My First Relic Creation

[chaosblitz69]

well this is my first post i was thinking on making an awesome katana.

Bushido Soul
http://discoverjapanslowly.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/katana.jpg

Requirements:40the level samurai,60 ranks is sense motive,must beat level 255 samurai to obtain,must be lawful(instantly killed if not lawful when grasped),must have lightning reflexes,improved critical,improve unarmed strike,and must be of noble family.

Legend-the blade that cuts the very sky it lays under the beautiful sheen of the sword reflects the true soul of Bushido, this is the first katana ever made by the god of Elegant battle forged with star metal and by pouring her soul onto it to quench the thirst of the powerful void that is the soul of Bushido then she held a world wide battle for the blade after the battle was done the one on top was the strongest and most elegant of them all and as she gave the blade to him he quickly slices the goddesses neck taking her blood and sealing her inside the sword the one true samurai never to be seen again.

Granted Feats-sword magic maximize,sword magic enlarge,deadly draw,lightning reseath ,power of feats, power attack,whirlwind attack,armed flurry of blows, weapon focus katana, and improved weapon focus katana.

New feats-lightning reseath-put katana back into its seath as a free action.
sword magic-just like meta magic but only for this sword.
\maximize-full damage 5/day
\enlarge-10d10 more damage 10/day
power of feats-get a +1 on Ac,Hit,Damage,and Saves with a minimum of +1 and a maximum of +50


Bushido Soul-( the bushido soul is a +150 10ft long katana,thundering,lawful,shocking,flaming,ghost touch,defending,vorpal, two handed katana of speed) 4d10 18-20 x10
this sword acts like a glorious prime sword
this sword gives a +20 Str +17 Dex +25 wis
this sword gives a extra 102d10 temp health while fighting only once
this sword can allow you to use the ability "cut from heaven to earth"

Cut from heaven to earth-(full round action) by draining all your life and completely destroying your soul you can kill anything 200 DC plus 1/2 your level + str mod Fort save and no possible resurrection for you and a true wish spell or a god can bring back your foe but not you

Curse-must succeed a 248 DC Will save or become insane for 2d100 years
so for my first attempt how was it?

[Milskidasith]

Uhh... If this is a real attempt, it's blatently overpowered with limited fluff and rather poor formatting, and that type of weapon would probably not be allowed in any game, even epic (due to the ability to destroy, say, "the universe and everything in it, including all planes and creatures" no save).

If this is a joke about how relics are always made incredibly overpowered (especially katanas), though, it definitely fits as an example, although it's less "ha ha" funny and more "yeah, this fits the trend" funny. Like Lightning Warrior.

I am not trying to be mean by assuming it's a joke, but... err... it's a +150 weapon that can destroy the universe with no save and grants about a dozen feats (I didn't count). It doesn't seem like it's designed for a real game.

[Tetrasodium]

In addition to what's already been said, it also lacks any sort of feats, rituals, or other items in order to unlock the various abilities. Take for example the instakill with no save thing... you don't specify if they need to make an attack, a touch attack, a full round action, perform a 24 hour ritual, etc in order to make this attack that apparently has no drawback. Compare that to say... Vengeful Gaze of God (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Vengeful_Gaze_of_God) with it's 305d6 damage (fort save for half) and 200d6 backlash on the caster. Epic spell backlash that kills the caster strips a level on top of any level strip from raise dead/reincarnate/etc (i.e. you lose 2 levels without true resurrection). In order to research vengeful gaze of god and qualify for the -200dc from 200d6 of backlash damage, you need to have 200hd yourself... Researching it costs over 3 million GP, close to 2.5 months of time, and over 150,000xp. Annnd.... just casting it requires you make a DC419 spellcraft check.

Your sword just kills... no save... no creature is immune... no specified damage type... nothing, just dead.

[Milskidasith]

In addition to what's already been said, it also lacks any sort of feats, rituals, or other items in order to unlock the various abilities. Take for example the instakill with no save thing... you don't specify if they need to make an attack, a touch attack, a full round action, perform a 24 hour ritual, etc in order to make this attack that apparently has no drawback. Compare that to say... Vengeful Gaze of God (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Vengeful_Gaze_of_God) with it's 305d6 damage (fort save for half) and 200d6 backlash on the caster. Epic spell backlash that kills the caster strips a level on top of any level strip from raise dead/reincarnate/etc (i.e. you lose 2 levels without true resurrection). In order to research vengeful gaze of god and qualify for the -200dc from 200d6 of backlash damage, you need to have 200hd yourself... Researching it costs over 3 million GP, close to 2.5 months of time, and over 150,000xp. Annnd.... just casting it requires you make a DC419 spellcraft check.

