Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Novacat 03-16-06, 04:43 AM	Just for the hell of it, I thought it'd be fun to play a game (imagine that!). Here are the rules: 1. Everyone post an artifact. The artifact can be a minor or major, and of any type or power level. It must be your original creation, though you need not come up with it on the fly for express use in this contest. 2. When submitting an artifact, rate all previously posted (or, if you're lazy, just the recently posted) artifacts based on both coolness and original design (as two separate ratings). Use a scale of 1-10, and express your reasons, unless you're lazy. 3. Multiple entries are acceptable, but please don't rate your own artifacts, for the sake of confusion. I'll start us off with one of the Ten Weapons of Eternity: the Naix Render. Naix Render; Major Artifact This black scythe seems nearly to "shimmer" with an eerie darkness. Like a black hole, it seems to suck the light out of its surroundings, and in dark places, it is outlined by a violet glow. The Naix Render was crafted near the dawn of mankind, by the forgotten smith who forged the Ten Weapons of Eternity. Within it was imbued the power of the night and darkness, as well as a portion of its maker's soul. The Naix Render emanates an overwhelming Evil aura, as well as Necromancy and Transmutation. As a Weapon of Eternity, the Naix Render grants the agelessness. The Weapons of Eternity prevent the passing of time from taking its toll on their wielders, and as such, they do not age. In addition, like all Weapons or eternity, the Naix Render has an enhancement bonus of +5 on attack and damage rolls made with it, and this bonus increases when the wielder possesses other Weapons of Eternity (+1 per other Weapon). The Naix Render itself is vorpal, but this is one of its lesser powers. The weapon is sentient, and it whispers to its wielder. Even as an intelligent item, it cannot possess the wielder, nor make any attempt to forcefully influence his actions. However, upon attaining the Naix Render, any creature which possesses the weapon has its soul transfered into the weapon itself where it stays, even if the owner's body dies. As an intelligent item, the Naix Render chooses whether to discard that soul and replace it with the soul of its previous owner, or to discard its previous owner and adopt its new one. It makes this decision based on its (instantly gained) knowledge of the new owner and its abilities. The Naix Render will always choose the owner most capable of carrying out its goal. To help make this decision, it automatically learns everything there is to know about the potential new owner; abilities, weaknesses, personality, alignment, etc. If it chooses to keep its old owner, the creature who picked up the scythe is forever destroyed, its soul energy consumed it the process of transforming the body into that of its old owner. If it decides to adopt new management, the old soul is lost forever. There is no save either way. The Naix Render favors special abilities (such as bloodlines or possession of other artifacts) more than species. The goal of the Naix Render is "simple". It is upfront and open about its purposes to its owner, and will often spend a great deal of time underlining the value of cooperation (near immortality and tremendous power) to its owner. Its purpose is to slay demons, devils, and similar creatures. To convince a hesitant owner, the Naix Render will try anything from threats to appeals to morality, but in any case, it is eager to do battle with all demons. Interestingly, the creatures it seeks to slay are immune to its soul-stealing effects, and if a demon were ever to take hold of the Naix Render (assuming the demon knew what it was), it could will the scythe to be undone, and it would forever remain nothing more than a masterwork scythe (it could never thereafter be enchanted like most masterwork weapons). If the wielder should ever release his grip on the weapon, it will automatically disappear. When desired, the wielder can recall the weapon into his hands as a free action. The Naix Render can never be forcefully taken from the owner, though if someone attempts to take it, the weapon may choose to transfer ownership to the offending creature. While the Naix Render is "put away", the owner cannot use its Teleportation ability, described below. At will, the owner of the Naix Render can teleport to any location he can see. The first time in a given round that this ability is used, it is an immediate action. The second time, it's a free action. The third time, it is a move action. The fourth time it's used, it is considered a standard action. When using this ability, the owner seems to be swiftly engulfed in streaks of shadow, disappearing in a flash of blackness, and appearing in a similar fashion. For those who care, this weapon has a place in the storyline of a fantasy world of mine. It's first wielder, Ardmoore Shadeskill, was never replaced, though he died a handful of times. The weapon's preference for him was due to his exceptional bloodline ability, known as the Divine Eye. He and the weapon eventually came to an understanding: He would kill demons on sight, but not actively pursue them. He lived for tens of thousands of years, slowly becoming a sadistic sociopath, and dubbing himself the Lord of Darkness. No one cared. Eventually, he was reduced to soot by a great red dragon, named Ashaeron, who claimed the remaining weapon, but never bothered to touch it, so the Naix Render could not transfer Ardmoore's soul.
