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View Full Version : Need your ideas/thoughts on a magic item.



NowhereMan583
2012-03-21, 04:07 PM
One of the players in the campaign I'm currently running worked a magic item into her backstory. It's a family heirloom that was sold off a couple generations back as the formerly-noble house ran out of money. Her attempts to locate and reclaim it have been a significant subplot for a few real-world months now, and it seems likely that she'll actually get the thing back next week (or possibly the week after).

The problem is that I have no idea what it does. I've been racking my brains for a while now, but apparently my creativity has just dried up. Here's what the player gave me:


... a family heirloom, the Heart of the Dragon, a giant ruby once worn by the Lords of Ravensblood as a symbol of their power. Lord Ravensblood last saw it as a child as worn by his father. He is convinced that it was stolen by magical means [it wasn't] and that if Willow recovers it, she will not only restore the family honor, she will summon a dragon lover and through his issue, return House Ravensblood to its rightful place at the head of the Capran Empire. [This would be because one of the family legends is that they have dragon's blood... which I find odd, since their name is Ravensblood, but okay.]

Willow is skeptical of this...

So, it's not going to summon a dragon lover, because (a) that would be too predictable, and (b) I don't want to have to roleplay that. It should be something cool, though, because it would be a huge letdown if it were nonmagical. In the past, when I've run out of ideas, I've been able to get excellent advice from y'all -- do you have any thoughts on all this?

(Oh, and it's a D&D 3.5 campaign, if that's important.)

Dr Bwaa
2012-03-21, 04:17 PM
Well obviously it summons a Raven lover. :smallcool:

...


The name really does suggest it should have something to do with dragons, though. Maybe a sort of communion stone, or just a token guaranteeing that dragons' attitudes toward you start as neutral or better. Possibly it actually provides its owner with Dragonbloodedness somehow. Maybe it's more of a weapon, granting incredible combat prowess (http://bit.ly/GIuTlL) to its bearer.

Sith_Happens
2012-03-21, 04:44 PM
Well it could turn out to actually be the Red Orb of Dragonkind (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/artifacts.htm#theOrbsofDragonkind), but that's probably much more powerful and campaign-affecting than what you're going for.

QuidEst
2012-03-21, 05:15 PM
Hmm. Well, for all of the below, this is of course in the hands of "one of true blood", etc.

Well, turning into a dragon (or some sort of corvid) seems like the next most obvious thing.

Marching an army with a thousand-plus strong murder of crows flying overhead is pretty awesome.

Perhaps it taints the enemy's channeled positive energy with negative energy. A little damage is dealt before healing, reducing the total healing and possibly killing off somebody near death. Or perhaps it's not just the enemy that it does this to, but Ravensblood army carried it into battle forearmed, supplied with potions created in advance rather than relying on their clerics.

Possible origin of the name- it's not their lineage that resulted in the name Ravensblood. They got the name for the ravens that fed on the blood of their enemies. :smallamused: Either the origin was from some sort of corvid lineage, or they got it for something decidedly unpleasant.

Consider other possible motivations behind them selling it off. Perhaps there's a price to using it.

NowhereMan583
2012-03-21, 05:16 PM
It's been established in the campaign that dragons haven't been seen in the area in a long, long time -- curiously, this was not my decision, but an offhand remark by the same player who's searching for the Heart of the Dragon; I just decided it was true after she said it -- so any ability that only comes into play when interacting with a dragon is likely to be a letdown.

(And yeah, having it be an Orb of Dragonkind is a bit much. I want it to be noticeably above their power level -- they're 5th level now -- but not quite that far.)


Edit:
QuidEst: These are interesting ideas... I could definitely run with this. A thought -- the character in question is a sorcerer with a raven familiar; it could be fun to bring the bird into play.

WildPyre
2012-03-21, 05:25 PM
Is this a PF game or 3.5? If it's PF you might have it be able to cast form of the dragon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/f/form-of-the-dragon-i) on the wearer a number of times per day (I'd suggest 1/day)

Perhaps also giving it Dragon's Breath (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/d/dragon-s-breath) 3/day or so.

