Balanced Artifacts [Archive] - Wizards Community

Balanced Artifacts [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Psychoticpsymon
06-23-06, 01:34 PM Yes yes, I know, oxymoronic thread title. Just give the rest of the post a read.

Need a special something to make your PC's crazy? Something that will make them think, "We need to get that!"

Need a plot hook for some midievil nation's supreme powers? PC's getting too close to the BBEG too early and needs a quick out?

I think we need one thread to look through player made artifacts and grab them when the going gets tough, or the campaign needs excitement!

So here's my idea...

Anyone can post their artifact that, while it's existence does cause unrest or garners the attention of the people in the world they play in, still isn't majorly broken. As in, they can get it and make use of it, but it will, eventually, leave them right back where they started, or is only useable in very specific situations. This way, we balance the sudden surge of power with a later on continued game of normalcy. This is just something a DM can throw into the game, make some whisperings to the players, and get their attention.

This can be used for an emergency situation where the DM isn't prepared for the next city and has a dungeon crawl backup somewhere, or the DM just needs to get the players involved. Either way, I want to make some things clear.

1) The artifact is up for consideration. However, we want this thread to be easy to get from one artifact to the other, and not have pages of talking about one specific one. So, in order to reach this goal, use PM's to either myself or the artifact creator. Once a week, I'll compile the suggestions and send them to the individuals who need it. They can edit their posts at their leisure. If you plan on submitting, please be ready to make these changes.
2) Any artifact is potentially unbalancing. So don't use one of these until there has been some mention of it in these first 2 threads. We are going to try to make it so that these artifacts are balanced at some point after they are acquired, but if we don't do a good job this could become a problem.
3) Try to keep comments on the posts themselves to a bare minimum, unless it's a quick congradulation or something. I wanted to stress this but not limit posting.
4) Have fun, please! Perhaps we'll give them a rating too.
Psychoticpsymon
06-23-06, 01:35 PM Reserved for Index
Psychoticpsymon
06-23-06, 01:45 PM So here's an example of a good way to post the artifact:

The Trumps

A lone man comes upon a small pack of cards sitting on the floor of a dark dungeon. He picks it up and opens it, feeling a strange apprehension grip him. He pulls the cards out in a sudden flick motion and stares at the empty face of several small cards. He consideres them momentarily, assumes he might be able to sell them, than puts them in his pack.
He forgets about the cards for a long time. His powers increase, he looks into dark arts. His skills increase, and he becomes an assassin.
One day, on a mission to kill a very important noble, he is captured and thrown in a cell. His belongings are sorted out by the guards, and they find the pack of cards he had so long ago forlorn. Excited to have some cards to play poker with they open it... and find the empty cards. Annoyed, one throws the pack and the cards through the bars at the head of the assassin. The cards flutter to the ground, and the assassin is left to his own devices.
He sits alone, cursing the name of the noble and retracing all of his steps as he was fighting. He remembers the small dagger in his boot. (Thank Oldimarra for high sleight of hand rolls) But the dagger does him no good now...
He picks up a card and concentrates aggravatedly on the center of it. He remembers the name of the noble, his snide smile as the assassin was caught. And suddenly the face becomes clearer, and the card grows cold. Suddenly the assassin realizes that the card now has the face of the noble upon it.
He stares more intently, and the card grows cold. The face is moving, it's talking, it's... aware of the assassin!
A split second later, and the dagger was embedded far into the noble's chest. The bond breaks immediately, and the assassin freezes. Had he succeeded?
A day later, he was released. The noble, also the judge and jury on the estate, was in no condition to deliberate on his fate (considering he was dead). And the assassin had gained an invaluable tool to use on his most daring assassinations.

Limiting Factor: There is a set number of cards, and more than one person cannot take part in the connections. Also, the average number of cards will be 4, which is about the size of your average party, for which the trumps might be best used.

Trumps

A deck of trumps is usually found in a small deck box made of pliable, thin wood. It is a deck of cards that, upon finding, is randomly filled with 1d8 cards.

