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BWR
2013-11-12, 06:48 AM
I like artifacts. The immense power, the unknown element, the story behind them. The main problem about stat'ing them is similar to stat'ing anything - it becomes a mess of mechanics and less of a character. Even worse, in cases like 3.x some artifacts are less powerful and less useful than run of the mill magic items. An artifact should have significant impact on the story and the world when introduced in a game, not just be 'my sword is bigger than your sword'. Artifacts, in many cases, are central to the story, e.g. Lord of the Rings.

So, the purpose of this thread is to share artifacts you like from whatever source. Please list the source (author, name of the story/movie/series/whatever), give some flavor text and a description of what it does. Stats are optional but unadvised, since this is supposed to give ideas for fun artifacts, not be homebrewed mechanics.


The Necklace of Vayi
Bright as diamonds, yet softer; more like pearls, yet clearer than pearls, spangled; rather like opals, yet purer than opals; more like pale sapphires, though not spoiled with color.


Vayi the Drin (a least demon) found the beautiful maid Ferazhin the Flower-Born crying and was enchanted by her tears. Using his craft he captured seven tears and wrought a wondrous necklace of silvery metal, bright as lightning, soft as milk. Azhrarn, night's master, took the necklace and sent it to the sunlit world where it would work its evil. Any mortal being of greater than animal intelligence that sees the necklace is instantly captivated by its unearthly beauty and must possess it at all costs, attempts to purchase it, theft, robbery, even murder of their loved ones if no other option presents itself.
It has left a trail of blood and sorrow across the world as it has changed owners with alarming speed.
Currently, an immense serpent is in possession of the necklace, and has been its guardian for centuries. The serpent has eaten heroes and armies but has over the years forgotten what its treasure is, only that it has a treasure that it jealously guards.
Only the blind are resistant to the lure of the necklace, if they are of pure heart and strong will. So far no one has attempted to destroy the necklace, though some speculate returning it to Azhrarn will remove its influence from the world. Of course, it is unwise to gain the attention of the Prince of Demons.

Source: Tanith Lee's "Night's Master", from her Tales from the Flat Earth series.

Yora
2013-11-12, 11:25 AM
The Sword from Shadow of the Colossus comes to mind. However, the game is intentionally left ambitious and since the characters all seem to know what it is, they don't repeat its story while the audience is following the story.
But what is said and done implies that the sword was a cricial element of the ritual that split the spirit of Dormin into sixteen parts and imprisoned them in the collosi, as it is also the only thing that can break the magical seals that keep them bound to the physical bodies.

In the Star Wars Vector comics, there is an ancient Sith Amulet that can turn people into ghouls, which in turn can infect any other humanoid creatures they injure with the same transformation.Yes, it's the rakghoul.Not quite sure what it's original purpose was, but wherever it surfaces and gets taken up by a force user, it leads to utter devastation that depopulates entire planets in relatively short time.

And now that I am thinking of it, obviously the Ashes of Andraste from Dragon Age. After the prophet and chosen champion of the true god was burned at the stake by a heretic sect, her ashes were gathered by her loyal followers and hidden away in a secret shrine in the mountains of a far corner of the continent. Those who are deemed worthy by the shrines guardian spirits are allowed to take a pinch of ash from the urn, and the Ashes have the power to cure every mundane and magical illness. No matter how many people take ash from the urn, it never seems to become less.
A minor plot hole: If your character was force conscripted into the Grey Wardens and only joined under the threat of death, or because it was the only way to survive darkspawn taint, taking some of the Ashes for yourself should completely cleanse the taint, restoring you back to normal.

Actually it's really just a key-card, but in the heavily mystified storyline of Halo, the Index also pretty much serves as an artifact. It's a little key that unlocks the main controls of the Halos and the Ark, which hands the person the power to unmake all life in the Galaxy and also to repopulate it again. However, it can only be used by a human (or one of the extinct Forerunners who created them).

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, there are the Tears of the Prophets. They are floating, crystaline objects that were created by incorporeal beings from another dimension that exists outside of time and dropped outside one of the portals to their home where they were found by the Bajorans. The Federation officially classifies them as technological devices of unknown properties, but to the Bajorans they are devine artefacts send from their gods. It's unclear what they do exactly, but they can give visions to people, which seemingly include telepathic contact with the prophets. The Bajorans believe the prophets protect their world and send the visions to guide their leaders, but as incorporeal beings that exist outside of time, they don't seem to really understand what the bajorans are either.

Not really sure about the supposed powers, but I think King Arthurs sword Excalibur also is treated pretty much as an artifact.

The God of War games also have tonnes of artifacts. Among the more entertaining ones would be the Heads of Medusa, Euriyale, and Helios, which can be held up to project beams that turn creatures to stone (and I think burn them to ash in the case of Helios). Then there is the Box of Pandora, which apparently turns a mortal who opens it into a god and makes a god much more powerful. Massive in size and very impressive is the Loom of the Fates, where the three spirits of fate wave the fate of all creatures, and which can be used to travel back in time and change events.
The Blades of Chaos are simply incredibly powerful weapons that can shred thousands of enemies to pieces.

erikun
2013-11-13, 10:46 AM
In the Shannara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannara) books by Terry Brooks, there are several powerful artifacts. One is the Elfstones, which are elven craft and can grant wishes of the user. The Sword of Shannara was apparently an artifact-level item as well, revealing the ultimate truth to the user. There are probably others floating around Shannara, but it's been awhile since I read the books.

God of War took a lot of thinks from Greek mythology, which is filled to the brim with "artifacts" and other unique items with specific powers. The head of Medusa is from, well, the head of Medusa, which retained its petrifying powers even after Medusa was beheaded. The Aegis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis) is what Athena did, crafting Medusa's head (or her likeness) into a shield and paralyzed opponents who gazed at it.

King Arthur's Excalibur was obtained from the Lady of the Lake by Arthur, protected him in battle, and was ultimately returned to the Lady by the end of the stories. Sorry, but I'm not recalling right off hand the fine details of Excalibur; I don't think the other knights had any unique weapons like it, though.

Amphetryon
2013-11-13, 05:10 PM
I seem to recall a story from Tolkien about this One Ring that qualified as an artifact. :smallwink:

illyahr
2013-11-13, 05:16 PM
King Arthur's Excalibur was obtained from the Lady of the Lake by Arthur, protected him in battle, and was ultimately returned to the Lady by the end of the stories. Sorry, but I'm not recalling right off hand the fine details of Excalibur; I don't think the other knights had any unique weapons like it, though.

The sword itself was basically a +5 Keen Holy Longsword, but that's not the best part. The scabbard made the weilder impossible to defeat in combat. It would basically provide DR 15/+4 or something like that.

dysprosium
2013-11-14, 03:52 PM
There are the Twelve Swords from Fred Saberhagen's Books of Swords.

In the homebrew section, douglas statted out these wonderful blades and did a fine job keeping with the feel of the series too.

The Twelve Swords (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264580)

The series takes place in Earth's far future. Each one of the swords was forged by the god Hephaestus and were spread across the world.

erikun
2013-11-14, 11:00 PM
The sword itself was basically a +5 Keen Holy Longsword, but that's not the best part. The scabbard made the weilder impossible to defeat in combat. It would basically provide DR 15/+4 or something like that.
King Arthur was most certainly not undefeatable in combat, even with Excalibur. I seem to recall Lancelot being a better knight than Arthur, and in fact, the main motivation for Arthur locating Lancelot was to aid Arthur with a particularly difficult fight that he could not win. (The Green Knight, if I remember correctly? It's been a long time since I read through the stories.)

