In my current campaing the players just raided the tomb of a former Cult of the Dragon Leader (Who was also a Priest of Myrkul, god of the dead)
Players are currently level 5 and no one has +1 weapons yet.
One of the Treasures was a Dagger, which I described as being carved out of bone with a mother of pearl pommel in the shape of Myrkul's holy symbol. - It was supposed to be just a high quality ritualistic dagger, treasure to be sold...but the Rogue player loved it. He thinks it is very special and I think it is a good oportunity to develop something really cool.
I had to think quick and when they used Identify on it during the next short rest I told them: it's a "magical" +0 weapon that let's you use the cantrip Chill touch as a warlock of the same level (His Charisma is 14)
It is not a powerful Item, just flavourful, but I am willing to let it become more powerful as the game progresses. Maybe unlock new powers after the first time he kills a humanoid with it.
The character has not yet used the dagger in combat. He is a ranged crossbow weilding type, not a melee focused one.
How would you suggest I build / improve this magical dagger?
Taking in consideration the weapon's origin as a ritualistic sacrifice instrument and connection to an evil diety of necromancy and death. The character is a Rogue 3 / Fighter 2. Chaotic Neutral member of an assassin's guild.
I'd suggest ignoring all power concerns that aren't "am I giving the other players similarly cool options?" because you can adjust the DM-side of encounters if you don't want the item(s) you include in your campaign to make the characters feel actually more powerful (which would be weird, because that's what they are supposed to do by design).
As for how to have the powers progress, I'd probably pick out a few lower-level spells that you think fit the deity and what the people making sacrifices with it would have wanted, like maybe false life or other necromancy spells, and have those become unlocked based on how pleased the "spirit" of the weapon is by its wielder's usage. I'd also amend the item to requiring attunement if you haven't already required it to do so, because if it is going to be one of the coolest items the character finds, it should probably not also be above and beyond how many really cool items the character can already have.
You could also have the basic effects of the dagger improve as it becomes more a fan of the character using it, like having it function as a sword of wounding once it feels it and the wielder are on the same Myrkul-supporting wavelength of thought and behavior.
Play with the exact wording to make it game-able, but essentially: While attuned to this dagger, you can, as part of a ritual, name a specific individual. You have advantage on attack rolls against that specific individual, and every hit against the target is a critical hit. You have disadvantage against everything else. You can't use other weapons while under the influence of the ritual, nor can you change the target if the ritual until he/she/it has been stabbed by the dagger.
If you want you could give it an escalating +1 to hit and damage after certain kills, but advantage for a rogue translates into automatic sneak attack damage, so this ability will let your player's character hit like a truck without it.
I like both ideas. - Giving necromancy spells is something I like because the party lacks spellcasters at the moment. On the other hand making it very good for boss kills with Auto-crit on target / disadvantage on everything else is also very cool for the rogue!
I like doing magic items that level up, and I know I'm not alone in that.
I'd make the leveling up happen at intervals equal to the minimum level for the next stage in magic item rarity. For example, I'd say that the +0 version of the dagger is common, which is 1st level or higher (or level 1+). The second step would be uncommon (the power equivalent of a +1 weapon) , which would also be level 1+. Next is rare which is level 5+, which is the equivalent of a +2 weapon. Very rare is level 11+ and is a +3 weapon, and then finally Legendary which is level 17+.
The problem here is that you seem to have started them out without magical weapons yet, so you might have to upgrade quickly at first and then slow down afterword, if you want to use the rarity leveling method.
The best advice I can give is to give them abilities that are options in place of other options. For example, I gave my Life cleric of Bahamut the following magical item:
Talisman of Bahamut (Holy Symbol)
+1 to Spell Attack rolls and Saving Throw DCs of all Cleric spells
In addition, you gain the following Channel Divinity: Radiant Defense
As an action, you channel blessed energy into an ally that you can see within 30 feet of you. The first time that ally is hit by an attack within the next minute, the attacker takes radiant damage equal to 2d10 + your cleric level.
Notice that the item itself isn't vastly overpowered. It's basically a +1 holy symbol (kind of like what Rod of the Pact Keeper is for Warlocks). Since her class already limits the number of times she can use Channel Divinity, it's just another option for her to use her Channel Divinity that is based on the fact that one of Bahamut's Domains is Protection in older editions. It's basically deepens her connection to her god and allows her to channel all of his powers. I'm going to have the weapons level up at level 6 instead of 5 and at level 6 it's going to gain the following:
In addition, when you use the Attack action or cast a healing spell with a casting time of 1 action, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses of this when you finish a long rest.
Now, this mimic's the War Priest trait of the War Cleric (another of Bahamut's Domains) but gives it a little extra flair for using healing spells (because she would be honoring two domains of Bahamut).
For that dagger, I'd look to "borrow" some things from other aspects of the class that make sense with the flavor of the item. For example, your dagger is a ceremonial one to the god of death, so perhaps if you'd like to stay within the theme of warlock stuff, you could give them something akin to the Fiend warlock feature Dark One's Blessing to simulate stealing the life force from the target:
When you reduce a hostile creature to 0 hit points using a weapon attack with this dagger, you gain temporary hit points equal to the result of the damage dealt.
Assuming this is an assassination rogue, perhaps the next level could be something akin to the Grave Cleric's channel Divinity, Path to the Grave:
Whenever you critically hit a creature that you have advantage against, the next time that creature takes damage from a spell or an attack from you or an ally, it is vulnerable to that spell or attack's damage. If the source of damage has multiple damage types, the creature is vulnerable to all of them. The vulnerability applies only to the first time that source inflicts damage, and then ends. If the creature has resistance or is immune to the damage, it instead loses its resistance or immunity against the spell or attack when it first applies the damage.