QuidEst
2012-03-21, 06:13 PM
*cough* Fifth level? Yeah, I should probably tone my stuff down a bit. XP Or you can throw in the standard "unlock its true potential etc. Still, having ravens and crows follow you everywhere is a pretty cool mostly-fluff thing. You can add crunch to it as the character levels up.

I hope it helps, though!

On the matter of the dragon lover… I was suddenly hit by the highly amusing thought of her getting kidnapped instead. You know… so the heroes have to go rescue the princess from the dragon. /horrible

holywhippet
2012-03-21, 06:25 PM
Since it is supposed to help with leadership, maybe it could confer a charisma bonus which would be useful to a sorceress. You could have the bonus improve as the character levels up.

As well, or instead, it could act as some kind of scrying orb to let the Ravensblood nobility know what is going on in their domain.

If you wanted to be mean, it could drag the bearer off to Ravenloft to prove themself.

Starscream
2012-03-21, 06:52 PM
Maybe it's a literal dragon heart, which has petrified into a ruby-like state. I could think of a couple of things this might do.

1) Be haunted by the spirit of the dragon it belonged to, who can speak to and advise its bearer. This could be as weak or as powerful as you want it to be, really. Maybe the dragon can just give generally good advice, maybe it has lots of Knowledge ranks it could use on the character's behalf, or maybe it could just be a useful plot contrivance and have valuable info about something important to the campaign.

2) The character was misinformed; the item is cursed somehow, and her father wanted to be rid of it, but is was difficult to discard. Since it would be kind of a jerk move to have her quest for months in search of something that ends up being bad, make it the sort of curse that seems great at first. Like the owner can breathe fire, or gets a nice stat boost and some SLAs. But it has a corrupting effect as well; maybe every time its power is used, the player must make a Will Save or suffer the effects of a Suggestion spell that will try to make her act more like the dragon. This would be obviously bad if it was an evil dragon, but in some ways even more interesting if it were good. Even good dragons are prone to being greedy and prideful, and the cumulative effect on the player's personality could cause trouble. And frequently the Suggestion is to use the item more and more, making it addictive as well.

3) If the player cuts out her own heart and implants the dragon one in its place, she gains the Half Dragon template. Since this is a powerful template for a low level game, there should be some associated penalty to keep it from being a game breaker; maybe instead of the Con bonus the template grants, there is a Con penalty due to the debilitating effects of what is effectively crude open heart surgery.

4) Combine these ideas. The dragon was attempting to turn its heart into a phylactery so it could become a lich (maybe it was a good dragon trying to come up with a non-evil way to become immortal, hence the experimental method). The process only partially succeeded; the heart does indeed contain the dragon's soul, but can't resurrect its body. By owning it, the soul can speak to and advise the character, and it gives good advice. The father benefited greatly from this advice, which is why the family was once prosperous. But the dragon wants to live again, and has decided that the only way to do so is merge body and soul with a living creature. It tried to convince the father to do this, and he refused. Eventually he got rid of the heart, and fell on hard times without its shrewd advice.

Now the creature will try to talk the character into doing this. Accepting the bargain will literally merge them into one being, which could have interesting roleplaying possibilities. And the reason it will result in the family being returned to glory is a classic prophesy twist: by becoming part dragon, any children and grandchildren the character has will almost certainly be powerful sorcerers, and important players in the political world. And the character won't get a dragon lover, but will technically be one.

Just some fun ideas, but I have no idea how practical they'd be for your campaign.

wayfare
2012-03-21, 06:54 PM
How about having it function as a modified Horn of Valhalla, summoning a Half-Dragon Paladin that scales up a few levels lower than the party

Or how about having it be the liteal crystalized heart of a dragon, granting the bearer certain qualities that scale as you level up -- think the half-dragon template in Item from.

Finally, instead of being a gem, how about it being an EGG?

holywhippet
2012-03-21, 06:58 PM
3) If the player cuts out her own heart and implants the dragon one in its place, she gains the Half Dragon template.


