so im doing a home brew campaign and had a brain fart moment when i gave my character a legendary item, they are now WAY too powerful, the other player (there are two) seems a little let down. what can i do to fix it? giving the other a legendary item would just add fuel to the fire (encounter difficulty is screwed because there using sidekick stats and then magic items? forget it) i also cant take it away, Ive been inconsistent in the past about giving loot to my players and have taken a lot away from them shortly after they got it, i don't want to keep doing that. what would be a good solution? (its a weapon so i cant have the group share it...)
Have its power broken or at least limited by a mighty enemy. Restoring that power (which could be done in stages) can then become part of an ongoing quest.
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1) The legendary weapon is dead famous and word has gotten around. Enemies way above the party's pay grade, like ancient dragons, are pursuing it now.
2) The legendary weapon is the key to achieving some incredibly worthy goal, but it must be given up to do so. For example, perhaps only throwing it into the right lake will bring about a golden age of fertile farming for the local country.
3) The weapon is next-level cursed. For example, maybe it begins making the bearer hallucinate (essentially, give it every illusion spell in the book and have it cast them without compinents, but only the bearer perceives the illusions).
4) The sword is prophecied to be born only by the one true prophet. The local Church has dispatched agents to kidnap the bearer and incarcerate them for eternity so they can give prophecies that can be immediately recorded.
4.1) It is entirely optional whether the Church is correct in their beliefs, but feel free to make the answer "yes".
Explain the mistake honestly to the players, and apologize for it. They should understand; if they're major jerks about it, you've got a bigger problem. Let the character keep their cool weapon, but tone down its effects to be level-appropriate (like, I don't know, a +1 that's a +3 against dragons, or a "candlebright" blade that does 1d6 extra fire damage).
Remember, players are on your side! They also want a fun and balanced game, so a lot of problems can be fixed by just talking with them honestly.
Any item that has a hefty price for it in my worlds garner attention by thieves that may want to get said item. A thief can, with good rolls, steel the item and sell it. Player can see it on display at a less than honest shop to contribute the story on who they bought it from. For a price.
Or just as mentioned to the player that it's too powerful to keep a balanced game. They had fun with it for a while and just say when they level up more to where they item it ok to use that they can use it then. So you're not taking it away permanently. Just until it's level appropriate.
I saw someone else recommend this already but this is the best option I can think of (also this is all from a players point of view, I have never DMed):
You can either take away or damage the item as part of the campaign and in order to restore it, you can incorporate a sidequest for your adventurers to go on. This might help delay the use of the weapon during your campaign until the characters reach a more appropriate level for the introduction of the item at its full power.
Honestly, it also doesn't hurt to let the player know beforehand. I know if my DM made this mistake, I would understand and appreciate them letting me know. I would also respect their decision to try and incorporate a fix into the story of a campaign rather than go back and make an errata to something we had already done.
While I agree with NaivaraArnuanna's idea of explaining the mistake, the OP does say that they've been inconsistent with loot and - while they are the arbiter - may cause further rifts between themselves and their players.
So, a number of ideas if you can't simply retcon it:
If you love it, let it go. This artefact is not yet their artefact. Let the player build a bond with it over the course of the game, and make it so they find it difficult to willingly part with it. I wouldn't necessarily go as far as "or let it consume them," because that can be misconstrued as "kill their character" or otherwise make them less fun to play. The sacrifice of the artefact must be worthwhile. Perhaps its power is divided amongst the party permanently (a level up in a class of your choosing, a spell or cantrip they can use per day, etc.), or its shards can be forged into several weaker items that each party member can use in some fashion (at the cost of a lot of their wealth, if you feel that too has gotten out of hand.) Or it provides a conclusive arc to their backstory in its sacrifice.
Sneaky Little Hobbitses. The idea of having an NPC steal the artefact, or perhaps holding up the party and demanding they surrender it, leaving them tied up and buying the brigands time to run away is a good enough hook for them to chase after it. That's if you need a hook for a derailed adventure, a hook for a new one, or a simple side-quest. I got the idea from Counter Monkey's secret weapon video.