Novacat 03-17-06, 01:28 PM	Bump.
Gemcaster 03-17-06, 02:15 PM	Bottle of the slurred spring(minor artifact: This small prisme shaped metal bottle is inlaid with brass in the likeness of spilt brandey, its neck is shaped into a silver flagon and stoppered with a slightly clear cork. On command it can fill with any nonlethal drinkable substance (water, milk, wine, ale etc) it can even fill with magical liquor so long as you know the taste and the name of it(and its caster level for brewing it is below 5), also 5 times per day the character can imbune any alchoholic beverage with the bottles unique magic, any alchoholic drink imbheded by someone gives the character a +2 bonus on charisma for one hour, any repeated consumption does not give the drinker any additional charisma, but prololngs its limit by 1 hour. However this does not come without a penalty each time the character drinks an alchohol imbuned with the bottles charisma enhancing ability the character must make a DC13 fortitude save if the character succeeds nothing happens, if he fails he takes a -2 penalty to wiz, dex or int (dm's choice) and after 1 hour the character must make another DC13 save or fall unconcious for 4d8 rounds.
Illion the Red 03-17-06, 02:45 PM	Fell Plate: This Full Plate armor is a bane for all that live. Ornately carved from some alien metal, the armor is fitted for a female human of roughly 5’ 6” tall and 155 pounds. Unlike other magical armors, the Fell Plate will not resize to fit any other form. To all tests, this armor appears to be Full Plate with an amazing +10 enhancement bonus, however, once worn for an extended period of time, the true nature of this armor’s curse becomes horrifyingly apparent. Once donned, the armor is difficult for the wearer to remove. The wearer must make a willpower save at a DC of 10+ the number of days the armor has been worn (cumulative), or violently refuse to remove the armor or allow another to remove it from her. As this insidious magic works, the wearer is often completely unaware of her plight until it is too late. For every day (cumulative) worn, the armor has a 2% chance to begin its terrible transformation of the wearer. The wearer will steadily begin to change alignment. This will happen at a rate of one step per five days until the user has reached chaotic evil. At this point, the wearer will be overcome with an insatiable bloodlust, attacking all who cross her path (Will DC 20+ number of days armor worn to resist). She will be overcome with the urge to drink the blood of her fallen foes (same DC to resist). Upon drinking the blood of one hundred foes, the wearer will be irrevocably transformed into a vampire. The bloodlust does not slacken after this transformation. Once the wearer has achieved vampiric form, the Fell Plate begins to consume the soul of its victim. Each day, the victim must make a willpower save (DC 10+ number of victims’ blood consumed since becoming a vampire) or have one point of Wisdom drained by the Fell Plate. If a victim is reduced to 0 Wisdom in this manner, their soul is consumed, their body immediately decays to dust, and the armor falls, inert, until donned by its next victim. At any point before the vampiric transformation occurs, a remove curse spell cast by at least a 17th level caster can reset the daily count.
vardock 03-17-06, 04:00 PM	I give it a 0. here are my reasons. 1: the save DC will easily go so high that even epic characters cannot make it without a natural 20 (easily into the 100's. and those that can can easily afford to buy a much better suit of armor. 2: with the precice measurements needed few characters will ever use it. 3: over the time span the curse takes place, the party wizard would have disjointed it, before it got out of hand. Here is my artifact. MAJOR Artifact secpter of Derimos. Created be Derimos, (an old one from eons past) after witnessing the first of the spells made that attack the soul itself. fearing what would come of such spells and other means of attacking souls, this artifact was made to gather the remanints of attacked souls, while leaving the perpratrateor with the knowlege that it was forever destroyed. if a any sort of ressecturection spell is cast in the within a mile of the rod on someone whose soul has been "destroyed" the character will be ressected as a 1st level character of the class they started off as (and with severe memory loss). and if they devote themselves to restoring their former selves they get a 1000% bonus on all xp gains as long as they pursue this path, untill they reach the level they were at before being destroyed due to both the septers influence and their inate familarity with it.
