I have crafted a Homebrew magical item. It is indeed an artifact, that has been around for thousands of years, inside my storyline. Based on its attributes below, you can see it is geared to deal with Dragons. That being said, I fear it is way way off the charts in power levels, even for something I would consider Legendary. Now, I can fiddle with the various features, as the players really no very little about its capabilities (virtually none have been used or discovered), so I can certainly alter / remove some.
So looking for opinions on how over-powered it is, and how much should be scaled back. The only thing that I want to keep is the ability of the item to overwhelm the player, and the random elemental resistance. (the players don't know about the resistance, only that the char is rolling every day for something).Tell me what you think about this item:
Clovis: (When Attuned) Int 10, Wis 16, CHA 20. Chaotic Good
Takes the form of a dagger, or short sword, based on attuned char's choice.
Clovis understands spoken Common, Elvish, Dwarven, and Draconic. Clovis telepathically demands of the attuned player to be used in all battles. Attuned person must make a DC 18 Wis save, or use Clovis in a melee fight, even in lieu of using a magical spell. It is an ancient weapon crafted by Wood Elves, to be used in the battles against the Chromatic Dragons and Orcs. Clovis knows "things", basically ancient history, including Dragon history, but will not give that info up unless asked, and even then, it may not want to, and player must make a "test of wills" contest against Clovis. (Clovis = CHA roll +5 vs char's Wis roll). See DMG: Conflict, page 216.
Darkvision to 60 feet, Normal Hearing and Sight
Attuned char gains Darkvision, 60 feet, if the char does not already have it +1, d4 against non-dragons. +3, 2d8 against dragons, and Critical Hit on a 19 or 20. Attuned char Resistant to all dragon-breath damage. +3 to all saves wrt to dragon's breath weapon and dragon based spells. Attuned char can understand spoken and written Draconic when holding Clovis, but can't write Draconic. Detects all Dragons within 200 feet, if the Dragon is in its natural form, unless the Dragon is protected by some magical shielding, 3 feet of rock, or a thin layer of lead. Player at first does not even know what they are detecting. Attuned char with Command Word can, once/ day, create a Lightning Bolt, 40 long, 10 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 33 (6d10) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one, OR, can create repulsion energy in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is pushed 30 feet away from the player. Randomly, each day, Attuned char is Resistant to Fire, Cold, Acid, Poison, or Lightning Damage.
Clearly designed to hate dragons. Perhaps make it require you to attack any dragon in sight on a failed Test of wills. Even if you suceed, you must try another test every round a dragon is in sight.
Also, think about:
Dragonborn and Draconic Sorcerors.
Is it +3 against them? Can they attune to it? Does it require you to attack them?
Clearly designed to hate dragons. Perhaps make it require you to attack any dragon in sight on a failed Test of wills. Even if you suceed, you must try another test every round a dragon is in sight.
Also, think about:
Dragonborn and Draconic Sorcerors.
Is it +3 against them? Can they attune to it? Does it require you to attack them?
I like the idea of penalties. This is indeed geared to fight dragons, but I always assumed only evil dragons. (Clovis is the essence of an ancient Copper Dragon that was at end of life that gave up whatever it had left to create the magic and mind of Clovis). I will definitely re-qualify as it attack bonuses only work against Chromatic Dragons. That was it's original purpose 3000 years ago. I will have to think about what to do with that penalty. Perhaps, if one of the spell like options is used, the player has disadvantage on something key for a period of time after use.
As for Dragonborn and Draconic Sorcerers, I had not thought about them. Never had any in my game, but it is a very good question. I think I will circle back to this being Chaotic Good. If a Dragonborn or Draconic Sorcerer is good, they can attune and use Clovis, but if they attack a good creature, the bonuses would not apply, or Clovis would simply refuse to fight, or at least engage in a test of wills.
I'd give the resistant to dragon breath a recharge (5 or 6 on a D6, similar to dragon breath). Needs to recharge every time the resistance is used. I'd also specify that the random resistance each day and the special dragon resistance do not stack.
I would also modify the detect dragon ability slightly. The only change is that the character does not know distance, direction or location, merely that it is within 200 feet.
I'm not sure about the spell abilities, that seems to push it over the edge. Instead, I'd suggest something like the following:
Dragon Binding
Once per long rest you may choose to bind with a magical chain a dragon you hit with this weapon. Once bound, the dragon is unable to fly, climb, swim, burrow, or hover for 1 minute or until it uses it's action to succeed on a DC 17 strength check. The Dragon may attempt this check every round, but is unable to use its Legendary Actions (if it has any) to attempt the skill check (note that this is not a saving throw, so legendary resistance does not prevent this from working).
I'd give the resistant to dragon breath a recharge (5 or 6 on a D6, similar to dragon breath). Needs to recharge every time the resistance is used. I'd also specify that the random resistance each day and the special dragon resistance do not stack.
I would also modify the detect dragon ability slightly. The only change is that the character does not know distance, direction or location, merely that it is within 200 feet.
