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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
37008 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Mar 2007 : 18:01:32
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| Keep in mind that artifacts are insanely powerful, and, unless carefully balanced, can ruin a campaign. The 1st edition DMG (IIRC) actually said that artifacts were a reason for DMs to break the rules. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 03 Mar 2007 : 22:01:54
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I like to come up with artifacts that have more "plot driven" powers than just massive damage items, or items with defined spell abilities and the like. The two most recent ones I threw out were a dagger sacred to Jergal that immediately killed whomever it struck, sending their soul for immediate judgement and making that person unable to be raised. Once used, it disappears, returning to Jergal.
The other, more recent one, is the Sword of Murdane, a sword made out of force that can "clarify" a person's mind, and can take away painful memories. I worded it very ambiguously so that I can determine what the clarity granted by the sword entails. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
37008 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2007 : 01:04:02
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| Oh, and keep in mind that if the PCs have an artifact, they'll have people -- and other critters -- lining up to take it away from them. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2007 : 01:10:49
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Ages ago I was in a group that did White Plume mountain and the Bard (A First Edition bard) in the party decided to keep Black Razor this caused the most Unbalanced campaign Ive ever seen especially when the party moved on to the G series of modules!
In the FR campaign Im currently running the party will find Azuredge around 5-6 level but Im remaking her as a Weapon of Legacy |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Sian
Senior Scribe
Denmark
596 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2007 : 09:13:29
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well ... i once threw a minor artifact after my group which they basicly just should transport from A to B ...
A Light Mace +2 that along other things could summon tons of snow ... sad thing was that the party died before they got the whole story behind it :P |
what happened to the queen? she's much more hysterical than usual
She's a women, it happens once a month |
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Kaladorm
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1176 Posts |
Posted - 04 Mar 2007 : 12:43:39
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The campaign I ran by email (logs here at candlekeep) had the party rescuing the Blood of Lathander, after it was stolen from the village of Hap by the Cult of the Dragon and taken to Aencar's manor.
No one actually used the artifact themselves, since the only worshipper of Lathander died retrieving it. I modified it slightly so that it could cast True Resurrection, with the added clause that he must undertake a holy quest, as a way of driving the story forwards and keeping everyone at the same level so early at the start of the adventure  |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 06 Mar 2007 : 22:53:26
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
In the FR campaign Im currently running the party will find Azuredge around 5-6 level but Im remaking her as a Weapon of Legacy
Dargoth, I think that is a splendid idea... we also found Azuredge in our Waterdeep campaign, but apparently weren't "worthy enough" to wield it... (can't remember which inn it appears at)  |
"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2007 : 00:10:39
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| Artifacts make you a target, as Rupert says; they also tend to have ghastly side effects that make using them a gamble at best. They aren't, or shouldn't be, straightforward power-ups but are practically defined by their painful and tragic repercussions. This is clearest in the original DMG. |
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Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2007 : 09:22:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
In the FR campaign Im currently running the party will find Azuredge around 5-6 level but Im remaking her as a Weapon of Legacy
Dargoth, I think that is a splendid idea... we also found Azuredge in our Waterdeep campaign, but apparently weren't "worthy enough" to wield it... (can't remember which inn it appears at)
My players will find it in the hands of Hobgoblin Dragon Shamen when they do Inheritence. My Help WoL thread (in this forum)is part of Azuredges development into a weapon of legacy |
“I am the King of Rome, and above grammar”
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
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Korginard
Learned Scribe
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - 08 Mar 2007 : 18:00:58
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I try not to use artifacts often, but I couldn't resist using The Apparatus from Ravenloft in one of my campains. It's an enormous quasi-magic-science hybryd that can be used to seperate a person into 2 seperate entities, or merge 2 into one.
The priest of the party had fallen in love with the Bard, a half elf. He was horrified to discover that she was actually half drow, a shame she hid by wearing a magic locket that masked her true appearance.
The priest used The Apparatus to "remove the taint" from her, resulting in a powerful and wicked drow, and a weak and self-concious human. All the bard's passion, confidance, and zest for life went to the Drow, while the Human was left self-concious, shy and fearful.
Of course the party had to track down the Drow (who had escaped) and get her back into the machine (without killing her or harming her overly much), all the while convincing the human that she had to get back in and be merged with "That awfull woman" once again.
The entire episode traumatised the Priest, both because of the harm he had done, and the complete lack of understanding the woman he claimed to love. It also tainted him, because his use of the item resulted in a failed powers check. She forgave him, but he never forgave himself and died before the party escaped Ravenloft, although he did die heroicly saving the party.
