I made some items similar to the Vestiges of Divergence from Critical Role for my party. I have a party of 4 at level 8 and I do not plan on giving these out until they are at least level 10. It is a homebrew game that has been going on for almost 2 years. The party consists of:
The idea is that each one will be tied to a specific deity or cult. As with the Vestiges, these items will grow in power with the characters. They will not evolve with levels, but rather through pinnacle moments and decisions each character will have throughout the campaign. I worked with each player to build these and find out what they wanted in an ideal item. I then threw in a few surprises for them. The cleric wanted to be able to buff, heal, and concentrate on more than one spell at a time. The rogue just wanted more damage. The wizard wanted more spell slots. The swordmage wanted to be more dragon-like (they worship Bahamut).
My main issue is that I want them to be fairly balanced, making sure one is not greatly more or less powerful than the rest. I have asked a couple DM friends of mine but they keep telling me "it's my game and I can do what I want." So with that, I turn to you to judge my work and offer advice and constructive criticism. I understand that they seem very powerful as they upgrade, but keep in mind that they will not get these until after level 10 and these are meant to be items they will carry into the end game, which could be anywhere between level 16 to 20 depending on how the campaign goes. I do ask that if you do not like something, please offer an alternative solution. Also, please don't rip on my grammar too much. Trust me when I say that my players will understand my meaning. Without further ado, here are the items (I apologize for the long links. Could not get the dndbeyond links working):
I guess I should also mention the campaign is across an entire continent I made with different environments from a desert and jungle to mountain ranges and tundra. I try to balance how the game runs but I think we favor role play and discovery slightly, while they prioritize their resources for combat. They are currently investigating why dragons are returning to the area, but I like to keep a good variety of creatures throughout the world too. Obviously the BBEGs are the dragons and the people/creatures associated with them. As for house rules, I use the core rules but I am not above rule of cool if the need arises or it's not too important.
In general when asked this question I have found that I need a lot of info about the game and or campaign in which the GM runs and players play style. In the past I have looked at an item and thought it was weak and then the GM says " but bla bla bla and Yak Yack" and I find the item is over powered vs the others. For example an item that has lots of combat bonuses in a game where social and skill maneuvers are the norm and combat is almost nonexistent, thus the item is design to limit the time spent in combat and get back to the social drama.
Also the higher the level of the game I find the more info is required as their are often a lot more variables to consider. Some of the variables are where is the game going, what environments are they going to go into, power level, group and GM RP style, game vision, house rules and house rules they ignore, just to mention a few.
Good Luck
A bit of advice do not be afraid to change things if an item is under and or over powered and let the players know this can happen.
Luminous Aegis looks fine. The most powerful feature is the party buff, and so everyone benefits. The double concentration is cool and geared for the endgame.
Whisperwind is a bit lacklustre. I wouldn't really be very happy with it if I were the player.
Even fully awakened it only gives 2d6 bonus damage on each attack, which is fairly weak
At level 10 when they get these, it's just a +1 crossbow that does 3.5 extra damage and lets you cast Pass Without Trace - my PCs get their "key item" at level 7 and it's way, way stronger than this. If your campaign is very low magic and there have been no magic weapons so far then fine but... otherwise this is kinda lame.
I don't think the "drop to 1 hp" ability is worth much at max level. Doesn't the character getting this already have Crossbow Expert feat so loading is irrelevant anyway? It also just seems kinda random since it has this weird mix of abilities. If the characters
A Destroy Undead ability with a DC13? Is that going to be useful at higher levels?
I think that if it's a weapon, it should do weapony things rather than provide passive buffs.
Taking into account that you want these to feel really awesome, I'd go with something like:
You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with Whisperwind.
On a hit, you deal an extra 2d8 necrotic damage.
Awakened
When Whisperwind reaches an awakened state, it gains the following properties:
You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with Whisperwind.
On a hit, you deal an extra 2d10 necrotic damage instead of 2d8.