Your sword just kills... no save... no creature is immune... no specified damage type... nothing, just dead.

Well, the ability does cost you your soul, apparently, but if you're destroying the universe, who cares?

[chaosblitz69]

i fixed it alittle check it out now and thank you for all your help:smallwink:

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

If this is a joke about how relics are always made incredibly overpowered (especially katanas), though, it definitely fits as an example, although it's less "ha ha" funny and more "yeah, this fits the trend" funny. Like Lightning Warrior.

This. If is is a real attempt, and your game's average fight isn't the PCs vs. an encounter composed of 4 Gods, the physical manifestation of the multiverse, and Pun-pun, you've got some serious balance issues. If you can't let us know why you're making this, and for what level of power you want it balanced, I'm going to assume you're joking. If you can tell us the sort of balance you're going for, we can give you a hand toning it down (incredibly) to an appropriate balance point.

[Milskidasith]

Honest question for the OP here: Have you ever played "by RAW" D&D (well, with houserules to get rid of the silly stuff, I mean)? I know that balance can be tricky at times, but this is so obviously unbalanced and lacks so many vital things in the description D&D requires (the action on curse, how to gain relic abilities, what type these bonuses are [though that can also be assumed untyped], how much it costs [way more than any PC can afford, since it's +150]) it seems like it was made by somebody who is relatively inexperienced with D&D, or at least with "by RAW(ish)" D&D instead of "use the rules when I need to, freeform most of it" D&D.

I'm not saying your way of play is worse, nor that you can't make good homebrew without excessive D&D play (zenanarchist, IIRC, hadn't played D&D before coming here and, with some editing from more experienced players, he actually has pretty unique ideas that are pretty well balanced), but it certainly wouldn't hurt to familiarize yourself with the general nuances and trends of D&D balance and design before creating homebrew that is mostly numbers.

[Tetrasodium]

Well, the ability does cost you your soul, apparently, but if you're destroying the universe, who cares?

Most of that was actually added later... in the current form, it's basically use a wish to instakill anything up to a mere 200HD+a bit more depending on your level with no save or level loss unless that -5000xp from wish hurts you that much :P. I can only assume this thread is a joke.

[omgfg ninja!]

{Scrubbed}

[chaosblitz69]

{Scrubbed}

[Crow]

I too thought this was a joke.

I would think the true soul of bushido...or whatever, would be in the warrior. Not in a sword.

[chaosblitz69]

and one more thing don't take dnd to seriously it kills the game.
i mean for the sake of all humankind please......please try to get a sense of humor
thank you goodnight :smallfurious:

p.s what the hell have you been fighting this is a sword for a high level campaign not that weak, horribly un-entertaining game every thinks is a high level campaign

[chaosblitz69]

I too thought this was a joke.

I would think the true soul of bushido...or whatever, would be in the warrior. Not in a sword.

not quite the sword is just called the Bushido soul but its not the true soul of bushido but a very good observation thank you remember this its just a sword a very powerful sword the name just fit

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

...so did you want actual critique or not? I can critique this weapon at the level of play you're assuming, but I'm still not sure whether or not you actually want me to. I'm slightly confused...

[chaosblitz69]

...so did you want actual critique or not? I can critique this weapon at the level of play you're assuming, but I'm still not sure whether or not you actually want me to. I'm slightly confused...

yes i want you to critique i have changed my weapon like 10 times just keep giving me ideas so i can fix it to be playable i thank everyone i just want everyone to remember that there are items that are stronger then this weapon oh and everyone should check out my friend dm-ninjas relic its pretty good

[Latronis]

wait is this for a lv200-300 balance point o_O

[RelicForger]

Dude First of all I Try Stating for NPC Only or something so people dont freak out on your forum But other than that good bad guy weapon or final boss material.
Got the time Cheak out mine

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Requirements:40the level samurai,60 ranks is sense motive,must beat level 255 samurai to obtain,must be lawful(instantly killed if not lawful when grasped),must have lightning reflexes,improved critical,improve unarmed strike,and must be of noble family.

This is a weapon, not the most specific Prestige Class ever. Weapon restrictions are few and far between, but, when they do exist, rarely exceed a point or two. Perhaps this would be better as such:

Must be of Lawful alignment.
Must be of noble birth.
If the above qualifications are not met, Bushido Soul merely functions as a masterwork Katana, although it retains its normal durability.