These cards appear to be completely blank but casting an identify-like spell on them reveals that when held, the name of a person can be designated. Once designated, the person’s image is scribed into the card over the course of 1d2 minutes by magical means. That person has no knowledge they are being inscribed upon the cards, nor can they stop the inscription unless they interrupt the ritual by separating the person from the card.

Once the inscription is completed, anyone who is related to the scriber can concentrate on the cards using a DC10 + (Person on card's class levels) Concentration check to gain the following abilities:
- The card grows cold, and the person using it provokes attacks of opportunity from all within reach.
- Each person sees the other how they are at the moment and can interact with each other as if they were within 5 feet, including attack actions. Neither can turn away from the image.
- Rary’s Telepathic Bond with the person depicted on the card.
- If one person reaches out and pulls the other person through, that person is teleported to a position 5 feet in front of the person depicted on the card. This can be forced from either direction using a grapple check. When the person comes through using the grapple check, an attack can be made.
- If a battle is initiated over the link, everything proceeds as normal except that both are denied their dex bonus to AC, they cannot be flanked, and they cannot move away.

If either wishes to break the contact, one of the following options must be used:
- The card holder interrupts the eye contact by waving his hand over the card
- One of the two can no longer maintain eye contact. Closing eyes does not interrupt eye contact. (Eye contact is lost through Darkness or blind)
- Subject of the card passes a conscious DC20 will save. If the will save succeeds, that person cannot be contacted by the owner of the card for 1 day, and it also has a 50% chance of the card used to call that person burns to ash in the hand of the user.
Strong divination, evocation, and conjuration; CL 20th; Craft Wonderous Item.

Edit: This was already on the boards and copied/pasted from that post, so this is all his. I just forgot the source
Darkxarth
06-23-06, 01:55 PM Bluffing Blade- Major Artifact
The Bluffing Blade, though not as powerful as other weapons, has many strange and useful powers. Anyone that wields the Bluffing Blade appears to be half again as tall as he really is, and he appears to be very heavily muscled. In addition, he gains a look of hardened toughness. The Blade itself is a short sword, but it is the size of a greatsword. Despite this size difference, it is treated as a short sword in every respect, even counting as a Light, Small weapon, and weighing the same as any other short sword. In addition to all of these powers, the Bluffing Blade is a Sure Striking +1 Short Sword. It also grants +10 to Bluff and Intimidate checks.

The Bluffing Blade was forged by a cleric of Olidimarra for a particularly scrawny Halfling Rogue. He used this weapon to bluff his way out of many a dangerous situation.

It can be destroyed by taking it to the Zone of Ultimate Truth in the God of Law's godly court. Here, it will be shown that the Bluffing Blade is no more than a weak magical weapon, and it will be instantly destroyed by its own nature.

(Sure Striking is from the Arms and Equipment Guide, it treats the weapon a +5 enhancement for the purposes of overcoming DR. Which, come to think about it, seems to have become obsolete what with the new 3.5 DR system.)
tarkin
06-23-06, 02:19 PM Zelazney's has already published his stuff for an RPG. As such, it is inappropriate to stat it out for D20.
Darkxarth
06-23-06, 02:27 PM Zelazney's has already published his stuff for an RPG. As such, it is inappropriate to stat it out for D20.
Are you talking to me or him?
Psychoticpsymon
06-24-06, 12:15 AM To anyone who reads this one: I might {probably} need help with the balance of the spells here, but PM ME! Don't clutter the thread.

A lone city in the center of a desert is surrounded by a thick sandstorm. The storm has not wavered in a hundred years, and all who have tried to harm the village have been turned away, but so have those who have tried to leave. Some are not happy with this situation.
A lone figure in the dead of night approaches a device that no man has touched since the founding of the village. The ring, the signet of the sand as it is called, is the source of this wall, and this person wished to end the pain of the others.
But when the ring was placed on the finger, a madness gripped him. He could not remove the ring from his finger, and it would let him bring it no where. When he was found, pity was taken upon him but the religion there did not. His finger was cut off, and the ring released the digit. It stayed there, and a trial was announced.
On the day that was set to execute the man, a single hole in the sandstorm appeared, and in walked an old woman. She walked up to the delegation, gave them a stern look, and took the man outside of the storm. Neither was seen again, and the whispers of the old woman's identity were silenced, but not before some made it very clear that she seemed to be well over 70 years old...

