Magic Items For NPCs

[Fightmaster]

I need to design some magic items for some NPCs that'll be in the campaign I'm co-running. So far we have themes for them but not actual crunch. The party will be level 3 by the time they start. The NPCs will level as the players do, should they survive. All I need is a basic effect and I can advance them from there. The NPCs are:
A gladiator who uses a giant pillar of unrefined meteor as a weapon. I was thinking it would be unnaturally hard or offer some sort of force effect.
A monk with a quarter staff that can be used for ranged attacks.

Any ideas or input to improve these concepts is appreciated

[kilatok669]

I need to design some magic items for some NPCs that'll be in the campaign I'm co-running. So far we have themes for them but not actual crunch. The party will be level 3 by the time they start. The NPCs will level as the players do, should they survive. All I need is a basic effect and I can advance them from there. The NPCs are:
A gladiator who uses a giant pillar of unrefined meteor as a weapon. I was thinking it would be unnaturally hard or offer some sort of force effect.
A monk with a quarter staff that can be used for ranged attacks.

Any ideas or input to improve these concepts is appreciated

What kind of monk is it? I think a nice bit of flavor for a quarterstaff would be a fairly simple staff, with unadorned, rough wood, but with a magical ki-style energy eye on the top to represent a third eye from which energy for ranged attacks could shoot.

It would be difficult to give the gladiator's weapon more fluff without knowing more about him.

[Ninja_Prawn]

A gladiator who uses a giant pillar of unrefined meteor as a weapon. I was thinking it would be unnaturally hard or offer some sort of force effect.


Surprise: it's actually an Immovable Rod that got stuck on 'immovable' mode*. As soon as the gladiator discovers this, they lose the ability to move it (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AchievementsInIgnorance).

* I guess it got stuck in place, then left behind by the motion of the earth around the sun, only for the planet to crash into a exactly a year later. Do not question my logic!

[Ace Jackson]

For fluff on the meteor, perhaps it saved his life when was starting out? A heavenly rock falls, his much stronger opponent dies, and his masters/handlers/agents spin it as a symbol of divine favor (whether it actually is or not is an exercise for the discerning GM). Mechanically, as an absolute baseline I'd have it count as a magic weapon for purposes of damage resistance, then maybe coat it in blue fire when swung dealing fire or cold damage to the tune of 1d4 damage in addition to the baseline club. Alternatively, perhaps it is a crude spear? It fits better with the classic net and trident anyway. If so, perhaps it also lets him "cast shield once per long rest" as an alternative to bonus damage, this to reflect the defensive flexibility of a staff-like object that's balanced as opposed to a hunk of rock.

Regardless, perhaps the meteor object also has a rider effect for critical strikes? Something flashy for the gladiatorial finishes, like a massive critical which causes the rock to open and unveil... something, or helpful for an ongoing struggle... Maybe a self-only bless without concentration? Those are my ideas at the moment. Hope it gives some ideas.

Oh, and for monk, since you've already got a direct ki flavored option, a mundane, or at least indirect ki idea might be a modified form of a monk's spade. When his opponent is too far away to hit in melee, as rare an occurrence as it should be, he can use his spade in a rapid figure eight spin, giving the characteristics of a sling's shot in aggregate, in addition, he might carry some specially carved stones which he can also use, to the effect of a light crossbow, but with a limited ammo supply that he can only replenish with the help of dwarves.

Also, back to the meteor, to borrow some of Ninja's thoughts, perhaps he can manipulate some physical properties in proportion with each other? Like he can make it longer, but the density goes down a proportional amount? I suggest this one since you named the thread magic items, not weapons.

[Fightmaster]

For the monk I envisioned him as clever, refined and efficient. He's a tailor who wears a suit that never gets dirty and can change fashions at will (magically). He uses the right tool for the right job, so perhaps elemental would be a good choice, seeing all the options it grants? When I thought of his ranged attack it was along the lines of being a thrown weapon or being fired from a bow. But the eye laser sounds pretty great!


As for the gladiator, his backstory is that he's not the sharpest tool in the deck, but he's aware of it. He lets others do his thinking and what he lacks in intellect, he makes up for in brute strength. The meteor crashed during a match he was being bested in by a bard who had charmed a hydra who mocked him constantly. He was so enraged that he pulled it out of the ground and crushed them both with it. Severely damaging the arena

[Fightmaster]

Ace, I love both of your ideas

[PoeticDwarf]

I need to design some magic items for some NPCs that'll be in the campaign I'm co-running. So far we have themes for them but not actual crunch. The party will be level 3 by the time they start. The NPCs will level as the players do, should they survive. All I need is a basic effect and I can advance them from there. The NPCs are:
A gladiator who uses a giant pillar of unrefined meteor as a weapon. I was thinking it would be unnaturally hard or offer some sort of force effect.
A monk with a quarter staff that can be used for ranged attacks.

Any ideas or input to improve these concepts is appreciated

Maybe the monk can cast spells with the quarter staff?
A standard ranged attack for a monk sounds really strong.