arguskos
2009-03-12, 05:14 AM
So, I was browsing magiccards.info the other day, lookin' for fun artifacts to make into D&D items. I found a great number of them, and decided to run with the idea. Without further ado, here's my first batch of cards-turned-items!
NOTE: These items are all real cards in Magic: the Gathering. I've attempted to stay true to the idea/theme/mechanics of the card, as best I can (some are more flavor-based than mechanics-based, since the mechanics don't always transfer well... Infinite Hourglass, I'm looking at you!)
Further NOTE: They are not priced. I don't price my items, I just eyeball stuff. You wanna price 'em? Have fun! Lemme know what you come up with. :smallcool:
Weapons:
-Banshee Blade (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/144.html): This unique longsword was once the weapon of a widely feared blackguard. It eventually absorbed some of his evil into itself, and managed to survive his downfall. It was lost for a time, only to be refound by powerful evil beings, and then lost again and again, as they met their fate. It’s appearance changed to suit the evil origins of the blade… and it gained new powers appropriate to its form. Now, the blade can consume the souls of those it fells in battle. It functions as a +2 unholy thinuan longsword that casts a death knell effect on any living being it reduces to 0 or less hp on a hit. The effect lasts for 1 minute.
The idea here was a fairly powerful weapon, but nothing amazing. Something fun that evil players would drool over. The material, thinuan, is that soul-trapping stuff from... Comp. Warrior, right?
-Dead-Iron Sledge (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/162.html): This massive two-handed hammer doesn’t have a long involved history, it merely exists. No amount of divination reveals where it sprang from, just that it has existed for an immense period of time, and that each of its wielders has suffered the same end: death, at the head of the Sledge. The Sledge functions as a +4 adamantine maul. On a successful critical hit, the target must make a Fort save (DC 25) or be utterly annihilated. If the target fails their save, the wielder must make a Fort save as well (DC 35) or join their fate.
Yeah, so, this one is just something fun for me to play about with. I have no idea who would ever use such a weapon... but I guess that if someone really really REALLY needed to obliterate a badguy, they could use a spell to auto-crit and wipe 'em out? No idea. Just amusing I guess.
-Heartseeker (http://magiccards.info/ds/en/124.html): A weapon of death, Heartseeker is soaked in the heartblood of the men it has killed. The blade serves no purpose but to slay cleanly and precisely. One shot, one kill. It was the work of a famed assassin who tired of the sight of blood, and so created a weapon of such precision that blood would no longer be a factor. The weapon worked even better than he had hoped, and he found his own end on the point of the blade, when a rival stole it. Heartseeker is a +1 keen rapier of speed. When used to strike an opponent who is flat-footed and a critical is confirmed, Heartseeker automatically kills the target (Fort save equal to the damage dealt). This is a death effect, and only creatures that can be snuck attacked are vulnerable to it.
This actually was a weapon I've been wanting to update to D&D for a long time. I always thought that a master assassin would have a blade like this, but I never found one in 3.5 as things stand. I figured that a powerful weapon like this would be pretty scary stuff, fitting for a ghostly killer. I'm a touch concerned about the power level. I might give the ability a save (ramped up Death Attack DC maybe?). Thoughts?
-Nightmare Lash (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/219.html): A powerful multi-tailed whip, the Lash can dish out a massive amount of pain to any living being that it strikes. Once wielded by a Balor Lord of immense and terrible power, the Lash was spirited away when the Balor fell on a fiendish battlefield. Since then, it has cropped up in a number of places, only to vanish moments later. The Nightmare Lash is a unique exotic weapon, a three-tailed whip. It deals 1d12 damage (lethal), crits on a 19-20 and deals x3 damage. The Lash is a +1 vicious three-tailed whip of wounding that deals one negative level on a critical hit (Fort DC 20 to resist).
I've always liked the image of a multi-tailed whip, but haven't found a mechanism for them I liked, so I made my own. Note that the Lash DOES require a feat to use properly. I might make it better, to accommodate a character that is willing to take Exotic Weap Prof (three-tailed whip). Maybe shift the neg. level to every hit?
-Scythe of the Wretched (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/239.html): Patterned after the famed Grim Reaper’s Scythe, blade of the psychopomp of legend, the Scythe is a mighty magic blade in it’s own right, with a great tie to the forces of necromancy and death. The Scythe of the Wretched functions as a +1 consumptive great cleaving scythe. When the weapon kills a living creature, that creature must make a Fort save (DC 20) or rise as a zombie under the control of the wielder (max HD controllable are equal to the wielders own HD; these undead do not count against the controllers normal control limit).
Ok... this one took me FOREVER to nail down to something that fit the card, the feel, and wasn't game-breakingly powerful. :smallannoyed: I think I've got a powerful tool here, but nothing that is "OMG, game over man, game over!!" level strong.