King Arthur is frequently claimed to be undefeated in combat, but pretty much every actual story about him seems to be about him being defeated or facing impossible odds. Well, except for the token "King Arthur went about the land, performing great feats of heroics that year" that you read at the beginning of almost every tale. I wonder how many people have actually read and of the stories. :smalltongue:

Alleran
2013-11-14, 11:05 PM
In the Shannara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannara) books by Terry Brooks, there are several powerful artifacts. One is the Elfstones, which are elven craft and can grant wishes of the user. The Sword of Shannara was apparently an artifact-level item as well, revealing the ultimate truth to the user. There are probably others floating around Shannara, but it's been awhile since I read the books.
These have actually been statted (and the Aegis shield was also given stats in Paizo's Mythic Adventures book). It was in Dragon... #286, or somewhere around there. The Blue Elfstones were a minor artifact, the Sword of Shannara was a major artifact. The Black Elfstone was also statted up - it's a major artifact, and on top of that is absurdly game-breaking.

Freejack451
2013-11-15, 02:59 AM
So no one brings up Stormbringer or Mournblade? Tisk, tisk....

BWR
2013-11-15, 04:03 AM
The Mirror of Zorayas

Zorayas was a powerful enchantress. Maimed and disfigured shortly after birth, when she was old and skilled enough she made a bargain with Night's Master, Azhrarn, to gain unearthly beauty. Between her beauty and her magic, no one could look upon her and fail to be utterly ensnared, should she wish it. Wishing for the finest things in life, she would seduce anyone whose possession tickled her fancy, and they would gladly give them anything they possessed, and when she discarded them they would pine for unto death, which followed close behind.

After Zorayas had seduced Jurim, owner of half the cursed diamonds of a wealthy nation (the curse is simple: unless given as a sincere gift, anyone who takes a diamond other than the rightful owners will die, no way around it) and died of a broken heart, his brother Mirrash crafted this magical mirror.
The mirror was given to Zorayas who instantly became entranced by her reflection. The reflection showed herself as others saw her, causing her to fall in love with her reflection. Though of strong will and able to suppress her desire for a time, Zorayas eventually succumbed to the lure of the mirror and tried to join with her reflected image. Neither Zorayas nor the mirror were ever seen after that night.

Despite being created for Zorayas, the mirror will likely work its magic on anyone who looks into it. They will become enchanted with their own image, obsessed with the perfection they view therein. Trying to join with the image will result in death.

From Tanith Lee's "Night's Master"

Doorhandle
2013-11-15, 06:18 AM
Soul edge/calibur too, while we're here.

I'd like to note that realgar magic items should get histories as well. Sting was only orcbane sword, and even then it still has a unique name.

Starmage21
2013-11-15, 09:33 AM
King Arthur was most certainly not undefeatable in combat, even with Excalibur. I seem to recall Lancelot being a better knight than Arthur, and in fact, the main motivation for Arthur locating Lancelot was to aid Arthur with a particularly difficult fight that he could not win. (The Green Knight, if I remember correctly? It's been a long time since I read through the stories.)

King Arthur is frequently claimed to be undefeated in combat, but pretty much every actual story about him seems to be about him being defeated or facing impossible odds. Well, except for the token "King Arthur went about the land, performing great feats of heroics that year" that you read at the beginning of almost every tale. I wonder how many people have actually read and of the stories. :smalltongue:

Depending on the story, the scabbard for Excalibur was what made him undefeatable in combat, or impossible to wound. The problem is, again depending on the story, he lost it.

Also Excalibur is NOT the sword he pulled from the stone. That was a magic sword too, but he received Excalibur afterwards from The Lady of the Lake.

comicshorse
2013-11-15, 09:46 AM
So no one brings up Stormbringer or Mournblade? Tisk, tisk....

STORMBRINGER and MOURNBLADE (From Michael Moorcock's 'Elric' novels)
Two large, black rune carved broadwsords of unknown origin.The blades devour the souls of those they wound (sometimes requiring the merest nick to do so) and pass on some of the power to their weilder in the form of superhuman strength and stamina.
Much less is seen of MOURNBLADE so the following can only definitely be said to apply to STORMBRINGER.STORMBRINGER has been shown to be able to leech the very souls stuff of the gods, though this required a good blow not just a nick. The gods themselves seemed wary of these weapons.
STORMBRINGER possess a malign intelligence of its own and the loved ones of its weilder always seem to somehow end up being soul sucked by the blade.

THE SWORD OF THE DAWN (From Moorcock's 'Hawkmoon' novels)
When drawn the Sword produces a rosy light reminiscent of the arrival of dawn. When the user holds the blade aloft and calls for the Legion of the Dawn he summons a hundred savage warriors clad only in paint and loinclothes armed with spears and spiked clubs.
The Legion of the Dawn fight with great skill and savagery at the command of the weilder of the Sword and when one is slain, is instantly replaced by another warrior appearing from nowhere.
There does seem to be some limit to the supply of warriors as in the final battle at Londra its noted that at some point slain warriors were not always replaced by a new warrior.


KANAJANA (From Moorcock's 'Erekose' novels)
When draw the sword produces a dark light. It is said that this radiance is dangerous to all but Erekose who is fated to weild the sword. While the light alone never seems to kill anyone the smallest cut from the blade is fatal.


As all the heroes are aspects of the multiverse's Eternal Champion so its believed all the swords are aspects of Stormbringer

lytokk
2013-11-15, 10:17 AM
The Master Sword from legend of zelda. At minimum, a +2 Holy Demonbane Bastard Sword with the ability to reflect spells back at the caster. I think its a bastard at least, looks a little too big for a longsword.

Heck most of the zelda items would be considered artifacts.

Re'ozul
2013-11-15, 10:35 AM
Any of the Objects (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objects_from_The_Lost_Room) from "The Lost Room".

Comb of Timelessness
There is always time to look good.
When drawn through someone's hair, time seems to stops for anything other than the affected for 10 seconds. But beware, time dislikes shenanigans.
D&D Mechanicals: move action activated 2 round time stop. If used more than once per minute DC 15 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1 minute, if already sickened become nauseated for 1 minute. DC increases by 5 for each use after 2 that happens less than one minute after the previous use.
Limitation: Does not work on Bald people or hair other than Head-Hair.

Flask of Breathlessness
A container so fine, it will take your breath away.
The user of this Flask may point it at any creature they can see. Said creature will not have the pleasure of breathing.
D&D Mechanicals: Automatic single target suffocation effect. Only way to evade is removing LoS or LoE between flask and target, or removing the flask from the user's grasp.

Eye of the Flesh
Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder, Life and Death are now in yours.
If a being reaplaces one of their eyes with this glass eye, they gain untold powers over beings made of flesh. They may either restore them to their pinnacle or utterly destroy them.
D&D Mechanics: All beings considered to be made of flesh within a 30ft cone of the user may be subject to one of two effects with a standard action.
Benign: The beings are healed similar to the Heal spell. However, this effect is not based on positive energy and may be used to heal flash based undead.
Malevolent: The beings are damaged similar to the Harm spell. However, this effect is not based upon negative energy and may be used to harm flesh-based undead.
Either effect's strenght is based on a Caster level equal to the user's hitdice and has no upper limit.

A Tapper's Dream-Pencil
Nervous Habits CAN pay off
Each time a user taps the pencil's back end onto a solid surface, a true instance of the smallest indigenous currency is created.
D&D Mechanics: Tap pencil, recieve copper piece.



will do more later.

illyahr
2013-11-15, 10:42 AM
Depending on the story, the scabbard for Excalibur was what made him undefeatable in combat, or impossible to wound. The problem is, again depending on the story, he lost it.

Also Excalibur is NOT the sword he pulled from the stone. That was a magic sword too, but he received Excalibur afterwards from The Lady of the Lake.

