Is this OP? It's a plate mail helmet (only the helmet) that I designed based on the little lore available about Dragonspear Castle. I've currently got it listed as an artifact for rarity level but I'm not sure about that and I'm not sure about the abilities. One of my PCs just got a custom mini of his dwarf paladin that had a winged helmet on it so I wanted to give him a chance for a winged helmet in-game. (Also debating between calling it stone resistance and draconic resistance since it's named and patterned after a dragon that once lived.)
Item info:
A shiny plate helmet patterned after dragon scales and wings. The metal itself seems to change colors at times, flashing through all the colors of metallic dragons. The helmet was created by the half-dwarf Daeros Dragonspear at the time he built his castle south of Daggerford.
Stone Resistance: You have a +1 bonus to AC while wearing this helmet.
Increased Life: You gain 5 temporary hit points while wearing this helmet.
Draconic Agility: You have a +1 bonus to Dexterity while wearing this helmet.
I have a player in my group with a similar mini, and actually did the same thing. But instead of doing just the helm, I did a set a full plate. The reason for this was that full plate already includes the helm, so I just did a full set. As to your stats: +1 AC is fine, not OP in general. 5 temporary hit points needs a recharge rate. Do they recharge each round? That might be OP, but fine for artifact level. Recharge on a short rest? Not OP. The +1 to DEX isn't too bad from an OP standpoint. Kind of depends on his armor. If he is in plate, it doesn't benefit AC, just potentially saves and skills. If he is at an even DEX number, it actually doesn't really help at all BC a DEX increase of 1 won't increase his modifier unless he uses an API to increase it by 1.
What you say makes a lot of sense. I hadn't even thought of a recharge rate for the temp hit points. Probably long rest would be the best option for that. Gives a boost each day without paving the way to cheesing stuff. His dex right now is a 13 so it would bump the modifier from 1 to 2 to have the dex bonus but he is in full plate at the moment as a character. Thanks for your thoughtful feedback.
Okay, I removed the dex bonus and added a charge time for the temp HP. Also made it a full set of plate mail with the winged helmet.
A set of shiny plate mail patterned after dragon scales, with metal wings protruding from the helmet that resemble those of a dragon. The metal itself seems to change colors at times, flashing through all the colors of metallic dragons. The helmet was created by the half-dwarf Daeros Dragonspear at the time he built his castle south of Daggerford.
Draconic Hide: You have a +1 bonus to AC while wearing this helmet.
Prolonged Life: You gain 5 temporary hit points while wearing this helmet. Once these points are expended, they are lost until the next long rest.
Looks good, but feel free to amp it up if you want. You're basically just above a "rare" magic item. (+1 plate is rare, and with the charge rate of the temp hp, it's basically got an extended single person Aid spell on it.)
For the rarity you earlier mentioned artifact, and you could easily give it a few more attributes before it gets to artifact level. For reference, compare it to a set of Armor of Invulnerability (legendary).
As this seems to be a permanent set (bc of his mini) you can always take a staggered approach to it. There is a 3.5 book called "Weapons of Legacy" that I have based some items on for my players. In a nutshell, they were items that appeared pretty basic at first, but would unlock abilities/bonuses/sentience as the wielder leveled with it. Some of the big unlocks required quests or rituals. I have given most of my players a modified version of these items. They unlock either through research or the item straight up telling them how. Most also have detrimental traits (per the DMG guidance) to power balance the bigger benefits.
I say all that because it sounds like you have a great plot hook type item, and the process of slowly unlocking new powers would keep it interesting for you and the player. Would also give you a way to scale it slowly up to artifact level as the player levels.
This is why I'm so glad I found these forums. I'm a total noob at all this. The dungeon I'm running my PCs through next had a winged helmet listed as a treasure item in one room which is where I got the idea to homebrew something to go with the winged helmet (and finding the dungeon just happened to coincide with the PC getting his mini, total serendipity). It might not need to be artifact as far as rarity but given that I was giving it a backstory that it was created by someone specific it felt like it needed to be artifact. But I do like the idea of scaling it and unlocking abilities as the PC continues to level. Would you put that information all into the initial homebrew? Or add it in as the PC levels so that it's revealed to the player at the same time as the PC? I can see advantages to both ways of doing it.
