4th Ed "Persistant World" - Firan & Custom Artifacts

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

atrius2006

Dec 08, 2008 23:04:59		Hi there,

Here's my current situation: I have created a world called Firan in which I am currently holding the following three campaigns:

1. Main Group - Mystery of the Goblin Raids

In this campaign the party is currently investigating a jewellery theft and bandit ring operation. As the adventure progresses, they will begin to investigate the strange occurance of Goblin and other monster raids on the cities of Firan.

2. Solo Player 1 - The Crystal Dragon

The two man party has become involved in a plot that revolves around a cult that is aiming to build a near indestructible crystal that had almost ruined the civilization in an era gone by. They are currently chasing the leader of the cult, who is incredibly elusive.

3. Solo Player 2 - Wrongful Imprisonment

This group has recently escaped from imprisonment after they found the other occupant either dead or undead. Each of them was wrongfully imprisoned, hence the campaign name.

As they are all taking place on the same world, I have tied each of the campaigns to the God Tharizdan. The groups will each eventually discover that there are cults across the world that are bent on obliterating Firan in order to release Tharizdan.

Now, what I would like to know is if there is any suggestions on creating custom artifacts. I would love to creature an artifact that is tied to Tharizdan that one of the groups find. I have the base idea behind its behaviour, goal and concordance. I just want to know if there is a guideline I could use to help balance the effects at each attitude.

Thanks in advance.
#2

krakkenpanda

Dec 30, 2008 17:17:15 		I try to be very careful with artifacts. Some big problems can arise with them. Players can get jealous of the one who has it, and indeed it can make that player way too powerful. I stay away from straight stat bonuses and tend to give them daily powers, I don't count them to the item power limits so they can use all of them in a day. This way the items are useful in a pinch but dont make the character a god. For example +10 strength for one encounter. A big plus if you can split up artifacts among the group and have them combine them for a powerful effect.