Exactly. Arthur lost the scabbard and was confused when Merlin facepalmed. No one ever found the scabbard because it only worked when it was paired with Excalibur so when it was returned to the Lady of the Lake, it was returned alone and incomplete.

Even before that, Arthur was defeated a couple of times. Just not in combat. Arthur would still fall back if his men were in too much danger or there were other circumstances that made a direct confrontation impractical.

Darkpaladin109
2013-11-15, 11:47 AM
Fire Emblem has a lot of weapons that come mind, though the most powerful ones are the holy weapons used by the 12 crusaders and some of their descendants from Fire Emblem 4. I'l only list one or two.

Tyrfing
Wielded by the Crusader of Light, Baldur and his descendants in the Chalphy's royal family, Lord Vylon , his son Sigurd and later, Sigurd's son Seliph, the Tyrfing is a powerful sword that gives it's wielders many abilities such as making them better at both dodging and hitting attacks, having better critical hit chance than normal swords, and significantly reducing the effect magic has on them. Additionally, if it's wielders are damaged below 10% health, they also become capable of resisting all forms of damage for one turn.

Mystletainn
Also known as the Demon Sword for reasons unkown, the Mystletainn is used by Hezul the Black Knight and his descendants Eldigan the Lord of Nordion and Eldigan's son Ares. Alongside the strength of the blade itself, it possesses magic properties that bestow it's users with better reflexes that make them better at landing both normal and critical hits often. Like the Tyrfing, it also creates a shield that protects it's users against magic, although it is weaker than the one the Tyrfing creates.

Source: Nintendo's Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the holy war (Seisen No Kenfu in japanese since it wasn't actually released overseas).

Like the other holy weapons, the Tyrfing and the Mystletainn are limited in that they may only be used to their full extent in the hands of fully blooded descendants of their original wielder.

FabulousFizban
2013-11-15, 01:14 PM
The Kender Spoon of Turning - nuff said

BWR
2013-11-15, 01:43 PM
The Kender Spoon of Turning - nuff said

Actually, if you read the OP, not enough said. For the sake of those who are possibly not familiar with the works mentioned, would you (pl.) please add a description of the item and what it does. Just a name and comment doesn't really make for an interesting artifact.

The Fury
2013-11-15, 02:10 PM
The Master Sword from legend of zelda. At minimum, a +2 Holy Demonbane Bastard Sword with the ability to reflect spells back at the caster. I think its a bastard at least, looks a little too big for a longsword.

Heck most of the zelda items would be considered artifacts.

Indeed! Not the least of which is the fabled Glass Jar! ...It's a jar. Made of glass.
Naw, they're probably not artifacts but they are curiously rare.

On a slightly more serious note, a friend of mine suggested having an artifact in a game called The Book of Eternity. The Book of Eternity has the entire story of all of existence written in its pages, all that has happened or will happen to anyone and everyone in in the book. If someone is able to possess The Book of Eternity they can not only see their destiny but they can rewrite it.
I thought it was a really cool idea when my friend described it to me, and I still do. Though now I can't shake the feeling that it's like a device that could impart the powers of Chief Circle Marty. Basically.

endoperez
2013-11-15, 05:41 PM
The Warlock's Wheel:
It's from Niven's The Magic Goes Away.

Once upon a time, a warlock noticed that staying long enough in a single area caused his magical powers to slowly diminish. He started thinking that magic might be a limited resource, and to test this hypothesis he created a magical artifact - a small wheel that spins quickly around its axle. His hypothesis turned out to be correct, but he also found out that magic is NOT a renewable resource! The wheel kept spinning until magic started running out, spinning slower and slower until it finally stopped... and the area had been drained out of any and all magical power. Moving the Wheel to a non-depleted area starts the process anew.

Game rules:
Creates permanent Anti-Magic Auras centered on the area where the Wheel has been for at least a month. Each Anti-Magic Aura has a radius of several hundred meters.
In a setting where magic is a renewable resource, The Warlock's Wheel merely creates an anti-magic aura that slowly dissipates when the wheel has been taken out.



The Orange And Green Bottle,
from Lord Demon, by Roger Zelazny and Jane Lindskold


It was orange. It was green. It was one of my best. Kai Wren bottles are of course priceless — going back over fourteen centuries. I don't know how many of them I've made over all that time. Virtually indestructible, they will keep any wine decanted into them fresh for a span greater than two normal human lifetimes. They will do the same with cut flowers. And even if nothing is placed within them, they are said to bring their owners considerable good luck — by way of wealth, good health, happiness, long life.
Sorcerers have sought for them and conjured with them, for they do tend themselves to magical usage. It is an entire world unto itself, its interior noncontinuous with human time and space. Any of those bottles of which I had spoken contained their worlds.

Game mechanics:
An indestructible bottle that doubles as an access point to a personal plane, similar to the epic spell Genesis in D&D. Inside it, there's a whole world - the one described in the book had mountains, an ocean, several dragons, an army of ogres and so on.

There are two exits to each bottle - you can enter or exit from where the physical bottle is situated, or use the magic portal. If you're inside the demiplane, you can change where the two-way magic portal opens - it can open into any plane and any location.

Humans inside the bottle's demiplane age at a much slower pace, and can live for hundreds of years without aging more than a few years.

Possessing the bottle gives its wielder luck in all of his or her endeavours. In D&D terms, it'd probably have the effects of half-a-dozen Ioun stones (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Ioun_Stone) on a truly slotless magic item. Being the rightful and designated owner of the bottle is enough to convey the bonus, and it works across all planes and distances. A bottle that has been stolen, lost or given away will cause the benefit to be lost.

The green and orange bottle has magical powers BEYOND those of an ordinary bottle:

it has the power to grant three perfect, unlimited wishes.
And by perfect and unlimited, I mean just that.
One of the wishes was something like "I wish that all gods and all their servants would forever be banned from entering this plane or using magic upon or in this plane, and that as this wish is completed, all the gods, their servants and their magics be removed from this plane. This is my wish. Make it so."
The second wish changed and rewrote the magical genetics of all demonkind.



The Bowstring of Parka
from Knight and Wizard, a duology by Gene Wolfe.

When strung to a bow, this bowstring makes sure that all arrows shot from the bow fly true and unerringly, hit any target that the archer can see and with enough force to penetrate metal and stone and cause small landslides.

The string is unbreakable and can be stretched to any distance. It can be used to strangulate any and all creatures regardless of size, and when used in this manner it (in D&D terms) gives a grapple bonus.

If one sleeps while having the bowstring next to oneself, normal sleep will be replaced by prophetic dreams and visions of the people whose lives form the bowstring. The bowstring was created by Parka, the over-goddess who weaves the lives of men, and who is worshipped by the gods of mortals.

Jormengand
2013-11-15, 06:28 PM
While this already has stats, just from a different system, it would be fun to make it in D&D:

The Fellblade (WHFB)

The Fellblade was the product of the Skaven's vile sorceries, the use of another artifact (The Cauldron of A Thousand Poxes) and an alloy of the manifestation of magic and the strongest metal known to man. It was used by the swordsman Alcadizaar to slay Nagash, the most powerful necromancer ever (though, being Nagash, he managed to resurrect himself) but the blade drove him to insanity and death.

The skaven recovered their sword, and it is used by their warlords to this day. A skaven carries the weapon with a sense of pride - the blade's victims will inevitably include the bearer, but also many of their foes.

This Vicious Ghost Touch +7 longsword is anathema to almost everything. First, it ignores magical defenses, ignores DR and hardness, and targets the foe's touch AC. Second, it doubles the damage dealt by the wielder's attacks, in a similar manner to a critical hit (i.e. precision damage is not multiplied). Third, it does 2d6 acid and 2d6 vile damage on a successful hit - this is not multiplied, but is multiplied on a critical hit.