Batteries Not Included. The player doesn't know it yet, but their legendary artefact is slowly but surely losing its legendary status. It's up to you DM, to decide if this is a permanent decline, or if they can keep it ticking so long as its hunger for blood or whatever it wants is satisfied. This might cause the character to do awful things in their desperation to maintain its power level lest it decline or be obliterated.
As I so often find myself saying here, there's some really good ideas above and I'm sure there'll be more following mine. Go nuts with it. With great power comes great responsibility!
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
If you have a BBEG that the party will face at the end of the campaign, have them show up now for a minor fight or to taunt them. When they see the weapon have them “curse” it so it is weakened. The only way to restore it is to defeat the BBEG or some other higher level henchmen if you want it back at full power before the final fight.
And learn from your mistakes. You say you’ve been inconsistent with loot. Give more thought to consequences before handing stuff out so you don’t keep doing this to your players
To build off of NaivaraArnuanna, you could treat it similarly to a Vestige of Divergence from the Wildemount book, where it starts out in a dormant state where it's fairly low powered and gradually grows stronger as the campaign reaches certain milestones, until it eventually reaches the legendary status it had before.
It’s a legendary item, bring its personality to life and have it be unhappy with the character for some reason so it shuts off some of its powers either totally or intermittently until the character toes the item’s line - check out the DMG rules for conflicts with intelligent items.
Since ways to remove/limit the weapon seem to be covered I'll add some encounter advice instead. I've seen suggestions for dealing with an op character (usually a bear totem barbarian) that include non combat goals. Add an objective to some/many of your combats.
For example you can have a situation where a portal that is spawning low level demons needs to be closed, this allows the out of balance character to cover other members of the party as they try to disrupt the portal.
This allows all the characters to meaningfully participate until power levels even out some.
Edit: out of curiosity, what does the item do. We may be able to help more with that info. Just high damage? Throw swarms of low level since a player can only hit so many opponents. Super high AC? Periodically throw some spell casters with crowd control spells into the mix.
Since ways to remove/limit the weapon seem to be covered I'll add some encounter advice instead. I've seen suggestions for dealing with an op character (usually a bear totem barbarian) that include non combat goals. Add an objective to some/many of your combats.
For example you can have a situation where a portal that is spawning low level demons needs to be closed, this allows the out of balance character to cover other members of the party as they try to disrupt the portal.
This allows all the characters to meaningfully participate until power levels even out some.
Edit: out of curiosity, what does the item do. We may be able to help more with that info. Just high damage? Throw swarms of low level since a player can only hit so many opponents. Super high AC? Periodically throw some spell casters with crowd control spells into the mix.
It’s basically a vorpal revolver (I’m doing a Wild West campaign) it shoots and does big damage.
but! I have come up with a solution, using some features from a lot of your suggestions! Thanks!
Well, it's already resolved, but I will say anything disproportionately powerful will attract disproportionately powerful foes. The "Vorpal Revolver" would likely make the player a target of foes more powerful than they and should they curbstomp the player and take the revolver for themselves, then that's a threat that needs to be addressed and could account for a great deal of content for your campaign.
PS. Never admit your mistakes. Everything you do is what you intended to and to let them look behind the curtain cheapens your design. It's the first rule of theatre and it applies here too: the audience doesn't know that a mistake is a mistake until you tell them it was.
i also cant take it away, Ive been inconsistent in the past about giving loot to my players and have taken a lot away from them shortly after they got it
It sounds like you need a come-to-Jesus moment with your players. Explain that you know loot has been a problem, but that you want to fix it.
First, just be honest and tell them that loot has been hard for you to balance and that you know you've made mistakes. Tell them that you need a bit of a reset because combat has become too difficult for you to balance. They should understand this. Promise that you will work with them to balance things in a fair way.
Second, it sucks, but you need to take back the artifact. It's just too overpowered and it was a mistake to give it to the player. If you're up for it, as if there's anything they would like in return. Maybe giving them 5 Potions of Superior Healing will take the sting out of losing their artifact?
Third, have everyone scour their equipment lists and list all their magic items by rarity. If there is an imbalance, then offer equivalent items to those that have missed out.
Fourth, look at everyone's gold and see if anyone has missed out. Ask what they've been spending gold on. Balance things out as needed.
I would not hesitate to do this with my players. They are great and want a great game.