I enjoyed using this particular artifact for several reasons
1) It brought out WONDERFUL role-playing, even if it was all a bit cliche ;)
2) It was a powerfull item, but not one the party could take with them.
3) It wasn't something they would WANT to take with them, being more of a curse than a boon.
4) It was easy to destroy if they had chosen to try to use it again, and in fact in the game the party did choose to destroy it. (Not knowing that it would be rebuilt again, as it always is) |
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Halidan
Senior Scribe
USA
470 Posts |
Posted - 08 Mar 2007 : 19:36:16
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In my last campaign, I had the players recover a very upgraded version of the Sword of the Dales (originaly from the Randal Morn trilogy of modules). The sword was powered up to the level of the lessor arifacts from the DMG. The players spent a good portion of the campaign hiding the sword from the Zhents as they tried to get it back to Randal Morn.
They never weilded the blade in combat and only used the weapon's special powers a couple of times and then only when no one else was around. It was interesting seeing them try to keep the blade hidden - especialy from a Zhent tax collection team they encountered in a outlying village. |
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied,
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
Edgar Allen Poe - 1849 |
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tauster
Senior Scribe
Germany
399 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2007 : 11:33:49
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I introduced even more than one artifact, or item of artifact-like power, in my campaign. The party consists of 7 players who all started at level 1 and reached lvl 10 by now.
En route they amassed quite a lot of magic, but there are three powerful items that have become something like "signature items" of the party, like Elminster and his pipe. Not in the even meaning of "they are famous for owning these items" (they keep them secret all the time), more like "the party identifies themselves with them". These three almost have become members of the party:
"the house"
a small clay model of a house that looks like a mad potter build it. there are two words of activation: one for materializing a live-sized version of the model before the user, the other just for materializing the door (which can be placed on top of a wall, or another door - it doesn't matter whether or not there is enough space for the whole house behind the door).
the campaign is underdark-centered ("NIGHT BELOW" boxed set), so the party is wandering through lightless tunnels most of their time. they use it as a safe haven to rest and a place to store equipment and loot.
once they had a ghostly "mysterious visitor" appearing in the house, a few other creepy events happened as well (things appearing and disappearing from time to time) - since then they are a bit wary of "the house" and don't abuse it (like keeping someone imprisoned inside until the active time (about 12h) expires and the prisoner is crushed inside, or activating it to fill out the tunnel and crush enemies).
"the book"
one of the mages found a sentient book (or better, the book found him). it merged with him and, well, mind-talks to him from time to time. it was quite hard for him to confince his friends that he has NOT gone bonkers - a great role-play evening we even noe talk about!  .
it told him that it was created by the Reigar (a mysterious people from the spelljammer setting) and exists on Toril since at least 8000 years. it needs a "bearer" to function properly, someone whom it can merge with. during it's time on Toril it has had hundreds of bearers, and many of them left parts of their memories and personality "recorded" in the book - which makes it one of the largest accumulations of knowledge, "experienced history" and memories on Toril.
the mage who is the current bearer couldn't completely merge with the book (complicated side-story about him being partially reincarnated and a part of him having split, being an autonomous (evil) being now...), so he can not access all those knowledge directly - which balances the power a bit:
he can use it to understand and talk in almost every known language, although he doesn't remember anything afterwards because he has "go to the mental back seat" and leave the book in control over his body and mind. in addition he can ask the book almost every knowledge-based question and chances are good he gets an answer.
the balancing aspect is that the book mentioned (rather cryptically) a deal with certain gods like mystra, oghma and several others: it is not allowed to give too much knowledge (and thus, power) to an individual bearer... the players got that hint and use it only in dire circumstances. there was not one single case of abuse in almost 3 years of play.
another balancing aspect is that a few of the former bearers are still around (though not all of them exactly alive) and some of them see themselves not as bearers but as owners of it. once, the party merely escaped one of Halasters "fetch-spells": a magical, crackling "net of light" that filled out the tunnel behind them, crept slowly towards them and cut off their only escape route from a bunch of scary critters in front of them. in the beginning, party was scared because they didn't know wtf that thing is, and after the book started to panik and told the mage that Halaster is probably trying to get it... let's just say it was one of the most exciting roleplaying moments we ever had. 
"the sword"
the 3rd "near-artifact" the party has: Finslayer, a sentient longsword. created by dwarves more than 400 years ago, made for a human "underdark ranger" for the purpose to slay kuo toa (in NIGHT BELOW, the party has to defeat an underdark city with hundreds of those evil and mad fishmen). the ranger died in the underdark even before he reached the city and the sword lay in a crevise for four centuries. now it is in the hands of one of the priests of the party and eager to fulfill it's mission.
it can talk (telepatically to it's bearer and normally to others), has a +5 bonus vs. kuo toa, +4 against aboleth (unknown to the players yet) and +2 against everything else. it can detect secret doors and invisible things (5' radius only) and knows several languages (undercommon, kuo toa, one or two others). does all that make it a minor artifact? i don't know, but it has been useful several times both for the party and as a plot device - and they haven't even reached the fish men- city yet.
