Feedback Requested: 5e Homebrew Items - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

We're getting ready to start a new campaign and my players asked for some custom gear. Here is what I've created so far, I would like some feedback from the community on making sure everything is balanced and ot too OP. Thanks in advance & sorry for the wall of text, I thought it would be best To make one post rather than a dozen.

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#1 Kylar1014 Aug 12, 2015 23:47:47	We're getting ready to start a new campaign and my players asked for some custom gear. Here is what I've created so far, I would like some feedback from the community on making sure everything is balanced and ot too OP. Thanks in advance & sorry for the wall of text, I thought it would be best To make one post rather than a dozen. Black Ka'kari (a.k.a. The Devourer): It bestows upon the owner Immortality (at a price), Invisibility, rapid healing, and the ability to devour magic, wood, stone, basically anything, hence the pseudonym The Devourer, and can also be molded into almost any shape the wielder requires. The Black Ka'kari is a sentient substance; this substance was created by an unknown source(s) although, for reasons unknown, it is suspected that no less than seven of the most powerful sorcerers, wizards and witches of their era (at least a millennia ago) came together to create this sentient artifact. While the Black Ka'kari speaks to its hosts, it has never revealed much of anything about its past. The Black Ka'kari will only attune to a player whose personality, ideals, bonds or flaws indicate that the player has the innate ability to care deeply about others, those with true apathy need not apply. During the attuning process, the host's magical ability is devoured; from that moment forward the host will forever be mundane and have no access to magic (no feats, abilities or level bonuses can reverse this effect). The Black Ka'kari must attune to the player (not the other way around); afterwards, the player can either chose to absorb the Black Ka'kari into their body or the player may cover a silver sword with the Black Ka'kari; absorption and excretion take 5min each. However, the absorption/excretion action may only be taken once per long rest. Once attuned, the player and Black Ka'kari can speak telepathically across any distance. PASSIVE: If the player has the Black Ka'kari absorbed, certain passive abilities are endowed due to the nature of The Devourer: - Immunity to the lasting effects of poison (including drugs/alcohol), necrotic and acid--excludes initial damage taken. - Increased stealthiness in any environment (equivalent to Rogue's Expertise in Stealth). - Any healing action (on the player bonded with the Black Ka'kari) gains a 1d6 bonus per 4 levels of the player The following are the passive abilities available to the player when the Black Ka'kari is coating the player's silver weapon - Weapon gains +3DAM but loses "silver" property (silver property regained when the Black Ka'kari is reabsorbed) - Weapon gains "shield (AC +2 to mundane & AC +4 to magical)" - Weapon inflicts bleeding 2d6 damage ACTIVE: If in the player's body, the Black Ka'kari has access to the following abilities (may both be used, or one used twice--1 Long Rest will refresh uses)--player must pass Charisma 5 DC before either ability can be accessed, failing this DC means both uses are gone until after 1 Long Rest - Invisibility for 30min (can be used incrementally); when time limit is up there will be an audible *POP* - Black Ka'kari pools into player's eyes, revealing black orbs that are lit from within with a blue fire (Combat/non-combat Intimidation bonus): - If target is an 'evil' creature, must pass DC save of 20 INT otherwise, they are frightened - If target is other than 'evil' creature, must pass DC save of 13, otherwise they are frightened - Frightened state (if successful) has two outcomes at the player's discretion: creature runs away screaming loudly or creature is immobilized with fear for 5min If not in the player's body it usually is 'stored' on the player's weapon, the Black Ka'kari will actively devour anything that is not silver (even magic spells). Both abilities may be used or one may be used twice 1 Long Rest will refresh uses: - If on the player's weapon, the Black Ka'kari will eat through anything the player allows; the time it takes is up to the DM. However, this action is stealthy and undetectable (undetectability does not include party members, only the PC whom the Black Ka'kari is attuned to). - If the player does not want to store the Black Ka'kari on a silver weapon, the player may create weapons out of the Black Ka'kari. Weapons made cannot be thrown or even dropped. Weapons made have the same properties as their mundane counterparts. Weapons made have +5DAM but always inflict 2d6 necrotic damage. Epic Ability: - If the player dies and remains dead for more than 72hrs and unless the Black Ka'kari attunes itself to another player character, the player is automatically revived in a remote location within 2 miles of the player's body. The cost to this immortality is that one NPC whom the player holds dear will die in their stead. Finally, upon revival, the player has lost 5 levels but retains all skills, attributes and abilities.
#2 shintashi Aug 13, 2015 7:53:04	if you are asking for an opinion on so many items, that's asking a lot. But i can say this, browsing through the first couple. Artifacts don't follow balance. They break balance, it's kind of their thing. You know, like fire burns and the sun is bright? Artifacts break the balance. They do things that aren't supposed to make sense or obey the rules. Artifacts do things like enslave dragons by the hundreds and thousands. They slay gods to the left and cause divine ascension on the right. They shut down all psionics and make someone else a psionic god. They crack open mountains and spit out moons. They curse the uncursable and poison the undead. Back in AD&D, Thor had a combo of artifacts that allowed him to have a higher strength than the game system allowed - and by allowed, i mean even allowed for gods. So even gods use artifacts to break the rules. That means you don't ask if an artifact is balanced. It might be silly, it may definitely be too weak or too broken for the desired effect (D&D doesn't need a d10,000,000 attack for instance), but what really matters is whether the mechanics you wrote match the desired effect and feel. Dragons have around 250-600 hit points. If your Artifact slays a dragon in one hit, 5d100 isn't unreasonable, and might be too low. If your Artifact is a Black aladdin lamp, perhaps "casting wish 1/day" is too weak, and you might need to write your own version of Wish to get it to work right. If you intend an adventurer of a specific level range to wield the item, or fight someone else wielding it, try balancing the bonuses within 2-3 racial abilities from a monster with a similar CR to the level of the characters or NPCs you expect to use it, unless your goal is to have the artifact just do it's thing, at which point, a level 1 character might be wielding the apocalypse, which depending on YOUR campaign, might work just fine. From what i can see, some of your items are less like artifacts than others. Like the Batman Belt and Monopoly Monocle.Those could probably be very rare or rare magic items. If a player character level 3-17 can replicate your item, then you worry about balancing it ^_^ P.S. you could give that eerie green ring the Bibgy hand spells as innate abilities, with the flavor of "green glow".