Limiting Factor: Nasty consequences for failing the initial checks, and other people who are already bound to the ring might take an interest in how the ring is being used, and will mess with the actions the person understakes with it.

Sandstorm’s Signet Ring: An item imbued with the power of sand. It is able to ‘understand’ commands given by its current holder. The person wearing the ring must pass a DC25 will save or be unable to control the power of the creation. You cannot take 20 on this check.
Failure means that the ring binds itself to the wearer’s finger for 1d5 days (1d10 / 2) and brings horrible misfortune if a desert is within 20 miles of the wearer. They cannot attempt this again until the ring releases them, and they cannot remove the ring. Another check can be made after the period is over, however the DC is raised by 5 and the bad luck period is extended to 1d3 months.
Success means that the ring is bound to the wearer unless it is commanded to come off or the finger it is bound to is removed. Any command given to the ring is followed by the ring until it is commanded to perform a different action by any bound user. The ring also has a spell known as “Sandy Permanency” which makes the following spells last until the spell is no longer remembered by the ring.
The following spells are granted by the ring AND can be affected by Sandy Permanency:

- Sand Wall
Evocation (Wind)
Level: 5
Component: V, M
Casting Time: 2 rounds
Range: Travels up to 20 miles if over desert, or 5 miles over land or sea. If it would pass from desert to non-desert, then subtract the normal mileage from the desert from the total, than divide what’s left by 4
Effect: A 2 mile stretch of sand in front of you is kicked into the air and can be directed straight in any direction from the caster.
Duration: See text
Saving Throw: Fortitude
Spell Resistance: Partial
A 2 mile stretch of desert moves forward at a moderate pace, dealing 2d4 slashing damage. A sandstorm that is affected by a wind wall, force wall, or any other opposing power is stopped immediately. It also blinds anyone it encompasses if they fail a DC14 fortitude save. A permanency enhanced sandstorm will only travel until all of the sand is lost, which is 2 days of continuous travel.
Material: A stretch of sand 5 feet thick. The length of the sand limits the length of the storm.

- Sandstorm Refuge
Conjuration
Level: 9
Component: V, M
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: A quarter mile thick band around a half mile circle
Effect: An area from the center of the casting place up to a half mile in all directions (or less, caster’s discretion) is covered in a quarter mile thick sandstorm spinning in a perfect circle.
Duration: 1 day (One 24 hour period)
Saving Throw: Fortitude
Spell Resistance: Partial
Any creature within that thick banded circle that is not of the caster’s alignment is dealt 1d10 sand damage per 2 minutes while within the circle with a minimum of 1d10 damage. It is also blinded upon leaving (non-magical) unless they pass a DC20 fortitude save. A magical opposing force will stop the blindness and damage.
Focus: A desert must be present.

The following spells are granted by the ring:

- Sand Jet
Conjuration
Level: 2
Components: V, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft /2 levels)
Effect: Ray
Duration: 1 round / level
Saving Throw: Fortitude
Spell Resistance: Yes
The ring only produces this spell twice per day. Anyone affected by the spell is blinded for 1d8 rounds, barring a DC16 fortitude save which negates. It is a ranged touch attack for purposes of aiming. A wall of force also negates this.
Focus: A pinch of sand.