This idea seems familiar somehow...

Ah, I have it: http://www.blindpanic.com/humor/vecna.htm

Starscream
2012-03-21, 07:07 PM
This idea seems familiar somehow...

Ah, I have it: http://www.blindpanic.com/humor/vecna.htm

:smallbiggrin: That's fantastic.

Actually, I was thinking of Ashardalon. He's an evil dragon who cut out his heart and replaced it with an entire demon. There's a prestige class devoted to this in Draconomicon. It's sort of like Dragon Disciple, but for creatures who are already dragons - they slowly gain the Half Fiend template.

My idea would be a somewhat less evil form of that.

Jay R
2012-03-21, 07:14 PM
Ignore the name. It's a noble family; the name is related to its coat of arms. "Or, goutty de sang, a raven sable" (a yellow field with red drops and a big raven).

The Heart of the Dragon gives power according to your stature. At fifth level, it will allow the wearer to read and speak in the old Dragon tongue. This might allow the character to understand some family document leading to another quest.

In the meantime, the powers of the Heart could eventually include any dragon-like property you want to give, at the time you want to give it.

dragon's breath
Immunity to dragon's breath
natural armor
flight
etc.

Alternatively, it allows Legend Lore, but only questions related to dragons.

My final recommendation is to decide what task you want the party to undertake next, and use the Heart to get them involved.

JCarter426
2012-03-21, 07:52 PM
It allows the owner to understand and speak Draconic. That's what I'd do, anyway. To have the heart of a dragon is to be a dragon, and to be a dragon is to understand dragons. If you need something with a little more kick you could add some light fire immunity and some such, but I'd have the language be the main benefit.

nedz
2012-03-21, 08:08 PM
OK - family name: Ravensblood
And what do Ravens do: speak apparently.
So it gives Tongues 3/day or something.
Powerful and useful but hardly game breaking.

holywhippet
2012-03-21, 08:23 PM
It allows the owner to understand and speak Draconic. That's what I'd do, anyway. To have the heart of a dragon is to be a dragon, and to be a dragon is to understand dragons. If you need something with a little more kick you could add some light fire immunity and some such, but I'd have the language be the main benefit.

That's kind of a weak enchantment. You could spend 2 skill points on level up (or 1 if you have speak language as a class skill) to do the same thing.

Averis Vol
2012-03-21, 10:10 PM
i do like the notion of ashardalon, maybe have it read "....and a dragon comes to steal the heart of the heir" now what this does is have a dragon spirit possess the PC, changing a few physical aspects and slowly giving traits of a dragon over time. like a frightening presence (maybe not at 5th level) that scales with level, turns his eye's dragon like and give him the constant smell of burnt wood, to those who follow they are bolstered in his presence gaining maybe a +2 morale bonus to saves against fear and a +1 on attacks. just random stuff like that. cherry pick random cool dragon abilities from the dragons in the draconomicon. but have it come at a cost, give the dragon now residing in him an ego and maybe a compulsion effect to follow his commands. in the morning have them make opposed checks, if the dragon wins his influence is dominant and he acts more or less like the dragon for the day, if he wins he keeps his personality.

holywhippet
2012-03-21, 10:54 PM
in the morning have them make opposed checks, if the dragon wins his influence is dominant and he acts more or less like the dragon for the day, if he wins he keeps his personality.

That idea could be problematic. Firstly it could result in what many players hate - having control of their character taken away from them. Even if they do control the dragon dominated version, they have to try and work out how to roleplay such a character and how to work out a seperate set of desires and goals than their normal PC.

NotScaryBats
2012-03-21, 11:25 PM
I read a book once where there was a magical dragon's heart that was like a real preserved heart of a real dragon. Like jerky.

The character could eat a piece of it and gain massive powers.

You could do this, to make it really useful but consumable so you don't have to worry about it unbalancing the whole campaign -- only a couple encounters.

It also tastes really good.

