Artifacts of Equivalent Power

[MintyNinja]

Hey Playground, got another question to toss up: Are these even remotely balanced? These being a series of artifacts that I'm cobbling together as the goal for my PC's motivations. The shtick of my next campaign is a semi-evil-self-interest-but-work-together group of people are banding together to find an ancient citadel that allegedly holds the artifacts they seek. I expect the players to be around level 12-13 when they get them and I want them to hold interest for the foreseeable future after that. I don't see the players growing past level 15, but I've been wrong before.

That said, here's the list so far:

The Elemental Rings: (4 separate artifacts)
- Each has the Summon Elemental ability of it's relevant Brazier, Bowl, Censure, or Stone. That's 1/LR Conjure Elemental. (DMG 156, 158, 205)
- Resistance to Element.
- Each Ring has a Unique Ability set found on DMG Pages 190-1. I think with the addition of the above abilities, that this makes it a worthy artifact.

Mantle of Shadows:
- Shadow Step Ability of Shadow Monk. (PHB 80)
- Cloak of Arachnida. Solid item as it is, made all the better with the Shadow Step. (DMG 158)

Dragonsoul Fragment: (Would require choosing the type of dragon)
- Summonable wings via Wings of Flying, without the 1d12 hour recharge.(DMG 214)
- Breath Weapon at level of Young Dragon, with recharge.
- Resistance to type.

Feylord's Sapling:
- Staff of Woodlands. (DMG 204)
- Bonus Action to warp it into +2 Weapon, which user becomes proficient with.
- Summonable as Pact Weapon feature. (PHB 107)

The Armor:
- Dwarven Plate (+2) (DMG 167)
- Resist Non-Magical Damage
- Immune to Critical Hits (via Adamantine) (DMG 150)

The Weapon:
- +2 Attack and Damage
- Crit Range 19-20
- Bonus Crit damage +2d10
- Change type of Bonus Crit damage 1/LR

Elder Staff:
- Staff of Power (DMG 202)
- Increase Int +2 to Max of 24
- Summonable as Pact Weapon (PHB 107)

So I'm looking for input on how these measure up/equate with each other. Any and all advice helps.

[DragonSorcererX]

Hey Playground, got another question to toss up: Are these even remotely balanced? These being a series of artifacts that I'm cobbling together as the goal for my PC's motivations. The shtick of my next campaign is a semi-evil-self-interest-but-work-together group of people are banding together to find an ancient citadel that allegedly holds the artifacts they seek. I expect the players to be around level 12-13 when they get them and I want them to hold interest for the foreseeable future after that. I don't see the players growing past level 15, but I've been wrong before.

That said, here's the list so far:

The Elemental Rings: (4 separate artifacts)
- Each has the Summon Elemental ability of it's relevant Brazier, Bowl, Censure, or Stone. That's 1/LR Conjure Elemental. (DMG 156, 158, 205)
- Resistance to Element.
- Each Ring has a Unique Ability set found on DMG Pages 190-1. I think with the addition of the above abilities, that this makes it a worthy artifact.

Mantle of Shadows:
- Shadow Step Ability of Shadow Monk. (PHB 80)
- Cloak of Arachnida. Solid item as it is, made all the better with the Shadow Step. (DMG 158)

Dragonsoul Fragment: (Would require choosing the type of dragon)
- Summonable wings via Wings of Flying, without the 1d12 hour recharge.(DMG 214)
- Breath Weapon at level of Young Dragon, with recharge.
- Resistance to type.

Feylord's Sapling:
- Staff of Woodlands. (DMG 204)
- Bonus Action to warp it into +2 Weapon, which user becomes proficient with.
- Summonable as Pact Weapon feature. (PHB 107)

The Armor:
- Dwarven Plate (+2) (DMG 167)
- Resist Non-Magical Damage
- Immune to Critical Hits (via Adamantine) (DMG 150)

The Weapon:
- +2 Attack and Damage
- Crit Range 19-20
- Bonus Crit damage +2d10
- Change type of Bonus Crit damage 1/LR

Elder Staff:
- Staff of Power (DMG 202)
- Increase Int +2 to Max of 24
- Summonable as Pact Weapon (PHB 107)

So I'm looking for input on how these measure up/equate with each other. Any and all advice helps.

These look awesome, but even I, the hater of mundane plebs and low-powered realism lovin' emos, think that the Dragonsoul Fragment is too op! Downgrade the Breath Weapon to Wyrmling and it should be ok.

[MintyNinja]

Yeah, I see your point about Wyrmling vs. Young dragon. I'll probably make that change. As added information, the players won't know what each item can do, they'll be picking from a list of names.

If anyone else has input I'd love to hear it.

[kebusmaximus]

Why does the Elder Staff increase intelligence by 2, but raises the cap to 24?

[LapinHero]

Why does the Elder Staff increase intelligence by 2, but raises the cap to 24?

There's another item (DMG?) that raises the cap to 22 with a +2.
Either both are popping up or someone has ASIs to spare.

[MintyNinja]

There's another item (DMG?) that raises the cap to 22 with a +2.
Either both are popping up or someone has ASIs to spare.

There's a Manual of some sort that does raise Int and the Int Cap by +2. I should probably copy that language more carefully, thanks.

I'm also thinking of removing the casting of Web from the Mantle of Shadows and instead add a +1 AC.

Going to add the Cantrips to the Rings: Control Fire, Gust, Mold Earth, and Shape Water.