- Shape Sand
Transmutation
Level: 5
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (5 feet)
Effect: Moves an amount of sand equal to the caster’s full height and two of him abreast into the ethereal plane, creating a cavern. Duration: 20 minutes, see text
The ring produces this spell twice per day. The sand removed is removed in the direction of the angle the wizard puts his hand at. After 20 minutes, the caster must make a concentration check to see if he can maintain the spell for another 5 minutes. For all functions of stopping a cave-in, the sand the caster is moving through is suspended until the caster moves outside of a 20 foot range.
Psychoticpsymon
06-30-06, 06:48 PM This thread sure took off :)

Bump (To be replaced by something I come up with soon, hopefully)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Psychoticpsymon 06-23-06, 01:34 PM	Yes yes, I know, oxymoronic thread title. Just give the rest of the post a read. Need a special something to make your PC's crazy? Something that will make them think, "We need to get that!" Need a plot hook for some midievil nation's supreme powers? PC's getting too close to the BBEG too early and needs a quick out? I think we need one thread to look through player made artifacts and grab them when the going gets tough, or the campaign needs excitement! So here's my idea... Anyone can post their artifact that, while it's existence does cause unrest or garners the attention of the people in the world they play in, still isn't majorly broken. As in, they can get it and make use of it, but it will, eventually, leave them right back where they started, or is only useable in very specific situations. This way, we balance the sudden surge of power with a later on continued game of normalcy. This is just something a DM can throw into the game, make some whisperings to the players, and get their attention. This can be used for an emergency situation where the DM isn't prepared for the next city and has a dungeon crawl backup somewhere, or the DM just needs to get the players involved. Either way, I want to make some things clear. 1) The artifact is up for consideration. However, we want this thread to be easy to get from one artifact to the other, and not have pages of talking about one specific one. So, in order to reach this goal, use PM's to either myself or the artifact creator. Once a week, I'll compile the suggestions and send them to the individuals who need it. They can edit their posts at their leisure. If you plan on submitting, please be ready to make these changes. 2) Any artifact is potentially unbalancing. So don't use one of these until there has been some mention of it in these first 2 threads. We are going to try to make it so that these artifacts are balanced at some point after they are acquired, but if we don't do a good job this could become a problem. 3) Try to keep comments on the posts themselves to a bare minimum, unless it's a quick congradulation or something. I wanted to stress this but not limit posting. 4) Have fun, please! Perhaps we'll give them a rating too.
Psychoticpsymon 06-23-06, 01:35 PM	Reserved for Index
Psychoticpsymon 06-23-06, 01:45 PM	So here's an example of a good way to post the artifact: The Trumps A lone man comes upon a small pack of cards sitting on the floor of a dark dungeon. He picks it up and opens it, feeling a strange apprehension grip him. He pulls the cards out in a sudden flick motion and stares at the empty face of several small cards. He consideres them momentarily, assumes he might be able to sell them, than puts them in his pack. He forgets about the cards for a long time. His powers increase, he looks into dark arts. His skills increase, and he becomes an assassin. One day, on a mission to kill a very important noble, he is captured and thrown in a cell. His belongings are sorted out by the guards, and they find the pack of cards he had so long ago forlorn. Excited to have some cards to play poker with they open it... and find the empty cards. Annoyed, one throws the pack and the cards through the bars at the head of the assassin. The cards flutter to the ground, and the assassin is left to his own devices. He sits alone, cursing the name of the noble and retracing all of his steps as he was fighting. He remembers the small dagger in his boot. (Thank Oldimarra for high sleight of hand rolls) But the dagger does him no good now... He picks up a card and concentrates aggravatedly on the center of it. He remembers the name of the noble, his snide smile as the assassin was caught. And suddenly the face becomes clearer, and the card grows cold. Suddenly the assassin realizes that the card now has the face of the noble upon it. He stares more intently, and the card grows cold. The face is moving, it's talking, it's... aware of the assassin! A split second later, and the dagger was embedded far into the noble's chest. The bond breaks immediately, and the assassin freezes. Had he succeeded? A day later, he was released. The noble, also the judge and jury on the estate, was in no condition to deliberate on his