Kaiju God Artifact (Pathfinder)

[Kaiju Claws]

Hello all. I'm running a homebrewed Pathfinder game in which there are several kaiju worshipped as gods, including Godzilla. With that in mind, I'm working on constructing an artifact to aid the players in their quest. The artifact in question has been created from a small piece of Godzilla's flesh, which has been fashioned into an amulet. It is supposed to grant the bearer of the amulet a portion of his powers. The artifact will not be necessary to complete the campaign. Think of it as a daedric item quest in an Elder Scrolls game.

My question is what is too much? Initially I thought that I would use the artifact to grant the bearer access to the kaiju subtype with the addition of a bite attack (perhaps with claws added in) which would do colossal damage, plus the other benefits of the kaiju subtype (epic dr, awesome blow, etc). But is this too much power for one player?

The amulet does have a drawback; it emits an aura of very strong radiation within a 5' radius. This would be incredibly detrimental against both enemies and players, but I don't know if the offensive uses of it would outweigh the consequences to teammates.

So, any thoughts or opinions out there? I really like the use of the kaiju subtype, but I'm concerned about power abuse. Should I simply make the amulet reflect the more "normal" abilities of Godzilla (a bit of regen, atomic breath, radiation, etc) or am I on the right path with this? Another perspective would be very helpful to have.

[stack]

Giving that to a single player in a party likely to chase hard feelings amongst player if the other scant get similar boosts.

[Kaiju Claws]

Not a bad consideration stack, but these guys have been playing together for over 5 years. I've seen them go through some pretty intense set ups and trading off of powerful gear and items, not to mention sharing/swapping the spotlight between 6-9 players. I'm not worried about them fighting over it. Full disclosure, the item in question would serve a party beloved NPC mostly (though I do have more appropriately crafted items for the rest of the party in the wings should they want to keep it).

Any thoughts on whether or not the template is too powerful to make?

[DrMotives]

You probably should balance it out with a downside, too. There was a Dragon Magazine article in which a bunch of bards took a horn severed from the tarrasque to make a magical artifact musical horn. I know, you'll tell me the tarrasque is as kaiju as Matthew Broderick's Godzilla movie, but the heart is in the right place. Thing is, the horn had a downside of attracting the tarraque whevever it was used, which lead to Bad Things. I don't see why there shouldn't also be Bad Things for using an amulet made from Godzilla's living flesh.

[TheYell]

He doesn't NEED to become kaiju; it just might HELP?! You are insane. I salute you.

Make a list of all the kaiju benefits it *could* bestow, and say: pick 2 each morning, and thats what you have all day. Then he can get beat down and come back roaring another day using different abilities, like a kaiju.

As to downside, it loses all powers if touched by the host kaiju. Like, if he steps on you.

[Extra Anchovies]

The main issue with giving a player the Kaiju subtype is there there's multiple instances of rules text that refer to kaiju being exclusively Colossal creatures, and the Hurl Foe and Massive traits also get a bit wonky on a Medium creature. Everything else can mechanically function, but I recommend against giving the full traits - even just the DR, fast healing, and energy resistance would be enough to cause some serious problems at most levels of play. However, lowering the numbers could end up with something interesting. How about this:

Darkvision 120 feet
DR/epic equal to 1/2 wearer's HD (maximum 10)
natural and weapon attacks count as epic and magic for overcoming DR
fast healing equal to 1/2 wearer's HD (maximum 10)
energy resistance (acid, cold, electricity, fire, negative, sonic) equal to wearer's HD (maximum 20)
bonus to saving throws against ability damage/drain, death effects, disease, energy drain, fear, paralysis, petrification, polymorph, immobilizing, and mind-affecting effects equal to 1/2 wearer's HD (maximum 10)
Radiation: a creature who wears it for two days in a row receives a -1 penalty to all ability scores; this penalty increases by 1 for each additional consecutive day (-2 on the 3rd day, -3 on the 4th day) and cannot be reduced, removed, or avoided except by removing the amulet, after which all penalties fade over the course of an hour

So it gives some fun defensive abilities that scale with the characters' level, and the radiation effect encourages taking turns with the kaiju-amulet instead of sticking it on one character most of the time.

[Kaiju Claws]

That is an excellent thought DrMotives. I had been trying to figure out what the consequence of using this artifact would be, but couldn't quite figure it out. Thankfully the Tarrasque comparison has lead to a good point (and it's heart is definitely in the right place). I hadn't considered that attracting Godzilla would be a bad thing. :smalltongue: I mean, I love Godzilla, why would his showing up ever be a bad thing? :smallbiggrin:

I will take that as the highest of praise TheYell. I had been looking for a way to destroy the artifact as well and you have given it to me. Thank you. I will be using that.

ExtraAnchovies, I know the kaiju subtype would be a bit wonky but I couldn't help considering the fun picture of a medium sized character tossing around larger foes with an awesome blow. But I needed someone to reign in the insanity that it would cause. Thank you. The approach you have proposed is actually very much in line with what I wanted, but couldn't quite put my finger on. I do believe that I'll add in a once/a day spell to give it a more unique kaiju effect and to keep it from just being a big defense/offense buff item.

I think I've got something to work with here. An amulet that provides a scaleable portion of the kaiju subtype (capping at +10 to keep them from becoming real kaiju) and a 1x a day breath weapon (let's say equal to an older dragon's breath shall we?), while administering a dose of "special" radiation to the bearer (so it affects those who are immune to radiation as well) which means that it has to be taken off periodically and/or passed around. In addition, overuse of the amulet will attract Godzilla himself to the area, causing untold destruction. If the amulet should come into contact with him, it will be destroyed.

Does that sound fun to you guys?

This is why I come around here with my questions. You guys provide me a different perspective which I hadn't considered. Thank all of you for the responses, you've been super helpful.

[Extra Anchovies]

I think I've got something to work with here. An amulet that provides a scaleable portion of the kaiju subtype (capping at +10 to keep them from becoming real kaiju) and a 1x a day breath weapon (let's say equal to an older dragon's breath shall we?), while administering a dose of "special" radiation to the bearer (so it affects those who are immune to radiation as well) which means that it has to be taken off periodically and/or passed around. In addition, overuse of the amulet will attract Godzilla himself to the area, causing untold destruction. If the amulet should come into contact with him, it will be destroyed.

Capping most of the bonuses at 10 makes sense, but the energy resistance should probably scale to 20 so it stays relevant. I think the radiation effect shouldn't apply penalties until a full day has passed; needing to swap the amulet multiple times each day would be annoying to keep track of ("has it been four hours yet?"). I like the idea of adding a breath weapon effect - maybe a 3/day 30-foot cone of (wearer's HD) damage, half fire and half untyped radiation. A size-increase effect (3/day enlarge person on the wearer?) would be cool too.

[Kaiju Claws]

Woops, yeah the 20 energy resistances make sense. And you are completely right about the 24 hour period as well. I like the scaling breath weapon as well. Half radiation, half fire sounds good. I'm thinking 1d8 damage dice. I'm sorely tempted to make it 1d10, but I think it might be a bit much.

I hadn't considered the enlarge self effect either, but I like it. Kaiju should be big after all. :smallsmile: Thank you for the help. There's a good chance this item will see a wider use in the campaign now, and I'm really excited to see what is done with it.