You know what! That’s a great point! Screw all the other posts here I’ll use this low effort one instead! Okay guys! Problem solved we can all walk away…
You know what! That’s a great point! Screw all the other posts here I’ll use this low effort one instead! Okay guys! Problem solved we can all walk away…
Before ya walk away. Note that a rust monster can't destroy a magical item. Unless you homebrew it. Secondly with an acid trap the players can get around that by searching for traps. Unless you railroad them. So. Yeah, screw all the others that gave your problem some thought and came up with ways to help. A lot of really good ideas with those others. Low effort? You do you. Hope you have a wonderful bunch of happy players in your world. I wish them the best!
You know what! That’s a great point! Screw all the other posts here I’ll use this low effort one instead! Okay guys! Problem solved we can all walk away…
You don't want to just take the item away, so you have a monster do it instead? This being beyond rust monsters aside, do you really feel this makes a difference to your players?
You know what! That’s a great point! Screw all the other posts here I’ll use this low effort one instead! Okay guys! Problem solved we can all walk away…
Ah, the lost art of sarcasm, how I've missed ye...
...This is sarcasm, right? Please tell me it's sarcasm.
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so im doing a home brew campaign and had a brain fart moment when i gave my character a legendary item, they are now WAY too powerful, the other player (there are two) seems a little let down. what can i do to fix it? giving the other a legendary item would just add fuel to the fire (encounter difficulty is screwed because there using sidekick stats and then magic items? forget it) i also cant take it away, Ive been inconsistent in the past about giving loot to my players and have taken a lot away from them shortly after they got it, i don't want to keep doing that. what would be a good solution? (its a weapon so i cant have the group share it...)
Have its power broken or at least limited by a mighty enemy. Restoring that power (which could be done in stages) can then become part of an ongoing quest.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Examples:
1) The legendary weapon is dead famous and word has gotten around. Enemies way above the party's pay grade, like ancient dragons, are pursuing it now.
2) The legendary weapon is the key to achieving some incredibly worthy goal, but it must be given up to do so. For example, perhaps only throwing it into the right lake will bring about a golden age of fertile farming for the local country.
3) The weapon is next-level cursed. For example, maybe it begins making the bearer hallucinate (essentially, give it every illusion spell in the book and have it cast them without compinents, but only the bearer perceives the illusions).
4) The sword is prophecied to be born only by the one true prophet. The local Church has dispatched agents to kidnap the bearer and incarcerate them for eternity so they can give prophecies that can be immediately recorded.
4.1) It is entirely optional whether the Church is correct in their beliefs, but feel free to make the answer "yes".
Explain the mistake honestly to the players, and apologize for it. They should understand; if they're major jerks about it, you've got a bigger problem. Let the character keep their cool weapon, but tone down its effects to be level-appropriate (like, I don't know, a +1 that's a +3 against dragons, or a "candlebright" blade that does 1d6 extra fire damage).
Remember, players are on your side! They also want a fun and balanced game, so a lot of problems can be fixed by just talking with them honestly.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Any item that has a hefty price for it in my worlds garner attention by thieves that may want to get said item. A thief can, with good rolls, steel the item and sell it. Player can see it on display at a less than honest shop to contribute the story on who they bought it from. For a price.
Or just as mentioned to the player that it's too powerful to keep a balanced game. They had fun with it for a while and just say when they level up more to where they item it ok to use that they can use it then. So you're not taking it away permanently. Just until it's level appropriate.
I saw someone else recommend this already but this is the best option I can think of (also this is all from a players point of view, I have never DMed):
You can either take away or damage the item as part of the campaign and in order to restore it, you can incorporate a sidequest for your adventurers to go on. This might help delay the use of the weapon during your campaign until the characters reach a more appropriate level for the introduction of the item at its full power.
Honestly, it also doesn't hurt to let the player know beforehand. I know if my DM made this mistake, I would understand and appreciate them letting me know. I would also respect their decision to try and incorporate a fix into the story of a campaign rather than go back and make an errata to something we had already done.
While I agree with NaivaraArnuanna's idea of explaining the mistake, the OP does say that they've been inconsistent with loot and - while they are the arbiter - may cause further rifts between themselves and their players.
