So, I was wondering if I could get some help with designing a magic item for a player in my game. He recently got his leg hacked off my an orc chieftan. A dwarven ally forged a new metal "leg" for him out of a magical ore (the player does not know about the magical properties of the leg yet). I was thinking the leg could have the following magical property:
The user spends his action stomping this item against the ground and targets any creature within 120 ft. (he must be able to see his target). On a successful save nothing happens, however on an unsuccessful save the targeted creature loses its ability to fly. If the creature is already flying under its own power and suffers the effects of this item, it falls out of the air and lands on the ground prone, suffering falling damage as normal.
So, with this basic template in mind, here's a couple questions. How many times per day should the item be usable? If it can be used every round, should a creature who has saved from it be immune for 24 hours? What if used against a creature who is only flying as a benefit of a spell or a magical item? Finally, how rare should this wondrous item be?
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C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
Well, when talking about the power of an item I must first ask:
1. What level are your players?
2. How often do they fight flying enemies? (Or you plan for them to fight later on?)
Daily uses becomes less of an issue if they only encounter a flying enemy once in a while versus several times a day? The item seems like a shorter range, souped up Earthbind spell (which is 2nd level). How many free casts of a prone-causing 2nd level spell do you want to give your players? Unless your players are low leveled, I don't think it's OP, but there should probably be a limit to uses--recharge on short rest, at least unless this is a higher level campaign
Keep it simple; just model it after one of the many wands that lets you cast a spell. Give it 7 charges; it recovers 1d6 + 1 charges at dawn. If the last charge is expended, roll a d20; on a 1, it becomes nonmagical.
Personally I'd just have it cast Earthbind instead of an ad-hoc effect.
Spontaneously I also wonder why flying creatures? Why did the dwarf ally give it those abilities? Or why did the ore contain such properties? If it does not tie into your campaign, perhaps alter it to fit the reason he got the leg chopped off? It could be an entangle effect on any nearby enemy once or a few times per day (even a free disengage once to allow him to run off and not get any other bits cut off?). Another option to tie into the accident is have the leg tingle when orcs are nearby.
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So, I was wondering if I could get some help with designing a magic item for a player in my game. He recently got his leg hacked off my an orc chieftan. A dwarven ally forged a new metal "leg" for him out of a magical ore (the player does not know about the magical properties of the leg yet). I was thinking the leg could have the following magical property:
The user spends his action stomping this item against the ground and targets any creature within 120 ft. (he must be able to see his target). On a successful save nothing happens, however on an unsuccessful save the targeted creature loses its ability to fly. If the creature is already flying under its own power and suffers the effects of this item, it falls out of the air and lands on the ground prone, suffering falling damage as normal.
Range: 120ft
Duration: 1 Minute
Save: Constitution 15
So, with this basic template in mind, here's a couple questions. How many times per day should the item be usable? If it can be used every round, should a creature who has saved from it be immune for 24 hours? What if used against a creature who is only flying as a benefit of a spell or a magical item? Finally, how rare should this wondrous item be?
C. Foster Payne
"If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around."
Well, when talking about the power of an item I must first ask:
1. What level are your players?
2. How often do they fight flying enemies? (Or you plan for them to fight later on?)
Daily uses becomes less of an issue if they only encounter a flying enemy once in a while versus several times a day? The item seems like a shorter range, souped up Earthbind spell (which is 2nd level). How many free casts of a prone-causing 2nd level spell do you want to give your players? Unless your players are low leveled, I don't think it's OP, but there should probably be a limit to uses--recharge on short rest, at least unless this is a higher level campaign
Keep it simple; just model it after one of the many wands that lets you cast a spell. Give it 7 charges; it recovers 1d6 + 1 charges at dawn. If the last charge is expended, roll a d20; on a 1, it becomes nonmagical.
Personally I'd just have it cast Earthbind instead of an ad-hoc effect.
The Forum Infestation (TM)
Spontaneously I also wonder why flying creatures? Why did the dwarf ally give it those abilities? Or why did the ore contain such properties? If it does not tie into your campaign, perhaps alter it to fit the reason he got the leg chopped off? It could be an entangle effect on any nearby enemy once or a few times per day (even a free disengage once to allow him to run off and not get any other bits cut off?). Another option to tie into the accident is have the leg tingle when orcs are nearby.