I'm not sure about the spell abilities, that seems to push it over the edge. Instead, I'd suggest something like the following:
Dragon Binding
Once per long rest you may choose to bind with a magical chain a dragon you hit with this weapon. Once bound, the dragon is unable to fly, climb, swim, burrow, or hover for 1 minute or until it uses it's action to succeed on a DC 17 strength check. The Dragon may attempt this check every round, but is unable to use its Legendary Actions (if it has any) to attempt the skill check (note that this is not a saving throw, so legendary resistance does not prevent this from working).
Agreed on the Breath Weapon Recharge and not knowing the direction of the Dragon. (actually, just poor writing on my part, I always planned that the direction of the Dragon was unknown). I like the re-charge idea, definitely.
As for the Dragon Binding, I think that is stronger than a one time / long rest ability I have given Clovis, which is reasonably equivalent to one time use of a Copper Dragon breath weapon.
Lastly, the chars don't really know any of the abilities of Clovis, and they don't know the Command word for that one time breath weapon. They will get an opportunity to learn them, if they make a particular in-game choice.
Ah, I'll admit I completely misread that.. I thought they got the Command spell once a day in addition to the others.
Nah. The Ranger used Clovis today in game. He was not entirely happy, since Clovis beat his Wis save, and they charged into battle. At this point, all the players know is that Clovis is magical, has a major league ego with the ability to dominate a player, and every day I am making a D6 roll for some reason (randomizing the elemental damage resistance, re-roll on a 6).
The other abilities MIGHT manifest themselves, once the players face a Dragon, or more likely, when they come across some being/ creature that can fill them in on the full potential of Clovis. A side quest might in order to discover the command word.
The essence of the artifact was an Ancient Bronze dragon, at end of its life, that sacrificed what little time left it had to create the artifact. Bronze Dragon's breath weapons are Lightning and Repulsion. That bit of history of the artifact one of the players knows, but none of put it all together, and really should not be expected to at this point.
The essence of the artifact was an Ancient Bronze dragon, at end of its life, that sacrificed what little time left it had to create the artifact. Bronze Dragon's breath weapons are Lightning and Repulsion. That bit of history of the artifact one of the players knows, but none of put it all together, and really should not be expected to at this point.
Got it, I didn't catch that in the initial description.
If it was created by a bronze dragon, why would it have resistance to every kind of dragon breath? I like the idea, but seeing as it came from a bronze dragon, they don't have resistance to anything but lightning.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
The essence of the artifact was an Ancient Bronze dragon, at end of its life, that sacrificed what little time left it had to create the artifact. Bronze Dragon's breath weapons are Lightning and Repulsion. That bit of history of the artifact one of the players knows, but none of put it all together, and really should not be expected to at this point.
Got it, I didn't catch that in the initial description.
If it was created by a bronze dragon, why would it have resistance to every kind of dragon breath? I like the idea, but seeing as it came from a bronze dragon, they don't have resistance to anything but lightning.
I wanted some randomization of the artifact, hence the d6 roll every day to see what the resistance is today. More backstory: The Bronze Dragon is Lawful Good, and the expected results would have been a Lawful Good artifact. But this was crafted by Wood Elves, who also used in the creation process the blood of a group of some of their elite warriors that had been ambushed by an Orc war party. So some of the chaoticness of the Wood Elves seeped into the process, creating an artifact that definitely has chaotic tendencies, and even chaotic features (hence the randomness). This was all explained to the players, and is available to them in source docs I posted for them. (Just not what the features are.)
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I have crafted a Homebrew magical item. It is indeed an artifact, that has been around for thousands of years, inside my storyline. Based on its attributes below, you can see it is geared to deal with Dragons. That being said, I fear it is way way off the charts in power levels, even for something I would consider Legendary. Now, I can fiddle with the various features, as the players really no very little about its capabilities (virtually none have been used or discovered), so I can certainly alter / remove some.
So looking for opinions on how over-powered it is, and how much should be scaled back. The only thing that I want to keep is the ability of the item to overwhelm the player, and the random elemental resistance. (the players don't know about the resistance, only that the char is rolling every day for something).Tell me what you think about this item:
Clovis: (When Attuned) Int 10, Wis 16, CHA 20. Chaotic Good
Takes the form of a dagger, or short sword, based on attuned char's choice.
Clovis understands spoken Common, Elvish, Dwarven, and Draconic. Clovis telepathically demands of the attuned player to be used in all battles. Attuned person must make a DC 18 Wis save, or use Clovis in a melee fight, even in lieu of using a magical spell. It is an ancient weapon crafted by Wood Elves, to be used in the battles against the Chromatic Dragons and Orcs. Clovis knows "things", basically ancient history, including Dragon history, but will not give that info up unless asked, and even then, it may not want to, and player must make a "test of wills" contest against Clovis. (Clovis = CHA roll +5 vs char's Wis roll). See DMG: Conflict, page 216.
Darkvision to 60 feet, Normal Hearing and Sight
Attuned char gains Darkvision, 60 feet, if the char does not already have it
+1, d4 against non-dragons.
+3, 2d8 against dragons, and Critical Hit on a 19 or 20.