Finally, anyone who holds it in their hands takes 2d6 damage per round - this damage ignores DR, hardness, regeneration or any other way of preventing or converting the damage (There are exceptions, such as the regeneration of Achaekek the Mantis God), and hit points lost in this manner are not regained through fast healing - healing spells and sleep will heal the damage as normal.

The Fellblade does not have hit points, but is still susceptible to anything else which destroys magic items. However, it has +30 to all its saves.

Calen
2013-11-15, 08:24 PM
The Ter'angreal from Wheel of Time series, objects of power from the last age.

To many to list and some are only described as feelings of what they do.

Angreal and Sa'angreal from the same series would be powerful implements.

TuggyNE
2013-11-15, 09:34 PM
The Ter'angreal from Wheel of Time series, objects of power from the last age.

To many to list and some are only described as feelings of what they do.

Angreal and Sa'angreal from the same series would be powerful implements.

Yeah, all the *angreal are artifacts. Most are minor, some are major.

Telok
2013-11-15, 10:07 PM
The Warlock's Wheel:
It's from Niven's The Magic Goes Away.

Actually the disk (it wasn't a wheel) wasn't an artifact, it was a duplicate of a one-shot magic item than ran a simple magical experiment.

The disk was made of copper and about six inches in circumference, it was enchanted with three spells that would last about fifteen or twenty minutes before they ran out. The first spell simply levitated the disk at chest height, the second spell made the disk indestructable while the spell was active. The third spell caused the disk to rotate at a speed of one revolution per second and to double the speed of rotation every subsequent second. After 12 seconds the disk rotates 2,048 times per second, most table saws rotate at around 3,500 times per minute. In order to power the continually increasing rotation speed the spell drain magical power from the surrounding area. When the local area is completely drained (in the story it consumed the magical essence of a major demon) the disk is forced to consume it's own magic.

When the disk consumes it's own magic the spell that keeps it indestructable ends. This usually seems to happen after about two minutes at most. By that time the disk is revolving 1.329*10^36 times a second, the edge is moving at about... twelve times the speed of light... Ok, so someone else can do the calculations as to when the edge hits light speed and needs an infinite amount of power to accelerate if they want to.

Suffice it to say that in less than two minutes the edge of the disk hits the lightspeed barrier and the local magical field had been converted to kinetic energy in the disk. Of which is the edge is moving at light speed, the center isn't moving, and the whole thing is no longer indestructable. Once the radioactive crater cools down you're left with, not an anti-magic field, but a dead magic zone.

No brains
2013-11-15, 10:25 PM
While we're on the subject, what exactly makes a magic item an artifact? Some artifacts in stories are just like a really sharp stick, or an infinite spool of plot bandages. What qualities really elevate artifacts to being well above my +2 Holy Healer's war hammer that could be called an artifact from the deeds it helped me to do?

I can see The One Ring as a real artifact because it has powers that could fill a page from a book, another page's worth of effects from long term exposure, a dozen hundred pages of related lore, a small sentience and will, and a unique force of nature required to destroy it. That is a well-defined, run-on sentence of criteria that makes this magic item above others. The thing that makes all those work as something more than deus ex machina for the author is that they are all united by a consistent theme. The ring is like a still-living transplant organ severed from a god- anyone can take it, and be taken by it.

TuggyNE
2013-11-15, 11:20 PM
While we're on the subject, what exactly makes a magic item an artifact? Some artifacts in stories are just like a really sharp stick, or an infinite spool of plot bandages. What qualities really elevate artifacts to being well above my +2 Holy Healer's war hammer that could be called an artifact from the deeds it helped me to do?

Let's use D&D definition: a magic item that breaks the usual "rules" of what magic items can do, although it may not be more powerful than a really really powerful standard magic item. Basically, an artifact has some effect that is unique to itself, and a defined number of copies of that (often only the one).

Mnemnosyne
2013-11-16, 09:16 AM
While we're on the subject, what exactly makes a magic item an artifact? Some artifacts in stories are just like a really sharp stick, or an infinite spool of plot bandages. What qualities really elevate artifacts to being well above my +2 Holy Healer's war hammer that could be called an artifact from the deeds it helped me to do?Well, the Book of Artifacts had this to say (among other things; I'm tossing out a few quotes from several pages of description):

A common assumption is that an artifact is any ultra-powerful magical device. A staff of the magi is considered by many to be an ultra-powerful magical device, but it is not an artifact. Indeed, many artifacts have fewer powers than this staff. While most artifacts are potent (because the DM wants them to be memorable), sheer power is not a defining quality. An artifact must have three properties: it must be unique, it must have a history, and it must be important to the adventure.
History. One of the most important features of every artifact is that it has baggage. Someone or something made it, used it, and eventually managed to lose it. The history should explain or at least hint at the reason the artifact exists and what it was originally used for. The tale may also tell what has happened to the artifact since it was made, particularly the great or wondrous fates of successive owners. Histories are important. They provide something for the player characters to research and a means for the DM to give clues about the item's vast powers. A colorful if not wholly accurate description of the terrible fate that met the last owner of the Crystal of the Ebon Flame is certain to make the player characters cautious, should they ever find the same device.


Artifacts are about wonder—not power like many players think. Artifacts are the highest of all magic in a normal campaign, so they have to be surprising, awe-inspiring, and unpredictable; in other words, all the things that make the world wondrous. Artifacts can't be ho-hum devices bound by the standard rules of magical devices—the dreary realities of charges, command words, and the like. Artifacts exist to break the rules.


The old maxim "with great power comes great responsibility" couldn't be more true in the case of artifacts. Nothing is free or easy about these devices. There are always costs, drawbacks, or outright curses tied to their use.


Artifacts are immune to physical or magical harm, except by a few specific means. If placed in a situation where a magical item would be utterly destroyed (such as crushed under an immense slab) the artifact simply disappears. This immunity extends even to the powers of the gods.

As far as artifacts I personally like...well. The Autobot Matrix of Leadership basically hits most of the requirements except perhaps having a curse. Obviously a straight-up transplant of it into most other settings would be silly, but the concept can certainly prove an inspiration for a similar artifact.

The Fury
2013-11-16, 12:16 PM
While we're on the subject, what exactly makes a magic item an artifact?


Going by the funniest definition, it's a magic item that will cause some divine retibution against you if you break it. Either if on purpose or accident.
That's why you put multiple One Rings throughout a room-- so when the party mage decides to Disjunction some enemy with a crazy number of buffs on it he'll have several gods smiting him for his trouble.

Congratulations to that mage by the way, for winning the "Falling for the Most Improbable Trap I've Ever Heard of Award."

Going by what I find a more sensible definition, if a magic item is unusually powerful, rare and unique then it can be an artifact.

Yora
2013-11-16, 02:04 PM
They are also unique items that generally can not be reproduced by regular spellcasters with their ordinary powers.

So far, I've come up with one artifact for my homebrew setting, which I want to use in an upcomming campaign.
It's a small box made from a green stone that is used by aboleths to build their underwater cities, as it has the property of preventing anything from growing on it, like algae, mosses, lichens, and so on. The box itself is a completely ordinary block of that material, but inside of it is a chunk of flesh that was ripped off the body of a Great Old One in the ancient past. As such, it is still not dead and constantly trying to reattach itself to the rest of the body. Even though it has no mind, it still is in permanent terrible pain, which causes psionic disruption even when the box is closed. When the box is opened, it tries to reach out to the spirit of the original creature to locate it and rejoin it, and in the process creates a telepathic connection with the next person within reach.
If that person has superior mental abilities, he can get incredible powers and create large number of psionic thralls, but the flesh tries to take over the person and get him to attach it to himself.

endoperez
2013-11-16, 02:09 PM
Hmm...