Rapid Fire: As an action, you may choose to make a ranged attack with Whisperwind against each creature you choose within a 180 degree arc in front of you. Roll the attack separately for each creature. After using this ability you cannot use it again for 7 days.
Exalted
When Whisperwind reaches an exalted state, it gains the following properties:
You gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with Whisperwind.
On a hit, you now deal an extra 2d12 of necrotic damage instead of 2d10.
Head Shot: When you hit a target with a ranged attack using Whisperwind, you may force it to make a DC17 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the start of your next turn. After using this ability you cannot use it again until you have taken a short rest.
The Lexicon Infinitum has a wrong link, it takes to Luminous Aegis.
I really like the theme of Io's Wrath, but it is kinda junk in its dormant state. The breath weapon is a waste of time. Who is going to spend an action to deal 10 (3d6) damage at level 10+? A basic ranged attack will do more. I don't think my players (level 10) would take this over any of the other items that they have attuned. The Exalted version is good, and I really like the way you get more and more dragon-like but I'd still expect a lot more from a legendary item. Whisperwind is giving +3 bonus to attack and damage, while Io's Wrath gives flying (which is cool) but a 17 (5d6) damage breath weapon is pretty useless at level 17+.
Don't be afraid to give out really, really powerful homebrew items; you can always adjust the monsters the PCs face if you think they're too good. My 6 PCs are level 10, they have 2 rare items between them and I consider the MM monsters so appallingly weak that I always double their hit points so that fights aren't over in 1-2 turns.
Thank you this is really helpful. I fixed the link for the Lexicon so take a look at that. I feel like it might need a boost too after what you said about the others.
I really like the ideas for Whisperwind. I'm not very good at coming up with new abilities on my own sometimes. I do wonder if the rapid shot could be in a cone instead, but I do agree with having them role each time.
The guy who is getting Io's Wrath just said he wanted to be more dragon like and referenced a dragonborn. From there I went with a kind of dual race. I agree that early on it doesn't seem too powerful, but he is also the one who does the most consistent damage. Maybe increase the dice to a d12 or double the dice rolled? But then I might want to back off on the number of times he can use it per day, because he will just spam that at high levels.
So I like the Lexicon, except for the part where it raises Constitution to 18. This undeniably makes the owner more tanky, but I don't see how the book would do that.
I would move the Arcane Recovery down to the Revered tier, and give the Exalted tier something really special like:
Power Overwhelming: Once per short rest, when you cast a spell of 5th level or higher, you may immediately take another action to cast a second spell of level 2 or lower.
I am assuming they won't be getting Exalted until level 17+ so I'd want to give them something that's quite over the top. All combat balance has long since gone out of the window at that point in the game, so letting them cast Cone of Cold followed by an upcast Burning Hands is super dramatic and fun.
-------------------
For the breath weapon attack, the important thing is just to make it powerful enough that it's worth using, but put a cap on how often it can be used.
At level 10, my Barbarian player's two greatsword, greatweapon master attacks: +7 to hit, 2d6+20 slashing damage. That's an average of 27 damage per swing, and because of advantage due to Reckless he's on +11 to hit, so he even hits AC20 on a roll of 9+. It's not unusual for him to deal out 54 damage or more in a turn. My Bloodhunter Crossbow Expert player has: +6 to hit, 28 (1d10+1d6+1d6+15) damage when Hex is up, and makes 2 attacks. Comparing this to the breath weapon, it's an AoE attack but 10 points of damage is basically negligible. Even without the feats, they still have an average damage output of 34 and 36.
Here's how I'd rewrite the breath weapon to make it functional. Basically I'd make it fireball level damage - this is hardly gamebreaking given that items such as staff of power give you multiple casts of high level spells.
You can use your action to exhale the breath weapon of the chosen dragon type. When you use your breath weapon, each creature in the area of the exhalation must make a saving throw, the type of which is determined by your draconic ancestry. The DC for this saving throw is 17. A creature takes 8d6 damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a successful one. You can do this once per long rest.