-Tatsumasa, the Dragon’s Fang (http://magiccards.info/chk/en/270.html): Carved from a great wyrm blue dragon’s tooth, this beautiful katana is a powerful link to elemental lightning, and blue dragonkind. Tatsumasa is a +1 shocking burst keen katana. It, however, has a unique power. Tatsumasa was the name of the dragon the blade is made from, and the tooth was used to slay the dragon itself. Due to this, the blade absorbed the soul of the dragon, and can channel it, becoming the spirit of the dragon Tatsumasa for a short period of time. This power may be invoked 1/week, and lasts for 1 minute (10 rounds). Stats are below.
Tatsumasa, the Soul of the Dragon's Fang (TN male ghostly adult blue dragon)
Huge undead (earth, incorporeal)
HD 21d12+42
HP 188
AC: 13 or 33 (10-2 size+20 natural [ethereal encounters only]+5 deflection)
Speed: fly 150 ft (perfect)
Str 27 Dex 10 Con 21 Int 16 Wis 17 Cha 20
Attacks: as normal, or +21 incorporeal touch
Damage: 1d4 Str and Con damage+2 negative levels (incorporeal touch)
SA: breath weapon (line of lightning 12d8 electric Ref DC 25 half; and cone of mist 6 Str/Dex/Com drain Fort DC 25 neg); manifestation; frightful presence (Will DC 23 neg)
SQ: Imm electricity; create/destroy water 3/day; sound imitation (Will DC 23 neg); DR 5/magic; ventriloquism 3/day; rejuvenation; turn resistance +4; undead traits
Spells: as a Sorcerer 5
Tatsumasa was... a challenge. It's nearly an artifact-level weapon (in my opinion anyways), and so I was very very VERY concerned about balancing it. I actually matched it to the Sword of Kas, judging it better in some ways, worse in others. Kas is better most of the time, since it always works. Tatsumasa turns into a CR 14 monster though, so for that 1 minute, it's pretty crazy. Also, the dragon block isn't complete (feats/skills, I know), but it has everything it really needs for that 1 minute/week. Thoughts?
Artifacts (pun unintended >_<):
-Worldslayer (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/276.html): An artifact of unimaginable might and terror, the Worldslayer is a simple, polished blade of gleaming steel. The blade never tarnishes, even when it unleashes unbelievable forces of destruction. The Worldslayer is a +3 proficient longsword. When it successfully deals hit point damage to a living creature, it’s hidden power is triggered. A vengeful gaze of god spell is activated, but it affects everything within 100 ft of the caster with 305d6 damage (no save, no resistance, no SR). The caster suffers 200d6 damage (no save, no resistance, no SR). Anything destroyed/killed by this damage is forever beyond the reach of mortals to return to life.
This... is a Magical MacGuffin Item(tm). Mostly, I wanted to see what it would look like as a D&D item. Answer: insane. If anyone has any alternatives for Worldslayer, please, lemme know, esp anything to make it usable in a game.
Helm, Shield, and Sword of Kaldra (http://magiccards.info/query/cards/3770691.html): Forthcoming soon!
Misc. Items:
Bloodletter Quill (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/254.html): This strange device was created to be a writing aid… but due to an unfortunate mistake during the objects creation involving a pint of blood and an ink quill, it doesn’t work quite as intended. The Bloodletter Quill has a handful of useful powers, but they must be activated by the user willingly giving their blood. The Quill requires 1 oz of blood to use any ability. Drawing this from the user deals them 1 points of Con damage. This Con damage lasts for 1 day, and cannot be healed by any method. The Quill can cast symbol of pain, symbol of fear, and symbol of sleep once a day each (CL 10th, DC 20 where applicable). The bearer of the Quill is always immune to the effects.
I always thought this was a pretty neat item for D&D. I finally settled on the weaker symbol spells as good candidates for the Quill to use, seeing as most people never use them, and I wanted to give them their time in the sun, so to speak.
-Spellbinder (http://magiccards.info/ds/en/143.html): A very special device, a spellbinder bears some similarity to more conventional wands. However, they have one major difference: whereas a normal wand has a single spell that never changes, a spellbinder can hold one spell… but it can be changed as often as the wielder likes. A spellbinder works just like any wand, and is treated as one for all intents and purposes. However, any spellcaster may in a one hour long ritual replace the spell currently in the device with one they have prepared/known. This does not replenish the charges of the spellbinder, and in fact consumes one to power the transfer. The spell or spell slot is expended from the casters memory, and the wand uses the casters CL for the spell.
Ok... my wording here is painful. Basically, a spellbinder is a wand in all ways, just that you can change the spell by casting something else into it. You replace whatever is in it currently, and consume one charge. I figured it was a neat enough concept.
