Best artifacts you've made up in a campaign

[Zeromage1]

the title to this thread is pretty self explanatory.

[ArcturusV]

I don't tend to make up artifacts all that often. I don't really like the nature of it being a plot macguffin that is generally far out of the player's power level and becomes more important than the characters and their own wills.

I'm trying to remember what I had on the one I actually liked... it had to deal with a Planar Warfare campaign. I think it was something like "The Obsidian Sword of Tarinth Dar". The legendary item that was supposed to give mortals the edge they needed to survive the war. Despite being a sword it wasn't actually a "weapon". I remember it's powers being more about planar travel, forbiddence, banishment, etc.

It was an obvious MacGuffin, not too ungodly powerful, being effectively a minor artifact as long as it remained on the Prime Material plane. I really don't remember it's powers other than the one that they unleashed during the climax of the arc. Which really disappointed them until they realized what it was. Had them assaulting Celestia and they used it. Starts raining across the plane.

... they all just stare at me, the great apocalyptic power that was supposed to let them win the day as they assault this base and destroy the means for the Celestials to invade their realm... and all it did was make it rain.

... then they found out it was Purple Rain. Which prevents all divine based spellcasting. And suddenly those Solars with 20th level cleric casting were "takeable" as they finished their final battle to close the rift.

I liked it because it didn't win the day on it's own like a lot of artifacts do for the climax of their campaign. It just let the players have a chance to win against something that honestly... they wouldn't have if it was a bunch of level 20 clerics with outsider powers stomping face over the level 15 party.

I wish I could remember more about it. Was quite a time ago...

[The Insaniac]

Mine would have to be the everful mug of potions. It was an everfull mug of ale (well rum really, the owner was a pirate) that could be used in three ways:

1. Fill the mug with your favorite drink, enjoy.

2. Command the mug to fill with rum, enjoy.

3. Command the mug to fill with any potion, make an appropriate save or suffer the inverse effects of the potion.

This, of course, worked beautifully until it really counted and he needed a potion of cure critical wounds. Then he failed the save.

[Captnq]

Player made it. Not me.

A staff that lets you hit liches and demi-liches and changes their phylactery to the staff. The staff was made out of the brain of a hallucinating demi-god and the brain of HE-WHO-MUST-BE-SERVED, the 8,000 year old aboleth who dwelt in the space between worlds until his time to return was nigh.

It was nigh, alright. He died in one round. Poor bastard never saw it coming.

Anyrate, the two brains were purified in the seventh layer of heaven and combined to create a perfect hallucinatory paradise where if you wound up in the staff, your every dream would come true and you would never doubt the fact that you were "in the real world".

In other words, the perfect prison.

Walk up to a lich, smack him, kill him. Problem solved.

The player was extra careful not to give it any special powers or anything else because he didn't want to draw upon the power of the liches or anything, because he was afraid doing that might give them clues they were in a dream world. So all the artifact does is be completely indestructable and become a lich/demi-lich's phylactery on contact.

I will tell you this, The Phylactery Staff has the liches of faerun running in terror.

[Malimar]

I rather like the Evil Encyclopedia of Evil (http://highseas.wikia.com/wiki/Artifacts), a recurring set of artifacts that people keep finding in various campaigns, but have never put together a full set.


Centuries ago, the evil archtheurge Megiddo Mehida made decades of work out of (very carefully) studying copies of the Book of Vile Darkness, Book of Exalted Deeds, Tome of Ancient Lore, Tome of the Stilled Tongue, Book of Infinite Spells, as well as lesser documents like Tomes of Understanding, Tomes of Leadership and Influence, Tomes of Clear Thought, Manuals of Quickness of Action, Manuals of Gainful Exercise, Manuals of Bodily Health, Golem Manuals, Vacuous Grimoires, and uncountably many scrolls. He learned more words of the Dark Speech than any sane mind could possibly contain. He worked for further decades, copying, writing, and splicing pages whole to construct a single document which would combine the powers of all these books and contain all the power that words collected together could possibly contain.

Megiddo worked so long and hard that one day, his minions entered his libratory to find it deserted; the only thing remaining of their master was a multi-volume encyclopedia. No one knows the details, but it is thought that Megiddo put so much of himself into his work that his physical form ceased to exist, and everything of him was subsumed within the encyclopedia itself.
The next part of the story is uncertain, but it is known that all the volumes of the encyclopedia were somehow dispersed to all corners of the globe. To this day, evil cults still seek to recombine the scattered portions of the encyclopedia and wield its immense power for themselves.

The Evil Encyclopedia of Evil has seventeen volumes, which have a habit of worming themselves into random otherwise-innocuous libraries across the Material Plane. Perusing each volume has a different (bad to very bad) effect on the reader. If all 17 volumes are brought together and read aloud, an Apocalypse From The Sky spell centered on the readers takes effect immediately after the completion of the recitation.

As one might imagine, everybody evil wants to collect the full set so as to wipe out a nation of their choosing. So far, nobody has ever managed it.