It seems like one of the major qualifiers for artifacts is "being unique".

What if someone finds out a way to recreate artifacts? What if, say, an upstart chaos god decides to troll the other gods by duplicating their religions' holy artifacts just to see the reactions. How many artifacts would he have to create before they stopped being unique? Would they still be artifacts, if there were enough of them? Would they all be equally invulnerable and powerful, or are they somehow sharing the same platonic idea of the original artifact between each other and diluting the powers between each copy?

TuggyNE
2013-11-16, 06:39 PM
Hmm...

It seems like one of the major qualifiers for artifacts is "being unique".

What if someone finds out a way to recreate artifacts? What if, say, an upstart chaos god decides to troll the other gods by duplicating their religions' holy artifacts just to see the reactions. How many artifacts would he have to create before they stopped being unique? Would they still be artifacts, if there were enough of them? Would they all be equally invulnerable and powerful, or are they somehow sharing the same platonic idea of the original artifact between each other and diluting the powers between each copy?

An artifact is unique, not in that there is only one (although major artifacts almost always have only one instance, and minor often do too) but in that no other kind of item has those abilities. So, for example, there's more than one sphere of annihilation, but no other item acts like any of the spheres.

The Fury
2013-11-16, 08:15 PM
Though with all that being said I'd say that encountering more than one instance of the same artifact should at least be extremely rare. Yes, there's more than one Sphere of Annihilation, but finding a room with thirty of them should be a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment at the very least.

TuggyNE
2013-11-16, 09:03 PM
Though with all that being said I'd say that encountering more than one instance of the same artifact should at least be extremely rare. Yes, there's more than one Sphere of Annihilation, but finding a room with thirty of them should be a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment at the very least.

Well, sure. Any artifact is extremely rare, and finding even one in a lifetime is not something even a 20th-level adventurer can be certain of, much less more than one, never mind more than one of the same sort.

genmoose
2013-11-16, 11:07 PM
From Supernatural:

The Colt

History: According to legend it was constructed in 1825 by Samuel Colt for a hunter. It is a five shot, single action revolver with detailed etching, and the inscription "Non timebo mala" [Latin for 'I will fear no evil'] on the barrel. Colt originally built the weapon with 13 numbered bullets.

The weapon drifted in and out of legend until it was recovered by a group of hunters around 2006. It was rumored to be able to kill anything. At that point only 5 of the original bullets remained. The last of those bullets was used to kill the reigning kill of Hell.

Sometime later, The Colt was rebuilt to fire new bullets and once again put to use.

The weapon was lost after it was used in a failed attempt to kill Lucifer. After taking a shot to the head, he confirmed that he is only one of 5 beings in creation that can survive The Colt.

Game Mechanics:

The Colt is a single action revolver, meaning that the shooter must manually **** the hammer before each trigger pull, which significantly limits the rate of fire. In addition the revolver requires partial disassembly to reload the weapon after all five shots have been fired.

While the weapon's powers to kill are legendary, there is no significant aid to accuracy. The ergonomics are poor, especially by modern standards, and the muzzle velocity is fairly low. Internal rifling in the barrel helps but effective range is limited to 50 yards at best. Given the value of the weapon and bullets, point blank fire is recommended.

erikun
2013-11-16, 11:41 PM
Hmm...

It seems like one of the major qualifiers for artifacts is "being unique".

What if someone finds out a way to recreate artifacts? What if, say, an upstart chaos god decides to troll the other gods by duplicating their religions' holy artifacts just to see the reactions. How many artifacts would he have to create before they stopped being unique? Would they still be artifacts, if there were enough of them? Would they all be equally invulnerable and powerful, or are they somehow sharing the same platonic idea of the original artifact between each other and diluting the powers between each copy?
If you can go around duplicating them, then I'd begin to question their "artifact" label regardless. The One Ring is an artifact, not because it is tied to the lifeforce of Sauron, but because it is the only object capable of doing so. Sauron could not go around producing more, and while you could have other rings created with the same powers, they would not be tied to Sauron's life in the same manner.

The same is true with Voldemort's Horcruxes. A horcrux itself is not a unique item, and there are in fact spells that allow anyone to create a horcrux (or multiple). Voldemort himself created seven of them. However, once that was done, there was no way for anyone to craft any more horcruxes for Voldemort's lifeforce. The seven Voldemort Horcruxes were unique items, and no more of them could be created - what I would call an "artifact" under the standard D&D terms.


To answer your question, if some random god could start creating identical magic items, then those items weren't really "artifacts" in much of a sense of the word. Odin showing up and producing Holy Avenger swords en masse make it really difficult to be calling them "unique artifacts" and such. By contrast, a Holy Avenger gifted by Pelor, which grants a healing aura and gives a direct connection to the deity, would be a unique artifacts because other Holy Avengers would not have that ability.

I suppose that D&D sometimes likes to call items which can be made by the gods "artifacts" simply because mortals can't make them. That makes sense in a way, but feels like it cheapens the term. I mean, if you can find dozens of them in a random dragon hoard, then it's kind of hard to start calling them all "artifacts" when you just mean powerful items.

And if we're moving away from the D&D-specific terminology, then an artifact is simply a remnant of a past system. A Holy Avenger could be an artifact, but just as much as a broken clay pot or a flint arrowhead. Or it could just be a magic sword.

The Fury
2013-11-17, 12:29 AM
Game Mechanics:

The Colt is a single action revolver, meaning that the shooter must manually **** the hammer before each trigger pull

We're not allowed to swear, I know but that counts as swearing? OK, if those are the rules I guess.


If you can go around duplicating them, then I'd begin to question their "artifact" label regardless. The One Ring is an artifact, not because it is tied to the lifeforce of Sauron, but because it is the only object capable of doing so. Sauron could not go around producing more, and while you could have other rings created with the same powers, they would not be tied to Sauron's life in the same manner.

The same is true with Voldemort's Horcruxes. A horcrux itself is not a unique item, and there are in fact spells that allow anyone to create a horcrux (or multiple). Voldemort himself created seven of them. However, once that was done, there was no way for anyone to craft any more horcruxes for Voldemort's lifeforce. The seven Voldemort Horcruxes were unique items, and no more of them could be created - what I would call an "artifact" under the standard D&D terms.


To answer your question, if some random god could start creating identical magic items, then those items weren't really "artifacts" in much of a sense of the word. Odin showing up and producing Holy Avenger swords en masse make it really difficult to be calling them "unique artifacts" and such. By contrast, a Holy Avenger gifted by Pelor, which grants a healing aura and gives a direct connection to the deity, would be a unique artifacts because other Holy Avengers would not have that ability.

I suppose that D&D sometimes likes to call items which can be made by the gods "artifacts" simply because mortals can't make them. That makes sense in a way, but feels like it cheapens the term. I mean, if you can find dozens of them in a random dragon hoard, then it's kind of hard to start calling them all "artifacts" when you just mean powerful items.

And if we're moving away from the D&D-specific terminology, then an artifact is simply a remnant of a past system. A Holy Avenger could be an artifact, but just as much as a broken clay pot or a flint arrowhead. Or it could just be a magic sword.

I don't know, I think execution of the idea makes a big difference. If there exist only a set number of Holy Avengers in the world and even gods can't make more of them, their uniqueness and artifact status is still something special.
Also if it turns out that there is a mage somewhere that can craft artifacts and it's actually treated as something that he or she should not be able to do, then artifact status isn't cheapened and it might make an interesting plot hook.

