I'm designing a campaign in which the party must take an artifact-quality magic item from one corner of the world to another, a bit like the One Ring. I'm designing it such that the artifact is a weapon able to directly assist the party as they play through the campaign, but because the party will be get it at a low level, I'm running into some semantic problems in this regard.
By definition of the DMG, artifact magic items are:
Unique or limited in quantity.
Created with means inaccessible to most mortals.
Only destructible in a very specific way.
Important to the setting's history.
Extremely powerful.
The artifact I'm designing meets all criteria except for the last one. Giving a 1st-level party an absurdly powerful magic weapon would obviously trivialize the entire campaign, so I don't want to make it as powerful as artifacts are known for being. Instead, I'm going to give it an array of combat abilities which "level up" with the party, gaining bonuses which scale with its wielder's level (specifically proficiency bonus).
Most of the people I play with are veterans, so I'm concerned that they may find the "artifact" label a little disappointing, since it stretches the definition of power. Is this concern warranted?
Don't be concerned. The meta of the artifact growing in power over time even fits the nature of the One Ring in the story. At first, it's just a little bit of invisibility... by the end - oh boy!
Most of the people I play with are veterans, so I'm concerned that they may find the "artifact" label a little disappointing, since it stretches the definition of power. Is this concern warranted.
If they're bothered (I suspect they won't be, but that depends) tell them they haven't unlocked its full potential yet.
Take a look at the Vestiges of Divergence for inspiration. They are magic items that scale in power with the character that wields them.
My real concern would be the issue of who 'gets' the gizmo in question. Unless everyone in the party has access to it somehow, or everyone in the party has a piece of it, then one character is the focus of the story, and everyone else is a supporting character. That doesn't have to be an issue, and with the right party it isn't, but... you should talk with the players ahead of time and get real clear with them.
I'll second the use of a Dragon's Wrath Weapon from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons as a basis for this. But I recommend using a dragon hoard rather than a dragon horde: the former is full of treasure, the latter is full of barbarians.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I'll second the use of a Dragon's Wrath Weapon from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons as a basis for this. But I recommend using a dragon hoard rather than a dragon horde: the former is full of treasure, the latter is full of barbarians.
Take a look at the Vestiges of Divergence for inspiration. They are magic items that scale in power with the character that wields them.
My real concern would be the issue of who 'gets' the gizmo in question. Unless everyone in the party has access to it somehow, or everyone in the party has a piece of it, then one character is the focus of the story, and everyone else is a supporting character. That doesn't have to be an issue, and with the right party it isn't, but... you should talk with the players ahead of time and get real clear with them.
Great point. The item won't require attunement, so it can change hands freely and therefore won't be restricted to use by a single Chosen One.
Going off the One Ring idea even more, I've begun to draft a "corruption" effect which makes it risky for one person to use its features repeatedly. Done right, this could encourage the players to swap it between themselves regularly.
Sometimes the Lost Lands supplements from Frog God Games aid in these areas. The Tomb of Abysthor lists 9 Minor Artifacts and their power levels seem keyed to what you speak of
"Living" Artifacts / Magic gear is a thing - I do it all the time where things scale as players go up in level - I think its a great idea and use it often.
I do agree with the above it either has to be a group buff / effect or you will be pissing of the rest of the party if only 1 player gets the toy.
Take a look at the Vestiges of Divergence for inspiration. They are magic items that scale in power with the character that wields them.
My real concern would be the issue of who 'gets' the gizmo in question. Unless everyone in the party has access to it somehow, or everyone in the party has a piece of it, then one character is the focus of the story, and everyone else is a supporting character. That doesn't have to be an issue, and with the right party it isn't, but... you should talk with the players ahead of time and get real clear with them.
Great point. The item won't require attunement, so it can change hands freely and therefore won't be restricted to use by a single Chosen One.
Going off the One Ring idea even more, I've begun to draft a "corruption" effect which makes it risky for one person to use its features repeatedly. Done right, this could encourage the players to swap it between themselves regularly.
Alternatively you could give each member an item tailored to their characters abilities, However, it would require a lot more work and would probably be a very difficult thing to balance. I do think that each having their own would push them to fulfill their role in the team a bit more than normal and builds a sense of chosen ones if you need that as a motivator to some of the characters.
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Just a goober doing my own work when I want to. I like the idea of not just high fantasy dnd.
You can reach me over discord as well, Handle is royalsupsi as well
I am open to work on joint homebrew projects, just DM me.
All my projects so far are in the extended signiture
I'm designing a campaign in which the party must take an artifact-quality magic item from one corner of the world to another, a bit like the One Ring. I'm designing it such that the artifact is a weapon able to directly assist the party as they play through the campaign, but because the party will be get it at a low level, I'm running into some semantic problems in this regard.
By definition of the DMG, artifact magic items are:
The artifact I'm designing meets all criteria except for the last one. Giving a 1st-level party an absurdly powerful magic weapon would obviously trivialize the entire campaign, so I don't want to make it as powerful as artifacts are known for being. Instead, I'm going to give it an array of combat abilities which "level up" with the party, gaining bonuses which scale with its wielder's level (specifically proficiency bonus).
Most of the people I play with are veterans, so I'm concerned that they may find the "artifact" label a little disappointing, since it stretches the definition of power. Is this concern warranted?
Don't be concerned. The meta of the artifact growing in power over time even fits the nature of the One Ring in the story. At first, it's just a little bit of invisibility... by the end - oh boy!
If they're bothered (I suspect they won't be, but that depends) tell them they haven't unlocked its full potential yet.
Take a look at the Vestiges of Divergence for inspiration. They are magic items that scale in power with the character that wields them.
My real concern would be the issue of who 'gets' the gizmo in question. Unless everyone in the party has access to it somehow, or everyone in the party has a piece of it, then one character is the focus of the story, and everyone else is a supporting character. That doesn't have to be an issue, and with the right party it isn't, but... you should talk with the players ahead of time and get real clear with them.
In addition to the vestiges mentioned above, the dragon horde items might fit the bill.
I'll second the use of a Dragon's Wrath Weapon from Fizban's Treasury of Dragons as a basis for this. But I recommend using a dragon hoard rather than a dragon horde: the former is full of treasure, the latter is full of barbarians.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Why not both?😁
Great point. The item won't require attunement, so it can change hands freely and therefore won't be restricted to use by a single Chosen One.
Going off the One Ring idea even more, I've begun to draft a "corruption" effect which makes it risky for one person to use its features repeatedly. Done right, this could encourage the players to swap it between themselves regularly.
Sometimes the Lost Lands supplements from Frog God Games aid in these areas. The Tomb of Abysthor lists 9 Minor Artifacts and their power levels seem keyed to what you speak of
"Living" Artifacts / Magic gear is a thing - I do it all the time where things scale as players go up in level - I think its a great idea and use it often.
I do agree with the above it either has to be a group buff / effect or you will be pissing of the rest of the party if only 1 player gets the toy.
GL!
Well, unless it's mostly useless; there are several artifacts with a bad habit of killing their users.
Alternatively you could give each member an item tailored to their characters abilities, However, it would require a lot more work and would probably be a very difficult thing to balance. I do think that each having their own would push them to fulfill their role in the team a bit more than normal and builds a sense of chosen ones if you need that as a motivator to some of the characters.
Just a goober doing my own work when I want to. I like the idea of not just high fantasy dnd.
You can reach me over discord as well, Handle is royalsupsi as well
I am open to work on joint homebrew projects, just DM me.
All my projects so far are in the extended signiture
Extended Sig