Malimar
2012-03-21, 11:41 PM
3) If the player cuts out her own heart and implants the dragon one in its place, she gains the Half Dragon template. Since this is a powerful template for a low level game, there should be some associated penalty to keep it from being a game breaker; maybe instead of the Con bonus the template grants, there is a Con penalty due to the debilitating effects of what is effectively crude open heart surgery.

4) Combine these ideas. The dragon was attempting to turn its heart into a phylactery so it could become a lich (maybe it was a good dragon trying to come up with a non-evil way to become immortal, hence the experimental method). The process only partially succeeded; the heart does indeed contain the dragon's soul, but can't resurrect its body. By owning it, the soul can speak to and advise the character, and it gives good advice. The father benefited greatly from this advice, which is why the family was once prosperous. But the dragon wants to live again, and has decided that the only way to do so is merge body and soul with a living creature. It tried to convince the father to do this, and he refused. Eventually he got rid of the heart, and fell on hard times without its shrewd advice.

Now the creature will try to talk the character into doing this. Accepting the bargain will literally merge them into one being, which could have interesting roleplaying possibilities. And the reason it will result in the family being returned to glory is a classic prophesy twist: by becoming part dragon, any children and grandchildren the character has will almost certainly be powerful sorcerers, and important players in the political world. And the character won't get a dragon lover, but will technically be one.

This. All of this.
I was going to write a reply elaborating that (3) could achieve the expected results (children with a draconic bloodline) in a cleverly unexpected way, then I read on and discovered that had already been mentioned in (4).

B!shop
2012-03-22, 06:28 AM
How about having it summon something, a pseudodragon (or a faerie dragon)?
It could be a "family familiar" bound to the ruler of the family, a counselour or the historian of the family.
(you can also use it to give the improved familiar feat for free if the player has the item with him/her).

The ruby could also unlock some hidden cache with more family informations/wealth, or be an iconic item for the rulers of that capran empire your player mentioned.

Averis Vol
2012-03-22, 05:34 PM
That idea could be problematic. Firstly it could result in what many players hate - having control of their character taken away from them. Even if they do control the dragon dominated version, they have to try and work out how to roleplay such a character and how to work out a seperate set of desires and goals than their normal PC.

its a high charisma character using it right? there should be a low chance he fails. plus he's by no means "losing control" of his character, he's merely roleplaying a bit differently. if this is such a problem people shouldn't ask for powerful RP items. and my mistake, meant to take the dominate part out, thats a little too much.

JCarter426
2012-03-22, 09:02 PM
That's kind of a weak enchantment. You could spend 2 skill points on level up (or 1 if you have speak language as a class skill) to do the same thing.
Perhaps, but free stuff is free stuff. Maybe I just like anticlimaxes. :smalltongue:

Kalirren
2012-03-23, 09:56 AM
A couple more ideas:

Maybe the Heart was a mark of an illegitimate bloodline. Kings marry off illegitimate daughters to foreign nobles for the purpose of securing alliances all the time. Ironically it could relate the sorcerer not to the Capran empire, but to a foreign royal family by blood.

What race is this sorcerer? If she's human, that opens up some possibilities. For example, several human generations ago, The Heart of the Dragon was given by someone who went by the moniker of "the Dragon", already powerful in that time, to one of the Ravensblood nobles as a sign of a personal debt owed to the family. No one of the Ravensblood line knows what it means anymore, but The Dragon, who was of a longer-lived race, is still alive, and has grown more powerful since.

Anderlith
2012-03-23, 11:05 AM
Maybe make it give her the Draconic or Half Dragon Template while wearing it, & it also gives her +2 Diplomacy when dealing with dragons.

NowhereMan583
2012-03-24, 12:29 PM
3) If the player cuts out her own heart and implants the dragon one in its place, she gains the Half Dragon template. Since this is a powerful template for a low level game, there should be some associated penalty to keep it from being a game breaker; maybe instead of the Con bonus the template grants, there is a Con penalty due to the debilitating effects of what is effectively crude open heart surgery.