Illion the Red 03-17-06, 04:24 PM	I give it a 0. here are my reasons. 1: the save DC will easily go so high that even epic characters cannot make it without a natural 20 (easily into the 100's. and those that can can easily afford to buy a much better suit of armor. 2: with the precice measurements needed few characters will ever use it. 3: over the time span the curse takes place, the party wizard would have disjointed it, before it got out of hand. Thank you for your frank evaluation. It's a CURSED artifact...nobody should want to use it. I guess I should have stated that up front.
Novacat 03-17-06, 05:00 PM	Artifact/Coolness/Originality Bottle of the slurred spring/3/6 Fell Plate/6/4 Scepter of Derimos/5/8 Comments: The Bottle seems too weak to be an artifact, even a minor one. The Fell Plate also seems to lack that Artifact Luster, though it has some unique and flavorful properties. The Scepter need clarification. I'm not sure exactly how it's supposed to work. Also, no one has commented on the Naix Render... my feelings are hurt :(.
yourReality 03-17-06, 05:31 PM	Teeth of the Great Consumer: (MAJOR ARTIFACT) These tooth shaped bits of adamantine radiate with a dark aura and have a strange stench that causes anyone within range (10 ft.) to become nauseated unless they succeed a Fortitude save (DC 19). However, the Teeth have far too powerful an aura for just this, when one replaces their own teeth with this full set (ripping out all of your teeth deals 2d6 nonlethal damage per tooth) their mouth begins to drip witih an unstaunchable flow of blood that is treated as a Greater Magic Weapon oil that can be used up to 10 times per day (large weapons count as two uses, small as one half, and huge three). After one day of full replacement the teeth begin to utter strange infernal tongues that are unfamiliar to most living creatures, the bearer of the Teeth can use the Dark Speech ability (described in the Book of Vile Darkness) a number of times per day equal to her Charisma Score. The DC for the Dark Speech saves is 25. Any non-outsider who bears the Teeth for more than two days has their alignment changed to lawful evil, and their type changed to Outsider (Lawful, Evil) (Change all statistics accordingly). Any Outsider who bears the Teeth for two or more days alignment immediately changes to Chaotic Evil and must Succeed on a saving Fortitude save (DC 20) or change into a Petitioner of the Nine Hells of Baator. (Petitioner template found in the Manual of the Planes) Bottle: Coolness 5/ usefulness 1. i mean c'mon... Plate: Once you know its cursed Coolness 6/ usefulness 0
Malcoren 03-17-06, 06:30 PM	(ripping out all of your teeth deals 2d6 nonlethal damage per tooth) Uhh... so, despite the fact that I've had a couple of wisdom teeth removed, it'd still deal 60D6 points of nonlethal damage for me to remove all my teeth to stick these bad boys in? Ouch. Being, what, a 2nd level Expert or so in D&D terms, that'd render me unconscious for a LOOOOONG time. ;) Illion the Red, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Undead were immune to ability damage and drain. How is the Plate going to hurt them? Bottle of the slurred spring Sorry bud, that's not artifact level. That's about 20,000 or so GP value of a Wondrous Item. Cool, though. ^_^
yourReality 03-17-06, 07:44 PM	Uhh... so, despite the fact that I've had a couple of wisdom teeth removed, it'd still deal 60D6 points of nonlethal damage for me to remove all my teeth to stick these bad boys in? i think....if you had no pain killers....dealingthat much nonlethal would cause death... so...pain killers..or booze. Elven Moondrop.