Attuned char Resistant to all dragon-breath damage. +3 to all saves wrt to dragon's breath weapon and dragon based spells.
Attuned char can understand spoken and written Draconic when holding Clovis, but can't write Draconic.
Detects all Dragons within 200 feet, if the Dragon is in its natural form, unless the Dragon is protected by some magical shielding, 3 feet of rock, or a thin layer of lead. Player at first does not even know what they are detecting.
Attuned char with Command Word can, once/ day, create a Lightning Bolt, 40 long, 10 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 18 Dexterity saving throw, taking 33 (6d10) lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one, OR, can create repulsion energy in a 30-foot cone. Each creature in that area must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is pushed 30 feet away from the player.
Randomly, each day, Attuned char is Resistant to Fire, Cold, Acid, Poison, or Lightning Damage.
Powerful Artifact, needs some penalties.
Clearly designed to hate dragons. Perhaps make it require you to attack any dragon in sight on a failed Test of wills. Even if you suceed, you must try another test every round a dragon is in sight.
Also, think about:
Dragonborn and Draconic Sorcerors.
Is it +3 against them? Can they attune to it? Does it require you to attack them?
I like the idea of penalties. This is indeed geared to fight dragons, but I always assumed only evil dragons. (Clovis is the essence of an ancient Copper Dragon that was at end of life that gave up whatever it had left to create the magic and mind of Clovis). I will definitely re-qualify as it attack bonuses only work against Chromatic Dragons. That was it's original purpose 3000 years ago. I will have to think about what to do with that penalty. Perhaps, if one of the spell like options is used, the player has disadvantage on something key for a period of time after use.
As for Dragonborn and Draconic Sorcerers, I had not thought about them. Never had any in my game, but it is a very good question. I think I will circle back to this being Chaotic Good. If a Dragonborn or Draconic Sorcerer is good, they can attune and use Clovis, but if they attack a good creature, the bonuses would not apply, or Clovis would simply refuse to fight, or at least engage in a test of wills.
I'd give the resistant to dragon breath a recharge (5 or 6 on a D6, similar to dragon breath). Needs to recharge every time the resistance is used. I'd also specify that the random resistance each day and the special dragon resistance do not stack.
I would also modify the detect dragon ability slightly. The only change is that the character does not know distance, direction or location, merely that it is within 200 feet.
I'm not sure about the spell abilities, that seems to push it over the edge. Instead, I'd suggest something like the following:
Dragon Binding
Once per long rest you may choose to bind with a magical chain a dragon you hit with this weapon. Once bound, the dragon is unable to fly, climb, swim, burrow, or hover for 1 minute or until it uses it's action to succeed on a DC 17 strength check. The Dragon may attempt this check every round, but is unable to use its Legendary Actions (if it has any) to attempt the skill check (note that this is not a saving throw, so legendary resistance does not prevent this from working).
Agreed on the Breath Weapon Recharge and not knowing the direction of the Dragon. (actually, just poor writing on my part, I always planned that the direction of the Dragon was unknown). I like the re-charge idea, definitely.
As for the Dragon Binding, I think that is stronger than a one time / long rest ability I have given Clovis, which is reasonably equivalent to one time use of a Copper Dragon breath weapon.
Lastly, the chars don't really know any of the abilities of Clovis, and they don't know the Command word for that one time breath weapon. They will get an opportunity to learn them, if they make a particular in-game choice.
Ah, I'll admit I completely misread that.. I thought they got the Command spell once a day in addition to the others.
Nah. The Ranger used Clovis today in game. He was not entirely happy, since Clovis beat his Wis save, and they charged into battle. At this point, all the players know is that Clovis is magical, has a major league ego with the ability to dominate a player, and every day I am making a D6 roll for some reason (randomizing the elemental damage resistance, re-roll on a 6).
The other abilities MIGHT manifest themselves, once the players face a Dragon, or more likely, when they come across some being/ creature that can fill them in on the full potential of Clovis. A side quest might in order to discover the command word.
Why a lightning bolt?
Why not a thunderbolt or force bolt?
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
The essence of the artifact was an Ancient Bronze dragon, at end of its life, that sacrificed what little time left it had to create the artifact. Bronze Dragon's breath weapons are Lightning and Repulsion. That bit of history of the artifact one of the players knows, but none of put it all together, and really should not be expected to at this point.
Got it, I didn't catch that in the initial description.
If it was created by a bronze dragon, why would it have resistance to every kind of dragon breath? I like the idea, but seeing as it came from a bronze dragon, they don't have resistance to anything but lightning.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
I wanted some randomization of the artifact, hence the d6 roll every day to see what the resistance is today. More backstory: The Bronze Dragon is Lawful Good, and the expected results would have been a Lawful Good artifact. But this was crafted by Wood Elves, who also used in the creation process the blood of a group of some of their elite warriors that had been ambushed by an Orc war party. So some of the chaoticness of the Wood Elves seeped into the process, creating an artifact that definitely has chaotic tendencies, and even chaotic features (hence the randomness). This was all explained to the players, and is available to them in source docs I posted for them. (Just not what the features are.)