Again, thank you very much for your thoughtful feedback. I've been rather nervous about posting in the forums, being so new to the game, but it's been all positive experiences so far.
I have all my information written down, then add to the homebrew item as they progress. If you go by the DMG's major and minor properties, it's about 50/50 on whether it is something that I add to a magic item (like bonuses, stat changes, spells, etc) or something that goes into the item description (character gives off a rotten odor for 30ft, erases all spell scrolls within 10ft, etc). The last one I made was just the item, that showed as magic. They identified it, and I gave them the basic info: +1 glaive, with some info based on looks. (Who it might have been forged by, etc) I told them that they would have to research more because it looks to be from a long time ago. After researching (I used modified downtime rules) they found out it was a named weapon from long ago, and that legend told it's power grew as it bonded to it's owner. I did this because even though it was a weapon that I knew this particular character wanted, I didn't want him to drop it for some other random magic item roll they came across. Then, after he had the name, he of course started playing around with it more. Worked out perfect because there was a combat encounter where he was having issues and actually yelled out it's name in frustration, at which point it cast a cone of cold. (Spell charge on the weapon that going forward he has control over) It's about to start talking to him soon. When that happens it will go to +2.
Anyway, my point in saying all that is because at each one of those points, I already had the changes ready and modified the item as it happened. I had to play around with the homebrew interface so that I could make the change quickly without bogging down the session. The flavor text I already had typed up in word and just copy/pasted. The spell I was able to throw in quickly, same with the +1 to +2. The part I spent the most time on was the personality because it is basically an NPC under my control, so I wanted to get it right. This particular weapon is a little vain, and is still deciding whether to fully bond with him, so I'm giving it the power to withhold certain powers if needed. (Makes for fun RP) That's why I add it as I go...more fun for me and them. Everyone likes finding cool magic items, and doing it this way is like "finding" a new magic item all over again each "unlock", even if it is something minor.
A set of shiny plate mail patterned after dragon scales, with metal wings protruding from the helmet that resemble those of a dragon. The metal itself seems to change colors at times, flashing through all the colors of metallic dragons. The helmet was created by the half-dwarf Daeros Dragonspear at the time he built his castle south of Daggerford. Dwarven runes cover much of the metal though they are hard to discern among the dragon scale patterning.
Guardian: When wearing this helmet, the helmet whispers warnings to its bearer, grainting a +2 bonus to Initiative if the bearer isn't incapacitated.
Language: When wearing the gorget of this set of plate mail, you can read and speak Infernal. You lose the ability when the gorget is removed.
Beacon: As a bonus action, you can cause the armor covering your arms to shed bright light in a 10' radius and dim light for an additional 10', or use a bonus action to extinguish this light.
Sentinel: When wearing the cuiras associated with this set, the boots will glow faintly when within 120' of any Undead or Fiend.
Agile: You have a +3 bonus to Dexterity when wearing the gauntlets tied to this armor set.
Compass: When wearing the leg armor of this plate, you may use an action to glean which direction is North.
Draconic Speed: Your base walking speed is increased by 10' when wearing the boots associated with this set of armor.
Draconic Resistance: When wearing the full set of Armor of Halatathlaer, you have a +3 bonus to your AC, immunity to acid damage, and gain the Heavy Armor Master feat.
The immunity to acid damage is because the dragon it's named after was a copper dragon. This thing has like 9 modifiers on it all told. But the PC wouldn't be getting access to all the abilities until just before the final battle with Tiamat. So it might be just the ticket to keep him alive long enough to have a chance against her.
Only thing I would say too far on might be the constant 120' warning of undead or fiends. I would make that a charge feature like it is on a paladin. (4 or 5 charges)
+3 to DEX is a pretty high stat boost, but in the armor it's only really going to boost DEX saving throw and bump initiative. (Along with the other initiative bump)
Slightly OP from official magic items, but nothing that is going to make him super powerful.
Only thing I would say too far on might be the constant 120' warning of undead or fiends. I would make that a charge feature like it is on a paladin. (4 or 5 charges)
+3 to DEX is a pretty high stat boost, but in the armor it's only really going to boost DEX saving throw and bump initiative. (Along with the other initiative bump)
Slightly OP from official magic items, but nothing that is going to make him super powerful.
He's already a Paladin so maybe I will just eliminate that bonus all together from the set. That wasn't something I thought about. Maybe I'll knock the dex bonus down to 2 and keep the initiative bonus. Thank you again for your feedback!