PCs have found various volumes of the EEoE, but alas, so far nobody's ever been dumb enough to actually crack one of them open to read its contents.



Mine would have to be the everful mug of potions. It was an everfull mug of ale (well rum really, the owner was a pirate) that could be used in three ways:

1. Fill the mug with your favorite drink, enjoy.

2. Command the mug to fill with rum, enjoy.

3. Command the mug to fill with any potion, make an appropriate save or suffer the inverse effects of the potion.

This, of course, worked beautifully until it really counted and he needed a potion of cure critical wounds. Then he failed the save.

Step 1: command the mug to fill with an inflict critical wounds potion
Step 2: voluntarily fail the save
Step 3: profit!

[AlanBruce]

My campaign currently has 6 major artifacts. Each tied to an Energy Plane.

But these aren't items that can be worn- not traditionally.

They're living creatures. An elf, hobgoblin, dwarf, halfling, sahuagin, and a human.

These people have no idea they are artifacts. They suffer from amnesia, of the incurable kind. The pcs have no idea what they are and are looking for the elf, believing her to be some sort of goddess. And with good reason- these beings manifest tremendous godlike powers, attuned to the energy plane they were crafted in.

Their presence in the Material is not immediately felt, since many of them are content with leading simple lives.

There is of course, a faction of villains who knows what they are and wants them. That's where the PCs come in.

[Morithias]

The gauntlets and sword of vampires.

The sword was nothing all that special. +3 to attack and damage.

The combo wasn't that great either +10 attack, damage, and AC to all Vampires, Vampire spawn, and Vampire Lords in the party.

The gauntlets...the gauntlets where something.

+2 str, +2 dex, untyped.

and +10% experience gained for the party.

Whenever I give the gauntlets out, I keep track of the party's actual XP, and what XP they would have without their bonuses.

One party sought out so many XP boosting artifacts they were getting +55% xp per fight.

[MonochromeTiger]

I may have kinda made up a staff that gives slight control over a tarrasque... only a little...just enough to ride it across the world as a city eating mount...

[Morithias]

I may have kinda made up a staff that gives slight control over a tarrasque... only a little...just enough to ride it across the world as a city eating mount...

Wouldn't that just be a staff of dominate monster? Since the thing has 3 intelligence and therefore can be targeted by such a spell?

[MonochromeTiger]

Wouldn't that just be a staff of dominate monster? Since the thing has 3 intelligence and therefore can be targeted by such a spell?

well that would require I hadn't also made the tarrasque have disturbingly high spell resistance, upped its attack damage, and given it a once every 1d4 rounds laser eye ability...it was a plot centric monster. also tarrasque already has immunity to mind affecting effects.

[Morithias]

well that would require I hadn't also made the tarrasque have disturbingly high spell resistance, upped its attack damage, and given it a once every 1d4 rounds laser eye ability...it was a plot centric monster.

By all means, I would love said staff then.

Yeah Big T does need some buffing.

[CockroachTeaParty]

I once had an Eberron campaign that involved an artifact called 'The Adamant Coil,' which nobody could figure out what it did. However, once the party war forged touched it, he absorbed it into his body. They later discovered that the war forged was 'pregnant' with a fetal Progenitor Dragon, which would define a new age of existence. It gave the war forged a bunch of weird powers, which I don't remember, but it was cool...

[Axinian]

I rather like the Evil Encyclopedia of Evil (http://highseas.wikia.com/wiki/Artifacts), a recurring set of artifacts that people keep finding in various campaigns, but have never put together a full set.



The Evil Encyclopedia of Evil has seventeen volumes, which have a habit of worming themselves into random otherwise-innocuous libraries across the Material Plane. Perusing each volume has a different (bad to very bad) effect on the reader. If all 17 volumes are brought together and read aloud, an Apocalypse From The Sky spell centered on the readers takes effect immediately after the completion of the recitation.

As one might imagine, everybody evil wants to collect the full set so as to wipe out a nation of their choosing. So far, nobody has ever managed it.

PCs have found various volumes of the EEoE, but alas, so far nobody's ever been dumb enough to actually crack one of them open to read its contents.


And this is one of example of a successful encyclopedia salesman.

Here is an example of an unsuccessful encyclopedia salesman. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9n11xtjZ3Y&t=1m2s)

[JoshuaZ]

In my 3.5/PF game, one player is playing a Pathdfnder witch. She's very much not into optimization, but needed to feel useful in a more optimized party.

In my campaign setting there are seven witch goddesses, with Hecate as the head. In doing some of the worldbuilding this player had suggested naming them after the Pleiades, which required some having multiple names, but otherwise worked pretty well. If people are interested I can expand on their in setting mythology.

The witch in question had as her patron, Merope, who for plot reasons has not had any direct worshipers in centuries. Moreover, part of the mythology of the setting involved Merope rallying her sisters against extraplanar threats. So, I made a circlet with each of the seven goddesses's gemstones on it, and with the one for Merope at the center. The artifact can only be used by a witch of Merope, and it grants thematic powers connected to each of the Seven Sisters.