Black Ka'kari (a.k.a. The Devourer):

It bestows upon the owner Immortality (at a price), Invisibility, rapid healing, and the ability to devour magic, wood, stone, basically anything, hence the pseudonym The Devourer, and can also be molded into almost any shape the wielder requires. The Black Ka'kari is a sentient substance; this substance was created by an unknown source(s) although, for reasons unknown, it is suspected that no less than seven of the most powerful sorcerers, wizards and witches of their era (at least a millennia ago) came together to create this sentient artifact. While the Black Ka'kari speaks to its hosts, it has never revealed much of anything about its past.

The Black Ka'kari will only attune to a player whose personality, ideals, bonds or flaws indicate that the player has the innate ability to care deeply about others, those with true apathy need not apply. During the attuning process, the host's magical ability is devoured; from that moment forward the host will forever be mundane and have no access to magic (no feats, abilities or level bonuses can reverse this effect). The Black Ka'kari must attune to the player (not the other way around); afterwards, the player can either chose to absorb the Black Ka'kari into their body or the player may cover a silver sword with the Black Ka'kari; absorption and excretion take 5min each. However, the absorption/excretion action may only be taken once per long rest. Once attuned, the player and Black Ka'kari can speak telepathically across any distance.

PASSIVE:
If the player has the Black Ka'kari absorbed, certain passive abilities are endowed due to the nature of The Devourer:
- Immunity to the lasting effects of poison (including drugs/alcohol), necrotic and acid--excludes initial damage taken.
- Increased stealthiness in any environment (equivalent to Rogue's Expertise in Stealth).
- Any healing action (on the player bonded with the Black Ka'kari) gains a 1d6 bonus per 4 levels of the player

The following are the passive abilities available to the player when the Black Ka'kari is coating the player's silver weapon
- Weapon gains +3DAM but loses "silver" property (silver property regained when the Black Ka'kari is reabsorbed)
- Weapon gains "shield (AC +2 to mundane & AC +4 to magical)"
- Weapon inflicts bleeding 2d6 damage

ACTIVE:
If in the player's body, the Black Ka'kari has access to the following abilities (may both be used, or one used twice--1 Long Rest will refresh uses)--player must pass Charisma 5 DC before either ability can be accessed, failing this DC means both uses are gone until after 1 Long Rest
- Invisibility for 30min (can be used incrementally); when time limit is up there will be an audible ***POP***
- Black Ka'kari pools into player's eyes, revealing black orbs that are lit from within with a blue fire (Combat/non-combat Intimidation bonus):
- If target is an 'evil' creature, must pass DC save of 20 INT otherwise, they are frightened
- If target is other than 'evil' creature, must pass DC save of 13, otherwise they are frightened
- Frightened state (if successful) has two outcomes at the player's discretion: creature runs away screaming loudly or creature is immobilized with fear for 5min

If not in the player's body it usually is 'stored' on the player's weapon, the Black Ka'kari will actively devour anything that is not silver (even magic spells). Both abilities may be used or one may be used twice 1 Long Rest will refresh uses:
- If on the player's weapon, the Black Ka'kari will eat through anything the player allows; the time it takes is up to the DM. However, this action is stealthy and undetectable (undetectability does not include party members, only the PC whom the Black Ka'kari is attuned to).
- If the player does not want to store the Black Ka'kari on a silver weapon, the player may create weapons out of the Black Ka'kari. Weapons made cannot be thrown or even dropped. Weapons made have the same properties as their mundane counterparts. Weapons made have +5DAM but always inflict 2d6 necrotic damage.

Epic Ability:
- If the player dies and remains dead for more than 72hrs and unless the Black Ka'kari attunes itself to another player character, the player is automatically revived in a remote location within 2 miles of the player's body. The cost to this immortality is that one NPC whom the player holds dear will die in their stead. Finally, upon revival, the player has lost 5 levels but retains all skills, attributes and abilities.