Is this OP? It's a plate mail helmet (only the helmet) that I designed based on the little lore available about Dragonspear Castle. I've currently got it listed as an artifact for rarity level but I'm not sure about that and I'm not sure about the abilities. One of my PCs just got a custom mini of his dwarf paladin that had a winged helmet on it so I wanted to give him a chance for a winged helmet in-game. (Also debating between calling it stone resistance and draconic resistance since it's named and patterned after a dragon that once lived.)
Item info:
A shiny plate helmet patterned after dragon scales and wings. The metal itself seems to change colors at times, flashing through all the colors of metallic dragons. The helmet was created by the half-dwarf Daeros Dragonspear at the time he built his castle south of Daggerford.
Stone Resistance: You have a +1 bonus to AC while wearing this helmet.
Increased Life: You gain 5 temporary hit points while wearing this helmet.
Draconic Agility: You have a +1 bonus to Dexterity while wearing this helmet.
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I have a player in my group with a similar mini, and actually did the same thing. But instead of doing just the helm, I did a set a full plate. The reason for this was that full plate already includes the helm, so I just did a full set. As to your stats: +1 AC is fine, not OP in general. 5 temporary hit points needs a recharge rate. Do they recharge each round? That might be OP, but fine for artifact level. Recharge on a short rest? Not OP. The +1 to DEX isn't too bad from an OP standpoint. Kind of depends on his armor. If he is in plate, it doesn't benefit AC, just potentially saves and skills. If he is at an even DEX number, it actually doesn't really help at all BC a DEX increase of 1 won't increase his modifier unless he uses an API to increase it by 1.
What you say makes a lot of sense. I hadn't even thought of a recharge rate for the temp hit points. Probably long rest would be the best option for that. Gives a boost each day without paving the way to cheesing stuff. His dex right now is a 13 so it would bump the modifier from 1 to 2 to have the dex bonus but he is in full plate at the moment as a character. Thanks for your thoughtful feedback.
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Okay, I removed the dex bonus and added a charge time for the temp HP. Also made it a full set of plate mail with the winged helmet.
A set of shiny plate mail patterned after dragon scales, with metal wings protruding from the helmet that resemble those of a dragon. The metal itself seems to change colors at times, flashing through all the colors of metallic dragons. The helmet was created by the half-dwarf Daeros Dragonspear at the time he built his castle south of Daggerford.
Draconic Hide: You have a +1 bonus to AC while wearing this helmet.
Prolonged Life: You gain 5 temporary hit points while wearing this helmet. Once these points are expended, they are lost until the next long rest.
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
Looks good, but feel free to amp it up if you want. You're basically just above a "rare" magic item. (+1 plate is rare, and with the charge rate of the temp hp, it's basically got an extended single person Aid spell on it.)
For the rarity you earlier mentioned artifact, and you could easily give it a few more attributes before it gets to artifact level. For reference, compare it to a set of Armor of Invulnerability (legendary).
As this seems to be a permanent set (bc of his mini) you can always take a staggered approach to it. There is a 3.5 book called "Weapons of Legacy" that I have based some items on for my players. In a nutshell, they were items that appeared pretty basic at first, but would unlock abilities/bonuses/sentience as the wielder leveled with it. Some of the big unlocks required quests or rituals. I have given most of my players a modified version of these items. They unlock either through research or the item straight up telling them how. Most also have detrimental traits (per the DMG guidance) to power balance the bigger benefits.
I say all that because it sounds like you have a great plot hook type item, and the process of slowly unlocking new powers would keep it interesting for you and the player. Would also give you a way to scale it slowly up to artifact level as the player levels.
This is why I'm so glad I found these forums. I'm a total noob at all this. The dungeon I'm running my PCs through next had a winged helmet listed as a treasure item in one room which is where I got the idea to homebrew something to go with the winged helmet (and finding the dungeon just happened to coincide with the PC getting his mini, total serendipity). It might not need to be artifact as far as rarity but given that I was giving it a backstory that it was created by someone specific it felt like it needed to be artifact. But I do like the idea of scaling it and unlocking abilities as the PC continues to level. Would you put that information all into the initial homebrew? Or add it in as the PC levels so that it's revealed to the player at the same time as the PC? I can see advantages to both ways of doing it.