Darkxarth 03-17-06, 08:09 PM	Artifact/Coolness/Originality Teeth/6/7 (but really creepy) Sceptor/4/8 (kind of vague though) Fell Armor/4/6 (also creepy!) Bottle/7/5 (neat!) Naix/6/7 (despite not being able to out-Ego PCs, it has too much control over them, such as instant destruction!) All right ladies and gentlemen, here's my submission. Staff of Wizard’s Might is a six-foot staff, carved in one piece from a Mithral vein. It is inscribed with hundreds of different sigils and runes along its entire length. The staff is not meant for melee combat, but if it is used for it, the staff is treated as a +2 Force/+2 Force Quarterstaff. But, for each successful attack, the staff loses a number of charges equal to half of the damage inflicted (round up). The Staff of Wizard’s Might contains a maximum of 100 magical charges, for anything other than melee combat, this staff can only be used by a wizard. During one of the three days of the full moon, the staff’s owner may choose to meditate with the staff for 24 hours without interruption. At the end of this 24-hour period, the staff will have twice as many charges as it had at the beginning. If the staff was completely empty of charges at the beginning of the meditation, the wielder must take 36 hours in order to bring the staff’s charges up to ten. This 24 (or 36) -hour meditation may begin at any point during the full moon. If this meditation is interrupted at all, even for sleeping or trance, the wielder cannot begin a new meditation until the next full moon. The Staff of Wizard’s Might has quite a few magical powers and properties, most of which use at least one charge. The staff creates a constant magical field around its wielder, granting a +4 AC bonus. This bonus does not stack with the Mage Armor spell. The following powers require no charges (but cannot be used if the staff has no charges) and can be used at will: Detect Magic, Light, Magic Missile (5 missiles), Arcane Mark, Knock, Arcane Lock, Mage Hand, & Read Magic. These powers drain one charge per use: Dispel Magic, Fireball (10d6 points of damage, DC 18), Improved Invisibility, & Lightning Bolt (10d6 points of damage, DC 18). The following powers drain two charges per use: Telekinesis, Globe of Invulnerability, Legend Lore, True Seeing, & Guards and Wards. The following magical effects drain five charges from the Staff of Wizard’s Might: Greater Dispelling, Antimagic Field, Mordenkainen’s Disjunction, Teleport without Error, and Limited Wish. In addition, the Staff of Wizard’s Might grants the wizard wielding it as many temporary hit points as she normally has full normal hit points, effectively doubling the wizard’s hit points. These temporary hit points regenerate during the meditation period to restore charges. Normal wounds and diseases are also cured during this meditation time.
vardock 03-19-06, 05:06 PM	the septer collects the remains of souls that have been "destroyed", by means such as being used to make a magic item (BOVD), eaten by a demon or Evil God, or thorough the use of spells such as necrotic consumption, or wearing the Fell plate artifact mentioned above. this allows you to ressurect people who would not normally be resserected. but no mater what resserection spell is used the character returns as a 1st level character (no loss of con. no matter what spell is used.), and having lost most of his memories, due to the trama of having his/her soul ripped apart and stuck back together again. should the character decide to reclaim his/her former identity the character will gain experience at ten times the normal rate, until either he reaches the level he was at when his soul was "destroyed", or if he deviates from that path. the character must pick the same feats, classes, and skills, he had before death. here is an example. Lidda was a 16th level rogue when she fell victim to a necrotic consumption spell. when she was ressurected later with the use of the septer, she became a 1st level rogue. she quickly became a 10th level rogue due to the exp. boost. later she decides to take a level in master thrower, from this point on she looses the exp boost beacuse she deviated from the path she took in her former life. since this may be too complicated for many of you I came up with a second more powerful version which is a lot simpler. septer of Derimos. (BETA VERSION) this septer works just like the first version with one exception, It brings the character back as if with a true resserection spell despite whatever spell was used to bring the character back.
Delfedd 03-19-06, 06:32 PM	who created the fell armor then? you gotta include that. I would like to hear more backstory behind it.