So, a number of ideas if you can't simply retcon it:
As I so often find myself saying here, there's some really good ideas above and I'm sure there'll be more following mine. Go nuts with it. With great power comes great responsibility!
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
If you have a BBEG that the party will face at the end of the campaign, have them show up now for a minor fight or to taunt them. When they see the weapon have them “curse” it so it is weakened. The only way to restore it is to defeat the BBEG or some other higher level henchmen if you want it back at full power before the final fight.
And learn from your mistakes. You say you’ve been inconsistent with loot. Give more thought to consequences before handing stuff out so you don’t keep doing this to your players
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
To build off of NaivaraArnuanna, you could treat it similarly to a Vestige of Divergence from the Wildemount book, where it starts out in a dormant state where it's fairly low powered and gradually grows stronger as the campaign reaches certain milestones, until it eventually reaches the legendary status it had before.
It’s a legendary item, bring its personality to life and have it be unhappy with the character for some reason so it shuts off some of its powers either totally or intermittently until the character toes the item’s line - check out the DMG rules for conflicts with intelligent items.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Since ways to remove/limit the weapon seem to be covered I'll add some encounter advice instead. I've seen suggestions for dealing with an op character (usually a bear totem barbarian) that include non combat goals. Add an objective to some/many of your combats.
For example you can have a situation where a portal that is spawning low level demons needs to be closed, this allows the out of balance character to cover other members of the party as they try to disrupt the portal.
This allows all the characters to meaningfully participate until power levels even out some.
Edit: out of curiosity, what does the item do. We may be able to help more with that info. Just high damage? Throw swarms of low level since a player can only hit so many opponents. Super high AC? Periodically throw some spell casters with crowd control spells into the mix.
It’s basically a vorpal revolver (I’m doing a Wild West campaign) it shoots and does big damage.
but! I have come up with a solution, using some features from a lot of your suggestions! Thanks!
I looked at both of your homebrew items, and they seem overpowered to me, unless you are running a campaign with really high levels.
As for the vorpal revolver concept, does it take special ammunition? Maybe that is becoming harder and harder to find...
Well, it's already resolved, but I will say anything disproportionately powerful will attract disproportionately powerful foes. The "Vorpal Revolver" would likely make the player a target of foes more powerful than they and should they curbstomp the player and take the revolver for themselves, then that's a threat that needs to be addressed and could account for a great deal of content for your campaign.
PS. Never admit your mistakes. Everything you do is what you intended to and to let them look behind the curtain cheapens your design. It's the first rule of theatre and it applies here too: the audience doesn't know that a mistake is a mistake until you tell them it was.
Rust Monster
Acid trap
It sounds like you need a come-to-Jesus moment with your players. Explain that you know loot has been a problem, but that you want to fix it.
First, just be honest and tell them that loot has been hard for you to balance and that you know you've made mistakes. Tell them that you need a bit of a reset because combat has become too difficult for you to balance. They should understand this. Promise that you will work with them to balance things in a fair way.
Second, it sucks, but you need to take back the artifact. It's just too overpowered and it was a mistake to give it to the player. If you're up for it, as if there's anything they would like in return. Maybe giving them 5 Potions of Superior Healing will take the sting out of losing their artifact?
Third, have everyone scour their equipment lists and list all their magic items by rarity. If there is an imbalance, then offer equivalent items to those that have missed out.
Fourth, look at everyone's gold and see if anyone has missed out. Ask what they've been spending gold on. Balance things out as needed.
I would not hesitate to do this with my players. They are great and want a great game.
Good luck!
You know what! That’s a great point! Screw all the other posts here I’ll use this low effort one instead! Okay guys! Problem solved we can all walk away…
Before ya walk away. Note that a rust monster can't destroy a magical item. Unless you homebrew it. Secondly with an acid trap the players can get around that by searching for traps. Unless you railroad them. So. Yeah, screw all the others that gave your problem some thought and came up with ways to help. A lot of really good ideas with those others. Low effort? You do you. Hope you have a wonderful bunch of happy players in your world. I wish them the best!
You don't want to just take the item away, so you have a monster do it instead? This being beyond rust monsters aside, do you really feel this makes a difference to your players?
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Ah, the lost art of sarcasm, how I've missed ye...
...This is sarcasm, right? Please tell me it's sarcasm.