More to come (when I'm not bleeding sleepy)! Enjoy, comment, tear apart!
NOTE: These items are all real cards in Magic: the Gathering. I've attempted to stay true to the idea/theme/mechanics of the card, as best I can (some are more flavor-based than mechanics-based, since the mechanics don't always transfer well... Infinite Hourglass, I'm looking at you!)
Further NOTE: They are not priced. I don't price my items, I just eyeball stuff. You wanna price 'em? Have fun! Lemme know what you come up with. :smallcool:
Weapons:
-Banshee Blade (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/144.html): This unique longsword was once the weapon of a widely feared blackguard. It eventually absorbed some of his evil into itself, and managed to survive his downfall. It was lost for a time, only to be refound by powerful evil beings, and then lost again and again, as they met their fate. It’s appearance changed to suit the evil origins of the blade… and it gained new powers appropriate to its form. Now, the blade can consume the souls of those it fells in battle. It functions as a +2 unholy thinuan longsword that casts a death knell effect on any living being it reduces to 0 or less hp on a hit. The effect lasts for 1 minute.
The idea here was a fairly powerful weapon, but nothing amazing. Something fun that evil players would drool over. The material, thinuan, is that soul-trapping stuff from... Comp. Warrior, right?
-Dead-Iron Sledge (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/162.html): This massive two-handed hammer doesn’t have a long involved history, it merely exists. No amount of divination reveals where it sprang from, just that it has existed for an immense period of time, and that each of its wielders has suffered the same end: death, at the head of the Sledge. The Sledge functions as a +4 adamantine maul. On a successful critical hit, the target must make a Fort save (DC 25) or be utterly annihilated. If the target fails their save, the wielder must make a Fort save as well (DC 35) or join their fate.
Yeah, so, this one is just something fun for me to play about with. I have no idea who would ever use such a weapon... but I guess that if someone really really REALLY needed to obliterate a badguy, they could use a spell to auto-crit and wipe 'em out? No idea. Just amusing I guess.
-Heartseeker (http://magiccards.info/ds/en/124.html): A weapon of death, Heartseeker is soaked in the heartblood of the men it has killed. The blade serves no purpose but to slay cleanly and precisely. One shot, one kill. It was the work of a famed assassin who tired of the sight of blood, and so created a weapon of such precision that blood would no longer be a factor. The weapon worked even better than he had hoped, and he found his own end on the point of the blade, when a rival stole it. Heartseeker is a +1 keen rapier of speed. When used to strike an opponent who is flat-footed and a critical is confirmed, Heartseeker automatically kills the target (Fort save equal to the damage dealt). This is a death effect, and only creatures that can be snuck attacked are vulnerable to it.
This actually was a weapon I've been wanting to update to D&D for a long time. I always thought that a master assassin would have a blade like this, but I never found one in 3.5 as things stand. I figured that a powerful weapon like this would be pretty scary stuff, fitting for a ghostly killer. I'm a touch concerned about the power level. I might give the ability a save (ramped up Death Attack DC maybe?). Thoughts?
-Nightmare Lash (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/219.html): A powerful multi-tailed whip, the Lash can dish out a massive amount of pain to any living being that it strikes. Once wielded by a Balor Lord of immense and terrible power, the Lash was spirited away when the Balor fell on a fiendish battlefield. Since then, it has cropped up in a number of places, only to vanish moments later. The Nightmare Lash is a unique exotic weapon, a three-tailed whip. It deals 1d12 damage (lethal), crits on a 19-20 and deals x3 damage. The Lash is a +1 vicious three-tailed whip of wounding that deals one negative level on a critical hit (Fort DC 20 to resist).
I've always liked the image of a multi-tailed whip, but haven't found a mechanism for them I liked, so I made my own. Note that the Lash DOES require a feat to use properly. I might make it better, to accommodate a character that is willing to take Exotic Weap Prof (three-tailed whip). Maybe shift the neg. level to every hit?
-Scythe of the Wretched (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/239.html): Patterned after the famed Grim Reaper’s Scythe, blade of the psychopomp of legend, the Scythe is a mighty magic blade in it’s own right, with a great tie to the forces of necromancy and death. The Scythe of the Wretched functions as a +1 consumptive great cleaving scythe. When the weapon kills a living creature, that creature must make a Fort save (DC 20) or rise as a zombie under the control of the wielder (max HD controllable are equal to the wielders own HD; these undead do not count against the controllers normal control limit).
Ok... this one took me FOREVER to nail down to something that fit the card, the feel, and wasn't game-breakingly powerful. :smallannoyed: I think I've got a powerful tool here, but nothing that is "OMG, game over man, game over!!" level strong.