Feor 03-19-06, 08:24 PM	The Creator's Hammer (Major Artifact) In a distant corner of the multiverse a God known only as The Creator set himself the task of creating life. He travelled across his plane ceaselessly forging worlds from the aether and placing life upon them. He wished to find perfection, and so whenever a world he'd created showed flaws, he would move to the next, applying the knowledge he'd gained, always drawing closer to perfection. It is said that the other dieties grew angry at him, that his continual creation threatened the balance of the multiverse. Other scholars claim that he eventually went mad, realizing that perfection was something no being, not even a divine one, could attain. Regardless, he was interrupted in his travels by the other dieties. For a few short moments Hextor, Heironeous, Gruumsh, Corellon Larethian, Erythnul, and Pelor came together to strike down the Creator. The battle was fierce, for the Creator had many followers on the worlds he had created and on many worlds he had raised worthy individuals to positions as demi-gods to more closely watch his domain. Despite this he stood no real chance against the combined might of 6 other divine beings, and he was struck down. As his body vanished into the void where fallen gods go he screamed a final dying curse against his 6 foes and hurled his mighty hammer outward into the multiverse. Since then the Hammer has found its way from one plane to the next, always seeking out the best smiths and most creative crafters. It also seeks to undermine the works of the 6 dieties which faced down the Creator so many Aeons ago. The Creator's Hammer is a +5 Thundering Warhammer which also has Bane against all Outsiders. The weapon is mildly intelligent, and of neutral Alignment. It is only capable of empathic communication. The Hammer grants it's wielder a +20 insight bonus to all craft checks, and once per day the Hammer's user may use it to create a magical or mundane object as though using the Wish spell. Perhaps the most sought after ability of the Hammer however can only be used once per century. Every hundred years the Hammer can be used to craft a new Demi-Plane. This plane takes whatever form its creator wishes, however it can never have a diameter of more than 100km. The plane gains a single, permanent connection to the prime material plane, and may gain a single connection to any one Outer or Inner plane its creator wishes. In addition the creator gains the ability to travel between the prime material plane and his demi-plane at will. If the Hammer is used to create a plane, its wielder dies, or it is unattended for more than a week, the hammer vanishes, to reappear somewhere else randomly.
Raven Dark 03-19-06, 09:04 PM	I present to all of you the UGLY DOLL! Feast your eyes upon her majestic ability to create whole campaigns singlehandedly! THE UGLY DOLL Bards tell tales of an ancient witch who manufactured evil dolls to go out and spread her vile form of evil throughout the lands. This tale is usually dismissed as the beginnings of a child’s horror story, but little do most know that the story does have some truth to it. http://images.epilogue.net/users/jscole/doll.jpg Betty's Newest Victim; Art by James Cole (http://www.epilogue.net/cgi/database/art/list.pl?gallery=13182&genre=4) Ugly Doll (Minor Artifact): The ugly doll appears to be little more than a crude doll made of buttons, cloth, and straw. However, when held up prominently (usually in the direction of a chosen target or targets) and the proper command word uttered, the doll allows the wielder to create a Cause Fear effect (DC 11) up to five times per day, a Fear effect (DC 16) up to three times per day, a Phantasmal Killer effect (DC 16) once per day, or a Weird effect (DC 21) once per week. If used in this manner, the doll appears to transform into that which the target most fears. The Ugly Doll does not radiate a magical aura of any kind nor does it radiate an evil aura. In addition, this doll is also an intelligent item and shares the statistics of the following ugly doll example: Betty, the Nightmare Weaver: Ugly Doll; AL CE; Int 19, Wis 10, Cha 19; Speech, telepathy, 120 ft. darkvision, blindsense, and hearing; Ego score 29. Lesser Powers: Item has deathwatch continually active, darkness 3/day, major image 1/day (DC 14), item has 10 ranks in Bluff (+14 modifier), Diplomacy (+16 modifier), & Intimidate (+16 modifier). Greater Powers: Detect good or detect law at will, detect thoughts (DC 13) at will, magic circle of protection against good or magic circle of protection against law at will Special Purpose: Spread fear and panic throughout the minds of all sentient beings. Dedicated Powers: Animate Objects & dominate person (DC 17). Personality: Betty, the Ugly Doll, was created by a powerful necromancer long ago who wished to instill the fear of her great powers into the minds and hearts of all those around her. Unfortunately, Betty turned on her creator and eventually destroyed the necromancer. Betty has since traveled the world by being passed down through family lines, given to children as a hand-me-down, sold and bought, or simply thrown away to be found by another. Betty rarely speaks to anyone and will usually lie dormant for long periods of time until her wielder is completely