Of course, it also turned out that the last sorcereress-priestess of Merope had been involved in trapping a big bad lich, and so the crown happens to be tied in to how one would get there. So one set of bad guys is now interested in forcing the witch to use the artifact to get access to the lich in question.

I'm really happy with how the artifact turned out. It isn't too powerful (although in a more optimizing player it might be). It fit in very well with other things happening in the setting, and allowed both me and one of the players to flush out various parts of the setting, and got her more interested in what was happening. That last seems like the sort of thing an artifact really should do: draw the players in. And it doesn't need to have a lot of power to do that, just have some interesting history that connects with PCs's plot hooks.

[Uhtred]

A tankard blessed by Olidammara that manifests as a Rod of Wonder to whoever drinks from it! Our Gnome Illusionist magicked it to look like one of the tankards used in the tavern they frequented, then slipped it into the pile of tankards the bartender was filling and sat back to watch the carnage. Naturally it ended up in the hands of the most powerful wizard in the bar, and it's effect was Lightning Bolt. Ah, fun times.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

In the first major campaign I ran, I introduced an evil Immortal Wizard as the players main foe. They robbed his old grave and found some of his stuff.

The Book Of Hieronymous the Vile
This book held a suite of customized spells and ingredients which the user instantly learned by reading the book. Some spells included the power to permanent Body Swap as well as No-Save-Just-Diseased stuff. All of it was nasty and powerful...and all one had to do was read the damn thing. The key thing here? Reading it resulted in a Will Save. A high one that crept higher and higher. Succeeding lead to great power, but loss of sanity (which the Druid loved to Roleplay). Failing meant Hieronymous would possess the reader and turn them against the party.

No one knew that. :smallamused:

The Amulet of Hieronymous the Vile
Oh yeah. The party Monk got this little bad boy. He was a physical BEAST. And this doodad gave him virtual immunity to Magic. All magic, good or bad. He loved it. Except for the bad dreams. The ones where a sickly laugh echoed in his skull and maggots crawled up his spine.

When he went to take it off after failing a will save after a dream, this happened:

Monk: I take off the amulet!
Me: No.
Monk: No?
Me: You have the strangest urge to keep wearing it. It is a nice amulet.
Monk: ...ahhhh crap.

When he took it to the High Priest of a god who owed them a favor, he asked to have it inspected, and perhaps disenchanted. Due to failed Will saves, he suddenly became Hieronymous and began wailing on everything in sight with all the power of an optimized Monk10/Wizard10. Nearly party-wiped. Managed to rip it off his neck and destroyed the thing, shattering Hieronymous' Horcrux amulet.

Pretty much the whole time the Druid was trying to read the BBEG's Book too. He got through several pages. And then he became an Immortal Druid10/Wizard10 and started Fireballing everyone in the party. If the Monk wasn't on hand to kick his head in, it would have TPK'd.

My players do not trust Artifacts anymore. :smallbiggrin: They always expect me to throw out an innocent looking item and then turn it into the One Ring.

[Angelalex242]

Sometimes, I like making up classical artifacts.

Excalibur: (1 handed (but can be used 2handed), 2d6 base damage, 18-20x4, functions as longsword for proficiency purposes)
Combined Powers of Holy Devastator (ELH) and Holy Avenger (PHB), with the Axiomatic Power (ELH) and Blessed (BoED) and Vorpal(PHB) qualities thrown in for fun. (Yes, it automatically confirms critical hits...and even the vorpal effect...when used against evil.)

Also allows Smite Evil at will, which combines with the Devastator power for double strength smite evils at will.

Sheath:
Regeneration, Fast Healing 50, DR 20/-. No form of attack bypasses the regeneration of the sheath. Also grants immunity to negative statuses and death effects. Only removing it from the holder can the effect be stopped (which could be done by slight of hand, for example...

Requirements:Obviously, only a Paladin can use this artifact. In addition, he must be a king, (or crown prince, at least.)

Where found:Every village idiot can tell you where it is. It's in that lake over there. Good luck proving yourself worthy to the Lady of the Lake (who's actually a 66 HD Solar...)

[Incorrect]

Justice
A beautiful dagger made for the Kelmvor church.

It had the power to sneak attack undeads as if they were alive.
Additionally it could kill a lich permanently, circumventing its phylactery.

Of cause the party rogue got himself killed, and the party sold the dagger, before they knew that the BBEG was a lich.
A simple artifact, but the loss of it changed the entire campaign.

[Devronq]

Ok so my longest running campiagn was with me and my friend who brought a barbarian from lv.1-lv.26 and he was alone most of the time. I made a whole campaign just for him and around lv.20ish i made some artifacts based off of the talismans from jackie chan adventures. They had the same names and roughly the same abilities, they certainly were artifacts for how strong they were. One granted +10 str one granted astral project at will for as long as you want. One granted improved invisible at will with infinite duration. Stuff like that and they granted additional powers the more of them you had, (i think there was 10 in total). I had them stated out at one point but i cant remember much more about them now.