-Tatsumasa, the Dragon’s Fang (http://magiccards.info/chk/en/270.html): Carved from a great wyrm blue dragon’s tooth, this beautiful katana is a powerful link to elemental lightning, and blue dragonkind. Tatsumasa is a +1 shocking burst keen katana. It, however, has a unique power. Tatsumasa was the name of the dragon the blade is made from, and the tooth was used to slay the dragon itself. Due to this, the blade absorbed the soul of the dragon, and can channel it, becoming the spirit of the dragon Tatsumasa for a short period of time. This power may be invoked 1/week, and lasts for 1 minute (10 rounds). Stats are below.
Tatsumasa, the Soul of the Dragon's Fang (TN male ghostly adult blue dragon)
Huge undead (earth, incorporeal)
HD 21d12+42
HP 188
AC: 13 or 33 (10-2 size+20 natural [ethereal encounters only]+5 deflection)
Speed: fly 150 ft (perfect)
Str 27 Dex 10 Con 21 Int 16 Wis 17 Cha 20
Attacks: as normal, or +21 incorporeal touch
Damage: 1d4 Str and Con damage+2 negative levels (incorporeal touch)
SA: breath weapon (line of lightning 12d8 electric Ref DC 25 half; and cone of mist 6 Str/Dex/Com drain Fort DC 25 neg); manifestation; frightful presence (Will DC 23 neg)
SQ: Imm electricity; create/destroy water 3/day; sound imitation (Will DC 23 neg); DR 5/magic; ventriloquism 3/day; rejuvenation; turn resistance +4; undead traits
Spells: as a Sorcerer 5
Tatsumasa was... a challenge. It's nearly an artifact-level weapon (in my opinion anyways), and so I was very very VERY concerned about balancing it. I actually matched it to the Sword of Kas, judging it better in some ways, worse in others. Kas is better most of the time, since it always works. Tatsumasa turns into a CR 14 monster though, so for that 1 minute, it's pretty crazy. Also, the dragon block isn't complete (feats/skills, I know), but it has everything it really needs for that 1 minute/week. Thoughts?
Artifacts (pun unintended >_<):
-Worldslayer (http://magiccards.info/mi/en/276.html): An artifact of unimaginable might and terror, the Worldslayer is a simple, polished blade of gleaming steel. The blade never tarnishes, even when it unleashes unbelievable forces of destruction. The Worldslayer is a +3 proficient longsword. When it successfully deals hit point damage to a living creature, it’s hidden power is triggered. A vengeful gaze of god spell is activated, but it affects everything within 100 ft of the caster with 305d6 damage (no save, no resistance, no SR). The caster suffers 200d6 damage (no save, no resistance, no SR). Anything destroyed/killed by this damage is forever beyond the reach of mortals to return to life.
This... is a Magical MacGuffin Item(tm). Mostly, I wanted to see what it would look like as a D&D item. Answer: insane. If anyone has any alternatives for Worldslayer, please, lemme know, esp anything to make it usable in a game.
Helm, Shield, and Sword of Kaldra (http://magiccards.info/query/cards/3770691.html): Forthcoming soon!
Misc. Items:
Bloodletter Quill (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/254.html): This strange device was created to be a writing aid… but due to an unfortunate mistake during the objects creation involving a pint of blood and an ink quill, it doesn’t work quite as intended. The Bloodletter Quill has a handful of useful powers, but they must be activated by the user willingly giving their blood. The Quill requires 1 oz of blood to use any ability. Drawing this from the user deals them 1 points of Con damage. This Con damage lasts for 1 day, and cannot be healed by any method. The Quill can cast symbol of pain, symbol of fear, and symbol of sleep once a day each (CL 10th, DC 20 where applicable). The bearer of the Quill is always immune to the effects.
I always thought this was a pretty neat item for D&D. I finally settled on the weaker symbol spells as good candidates for the Quill to use, seeing as most people never use them, and I wanted to give them their time in the sun, so to speak.
-Spellbinder (http://magiccards.info/ds/en/143.html): A very special device, a spellbinder bears some similarity to more conventional wands. However, they have one major difference: whereas a normal wand has a single spell that never changes, a spellbinder can hold one spell… but it can be changed as often as the wielder likes. A spellbinder works just like any wand, and is treated as one for all intents and purposes. However, any spellcaster may in a one hour long ritual replace the spell currently in the device with one they have prepared/known. This does not replenish the charges of the spellbinder, and in fact consumes one to power the transfer. The spell or spell slot is expended from the casters memory, and the wand uses the casters CL for the spell.
Ok... my wording here is painful. Basically, a spellbinder is a wand in all ways, just that you can change the spell by casting something else into it. You replace whatever is in it currently, and consume one charge. I figured it was a neat enough concept.
More to come (when I'm not bleeding sleepy)! Enjoy, comment, tear apart!