alone. When such a time comes, Betty usually corners her would be owner and reveals herself in the form of a young girl or other suitable imaginary playmate via her major image spell. Betty (or rather her illusion) acts kindly and works to gain the love and trust of her owner. In this respect, Betty generally targets young children, as they are more easily tricked and are not normally suspected of being an instrument of spreading terror by the populace at large. Such a victim will inevitably become the target of Betty’s dominate person ability. Betty can read and speak Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Infernal, & Undercommon as well as read magic at will. Strong enchantment, illusion, necromancy, and transmutation; CL 20th; Weight: 1 lb. All the DM has to do is have the PCs get hired by the local lord to investigate a series of unexplained deaths. The bodies have no marks upon them at all, but they remain dead nonetheless. Evil sorceries are suspected to have played a part. When the players get close to the truth, the lord's daughter dissapears mysteriously and their mission is suddenly interrupted as they are asked to seek out her whereabouts. Eventually, they find the girl in a forrest, sitting over the body of one of the lord's servants. The young girl sits their with her doll talking to someone the PCs can't see. If approached, the girl begins to sob uncontrollably when she notices the PCs. If pressed for information, she manages to stammor out that the servant had kidnapped her in hopes of a ransom. She also says she overheard the kidnapper speaking of past murders he/she had comitted throughout the town. The kidnapper's body, like the others, seems untouched. The girl explains that she became too much for the kidnapper to handle and she was going to be killed via a terrible spell. It would seem that the kidnapper's spell backfired and he/she was killed instead. If the players are clever, they may pick up on the fact that the kidnapper had absolutely no trappings of sorcery at all--no component pouch or anything. What's more, why didn't he/she leave a ransom note? Why did the Sense Motive go ping? Otherwise, with two mysteries apparently solved, the PCs go about their business--until their is another identical murder a week later. Called in to investigate again, the PCs find themselves back on the trail they had originally left off of before the kidnapping. With some work (and a little luck) the PCs soon discover that the Lord's daughter is responsible for the deaths. When confronted, the girl claims it was her imaginary friend "Betty" who did it. If the players try to tell the Lord about his daughter's actions he becomes outraged at the notion that his young daughter could be a mass murderer and throws them all out of his home. If the PCs do nothing further, the murders continue to become more frequent and more large-scale (from a bum to a street vender to a noble to small family to an entire tavern full of people). If they approach the girl again, and the Lord finds out he retaliates against them, possibly throwing them in prison for a time. Eventually, the PCs will learn that it is the doll's doing (perhaps they overhear the lord's daughter refer to the doll by name while they spy on her and researcht he doll's origins). If they try and take the doll from her the lord intervenes and passes a law that anyone to steal from his daughter or harm her in any way is to be summarily executed. Now the PCs are stumped and no matter what they do they will get into trouble. It makes for one hell of a challenge! I have run this story arc half a dozen times and it has worked great EVERY time. It is even better when there is a paladin in the party who doesn't detect evil on the girl or the doll, who doesn't want to break the law, but who does want to destroy the evil artifact. Eventually, Betty dominates the girl and becomes a serious threat to the entire city (by setting off some horrible chain of events as determined by the DM). Should she be confronted, the PCs will be hard pressed to to stop her without hurting the lord's daughter or breaking the law. What's more, she can animate anything from a swarm of children's toys to an entire building or dominate the group's fighter in order to defend herself from the adventurers. That's only when the sh1t hits the ceiling fan though, Betty is more subtle than that. Naix Render: 7 - I've always liked scythes. Bottle of the Slurred Spring: 5 - Not an artifact, but still cool. Fell Plate: 4 - Overly complicated, I hate anything that can destroy a soul. Scepter of Derimos: 8 - Great idea, could be better mechanically. Teeth of the Great Consumer: 5 - I didn't quite understand this one. Maybe it's cause it's late. Staff of Wizard’s Might: 6 - Unimaginative, seems like a suped up staff of power to me. Scepter of Derimos Mk II: 6 - I like the first one better. The Creator's Hammer: 6 - Good, but not great. The Ugly Doll: 9 - You can't keep me from voting on my own artifact. :P