4) Combine these ideas. The dragon was attempting to turn its heart into a phylactery so it could become a lich (maybe it was a good dragon trying to come up with a non-evil way to become immortal, hence the experimental method). The process only partially succeeded; the heart does indeed contain the dragon's soul, but can't resurrect its body. By owning it, the soul can speak to and advise the character, and it gives good advice. The father benefited greatly from this advice, which is why the family was once prosperous. But the dragon wants to live again, and has decided that the only way to do so is merge body and soul with a living creature. It tried to convince the father to do this, and he refused. Eventually he got rid of the heart, and fell on hard times without its shrewd advice.

Now the creature will try to talk the character into doing this. Accepting the bargain will literally merge them into one being, which could have interesting roleplaying possibilities. And the reason it will result in the family being returned to glory is a classic prophesy twist: by becoming part dragon, any children and grandchildren the character has will almost certainly be powerful sorcerers, and important players in the political world. And the character won't get a dragon lover, but will technically be one.

Just some fun ideas, but I have no idea how practical they'd be for your campaign.

These actually fit my campaign really well, because we've already established that this sort of thing can be done.

One of the other characters -- the orc barbarian -- is an amnesiac. The players recently discovered that this is because of some sort of botched necromantic ritual that involved opening his skull and shoving in this little runic-bone-totem thing. The amnesia (and possibly his 6 Int) is from the resulting brain damage.

The background of this, which they don't know but they've guessed at, is that a group of shamans were attempting to bring back a long-dead war-chief by binding his soul to the bone and putting it in a new body. They did something wrong -- it's a complicated procedure, after all -- and the soul bound to the bone isn't actually able to communicate with anyone or control the body he was put in.

So, at this point, the players would accept a dragon's soul bound to a gem-like phylactery and run with it. The question is whether this will come off as "oh, this is cool how it ties in, so we can combine our attempts to pursue these separate lines of inquiry" or "say, isn't this kind of derivative of what we found out about Toe [The orc's name is Toe; my players' naming conventions baffle me.] last month?"

Gnoman
2012-03-24, 02:05 PM
One possibility is to give it no great inherent powers, but have it simply turn red when worn by someone of the proper bloodline. That would avoid the risk of it being too powerful/not powerful enough, but still make it something worth questing for, as it would signify the "right" to power. Simply having it doesn't confer the power, it merely helps you take the power when the opportunity arises.

Funkyodor
2012-03-24, 04:59 PM
It could start as something minor, and slowly get more powerful over time and level. Maybe, as mentioned above by Gnoman, start with the "when worn by direct Ravenblood decendants the Heart of the Dragon pulses a rich blood red" the light emanated by it could grant bonuses to decypher script (can use untrained) & forgery, in addition could grant Diplomacy bonuses to people familiar with what it represents. More abilities can become evident.

Then as she adventures, you could roleplay out dream sequences involving a named Red Dragon sworn to look after and protect the Ravenbloods due to some ancient pact between them, sealed in sacrifice. Then, because its a magic item growing in power, it could be fun to eventually pop a couple of the other PC's into the mix for some shared dream stuff.

nedz
2012-03-24, 07:06 PM
This idea might be too strong.

You could give the wearer a partial gestault with either Marshal or Dragon Shamen. By partial gestault I mean just the class features.

You could weaken this by pre-selecting the features (i.e. auras) and by making it apply on every other level, or maybe every third or even fourth.

Either would seem theamatic for a noble house.

Anxe
2012-03-24, 07:34 PM
I second the half-dragon template idea. That sounds awesome.

Lysander
2012-03-24, 10:31 PM
What about making it a plot hook?

It could lead its bearer towards some kind of ancient treasure, or lost draconic temple. When held by a Ravensblood, the jewel could glow red when held in the correct direction and serve as a compass. After a good adventure-packed journey there, and braving the dangers of the draconic temple (maybe a test of worthiness), her reward can be gaining some kind of draconic powers or template. Rather than literally mating with a dragon, and all the unpleasant roleplaying that requires, she can be magically transformed by a dragon idol.