fate (considering he was dead). And the assassin had gained an invaluable tool to use on his most daring assassinations. Limiting Factor: There is a set number of cards, and more than one person cannot take part in the connections. Also, the average number of cards will be 4, which is about the size of your average party, for which the trumps might be best used. Trumps A deck of trumps is usually found in a small deck box made of pliable, thin wood. It is a deck of cards that, upon finding, is randomly filled with 1d8 cards. These cards appear to be completely blank but casting an identify-like spell on them reveals that when held, the name of a person can be designated. Once designated, the person’s image is scribed into the card over the course of 1d2 minutes by magical means. That person has no knowledge they are being inscribed upon the cards, nor can they stop the inscription unless they interrupt the ritual by separating the person from the card. Once the inscription is completed, anyone who is related to the scriber can concentrate on the cards using a DC10 + (Person on card's class levels) Concentration check to gain the following abilities: - The card grows cold, and the person using it provokes attacks of opportunity from all within reach. - Each person sees the other how they are at the moment and can interact with each other as if they were within 5 feet, including attack actions. Neither can turn away from the image. - Rary’s Telepathic Bond with the person depicted on the card. - If one person reaches out and pulls the other person through, that person is teleported to a position 5 feet in front of the person depicted on the card. This can be forced from either direction using a grapple check. When the person comes through using the grapple check, an attack can be made. - If a battle is initiated over the link, everything proceeds as normal except that both are denied their dex bonus to AC, they cannot be flanked, and they cannot move away. If either wishes to break the contact, one of the following options must be used: - The card holder interrupts the eye contact by waving his hand over the card - One of the two can no longer maintain eye contact. Closing eyes does not interrupt eye contact. (Eye contact is lost through Darkness or blind) - Subject of the card passes a conscious DC20 will save. If the will save succeeds, that person cannot be contacted by the owner of the card for 1 day, and it also has a 50% chance of the card used to call that person burns to ash in the hand of the user. Strong divination, evocation, and conjuration; CL 20th; Craft Wonderous Item. Edit: This was already on the boards and copied/pasted from that post, so this is all his. I just forgot the source
Darkxarth 06-23-06, 01:55 PM	Bluffing Blade- Major Artifact The Bluffing Blade, though not as powerful as other weapons, has many strange and useful powers. Anyone that wields the Bluffing Blade appears to be half again as tall as he really is, and he appears to be very heavily muscled. In addition, he gains a look of hardened toughness. The Blade itself is a short sword, but it is the size of a greatsword. Despite this size difference, it is treated as a short sword in every respect, even counting as a Light, Small weapon, and weighing the same as any other short sword. In addition to all of these powers, the Bluffing Blade is a Sure Striking +1 Short Sword. It also grants +10 to Bluff and Intimidate checks. The Bluffing Blade was forged by a cleric of Olidimarra for a particularly scrawny Halfling Rogue. He used this weapon to bluff his way out of many a dangerous situation. It can be destroyed by taking it to the Zone of Ultimate Truth in the God of Law's godly court. Here, it will be shown that the Bluffing Blade is no more than a weak magical weapon, and it will be instantly destroyed by its own nature. (Sure Striking is from the Arms and Equipment Guide, it treats the weapon a +5 enhancement for the purposes of overcoming DR. Which, come to think about it, seems to have become obsolete what with the new 3.5 DR system.)
tarkin 06-23-06, 02:19 PM	Zelazney's has already published his stuff for an RPG. As such, it is inappropriate to stat it out for D20.
Darkxarth 06-23-06, 02:27 PM	Zelazney's has already published his stuff for an RPG. As such, it is inappropriate to stat it out for D20. Are you talking to me or him?