lrellok 03-19-06, 10:02 PM	Neezool, a adimantine dark skull At the end of the death giants civilisation, one item was made before the dark pact was struck. it was thought that this artifact would so bolster the armies of the giants taht victory would be inevitable. the artifact had other ideas. so powerful was this item taht not even the mighty giants could control it, and in the end it turned their own slave armies against them. Int 10 Wis 19 Char 19 Chaotic Evil Alignment ego:30 Save:+12 hardness:20 HP:240 all spell powers are widened and enlarged. Neezool controls the powers and the undead, and does not like sharing. dark skull powers: unhallow (80ft radius) tied to desecrate (also 80 ft) yes, Neezool constitutes a shrine to undeath Special purpose: Neezool exists to create and protect undead. it is a dedicated necrophile, considering ndead the most beutiful things in creation. purpose power: animate dead at will (80 hd per cast, 160hd total) range 600ft w/ spectral hand Primary powers; Create undead 3/day Create greater undead 1/week secondary powers: at will; spectral hand (enlarged to 600ft), detect undead (120ft), command undead (150ft) Perminancied Nondetection (DC 31) the PC's most serios problem is the fact that everything they kill stands back up again in a couple of rounds. After that is realising that the statue they just found is what is cuasing the first problem, due to the fact that the statue does not register on any detect spells they throw at it. finally, anywhere the PC's go, they are followed by a LARGE army of undead, whether they want to be or not. The dark skull wants to travel with undead, not the party, so they are prettymuch under constant attack until they figure out how to destroy the item, a task complicated by NPC's assumption that the PC's in front of the undead army are commanding it. they can't exactly leave it somewhere (are you crasy, what if some kid found it?)
Chrono Nexus 03-19-06, 10:11 PM	Yo- The amulet of ages is the basis for many of my campaigns. It is usually sought by the group to undo a cataclysm, or to save the future. The inspiration for this artifact was born from a marriage of tomb raider, back to the future, and the Indiana Jones series. The Amulet of Ages Appearance - A strange looking eye is centered on the face of this golden triangular amulet. It may have been beautiful once, but the amulet’s golden surface is faded and its edges are chipped and worn by the passage of years. This ancient artifact is remnant of a dead civilization. The object had a hand in it’s destruction, and the creation of the forgotten forest. The amulet gives the wearer power over time, at the cost of wearer’s own time. Powers- This amulet grants its wearer a limited sense of the future. The wearer gains a +1 insight bonus on her attacks, saves, ac, skill checks, and ability checks. As a free action, the wearer can activate a speed effect. The wearer can be affected as though by the spell haste up to ten rounds per day. The rounds of the haste effect need not be consecutive rounds. Once per week, the wearer can activate a Time Stop effect. This is identical to the spell time stop as cast by a 18 level wizard. Once per month, the wearer can move through time to a point twenty-four hours from the present. If the wearer travels forward, she appears in the space she occupied before she Time Stepped. If she moves backwards 24 hours, she appears at the place and moment she was at exactly 24 hours ago. Once per year the wearer can travel to a date in time within one-hundred years. She appears in the location she left in the present (only now she is in a different time). She may act for twenty four hours before she reappears in the space and time she occupied immediately after activating the amulet. Her actions can change reality, even undo the future, but there are risks when tampering with fate. Note: Avoid traveling from tall buildings, they may not exist in the past or future. Last of all, the amulet grants the wearer Timeless Body as per the druid class feature. These powers exact a price on the wearer. Each time a power of the amulet is used, the wearer must give up a little of her own time; each time she activates a power, she ages. Note: Death from old age is considered death from natural causes. Future Sense: Each year of subjective time worn ages the wearer an additional year. Haste: One week per 100 rounds. Time Stop: One month. Time Step (24 hrs): 1 year. Time Travel(Centenial): Time Travelled. A wearer of the amulet cannot activate the powers of the amulet if they cannot pay the price. A god or an outsider could not pay the price of the powers, since they do not age. Reasons for bad ratings: Artifacts are not Big Magic Items, they are goals that the PC's attain through perseverance, hard work, intelligence, and luck. They are not toys. Ratings: Dark Skull- 8 (Terrific for the purpose of an adventure) Ugly Doll- 6 (Interesting artifact, but seems to have little incentive for players to pursue it.) Creator's Hammer- 4 (It's OK. It doesn't really go into much detail though, and a thundering hammer isn't an original concept.) Staff of Wizard's Might- 3 (It seems geared for use by the one which created it- and only one character in any given party would care about finding this.) Teeth of the Great Consumer- 8 (I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.) secpter of Derimos- 3 (Try harder) Bottle of the slurred spring- 9 (Terrific) Naix Render- 7 (Plenty of Storyline, but little of it makes any sense. Also, very few of any of it's powers are wide-reaching. This should be bumped down to a minor artifact.)