Again, thank you very much for your thoughtful feedback. I've been rather nervous about posting in the forums, being so new to the game, but it's been all positive experiences so far.
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses
I have all my information written down, then add to the homebrew item as they progress. If you go by the DMG's major and minor properties, it's about 50/50 on whether it is something that I add to a magic item (like bonuses, stat changes, spells, etc) or something that goes into the item description (character gives off a rotten odor for 30ft, erases all spell scrolls within 10ft, etc). The last one I made was just the item, that showed as magic. They identified it, and I gave them the basic info: +1 glaive, with some info based on looks. (Who it might have been forged by, etc) I told them that they would have to research more because it looks to be from a long time ago. After researching (I used modified downtime rules) they found out it was a named weapon from long ago, and that legend told it's power grew as it bonded to it's owner. I did this because even though it was a weapon that I knew this particular character wanted, I didn't want him to drop it for some other random magic item roll they came across. Then, after he had the name, he of course started playing around with it more. Worked out perfect because there was a combat encounter where he was having issues and actually yelled out it's name in frustration, at which point it cast a cone of cold. (Spell charge on the weapon that going forward he has control over) It's about to start talking to him soon. When that happens it will go to +2.
Anyway, my point in saying all that is because at each one of those points, I already had the changes ready and modified the item as it happened. I had to play around with the homebrew interface so that I could make the change quickly without bogging down the session. The flavor text I already had typed up in word and just copy/pasted. The spell I was able to throw in quickly, same with the +1 to +2. The part I spent the most time on was the personality because it is basically an NPC under my control, so I wanted to get it right. This particular weapon is a little vain, and is still deciding whether to fully bond with him, so I'm giving it the power to withhold certain powers if needed. (Makes for fun RP) That's why I add it as I go...more fun for me and them. Everyone likes finding cool magic items, and doing it this way is like "finding" a new magic item all over again each "unlock", even if it is something minor.
Good luck with it, and have some fun with it too.
I think I went too far the other way:
A set of shiny plate mail patterned after dragon scales, with metal wings protruding from the helmet that resemble those of a dragon. The metal itself seems to change colors at times, flashing through all the colors of metallic dragons. The helmet was created by the half-dwarf Daeros Dragonspear at the time he built his castle south of Daggerford. Dwarven runes cover much of the metal though they are hard to discern among the dragon scale patterning.
Guardian: When wearing this helmet, the helmet whispers warnings to its bearer, grainting a +2 bonus to Initiative if the bearer isn't incapacitated.
Language: When wearing the gorget of this set of plate mail, you can read and speak Infernal. You lose the ability when the gorget is removed.
Beacon: As a bonus action, you can cause the armor covering your arms to shed bright light in a 10' radius and dim light for an additional 10', or use a bonus action to extinguish this light.
Sentinel: When wearing the cuiras associated with this set, the boots will glow faintly when within 120' of any Undead or Fiend.
Agile: You have a +3 bonus to Dexterity when wearing the gauntlets tied to this armor set.
Compass: When wearing the leg armor of this plate, you may use an action to glean which direction is North.
Draconic Speed: Your base walking speed is increased by 10' when wearing the boots associated with this set of armor.
Draconic Resistance: When wearing the full set of Armor of Halatathlaer, you have a +3 bonus to your AC, immunity to acid damage, and gain the Heavy Armor Master feat.
The immunity to acid damage is because the dragon it's named after was a copper dragon. This thing has like 9 modifiers on it all told. But the PC wouldn't be getting access to all the abilities until just before the final battle with Tiamat. So it might be just the ticket to keep him alive long enough to have a chance against her.
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Only thing I would say too far on might be the constant 120' warning of undead or fiends. I would make that a charge feature like it is on a paladin. (4 or 5 charges)
+3 to DEX is a pretty high stat boost, but in the armor it's only really going to boost DEX saving throw and bump initiative. (Along with the other initiative bump)
Slightly OP from official magic items, but nothing that is going to make him super powerful.
He's already a Paladin so maybe I will just eliminate that bonus all together from the set. That wasn't something I thought about. Maybe I'll knock the dex bonus down to 2 and keep the initiative bonus. Thank you again for your feedback!
My Homebrew Backgrounds | Feats | Magic Items | Monsters | Races | Subclasses