Psychoticpsymon 06-24-06, 12:15 AM	To anyone who reads this one: I might {probably} need help with the balance of the spells here, but PM ME! Don't clutter the thread. A lone city in the center of a desert is surrounded by a thick sandstorm. The storm has not wavered in a hundred years, and all who have tried to harm the village have been turned away, but so have those who have tried to leave. Some are not happy with this situation. A lone figure in the dead of night approaches a device that no man has touched since the founding of the village. The ring, the signet of the sand as it is called, is the source of this wall, and this person wished to end the pain of the others. But when the ring was placed on the finger, a madness gripped him. He could not remove the ring from his finger, and it would let him bring it no where. When he was found, pity was taken upon him but the religion there did not. His finger was cut off, and the ring released the digit. It stayed there, and a trial was announced. On the day that was set to execute the man, a single hole in the sandstorm appeared, and in walked an old woman. She walked up to the delegation, gave them a stern look, and took the man outside of the storm. Neither was seen again, and the whispers of the old woman's identity were silenced, but not before some made it very clear that she seemed to be well over 70 years old... Limiting Factor: Nasty consequences for failing the initial checks, and other people who are already bound to the ring might take an interest in how the ring is being used, and will mess with the actions the person understakes with it. Sandstorm’s Signet Ring: An item imbued with the power of sand. It is able to ‘understand’ commands given by its current holder. The person wearing the ring must pass a DC25 will save or be unable to control the power of the creation. You cannot take 20 on this check. Failure means that the ring binds itself to the wearer’s finger for 1d5 days (1d10 / 2) and brings horrible misfortune if a desert is within 20 miles of the wearer. They cannot attempt this again until the ring releases them, and they cannot remove the ring. Another check can be made after the period is over, however the DC is raised by 5 and the bad luck period is extended to 1d3 months. Success means that the ring is bound to the wearer unless it is commanded to come off or the finger it is bound to is removed. Any command given to the ring is followed by the ring until it is commanded to perform a different action by any bound user. The ring also has a spell known as “Sandy Permanency” which makes the following spells last until the spell is no longer remembered by the ring. The following spells are granted by the ring AND can be affected by Sandy Permanency: - Sand Wall Evocation (Wind) Level: 5 Component: V, M Casting Time: 2 rounds Range: Travels up to 20 miles if over desert, or 5 miles over land or sea. If it would pass from desert to non-desert, then subtract the normal mileage from the desert from the total, than divide what’s left by 4 Effect: A 2 mile stretch of sand in front of you is kicked into the air and can be directed straight in any direction from the caster. Duration: See text Saving Throw: Fortitude Spell Resistance: Partial A 2 mile stretch of desert moves forward at a moderate pace, dealing 2d4 slashing damage. A sandstorm that is affected by a wind wall, force wall, or any other opposing power is stopped immediately. It also blinds anyone it encompasses if they fail a DC14 fortitude save. A permanency enhanced sandstorm will only travel until all of the sand is lost, which is 2 days of continuous travel. Material: A stretch of sand 5 feet thick. The length of the sand limits the length of the storm. - Sandstorm Refuge Conjuration Level: 9 Component: V, M Casting Time: 1 hour Range: A quarter mile thick band around a half mile circle Effect: An area from the center of the casting place up to a half mile in all directions (or less, caster’s discretion) is covered in a quarter mile thick sandstorm spinning in a perfect circle. Duration: 1 day (One 24 hour period) Saving Throw: Fortitude Spell Resistance: Partial Any creature within that thick banded circle that is not of the caster’s alignment is dealt 1d10 sand damage per 2 minutes while within the circle with a minimum of 1d10 damage. It is also blinded upon leaving (non-magical) unless they pass a DC20 fortitude save. A magical opposing force will stop the blindness and damage. Focus: A desert must be present. The following spells are granted by the ring: - Sand Jet Conjuration Level: 2 Components: V, M Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft /2 levels) Effect: Ray Duration: 1 round / level Saving Throw: Fortitude Spell Resistance: Yes The ring only produces this spell twice per day. Anyone affected by the spell is blinded for 1d8 rounds, barring a DC16 fortitude save which negates. It is a ranged touch attack for purposes of aiming. A wall of force also negates this. Focus: A pinch of sand. - Shape Sand Transmutation Level: 5 Components: V Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (5 feet) Effect: Moves an amount of sand equal to the caster’s full height and two of him abreast into the ethereal plane, creating a cavern. Duration: 20 minutes, see text The ring produces this spell twice per day. The sand removed is removed in the direction of the angle the wizard puts his hand at. After 20 minutes, the caster must make a concentration check to see if he can maintain the spell for another 5 minutes. For all functions of stopping a cave-in, the sand the caster is moving through is suspended until the caster moves outside of a 20 foot range.
Psychoticpsymon 06-30-06, 06:48 PM	This thread sure took off :) Bump (To be replaced by something I come up with soon, hopefully)