Artifact Question

[LordAshenshield]

How powerful are these Artifacts, should you possibly start with them or at least get them soon at level 10.

Hammer of Thunderbolts (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/artifacts.htm#hammerofThunderbolts)

Staff of Magi (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/artifacts.htm#staffoftheMagi)

Dragon Slayer (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/artifacts/minor-artifacts/serithtial)

Unending Tome (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/artifacts/minor-artifacts/sihedron-tome)

Or anything of the Minor Artifacts

[TuggyNE]

Generally, artifacts exist for plot purposes primarily, and starting with them or acquiring them at a particular level is pretty weird. Most of the listed artifacts are fairly potent, too, although Hammer of Thunderbolts is almost acceptable at level 10.

[Alleran]

I might be willing to hand out a Hammer of Thunderbolts or Staff of the Magi to an NPC at around level 14 (which probably means the PCs will want to kill them and take it, but still), as a particularly special item that they have or possess for some reason. They're not earth-shatteringly powerful - I kind of miss the AD&D days, when a lot of artifacts were something scarily powerful, and dangerous.

I mean, the philosopher's stone is a one-and-done deal that gives you a true resurrection. Yay. Wow.

[danzibr]

[i]scarily[i] powerful, and dangerous.
Like the head of Vecna?

Seriously, I'll probably dole out some body parts of Vecna in a campaign I'm running. Rather, have the party confiscate and destroy them.

[Alleran]

Like the head of Vecna?

Seriously, I'll probably dole out some body parts of Vecna in a campaign I'm running. Rather, have the party confiscate and destroy them.
Make sure they don't touch the third-rib-from-the-top-on-the-left-side of Vecna, or at least not with their bare hands. Finger of Death 1/round, every round, targeted at them.

Nasty, that.

[Xervous]

Make sure they don't touch the third-rib-from-the-top-on-the-left-side of Vecna, or at least not with their bare hands. Finger of Death 1/round, every round, targeted at them.

Nasty, that.

Knowing the effect, I would probably willingly fail the save on my character just to save myself the trouble of rolling.

[BWR]

Like the head of Vecna?

Seriously, I'll probably dole out some body parts of Vecna in a campaign I'm running. Rather, have the party confiscate and destroy them.

That was yet another bit of "Die, Vecna, Die" that I disliked. The Hand and Eye are ok, the Other Eye, the Arm, the Five Digits, the Skin, the HEart, etc. were just asnine.

[Xintas]

That was yet another bit of "Die, Vecna, Die" that I disliked. The Hand and Eye are ok, the Other Eye, the Arm, the Five Digits, the Skin, the HEart, etc. were just asnine.

But how else will young adventurer's learn their evil biology lessons?

[Alleran]

But how else will young adventurer's learn their evil biology lessons?
Dissection of currently-living meatbag-suits of XP and loot, obviously.

[eggynack]

I'd definitely avoid handing out the staff to a 10th level party. It looks like you can pretty easily control the amount of charges on it, even though it doesn't communicate the number explicitly. The staff wouldn't be powerful in excess, but the SM IX ability pushes it over the top. Read the summoner's desk reference (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255219), with particular attention paid to the list of SLA's, and then consider the fact that a character with staff in hand would have perfect access to every SLA on that list on an at-will basis. If you remove that usage, I'd call it safe for general 10th level consumption, though it's not something I'd consider doing lightly.

The other items have very strong numbers on them, but they're not numbers that are completely incomparable to normal magic items. That pricing would certainly put the items out of reach of a first level character, and would likely put them out of reach of a 10th level character. Still, they're probably not game breakingly powerful, even if they are very powerful.