No brains
2013-11-17, 12:53 AM
I was under the impression a horcrux was just like a phylactery for a lich. They're only as unique in the sense that the person who made them is a unique person. Can only Voldemort make horcruxes?

TuggyNE
2013-11-17, 02:56 AM
We're not allowed to swear, I know but that counts as swearing? OK, if those are the rules I guess.

No, it's just that the filter is primitive. You're allowed to bypass it in cases where context indicates it's not actually a swear, like this: **** the hammer.

endoperez
2013-11-17, 03:22 AM
The same is true with Voldemort's Horcruxes. A horcrux itself is not a unique item, and there are in fact spells that allow anyone to create a horcrux (or multiple). Voldemort himself created seven of them. However, once that was done, there was no way for anyone to craft any more horcruxes for Voldemort's lifeforce. The seven Voldemort Horcruxes were unique items, and no more of them could be created - what I would call an "artifact" under the standard D&D terms.

Actually...

He started with one Horcrux, and then made a second, then a third, a fourth and so on. I was basically asking what would happen if there was one artifact, and then a god made a second, then a third, a fourth and so on. So pretty much the same situation.

Is an artifact made less if it can be copied? Is uniqueness really one of the defining properties, or is that just something that is used because plots are easier to resolve that way. I'm not talking about mass producing, necessarily - if Saruman had crafted a second Ring that could also Rule Them All, would it make The One Ring any less of an artifact? The story would change, and the artifact's importance to the story, but that isn't what defines an artifact.

johnbragg
2013-11-17, 10:36 AM
I like artifacts. The immense power, the unknown element, the story behind them. The main problem about stat'ing them is similar to stat'ing anything - it becomes a mess of mechanics and less of a character. Even worse, in cases like 3.x some artifacts are less powerful and less useful than run of the mill magic items. An artifact should have significant impact on the story and the world when introduced in a game, not just be 'my sword is bigger than your sword'. Artifacts, in many cases, are central to the story, e.g. Lord of the Rings.

One way to do this is to stat or build the artifacts so that their effects are not decisive in one-on-one or party-vs-party combats, but are "elements of national power."

Examples:

Ark of the Covenant, Raiders of the Lost Ark version. "An army bearing the Ark is effectively invincible."

The spear from the Hellboy movie. Similar gimmick.

Various Fragments of the True Cross and Saints' relics, from medieval Europe. These were believed to lead to victory in combat for the army of the faithful. (Yes, often both sides had artifacts.)

EDIT: I forgot about Roman fasces
Fasces: bundle of rods with an axe borne by Roman lictors, officers with authority to use corporal and capital punishment.
(Adopted by the Italian Fascists, also found carved in the Lincoln Memorial and on various US insignia, representing the majesty and authority of the law of the republic.)

Suggestions along similar lines:
Roman Imperial Standards.
--When borne by a duly authorized representative of the Senate or the Emperor, gives the entire army within line of sight a +X to this and a +Y to that.
--When the army is in camp, and the Standard is posted, the stockade fence around the camp serves as a Protection from Evil/Chaos/etc spell.

Royal Crown of (Countryname)
When worn by a duly crowned and lawful king:
--cast Geas on any sworn officer of the kingdom
--cast various lower-level enchantments (Command, Hold Person, Suggestion)
--True Seeing at will.

The idea is that the artifact and the ruler are the focus and the instrument of the society's energy.

Jay R
2013-11-17, 11:44 AM
We're not allowed to swear, I know but that counts as swearing? OK, if those are the rules I guess.

That's what happens when you delegate your judgment calls to an entity that can only count to one.


Hmm...

It seems like one of the major qualifiers for artifacts is "being unique".

What if someone finds out a way to recreate artifacts? What if, say, an upstart chaos god decides to troll the other gods by duplicating their religions' holy artifacts just to see the reactions. How many artifacts would he have to create before they stopped being unique? Would they still be artifacts, if there were enough of them? Would they all be equally invulnerable and powerful, or are they somehow sharing the same platonic idea of the original artifact between each other and diluting the powers between each copy?

You can take any definition, and then work to find something that doesn't fit. That's just a word game. An artifact in fiction is something that warps the entire plot and course of history by its very nature. If somebody makes 1,000 of them, then it's a very different story, about very different items.

endoperez
2013-11-17, 03:08 PM
You can take any definition, and then work to find something that doesn't fit. That's just a word game. An artifact in fiction is something that warps the entire plot and course of history by its very nature. If somebody makes 1,000 of them, then it's a very different story, about very different items.

Are artifacts defined by the fact that they warp plot and history? I thought their main defining feature was power. If a birthmark, a signet ring or an entirely nonmagical crown can have all the plot-warping power of the artifact.

Daughter of the Drow by Elaine Cunningham had a magic item - rare but not an artifact - that can be used to contain magical power within it. The eponymous drow uses it to carry the magical power of the Underdark with her to the sunlit world above, so that her drow magic and drow magic items keep functioning. It is a unique power also contested by other important characters, it's a plot device and nothing else with the same power exist - but it's not an artifact. And it's Forgotten Realms / D&D book, so it's not like the author wasn't familiar with the terminology.

I've found that by breaking the rules and finding the exceptions the details are often clarified further than by following the rules. When you know the exact point where an artifact stops being an artifact, you get lots of insight into the nature of artifacts. In fact, I just now remembered a really good story that explored the nature of artifacts, thanks to your comment.

Katanagatari is a 12-episode anime about a woman with orders to collect 12 magical swords in a very low-magic setting, centering on her bodyguard, a superb unarmed fighter who is unable to use weapons. The 12 are "artifact swords" in the "they're central to the story" aspect, but while they're magical items within the show's world they wouldn't count as artifacts, since all of them aren't that powerful - just unique. Some of them aren't even swords.

One of the swords is 1000 swords. It's still considered to be one weapon, one creation. It's still a story about 12 artifact swords, even when one of the swords is 1000 swords.

The swords:

1. An unbreakable sword, because a broken sword is useless.
2. A sword that can cut through anything (including sword nr 1, because the swordsmith's skills got better as he went along), because offense is better than defense.
3. A sword and 999 copies of it, because you can't rely on a single sword.
4. A brittle and beautiful blade of glass, which requires great skill to wield properly - I think the idea here was something about superior skill
5. A suit of full plate armour, giving the wearer perfect defense, because a sword without wielder is nothing.
6. Extremely heavy sword, too heavy to be used by normal men but devastating in proper hands, made to break through all defenses.

The more abstract swords start becoming spoilers for the series, so I'll hide them:


7. A sacrificial knife that revives/possesses anyone whose heart is pierced with it. It's... getting weird. I presume the idea was to make a sword that uses the swordman.
8. A solar-powered clockwork woman in kimono, with metal blades hidden into its body. It is a sword that wields itself.
9. A wooden training sword. It is a sword that creates ideal swordsmen - men of skill, honor and inner peace.
10. A sword without blade. With it one can judge one's inner heart, or something. Probably because training is worthless unless you know how far you have come, or something like that.
11. A noxious sword that corrupts its user. The sword contains the memories of its creator, and can possess the one wielding it.

12. A pair of relatively modern pistols with large clips. In medieval Japan. Pure killing power.

13. The swordsmith wasn't happy with any of these, so he started a hidden, 13th project. He took a wandering warrior and created a martial art, and a family of martial artists, who could beat any and all of his blades.

The 13th sword is the bodyguard.

The sword collector directed him at her opponents, and as the ultimate sword, he won her fights for her. A sword that fights, learns as its fights, can go on even if its wielder dies, can recover from wounds and who can be reborn and retrained in the next generation even if it's destroyed.



P.S. Don't remember if I said this yet or not, but thanks for the corrections on the Warlock's Wheel.