Dragon
Damage Type
Breath Weapon
Black
Acid
5 by 120 ft. line (Dex. save)
Blue
Lightning
5 by 120 ft. line (Dex. save)
Brass
Fire
5 by 120 ft. line (Dex. save)
Bronze
Lightning
5 by 120 ft. line (Dex. save)
Copper
Acid
5 by 120 ft. line (Dex. save)
Gold
Fire
60 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Green
Poison
60 ft. cone (Con. save)
Red
Fire
60 ft. cone (Dex. save)
Silver
Cold
60 ft. cone (Con. save)
White
Cold
60 ft. cone (Con. save)
Revered
When Io's Wrath reaches a revered state, it gains the following properties:
Your breath weapon increases in damage to 35 (10d6), the save DC is increased to 18.
Exalted
When Io's Wrath reaches an exalted state, it gains the following properties:
Your breath weapon increases in damage to 42 (12d6), the save DC is increased to 19, and you gain another use of your breath weapon, to a total of 2.
I forgot to mention that the wizard wanted more health too, but what wizard doesn't? My thought process was that it was created by other squishy mages, so they would make sure the user couldn't die easily. What about magic resistance? I suppose I could just give them an Ioun Stone too. As for the ability, I was originally trying to give them access to meta magic, so they could choose to twin, quicken, or do any of the other options. I like Power Overwhelming though, especially since its only a short rest.
Fireball level damage seems appropriate. I was afraid that they might not be happy with only one use, but with the increased range it makes the argument more compelling. Would an additional charge per upgrade be too powerful? As in Dormant - 1, Revered - 2, Exalted - 3.
Perhaps for Io's Wrath you could focus on other aspects of dragonhood and build up to the breath. Especially if the character already does good damage, use this to enhance another aspect of the character or give new options for support or control.
Maybe introduce a weaker version of flight or frightful presence, and/or grant resistance matching the dragon type.
I forgot to mention that the wizard wanted more health too, but what wizard doesn't? My thought process was that it was created by other squishy mages, so they would make sure the user couldn't die easily. What about magic resistance? I suppose I could just give them an Ioun Stone too. As for the ability, I was originally trying to give them access to meta magic, so they could choose to twin, quicken, or do any of the other options. I like Power Overwhelming though, especially since its only a short rest.
Fireball level damage seems appropriate. I was afraid that they might not be happy with only one use, but with the increased range it makes the argument more compelling. Would an additional charge per upgrade be too powerful? As in Dormant - 1, Revered - 2, Exalted - 3.
I'd say that if the wizard wanted more health, he's going to need to find an amulet of health and use up a second attunement slot. I'd avoid lumping everything they want into one item, especially when it counteracts a key weakness of the class.
Classes are defined by what they're weak against as much as by what they're good at. Your wizard probably does want loads of hp and armour, but that's not his role in the game.
I forgot to mention that the wizard wanted more health too, but what wizard doesn't? My thought process was that it was created by other squishy mages, so they would make sure the user couldn't die easily. What about magic resistance? I suppose I could just give them an Ioun Stone too. As for the ability, I was originally trying to give them access to meta magic, so they could choose to twin, quicken, or do any of the other options. I like Power Overwhelming though, especially since its only a short rest.
Fireball level damage seems appropriate. I was afraid that they might not be happy with only one use, but with the increased range it makes the argument more compelling. Would an additional charge per upgrade be too powerful? As in Dormant - 1, Revered - 2, Exalted - 3.
I'd say that if the wizard wanted more health, he's going to need to find an amulet of health and use up a second attunement slot. I'd avoid lumping everything they want into one item, especially when it counteracts a key weakness of the class.
Classes are defined by what they're weak against as much as by what they're good at. Your wizard probably does want loads of hp and armour, but that's not his role in the game.
That's fair. Thank you for all your input.
