will have to roll on the indefinite madness table. They will then be inflicted by whatever madness they roll for until cured.
However, the Staff is also a story item for quite a big side quest. The players don't have to do the side quest just because they have the staff, but they can not complete the side quest without the staff. If they go straight to fight the Lich, I will allow them to take the side quest, through NPC dialogue and quest boards, after they have acquired the staff. If they take the side quest first, defeating the Lich will become part of the side quest, so they receive the staff and can complete it.
The side quest is to find the bodies of the fallen NPC heroes and return them to their families and then to complete their mission, by taking the staff to the Temple, so the Clerics there can nullify the curse. At this point, the staff will just become a regular magical staff. The Clerics will want to destroy it, and the players will have the option to go along with that or take it for themselves. They will gain benefits from either option though Those benefits will be good or evil, depending on which option they choose.
Or, the players could leave the staff behind in the Lich's lair, or take it and keep it for themselves, and even use it under the conditions listed above. However, as stated, they can not complete the side quest without the staff. So if they leave it behind, going back to get get it will be part of the side quest.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Have you ever heard of the expression "Write less, say more?" You need to learn a bit of brevity and work on being concise. For the question I asked, this is an excessively long response. A simple "yes, this is a magic item that the players will be able to acquire and use".
Do you actually have rules for this item in place? It's all well and good having this fancy fluff, but if you don't have anything in place to give a player to put in their character sheet, it's moot. Speaking of which:
I'm pretty sure everyone here knows how magic items work, there's no need to explain how to suck eggs.
This is a problem; you have an evil relic with curses and downsides and the players need to acquire it for a 'big' side quest? What if they do the logical thing and chuck it into a volcano or banish it to another plane? You've just locked them out of a quest with no alternate route.
Maybe come up with a homebrew item you can link to, that'll help this be less like pulling teeth.
Also, there's no need to write quite so much, brevity is the soul of wit.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
I think the "yes" was implied and SocialFoxes was anticipating the obvious next question: what does it do?
To answer your question: after the battle, if the players haven't protected themselves from its magic, follow the Law of Unintended Consequences. It's ok to have yet another band of adventurers fall to its curse, and become lost. Just make sure the players know death or worse is possible with the staff in play.
If they leave it behind, then the staff probably won't be there when they get back.
I'd do something around those lines.