It's simple and to the point, which is what you want. Sure, a lower level character could use it, but...well...that's not likely to happen.


Granted Feats-sword magic maximize,sword magic enlarge,deadly draw,lightning reseath ,power of feats, power attack,whirlwind attack,armed flurry of blows, weapon focus katana, and improved weapon focus katana.

...why? These are all things that the wielder should probably have. Making a katana make the swordsman better seems contrary to the idea of the weapon. Instead, it should be the perfect weapon in the hands of a master. I'd cut this completely, especially since your new feats either are very strange (sword meta-magic?) or potentially overpowered (Power of Feats). Even at this high a level, +50 is huge.


Bushido Soul-( the bushido soul is a +150 10ft long katana,thundering,lawful,shocking,flaming,ghost touch,defending,vorpal, two handed katana of speed) 4d10 18-20 x10
this sword acts like a glorious prime sword
this sword gives a +20 Str +17 Dex +25 wis
this sword gives a extra 102d10 temp health while fighting only once
this sword can allow you to use the ability "cut from heaven to earth"

A 10ft long sword is a no-dachi, not a katana (and even then it's about 5 feet longer than normal). Just a point of reference. It would also be useless for most katana techniques. That's also an insanely large bonus, and a bunch of overly flashy magical enhancements.


Now, Epic wealth is broken, since the whole Epic level system is broken. That said, I personally wouldn't allow weapons or armor above, say, +20, just to keep things under control. +150 is crazy. Further, you don't need to alter the critical range...it'll get to crazy to fast.

I'd suggest the following.

+20 Keen, Axiomatic Power, Speed, Ghost Touch, Katana that bypasses all damage reduction (2d12, 17-20/x5)

It's a little classier, and a little less flashy, as fits the concept (in my mind).

I don't know what "Glorious Prime" is.

The ability bonuses could be taken down to an Enhancement bonus of +16 Strength, +14 Dexterity, +10 Wisdom and still be quite good.


Cut from heaven to earth-(full round action) by draining all your life and completely destroying your soul you can kill anything 200 DC plus 1/2 your level + str mod Fort save and no possible resurrection for you and a true wish spell or a god can bring back your foe but not you

Meh. Boring, honestly. Most people would never use this. What about something like this?

Cut from Heaven to Earth: Once per encounter, as a Standard action, you may slice the air itself asunder. All creatures within a 5ft diameter line 100ft in length and infinitely tall (so everything your level or higher within the 5x100ft line) must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your non-Epic Base Attack bonus + your Epic Base Attack bonus + your Strength modifier) or be instantly slain and then ripped apart as if by a disintegrate spell. On a successful save, they take damage as if you had scored a critical hit against them.

Less powerful, more utility, more flash.


Curse-must succeed a 248 DC Will save or become insane for 2d100 years

...DC 248? :smalleek:

Not even sure why it's cursed, honestly. Is this an "on-hit" effect?


so for my first attempt how was it?

Honestly? Not the greatest, by a long shot. Homebrewing Epic material, however, is all but impossible: the Epic system just doesn't work, and the power level varies so greatly from campaign to campaign that it's impossible to really balance this stuff. You're probably better off balancing a weapon or artifact against level 20: your actual numerical bonuses might drop significantly, but the weapon will still be as impressive.

Basically, at the level you're currently aiming at, anything that doesn't automatically win the encounter for you is underpowered, and anything that does is overpowered. Just one of the ways Epic is broken: it becomes Rocket Tag, only with world-destroying weapons. Best to leave it alone, honestly. So your weapon as you wrote it is both underpowered and overpowered. It'll also probably have no effect on 90% of opponents that you'd actually fight at that level.


...i just want everyone to remember that there are items that are stronger then this weapon

Not really. But go ahead...name one. :smallbiggrin:

[Milskidasith]

Not really. But go ahead...name one. :smallbiggrin:

Lawful Good Candle of Invocation.

Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Lawful Good Candle of Invocation.

Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu.

Oh hush, you. I was referring to things not so explicitly broken. :smalltongue:

[Milskidasith]

Oh hush, you. I was referring to things not so explicitly broken. :smalltongue:

Actually, that's more along the lines of implicitly broken. This is more explicitly broken.

Also: A scroll of Gate, or two scrolls of PaO, or a few scrolls of planar binding and some buffs.

[DM-Ninja]

BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL!!!!!!!

really i mean it