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I made some items similar to the Vestiges of Divergence from Critical Role for my party. I have a party of 4 at level 8 and I do not plan on giving these out until they are at least level 10. It is a homebrew game that has been going on for almost 2 years. The party consists of:
Tortle - Life Domain Cleric
Halfling - Assassin Rogue
Elven - Bladesinger Wizard
Warforged - Spellsword Swordmage (homebrew class, link is here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Lv1cLFFkl91dptD_zAXldIz3KSR9oLt5/view?usp=sharing)
The idea is that each one will be tied to a specific deity or cult. As with the Vestiges, these items will grow in power with the characters. They will not evolve with levels, but rather through pinnacle moments and decisions each character will have throughout the campaign. I worked with each player to build these and find out what they wanted in an ideal item. I then threw in a few surprises for them. The cleric wanted to be able to buff, heal, and concentrate on more than one spell at a time. The rogue just wanted more damage. The wizard wanted more spell slots. The swordmage wanted to be more dragon-like (they worship Bahamut).
My main issue is that I want them to be fairly balanced, making sure one is not greatly more or less powerful than the rest. I have asked a couple DM friends of mine but they keep telling me "it's my game and I can do what I want." So with that, I turn to you to judge my work and offer advice and constructive criticism. I understand that they seem very powerful as they upgrade, but keep in mind that they will not get these until after level 10 and these are meant to be items they will carry into the end game, which could be anywhere between level 16 to 20 depending on how the campaign goes. I do ask that if you do not like something, please offer an alternative solution. Also, please don't rip on my grammar too much. Trust me when I say that my players will understand my meaning. Without further ado, here are the items (I apologize for the long links. Could not get the dndbeyond links working):
Luminous Aegis - https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4609990-luminous-aegis
Whisperwind - https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4577684-whisperwind
Lexicon Infinium - https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4610091-lexicon-infinium
Io's Wrath - https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4571451-ios-wrath
Edit: Lexicon's link is fixed.
I guess I should also mention the campaign is across an entire continent I made with different environments from a desert and jungle to mountain ranges and tundra. I try to balance how the game runs but I think we favor role play and discovery slightly, while they prioritize their resources for combat. They are currently investigating why dragons are returning to the area, but I like to keep a good variety of creatures throughout the world too. Obviously the BBEGs are the dragons and the people/creatures associated with them. As for house rules, I use the core rules but I am not above rule of cool if the need arises or it's not too important.
In general when asked this question I have found that I need a lot of info about the game and or campaign in which the GM runs and players play style. In the past I have looked at an item and thought it was weak and then the GM says " but bla bla bla and Yak Yack" and I find the item is over powered vs the others. For example an item that has lots of combat bonuses in a game where social and skill maneuvers are the norm and combat is almost nonexistent, thus the item is design to limit the time spent in combat and get back to the social drama.
Also the higher the level of the game I find the more info is required as their are often a lot more variables to consider. Some of the variables are where is the game going, what environments are they going to go into, power level, group and GM RP style, game vision, house rules and house rules they ignore, just to mention a few.
Good Luck
A bit of advice do not be afraid to change things if an item is under and or over powered and let the players know this can happen.
Luminous Aegis looks fine. The most powerful feature is the party buff, and so everyone benefits. The double concentration is cool and geared for the endgame.
Taking into account that you want these to feel really awesome, I'd go with something like:
Whisperwind Rebuild
Awakened
When Whisperwind reaches an awakened state, it gains the following properties:
Exalted
When Whisperwind reaches an exalted state, it gains the following properties:
The Lexicon Infinitum has a wrong link, it takes to Luminous Aegis.
I really like the theme of Io's Wrath, but it is kinda junk in its dormant state. The breath weapon is a waste of time. Who is going to spend an action to deal 10 (3d6) damage at level 10+? A basic ranged attack will do more. I don't think my players (level 10) would take this over any of the other items that they have attuned. The Exalted version is good, and I really like the way you get more and more dragon-like but I'd still expect a lot more from a legendary item. Whisperwind is giving +3 bonus to attack and damage, while Io's Wrath gives flying (which is cool) but a 17 (5d6) damage breath weapon is pretty useless at level 17+.