...that makes three powerful magical items in the party. they are around level 10 and have by know accumulated dozens of magical items, even though many of them are one-shots or only minor (like eye drops that give you infravision for a few minutes). we still use 2nd edition, and when you start adventuring at level 1, you are bound to have A LOT of magic 10 levels later.
When I introduce powerful magic, I make sure that it is balanced in some way. Disadvantages can be story-wise (like in the book's case: "someone powerful is out there to get me back!") or be founded in uncertainty (the house: "who the hell did just enter here, and how?!?") or otherwise (finslayer is VERY eager to, well, convert kuo toa into fish fingers. The player will have to convince it that strategic behaviour is better that straight-forward slaughter.)
I always make sure that powerful magic is not only balanced but also drives the story. Otherwise it becomes boring and loses it's charm. Pun intended. |
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Grandmaster Kane
Seeker
64 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2007 : 16:15:22
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My party has to transport the Beheader and +5 Unholy Chaotic vorpal keen Bastard sword
To a Drow demilich while being pursuded by the swords right full owners ( the Damvell mercenary camp)
edit* Crazy crit huh ^^ |
Edited by - Grandmaster Kane on 11 Mar 2007 16:16:01 |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 11 Mar 2007 : 22:33:52
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I am DMing the Age of Worms for my players, and they elected to sell the Whispering Cairn artifacts to Archmage Malchor Harpell for 100,000gp. The party's dwarf first resisted, questioning the Archmage's 'honor' and interrogating him on why he wanted the artifacts from them. Then devils attacked them out of nowhere, trying to gain the artifacts for themselves... Afterwards the dwarf was easier to convince, and they sold the things promptly!
As to the original poster's question, yes, I believe they can be unbalancing. However, I seriously think that a group of high-level PCs absolutely need them to even stand a chance against a demigod (as in the Age of Worms campaign... so the artifacts sale might bite them back later... at least the money got them new toys that are helping them NOW...  ) |
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Matan Thunder
Acolyte
USA
26 Posts |
Posted - 19 Mar 2007 : 02:01:44
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To the question as DM & PC I have allowed artifacts into play from Faerun and form other spheres as well.
It takes a certain skill level, which I really do know that many of you possess by your posting.
With this said, I really don't see what the problem is, other than the PC's who possess the item now face a whole new set of problems, for which a DM has to factor into the game play.
That is that other forces of great power may hunt the artifact down ceaselessly in an ongoing campaign of search and acquisition. The first time the item is learned about or used in public with spread the fires of ambitions in all forces.
The item will be hunted relentlessly across the lands of Faerun by these forces. Just look to what happened with Shandril the wielder of spellfire.
The Thayans and Zhents hunted here to death finally. There were the Malaugrym (In Spellfire & Crown of Fire) the shadowmasters and shapeshifters from heck. Then you had every free lancer who wanted it tracking after the couple in order to try to snatch away the prize at that final moment of acquisition. Does anyone have anything/anyone else to add to the list???...I have to admit that it has been a while since I read the first two book.
Now for me as a DM it is a headache, and invariably it usually leads to death by sheer numbers of the party or PC, but the having of such an artifact of power is not the same as keeping and using the item......ever. Unless the item is useless others will try to possess it.
As a PC my DM's have played out a similar game of attrition that would often leave me taking the item to forces who would destroy it. It is a simple matter of pressure and knowing who can destroy or hold the item.
Finally giving away an item isn't the end either, as the groups seeking the item will continue to follow its trail. The conflicts should be epic, and on a par with what Shan faces with the spellfire she possessed.
I could wax on about the subject, but my suggestion should you ever allow such items to be found is to get a hold of 2nd edition Optional High Level Campaign books and start upgrading the monsters that the party or PC will be facing. Some monsters are smart enough to want to find these items too.
I once faced a Paragon Deepspawn, which we thought we had killed....we didn't, and I am so glad to be off of Oerth at this time since I think the darned thing still remembers my PC and what it left of the party.
Later
PS...If I ever possessed a Artifact I would pick the Ring of Winter. In old 2nd edition it augments all other magic items you possess with additional powers that would continue after the influence of the artifact is gone. |
Turn them all into rainbow colored mushrooms and drop them from 300' to the tune from the "Anvil Chorus". |
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Artifacts