Mnemnosyne
2013-11-17, 10:00 PM
Daughter of the Drow by Elaine Cunningham had a magic item - rare but not an artifact - that can be used to contain magical power within it. The eponymous drow uses it to carry the magical power of the Underdark with her to the sunlit world above, so that her drow magic and drow magic items keep functioning. It is a unique power also contested by other important characters, it's a plot device and nothing else with the same power exist - but it's not an artifact. And it's Forgotten Realms / D&D book, so it's not like the author wasn't familiar with the terminology.
Actually, I remember this book and this item, vaguely. That thing could easily count as an artifact if the author wanted it to. It fulfills many of the rules; lacking indestructibility and a specific curse. But it is unique, it breaks the normal rules, it has a story and was created for a specific purpose, and it's important to the adventure. If it survived (I don't recall exactly what it was, even, or whether it survived the events of the book) it could very well show up again and again in the future, earning it true artifact status. An item like that may very well be a nascent artifact, one in the process of being born.

endoperez
2013-11-17, 11:13 PM
Actually, I remember this book and this item, vaguely. That thing could easily count as an artifact if the author wanted it to. It fulfills many of the rules; lacking indestructibility and a specific curse. But it is unique, it breaks the normal rules, it has a story and was created for a specific purpose, and it's important to the adventure. If it survived (I don't recall exactly what it was, even, or whether it survived the events of the book) it could very well show up again and again in the future, earning it true artifact status. An item like that may very well be a nascent artifact, one in the process of being born.

A nascent artifact being born? This only works if an artifact is a magic item that's 1) unique or different and 2) has a story and/or is the focus of the plot.

And since it's just a normal magic item in a world where magic items can be made, if it becomes an artifact because it drove the plot of several novels... what happens if more are done?

If it becomes an artifact, will its importance to the story prevent authors from writing more of them into existence? Artifacts would extend beyond the fourth wall. :smallsmile:

TuggyNE
2013-11-18, 02:24 AM
Suggestions along similar lines:
Roman Imperial Standards.
--When borne by a duly authorized representative of the Senate or the Emperor, gives the entire army within line of sight a +X to this and a +Y to that.
--When the army is in camp, and the Standard is posted, the stockade fence around the camp serves as a Protection from Evil/Chaos/etc spell.

Royal Crown of (Countryname)
When worn by a duly crowned and lawful king:
--cast Geas on any sworn officer of the kingdom
--cast various lower-level enchantments (Command, Hold Person, Suggestion)
--True Seeing at will.

The idea is that the artifact and the ruler are the focus and the instrument of the society's energy.

Those aren't so much artifacts as just handy magical items to have that could be constructed in perfectly ordinary ways. (With the possible exception of the specificity of their conditions.)

DigoDragon
2013-11-18, 08:34 AM
As far as artifacts I personally like...well. The Autobot Matrix of Leadership basically hits most of the requirements except perhaps having a curse.

To be fair, having a curse doesn't necessarily disqualify something from being an artifact. Just being in possession of such a world-breaking thing can be a curse when everyone comes after you for the item. :smallbiggrin:


Here's an artifact I thought was interesting~

The Omega-13
The artifact comes from the movie Galaxy Quest. It is a giant mass of floating string-like bubbles built by some long extinct civilization. It can be used only once and it's purpose is to rewind space-time 13 seconds, enough to undo one recent mistake.

Lionheart
2013-11-18, 11:26 AM
These are my two favourites from Michael Moorcock's Corum books:

The Eye of Rhynn and the Hand of Kwll

These are the eye and hand of a pair of brother gods that were imprisoned long in the past and have the power to defeat entire pantheons between them.

The eye lets him see into and interact with a shadowy netherworld where the souls of the people he has recently killed reside. The hand allows him to summon these souls to fight for him, and whatever they kill has its soul transferred to the netherworld to be summoned in turn in the next battle.

Maybe not artifacts exactly, more like some variant of Animate Dead or Summon spells. They have a cool backstory, are unique and influence the plot a great deal, so I guess they might count?

illyahr
2013-11-18, 05:31 PM
The Might and Magic series has a whole list of fun ones, usually found in dragon hordes. For example:

Amuck: +2 Greataxe that gives all the bonuses and penalties for being in a Rage, and it stacks with Rage.

Hermes's Sandals: Provides constant Haste or Wind Walk effect. Wearer can change which is in effect as a Standard Action.

Splitter: +3 Explosive Waraxe. Does 2d4 damage on strike in a 5' burst. Provides Fire Resistance 5...which doesn't always soak the explosive damage lol.

Mash: The first ogre demanded the gods grant him the strength to defeat all opponents. Irritated, the gods gave him +4 Maul that gives anyone who wields it +8 Str, -4 Int, -4 Wis, and -4 Cha, and all ogres since have born it's curse: strong, but ugly and stupid. This adjustment stays with the person after weilding the weapon, but half the damage you deal with any other weapon is done to the weapon itself unless it has a +5 enhancement bonus.

Ethric's Staff: Staff of the first lich, Ethric the Mad. It's a +3 Spell Storing Quarterstaff of Defending (enchantments apply to both ends). While held, acts as a Rod of Metamagic, Empower, Rod of Metamagic, Extend, and Rod of Metamagic, Quicken, each usable 3/day but only on Necromancy spells. It also drains 1 HP/round while carried. If the bearer is immune to energy drain, he is also immune to the HP drain.

johnbragg
2013-11-18, 07:10 PM
Those Roman Imperial Standards, Crown of Kingdom X aren't so much artifacts as just handy magical items to have that could be constructed in perfectly ordinary ways. (With the possible exception of the specificity of their conditions.)

As long as the empire/kingdom is still standing, that's true. But after the collapse of the Empire, the sack of the Imperial City etc, those become artifacts when found by new rising powers.

TuggyNE
2013-11-18, 07:15 PM
As long as the empire/kingdom is still standing, that's true. But after the collapse of the Empire, the sack of the Imperial City etc, those become artifacts when found by new rising powers.

How so? If those new powers can create magic items, they could create duplicates of what they found; if they can't create magic items, they might consider any magic item at all to be an artifact. Either way, they're not really "artifacts" in a meaningful sense, since they don't do anything any other magic item couldn't do: if they're considered artifacts, all magic items are.

johnbragg
2013-11-18, 07:46 PM
How so? If those new powers can create magic items, they could create duplicates of what they found; if they can't create magic items, they might consider any magic item at all to be an artifact. Either way, they're not really "artifacts" in a meaningful sense, since they don't do anything any other magic item couldn't do: if they're considered artifacts, all magic items are.

If the new powers are still in awe of the old empire, claiming to be its revival or continuation etc., then the powerful magic items of the old empire will still have some potency. They confer political legitimacy, which in a D&D world has quantifiable mechanical effects.

I also tend to think in terms of systems where some magic is driven by the power of a society. So the united Empire that spans the entire continent can create items and effects that a dozen warring successor kingdoms can't. So the Imperial Scepter of the old Empire is an artifact relative to the Warring Kingdoms who are squabbling over it. Whichever kingdom gets ahold of the Scepter gets a significant boost in power relative to the other kingdoms.

Jay R
2013-11-19, 12:27 PM
From Supernatural:

The Colt.

Perfect example. In that game, this is an artifact. In a Wild West game, it's an ordinary item, simply because there are lots of them.

DigoDragon
2013-11-20, 08:39 AM
Maybe not artifacts exactly, more like some variant of Animate Dead or Summon spells. They have a cool backstory, are unique and influence the plot a great deal, so I guess they might count?