Don't be afraid to give out really, really powerful homebrew items; you can always adjust the monsters the PCs face if you think they're too good. My 6 PCs are level 10, they have 2 rare items between them and I consider the MM monsters so appallingly weak that I always double their hit points so that fights aren't over in 1-2 turns.
Thank you this is really helpful. I fixed the link for the Lexicon so take a look at that. I feel like it might need a boost too after what you said about the others.
I really like the ideas for Whisperwind. I'm not very good at coming up with new abilities on my own sometimes. I do wonder if the rapid shot could be in a cone instead, but I do agree with having them role each time.
The guy who is getting Io's Wrath just said he wanted to be more dragon like and referenced a dragonborn. From there I went with a kind of dual race. I agree that early on it doesn't seem too powerful, but he is also the one who does the most consistent damage. Maybe increase the dice to a d12 or double the dice rolled? But then I might want to back off on the number of times he can use it per day, because he will just spam that at high levels.
So I like the Lexicon, except for the part where it raises Constitution to 18. This undeniably makes the owner more tanky, but I don't see how the book would do that.
I would move the Arcane Recovery down to the Revered tier, and give the Exalted tier something really special like:
Power Overwhelming: Once per short rest, when you cast a spell of 5th level or higher, you may immediately take another action to cast a second spell of level 2 or lower.
I am assuming they won't be getting Exalted until level 17+ so I'd want to give them something that's quite over the top. All combat balance has long since gone out of the window at that point in the game, so letting them cast Cone of Cold followed by an upcast Burning Hands is super dramatic and fun.
-------------------
For the breath weapon attack, the important thing is just to make it powerful enough that it's worth using, but put a cap on how often it can be used.
At level 10, my Barbarian player's two greatsword, greatweapon master attacks: +7 to hit, 2d6+20 slashing damage. That's an average of 27 damage per swing, and because of advantage due to Reckless he's on +11 to hit, so he even hits AC20 on a roll of 9+. It's not unusual for him to deal out 54 damage or more in a turn. My Bloodhunter Crossbow Expert player has: +6 to hit, 28 (1d10+1d6+1d6+15) damage when Hex is up, and makes 2 attacks. Comparing this to the breath weapon, it's an AoE attack but 10 points of damage is basically negligible. Even without the feats, they still have an average damage output of 34 and 36.
Here's how I'd rewrite the breath weapon to make it functional. Basically I'd make it fireball level damage - this is hardly gamebreaking given that items such as staff of power give you multiple casts of high level spells.
Revered
When Io's Wrath reaches a revered state, it gains the following properties:
Exalted
When Io's Wrath reaches an exalted state, it gains the following properties:
I forgot to mention that the wizard wanted more health too, but what wizard doesn't? My thought process was that it was created by other squishy mages, so they would make sure the user couldn't die easily. What about magic resistance? I suppose I could just give them an Ioun Stone too. As for the ability, I was originally trying to give them access to meta magic, so they could choose to twin, quicken, or do any of the other options. I like Power Overwhelming though, especially since its only a short rest.
Fireball level damage seems appropriate. I was afraid that they might not be happy with only one use, but with the increased range it makes the argument more compelling. Would an additional charge per upgrade be too powerful? As in Dormant - 1, Revered - 2, Exalted - 3.
Perhaps for Io's Wrath you could focus on other aspects of dragonhood and build up to the breath. Especially if the character already does good damage, use this to enhance another aspect of the character or give new options for support or control.
Maybe introduce a weaker version of flight or frightful presence, and/or grant resistance matching the dragon type.
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
I'd say that if the wizard wanted more health, he's going to need to find an amulet of health and use up a second attunement slot. I'd avoid lumping everything they want into one item, especially when it counteracts a key weakness of the class.
Classes are defined by what they're weak against as much as by what they're good at. Your wizard probably does want loads of hp and armour, but that's not his role in the game.
That's fair. Thank you for all your input.