Novacat 03-21-06, 02:38 AM	Artifact: Coolness/Originality Teeth: 4/8 Staff: 7/2 Hammer: 5/8 (Coolness severely hurt by the story involving those 6 gods cooperating) Ugly Doll: 8/9 Neezool: 3/5 Amulet: 8/8
The Amazing Dancing Bear 03-21-06, 11:53 AM	Can't honestly say I know enough about the game to critique the other artifacts well, but, here you are. Note that this one is for my campaign, and if Benny or Devon is reading this, turn back now before I break out the shuriken. The Brayh Crozier In the fires of the War of the Bloody Mountains, Donnegan Brayh forged a name out of the blood of demons. He was known as a soft-spoken and gruff man, nearing the time of his death but clinging on to life by a thread. The old dwarf trod the trenches in a greatcoat, clutching a thick, dirty walking stick. He was fierce in battle, however, when, with a twist of the stick, he revealed the stout longsword blade he had in the stick. Brandishing thus the heavy blade, Donnegan proceeded to win fame for himself, and in time took a wife on the battlefield, a woman named Ar'da. Donnegan did not know that Ar'da was actually a bralani, drawn into the War by her hate of demons and infatuated with the sword-swinging dwarven hero. Alas, these days of glory for Donnegan were soon gone, and he fell in the mud at the top of Rust-Red Peak, a victim of the whirling blades of a marilith lieutenant. As Donnegan died, he threw the blade down the peak, where it was siezed by Ar'da, who was waiting for Donnegan to return from the duel so she could tell him that she had concieved. The child was named Immanuel, and Ar'da's tears poured down the cane the day he was born, remembering Donnegan. Soon, Immanuel was born, and but a few dozen years later, he marched off to the interminable war, carrying the cane. He was amazed at how sharp the sword inside still was, how powerful the stick felt in his hands. And when he cut down the general of the army, the same marilith - now risen in rank - that had slain Donnegan, he knew it was not by his own skill. When the war was declared ended, Immanuel retired to a small fishing village south of the Blooded Mountains, and there pursued a quiet life. However, when he left Ar'da, still siezed by grief, she was stricken by prophecy. She stated that, when heroes of renown were under the assault of a mighty, fiendish foe, they would turn to Immanuel, and he should give them the cane, to carry on his fight and the fight of his father before him. In game terms, the Brayh Crozier is a +4 club when the blade is unsheathed. When the blade is unsheathed (a move action), the Brayh Crozier is a +6 flaming burst, holy, wounding,demonbane, mighty cleaving longsword. The Crozier also commands the allegiance of the eladrin, and may be used to summon a bralani once per day, a ghaele once per week, and an eladrin prince (treat as a ghaele sorcerer 10) once per year. Finally, Morwel, Queen of Stars, the monarch of the eladrin, owes the bearer of the Brayh Crozier a favor. This may take the form of a wish spell, or can also be one week of Morwel's service to the bearer. Lastly, when wielded by someone of the Brayh bloodline, whether it be cousin, nephew, or any other relatively close relative, the Brayh Crozier will also allow the bearer to use Holy Word, Dictum, and Plane Shift 3/day. Note that Immanuel does not just give the Brayh Crozier away. He is gifted with a supernatural knowledge of who is entitled to wield the cane, and will only give it to that one person.