This plays really well with the Assassinate feature by basically weakening their target after a successful surprise sneak attack or a lucky critical hit sneak attack, but won't have a huge impact on the overall combat as it is only guaranteed in a surprise round, and only naturally has a 10% chance of happening otherwise.
I also really like the idea of necromancy spells, but I'd be careful not to give too many spells. To really make it effective look at how racial spells work and then go from there, with Vampiric Touch probably being the capstone ability (perhaps allowing them to use their sneak attack with it as well at higher levels)
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
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In my current campaing the players just raided the tomb of a former Cult of the Dragon Leader (Who was also a Priest of Myrkul, god of the dead)
Players are currently level 5 and no one has +1 weapons yet.
One of the Treasures was a Dagger, which I described as being carved out of bone with a mother of pearl pommel in the shape of Myrkul's holy symbol. - It was supposed to be just a high quality ritualistic dagger, treasure to be sold...but the Rogue player loved it. He thinks it is very special and I think it is a good oportunity to develop something really cool.
I had to think quick and when they used Identify on it during the next short rest I told them: it's a "magical" +0 weapon that let's you use the cantrip Chill touch as a warlock of the same level (His Charisma is 14)
It is not a powerful Item, just flavourful, but I am willing to let it become more powerful as the game progresses. Maybe unlock new powers after the first time he kills a humanoid with it.
The character has not yet used the dagger in combat. He is a ranged crossbow weilding type, not a melee focused one.
How would you suggest I build / improve this magical dagger?
Taking in consideration the weapon's origin as a ritualistic sacrifice instrument and connection to an evil diety of necromancy and death.
The character is a Rogue 3 / Fighter 2. Chaotic Neutral member of an assassin's guild.
I'd suggest ignoring all power concerns that aren't "am I giving the other players similarly cool options?" because you can adjust the DM-side of encounters if you don't want the item(s) you include in your campaign to make the characters feel actually more powerful (which would be weird, because that's what they are supposed to do by design).
As for how to have the powers progress, I'd probably pick out a few lower-level spells that you think fit the deity and what the people making sacrifices with it would have wanted, like maybe false life or other necromancy spells, and have those become unlocked based on how pleased the "spirit" of the weapon is by its wielder's usage. I'd also amend the item to requiring attunement if you haven't already required it to do so, because if it is going to be one of the coolest items the character finds, it should probably not also be above and beyond how many really cool items the character can already have.
You could also have the basic effects of the dagger improve as it becomes more a fan of the character using it, like having it function as a sword of wounding once it feels it and the wielder are on the same Myrkul-supporting wavelength of thought and behavior.
Play with the exact wording to make it game-able, but essentially: While attuned to this dagger, you can, as part of a ritual, name a specific individual. You have advantage on attack rolls against that specific individual, and every hit against the target is a critical hit. You have disadvantage against everything else. You can't use other weapons while under the influence of the ritual, nor can you change the target if the ritual until he/she/it has been stabbed by the dagger.
If you want you could give it an escalating +1 to hit and damage after certain kills, but advantage for a rogue translates into automatic sneak attack damage, so this ability will let your player's character hit like a truck without it.
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Thank you for the answers!
I like both ideas. - Giving necromancy spells is something I like because the party lacks spellcasters at the moment. On the other hand making it very good for boss kills with Auto-crit on target / disadvantage on everything else is also very cool for the rogue!
I like doing magic items that level up, and I know I'm not alone in that.
I'd make the leveling up happen at intervals equal to the minimum level for the next stage in magic item rarity. For example, I'd say that the +0 version of the dagger is common, which is 1st level or higher (or level 1+). The second step would be uncommon (the power equivalent of a +1 weapon) , which would also be level 1+. Next is rare which is level 5+, which is the equivalent of a +2 weapon. Very rare is level 11+ and is a +3 weapon, and then finally Legendary which is level 17+.
The problem here is that you seem to have started them out without magical weapons yet, so you might have to upgrade quickly at first and then slow down afterword, if you want to use the rarity leveling method.
The best advice I can give is to give them abilities that are options in place of other options. For example, I gave my Life cleric of Bahamut the following magical item:
Talisman of Bahamut (Holy Symbol)
Notice that the item itself isn't vastly overpowered. It's basically a +1 holy symbol (kind of like what Rod of the Pact Keeper is for Warlocks). Since her class already limits the number of times she can use Channel Divinity, it's just another option for her to use her Channel Divinity that is based on the fact that one of Bahamut's Domains is Protection in older editions. It's basically deepens her connection to her god and allows her to channel all of his powers. I'm going to have the weapons level up at level 6 instead of 5 and at level 6 it's going to gain the following:
Now, this mimic's the War Priest trait of the War Cleric (another of Bahamut's Domains) but gives it a little extra flair for using healing spells (because she would be honoring two domains of Bahamut).
For that dagger, I'd look to "borrow" some things from other aspects of the class that make sense with the flavor of the item. For example, your dagger is a ceremonial one to the god of death, so perhaps if you'd like to stay within the theme of warlock stuff, you could give them something akin to the Fiend warlock feature Dark One's Blessing to simulate stealing the life force from the target:
Assuming this is an assassination rogue, perhaps the next level could be something akin to the Grave Cleric's channel Divinity, Path to the Grave:
This plays really well with the Assassinate feature by basically weakening their target after a successful surprise sneak attack or a lucky critical hit sneak attack, but won't have a huge impact on the overall combat as it is only guaranteed in a surprise round, and only naturally has a 10% chance of happening otherwise.
I also really like the idea of necromancy spells, but I'd be careful not to give too many spells. To really make it effective look at how racial spells work and then go from there, with Vampiric Touch probably being the capstone ability (perhaps allowing them to use their sneak attack with it as well at higher levels)
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“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.