Part of their value will depend on the world they're in. If I were to drop these two items in a mundane early 21st century city, they would definitely be unique. :smallbiggrin:


The Heart of Lorkhan (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Heart_of_Lorkhan) is one of the best known artifacts from The Elder Scrolls series. Thought to be the heart of a dead god, it was used by the ancient dwemer for purposes few, if any, could understand entirely.

GungHo
2013-11-20, 09:52 AM
Perfect example. In that game, this is an artifact. In a Wild West game, it's an ordinary item, simply because there are lots of them.

I'd think in Deadlands, something like the Colt (http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Colt) would be a hell of an artifact. So would someting like Roland Deschain's Sandalwood Revolvers (http://darktower.wikia.com/wiki/Sandalwood_Guns).

Jay R
2013-11-20, 12:29 PM
I'd think in Deadlands, something like the Colt (http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=The_Colt) would be a hell of an artifact. So would someting like Roland Deschain's Sandalwood Revolvers (http://darktower.wikia.com/wiki/Sandalwood_Guns).

Sure. But as soon as Sam Colt manufactures 10,000 of them, they are simply ordinary (though powerful) equipment.

molten_dragon
2013-11-20, 01:01 PM
The Dresden Files has a few things that I would consider artifacts.

The Swords of the Cross. 3 swords, each one containing one of the nails that was used to crucify Jesus of Nazareth. They can bypass the magical protections of nearly any creature, and they are powerful tokens of faith. They've also shown some signs that they can allow angelic forces to work through the person wielding them. They only work for those with sufficient faith, and they can be destroyed if they are used to kill an innocent person.

The 30 silver denarii might count as artifacts, despite there being a lot of them. Each is one of the 30 pieces of silver that Judas Iscariot was paid for betraying Jesus, and each one contains the soul of a fallen angel. The angel inside can communicate with and eventually take over the body of anyone who picks up the coin, giving them immortality and various magical powers, including the ability to transform into another form.

There are a few others which probably count as artifacts, but we don't know that much about them yet.

The noose that Nicodemus wears, which makes him completely immune to all harm, except harm done by the noose itself.

The blackstaff, which somehow insulates the wielder from the negative effects of breaking the 7 laws of magic.

Morgana's Athame, which is a dagger whose power was said to be on par with the swords of the cross.

GungHo
2013-12-03, 10:43 AM
Sure. But as soon as Sam Colt manufactures 10,000 of them, they are simply ordinary (though powerful) equipment.

But, there aren't 10,000 of them. The Colt's a very specific revolver with supernatural qualities. It kills anything, even if that thing cannot be killed by bullets. Except for Lucifer and (I guess) the Four Horsemen.

Wardog
2013-12-06, 06:23 PM
Celtic myth had some quite nice artefacts. (Well, "nice" might not be quite appropriate in all cases).

The Gae Bolga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gae_Bolga): Cúchulainn's spear, made from the bones of a sea monster. It is thrown from the foot (:smallconfused:), and is unstopable. When it spears someone, it sends multiple barbs all through their entier body, and can only be removed by cutting it out.

Lúin of Celtchar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BAin_of_Celtchar): a long, fiery lance or spear belonging to Celtchar mac Uthechar and wielded by other heroes. It has to be kept in a cauldron of poison, to stop it catching fire and killing someone. Each thrust will kill a man, even if it doesn't reach him, and each time it is thrown, it will kill nine men.

The Dagda's Club. A magic club belonging to the god the Dagda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagda). One end was deadly, and could kill nine men with one blow. But the other end could brring the dead back to life.

The Dagda's Cauldron. A magic cauldron, also belonging to the Dagda. Provided unlimited food.

ComatosePhoenix
2013-12-08, 08:56 PM
I have always been a sucker for special cursed artifacts or artifacts with abilities so strange they didn't really fit as advantages or disadvantages.


Robe of Fools: a ____ looking robe that when worn reveals a cloak made out of rainbows. severely reduces all stats.

Wizards Hat of Ponderousness: slows the wearer, bestows massive boosts to intelligence and casting, the wearer cannot be hasted, or teleported.

Some cute little things from Dungeon Crawl Stone soup. the is actually owned by a giant snail that ate a wizard and then gained intelligence from his hat.

veti
2013-12-08, 09:34 PM
For some reason, I have a thing for the Fork of Horripilation (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Fork_of_Horripilation). Unique? Check. Desirable? Evidently. Also completely useless except in one very specific use case (not sure what it is - invited to dinner with Sheogorath, possibly), which is how I like my artifacts.

Kitten Champion
2013-12-08, 11:26 PM
There is always the eponymous Monkey's Paw (http://gaslight.mtroyal.ca/mnkyspaw.htm) from W.W. Jacobs short story, a device which grants a set number of wishes but with ironic and horrifying outcomes. I've used a similar artifact in one of my games where the player decided the odds of coming true as desired based on the extent of their wish and how intelligent they were in phrasing it, with steep consequences for greed or an unlucky role.

Ruyi Jingu Bang, Son Wukong's size-shifting staff from Journey to the West. I'm pretty sure it was invulnerable and could grow to any length.

BeerMug Paladin
2013-12-10, 07:56 AM
I always liked the artifacts in the game Star Control 2. Foremost, the half-completed alien starship (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AMw89H-Yjs), built by an automated process in an ancient factory accidentally activated by an archaeological expedition.

There's several other quite interesting ones in that universe. Spoilered for minor plot surprises.
A bomb so devastating that activating it can sterilize an entire star system, the effective kill zone being something like 30 au. Nobody knows how it works, and nobody wants to open it up or get near it long enough to find out.

A device that glows brightly normally, that will slowly turn black as it nears a place in time where it will be destroyed. It will be totally black at the exact moment of its own destruction. If you take action based on what it tells you, it will revert to a normal, bright state, provided the new future will not result in its destruction.

And a very powerful, evil psychic creature whose race was long-ago genetically lobotomized. The species is now nothing more than a glorified universal translation device. A single creature got reverted to its species' former state, which turns out to be a very bad thing.

DigoDragon
2013-12-10, 08:47 AM
I always liked the artifacts in the game Star Control 2.

Oh, those are good ones! I think the Ultron would count too... when it's not broken. :smalltongue:

WalkingTarget
2013-12-10, 10:16 AM
The Silmarilli - Three multifaceted jewels, masterpieces of Fëanor, the greatest Elvish craftsman ever to have lived. They will reflect/scatter any ambient light, but also shine with a light of their own - derived from the original light in the lands of the Powers of the world, the sun and moon being cheap counterfeits by comparison. Not even Aluë the Smith could determine the method of their creation and Varda, who kindled the stars, hallowed them so that they will burn any Evil being or otherwise unworthy person that touches them. They are beautiful and irreplaceable - very useful as MacGuffins.

The Palantíri - A class of object, of which 7 are known to have made it to these shores. They are durable spheres of some crystalline stone. They form a communications network of sorts, a person gazing into one may see through the others at will and communicate mind-to-mind with somebody gazing into one of the others. People of strong will may also turn their attention away from the other stones and use them to view other places, unrelated to the position of the other stones. However, users open themselves to influence from each other, possibly putting a weaker will under strain and, while the palantíri can not show things that are not happening, a strong enough person can direct the view of others to what he wishes them to see.

I see them as similar to a D&D Crystal Ball (with Telepathy) (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#crystalBall) with the following additions: the Scry effect requires no roll but can only target the other palantíri (people gazing into them can be targeted by the Telepathy/suggestion feature), upon a successful check (dunno what, Will-based probably) Clairvoyance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/clairaudienceClairvoyance.htm) at-will, immune to anything that normally blocks scrying like lead sheeting, but can't generate light where there is none (so if it's too dark to see, then too bad).

The main thing to remember is that they let you look anywhere, but you can't use them to find something/somebody automatically.