So I have a sword that my current group is trying to locate, this item will give them one piece of the puzzle to destroy the BBEG. But I'm having a hard time figuring the balance for the item. It needs to be powerful but not so powerful that it overwhelms the party dynamic. Any advice?
Either way, you could look at the vestiges of divergence in the Wildemount book. They're items that can power up along with the characters, so you can start them with something that's a +1 sword and let it grow into a Holy Avenger, or something. Could be very helpful if they are a long way off from the final fight when' they'll use the item.
So I have a sword that my current group is trying to locate, this item will give them one piece of the puzzle to destroy the BBEG. But I'm having a hard time figuring the balance for the item. It needs to be powerful but not so powerful that it overwhelms the party dynamic. Any advice?
Make it an upgradeable item, that will get more powerful as they acquire more pieces. (e.g. the Rod of Seven Parts).
Give them one of these. Modify it slightly so that it gets +1 to hit and damage in each Tier after the first. At level 17 it would be a +3 weapon. At level 9 it's only a +1 weapon that gives a pretty nasty hit back as a Reaction. If they are fighting a caster, it wouldn't be a whole lot of help as written, so when fighting the BBEG, let it be the full scale +3, and have the fact that it ignores resistances and immunity apply to all weapon attacks, not just the extra attacks they get from their Attack Action.
Make it a generic +1/+2 weapon usually but then give it extra buffs against the BBEG and his generals. That way day to day it won’t unbalance things but they will know it will do major damage in the big fights.
maybe give it a plus that only works on your BBEG. that could ensure that in normal fights, it wouldn't have much of an advantage, but would do substantial dmg to your boss.
Rather than specifically giving it a bonus against the BBEG, give it a bonus that triggers in certain circumstances that you know will be present in the final fight, i.e. if the villain's lair is in an active volcano, give the weapon extra pluses or abilities if it's exposed to extreme heat.
That gives the party a chance to discover the extra features on their own prior to the final fight so it won't feel quite so deus ex machina when it becomes key to winning. It might not even be a character's main weapon at that point, until they remember, "Hey, wait, who's got that sword that gets super-powerful when it gets hot?"
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Rather than specifically giving it a bonus against the BBEG, give it a bonus that triggers in certain circumstances that you know will be present in the final fight, i.e. if the villain's lair is in an active volcano, give the weapon extra pluses or abilities if it's exposed to extreme heat.
That gives the party a chance to discover the extra features on their own prior to the final fight so it won't feel quite so deus ex machina when it becomes key to winning. It might not even be a character's main weapon at that point, until they remember, "Hey, wait, who's got that sword that gets super-powerful when it gets hot?"
Just be careful it's not a trigger the PC's can generate on their own. I know my group would try to reason that they could cast heat metal on the above example to unlock its powers anywhere.
But yeah maybe a special metal or enchantment that hurts a specific kind of creature, like Sting in LOTR.
So I have a sword that my current group is trying to locate, this item will give them one piece of the puzzle to destroy the BBEG. But I'm having a hard time figuring the balance for the item. It needs to be powerful but not so powerful that it overwhelms the party dynamic. Any advice?
What level are the characters?
What level to you expect them to reach?
Either way, you could look at the vestiges of divergence in the Wildemount book. They're items that can power up along with the characters, so you can start them with something that's a +1 sword and let it grow into a Holy Avenger, or something. Could be very helpful if they are a long way off from the final fight when' they'll use the item.
Make it an upgradeable item, that will get more powerful as they acquire more pieces. (e.g. the Rod of Seven Parts).
So the characters are level 9 right now. I don’t expect them to get this item till 13-15.
my main issue is getting the weapon to feel like it’s really valuable at higher levels.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/sword-of-answering
Give them one of these. Modify it slightly so that it gets +1 to hit and damage in each Tier after the first. At level 17 it would be a +3 weapon. At level 9 it's only a +1 weapon that gives a pretty nasty hit back as a Reaction. If they are fighting a caster, it wouldn't be a whole lot of help as written, so when fighting the BBEG, let it be the full scale +3, and have the fact that it ignores resistances and immunity apply to all weapon attacks, not just the extra attacks they get from their Attack Action.
<Insert clever signature here>
Make it a generic +1/+2 weapon usually but then give it extra buffs against the BBEG and his generals. That way day to day it won’t unbalance things but they will know it will do major damage in the big fights.
maybe give it a plus that only works on your BBEG. that could ensure that in normal fights, it wouldn't have much of an advantage, but would do substantial dmg to your boss.
Rather than specifically giving it a bonus against the BBEG, give it a bonus that triggers in certain circumstances that you know will be present in the final fight, i.e. if the villain's lair is in an active volcano, give the weapon extra pluses or abilities if it's exposed to extreme heat.
That gives the party a chance to discover the extra features on their own prior to the final fight so it won't feel quite so deus ex machina when it becomes key to winning. It might not even be a character's main weapon at that point, until they remember, "Hey, wait, who's got that sword that gets super-powerful when it gets hot?"
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Just be careful it's not a trigger the PC's can generate on their own. I know my group would try to reason that they could cast heat metal on the above example to unlock its powers anywhere.
But yeah maybe a special metal or enchantment that hurts a specific kind of creature, like Sting in LOTR.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm