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lilderp21
2018-04-03, 06:25 PM
Hi Im a DM for my local tabletop game with a few friends and I had a interesting idea for a quest. At the end of their current quest they are going to find a magic weapon. This weapon is my own creation and when attuned to it will link itself to them and slowly corrupt them until they complete the quest to get it off before the corruption is complete (I dont know what they are going to do to get it off yet). I need help in creating the item. I have some basic things about it but I want it to be powerful for level 5's (where they are when they get the weapon) but I also want it to have its negatives and penalize them for using the gauntlet excessively as it will corrupt them more the more they feed it. It might make more sense after reading the item below. help and opinions are great appreciated thanks!

Gauntlet of Tha’rak

Attacks with the gauntlet have a +1 to attack and damage rolls and deal 1d8 slashing damage as a magical weapon

Link: To attune to this weapon one must put on the gauntlet. Once attuned the wearer will experience immense pain and the gauntlet will fuse to its wearer. From this point on the wear cannot remove the gauntlet by any means. The gauntlet is now treated as a extension of the persons body allowing them to feel a sense of touch to it and no longer feel its weight. The link is only broken when the owner is dies causing its blood to be devoured by the gauntlet preventing regeneration by anything less than a wish spell.

Blood Thirst: When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points the gauntlet corrupts it and steals its life essence healing the wielder for hit points equal to the creatures hit points and preventing regeneration on the creature from anything less than a wish spell.

Blood Price: Attacks with the gauntlet do an extra 2d6 of necrotic damage to creatures that aren't constructs or undead. For every 50 points of damage done the next DC against corruption will increase by one.

Power hungry: While someone is attuned to the gauntlet Tha’rak is aware of all living creatures within 60ft of it. It knows the fastest route to them and it knows their size and how powerful the creature is.

Corruption: As soon as the weapon attunes to the wielder it will begin to corrupt their body and mind to eventually allow Tha’rak to take over and run free from its imprisonment in the gauntlet. For every time the wielder goes down and every 24 hours the wielder has the gauntlet on they must roll a wisdom saving throw with a DC of 15. The DC lowers by 1 for every 2 levels of corruption the wielder has. On fail you gain a level of corruption. For each level of corruption roll a d10 and give the corresponding effect from the corruption table rerolling if the character already has the effect. If a character gains all effects then the next failed save causes Tha’rak to be released and take over the person's body, banshing their soul until the gauntlet is removed from Tha’raks body. All effects of corruption are lost upon the gauntlet being removed.

1 - imposing figure: You get disadvantage on all persuasion rolls and whenever you come in contact with a non-player character you automatically roll to intimidate them.
2 - Hunger: disadvantage on all attacks using a weapon that isn't the gauntlet.
3 - forbidden tongue: You become proficient in abyssal, but find yourself unable to speak in a language other than abyssal.
4 - Thrill: The wielder is filled with a sick thrill when fighting and killing. Because of this the wielder can no longer use non-lethal damage to finish combat and cannot run from a combat encounter once it starts.
5 - Withdrawal: Too much time without satting the gauntlets hunger saps the strength from the wielders body and mind giving disadvantage on all ability checks if the gauntlet has not killed anything in the last 8 hours.
6 - tainted mind: terrible dreams keep you up when sleeping causing you to gain only half of the benefits given by a long rest.
7 - Rage: the gauntlet has filled you mind with a lust for destruction. Whenever the wielder takes damage they must succeed on a wisdom saving throw (DC 15) or spend the entirety of their next turns actions attempting to reach and destroy the source of the damage as fast as they can. This effect ends when the source of damage is destroyed. Only one source can be targeted at a time.
8 - corrupted blood: healing spells that come from a divine source are no longer effective at healing the wielder.
9 - clouded thought: the corruption from the gauntlet clouds your mind with visions making it hard to think. The wielder has disadvantage on wisdom, intelligence, and charisma saving throws against spell effects.
10 - control: Tha’rak can gain a temporary grip on the wielders mind. One a day Tha’rak can cast dominate person on the wielder. The wielder must succeed on a wisdom saving with a DC of 13. On fail Tha’rak commands the person's mind for the next minute.

Sentience: Tha’rak lives within the weapon. He is chaotic evil and has the stats of 18 intelligence, 14 wisdom, and 19 charisma. Tha’rak communicates telepathically with its wielder, is aware of everything the wielder senses, and can see the thoughts and dreams of its wielder. Tha’rak can also see through the eye on the gauntlet with darkvision of 60ft

Fire Tarrasque
2018-04-03, 08:53 PM
Blood thirst is CRAZY powerful. That's gonna be in high demand not just for level fives, but for ANYTHING. A Tarrasque could get huge mileage out of that feature. You need to reduce that, maybe half max HP, or a quarter. At base, your currently doing 1d8 + 2d6 + 1, which is... below average for a player. A barbarian with multiattack who hits every attack could be doing around (ignoring plusses) 2d12 damage a turn. Also, clarify. Is it ONLY the 2d6 damage that raises DC, or all damage?

Thunderfist12
2018-04-03, 09:28 PM
I have suggestions for almost all of these. Sounds like you want a cursed item, so I made it a bit more... cursed.


Blood Thirst: When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points the gauntlet corrupts it and steals its life essence healing the wielder for giving the wielder temporary hit points equal to the creatures remaining hit points and preventing regeneration on the creature from anything less than a wish spell.

Temporary hit points fit better for this ability than actual healing in my opinion - especially given that a later effect would cancel this.


Blood Price: Attacks with the gauntlet do an extra 2d6 2d8 of necrotic damage to creatures that aren't constructs or undead. For every 50 points of necrotic damage done the DC against corruption will increase by one. These modifiers stack until a save is failed.

Want them to get rid of the item? Make it a burden in some circumstances. Now fighting undead might just heal them instead of harming them.

Also if it channels necrotic energy, and is an evil item, why WOULDN'T it heal undead?


Power hungry: While someone is attuned to the gauntlet Tha’rak is aware of all living creatures within 60ft of it. It knows the fastest route to them, and it knows their size, and how powerful the creature is. This knowledge does not extend to the wielder unless Tha'rak chooses to convey this information.

There. Now Tha'rak is able to let the wielder walk into an ambush, keep a spy of its hidden as it stalks the party, and so on if it suits its agenda.


Corruption: As soon as the weapon attunes to the wielder it will begin to corrupt their body and mind to eventually allow Tha’rak to take over and run free from its imprisonment in the gauntlet. For every time the wielder goes down unconscious and every 24 hours the wielder has the gauntlet on, they must roll a wisdom saving throw with a DC of 15. The DC lowers by 1 for every 2 levels of corruption the wielder has. On fail you gain a level of corruption. For each level of corruption roll a d10 and give the corresponding effect from the corruption table, re-rolling if the character already has the effect. If a character gains all effects then the next failed save causes Tha’rak to be released and take over the person's body, banishing their soul into the gauntlet[B] until the gauntlet is removed from Tha’raks body. All effects of corruption are lost upon the gauntlet being removed.

Slashed some bookkeeping and suggested where that soul goes.


1 - Imposing Figure: You get disadvantage on all persuasion rolls and whenever you come in contact with a non-player character you automatically roll to intimidate them. (Added:) You gain a [B]Passive Intimidation score. This is calculated the same way as Passive Perception, but it uses your Intimidation. Any living being of the humanoid, beast, or monstrosity type who comes within 60 feet must roll a Charisma save opposed by this score or become frightened.

Check it out, now it's specific and requires less rolling.


2 - Hunger: disadvantage on all attacks using a weapon that isn't the gauntlet. (Added:) The gauntlet deals an additional 1d8 necrotic damage (totalling 3d8), and also deals 1d8 necrotic damage to you on each attack you make.

Seems more "hungry" now, no?


3 - Forbidden Tongue: You become proficient in abyssal, but find yourself unable to speak in a language other than abyssal.

If you attempt to speak and it has been at least 4 hours since your last save of this kind, make a Charisma save (use the Corruption DC). On a failure, you may only speak Abyssal until your next save. On a success, your speech is unaffected. This lasts until your next save in at least 4 hours.

I think the player would get frustrated if they might be unable to speak for a very long time. At least now there's a chance for either.


4 - Thrill: The wielder is filled with a sick thrill when fighting and killing. Because of this the wielder can no longer use non-lethal damage to finish combat and cannot run from a combat encounter once it starts. (Added:) Furthermore, the wielder must make a Charisma save, opposed to the Corruption DC, at the start of every round. If they fail they gain all the following effects this round. If in melee range of any creature, they must attack at least one creature. If they are not and can move, that move action must put them in melee with another creature if possible. Note this may lead to attacking allies - Tha'rak is indiscriminate. All these effects end once every foe is dead or the player becomes unconscious.

The gauntlet is evil after all...


5 - Withdrawal: Too much time without sating the gauntlet's hunger saps the strength from the wielders body and mind giving disadvantage on all ability checks if the gauntlet has not killed anything in the last 8 12 hours. Every 12 hours you have not killed something, you must make a Constitution save against the Corruption DC or gain 1 Exhaustion. This Exhaustion cannot be removed until something is killed with the gauntlet, at which point they all are removed.

Just personal preference on this one... take it or leave it I guess.


6 - Tainted Mind: Terrible dreams keep you up when sleeping causing you to gain only half of the benefits given by a long rest.

This is fine. I'm assuming it effects the spells you can prepare, hit dice you heal, etc.


7 - Rage: The gauntlet has filled you mind with a lust for destruction. Whenever the wielder takes damage they must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC 15) against the Corruption DC or spend the entirety of their next turns actions attempting to reach and destroy the source of the damage as fast as they can. This effect ends when the source of damage is destroyed. Only one source can be targeted at a time. This overrides the effects of Hunger and cannot target the gauntlet. It can target the wielder if they damage themself, even on accident.

Quick patch.


8 - Corrupted Blood: healing spells that come from a divine source effects from anything other than sleep are no longer effective at healing the wielder.

Hey, you said you wanted drawbacks...


9 - Clouded Thought: the corruption from the gauntlet clouds your mind with visions making it hard to think. The wielder has disadvantage on Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma saving throws against spell effects.

This is fine.



10 - Control: Tha’rak can gain a temporary grip on the wielders mind. Once a day Tha’rak can cast dominate person on the wielder. The wielder must succeed on a Wisdom save with a DC of 13 against the Corruption DC. On fail, Tha’rak commands the person's mind for the next 1d4 minutes. (Added:) This does not mean the others know Tha'rak has control. It may and likely will choose to hide this. The wielder blacks out during this time and has no clue of Tha'rak's control or memory of its actions in this time.

Suggestions to deal with questions that may come up. Also, the Corruption DC makes the most sense for all these effects.

Requilac
2018-04-05, 10:50 PM
Blood Thirst: When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points the gauntlet corrupts it and steals its life essence healing the wielder for hit points equal to the creatures hit points and preventing regeneration on the creature from anything less than a wish spell.

How much hit points do you gain by this feature, how many hit points the target had before you delivered the killing blow or their hit point maximum? If it is the latter, then switch it the former, because otherwise its power level is through the roof.



Power hungry: While someone is attuned to the gauntlet Tha’rak is aware of all living creatures within 60ft of it. It knows the fastest route to them and it knows their size and how powerful the creature is.

What do you mean it knows how powerful the creature's around it are? Powerful is an abstract term witn solid in game definition. Does this mean the wearer gets to know its CR, an over-view of the creature's abilities, or something else.

Corruption: As soon as the weapon attunes to the wielder it will begin to corrupt their body and mind to eventually allow Tha’rak to take over and run free from its imprisonment in the gauntlet. For every time the wielder goes down and every 24 hours the wielder has the gauntlet on they must roll a wisdom saving throw with a DC of 15. The DC lowers by 1 for every 2 levels of corruption the wielder has. On fail you gain a level of corruption. For each level of corruption roll a d10 and give the corresponding effect from the corruption table rerolling if the character already has the effect. If a character gains all effects then the next failed save causes Tha’rak to be released and take over the person's body, banshing their soul until the gauntlet is removed from Tha’raks body. All effects of corruption are lost upon the gauntlet being removed.



1 - imposing figure: You get disadvantage on all persuasion rolls and whenever you come in contact with a non-player character you automatically roll to intimidate them.

What do you mean by the bolded section above. One only makes a check when they are trying to accomplish something. Do they just roll to see whether the target is scared of them or something? Why would you be forcing the player to go around making intimidation checks that don't do anything?



6 - tainted mind: terrible dreams keep you up when sleeping causing you to gain only half of the benefits given by a long rest.

What do you mean by this? If you are only gaining half the benefits of a long rest, then what features are you only gaining half of? Could you be more specific. Perhaps by saying that they only regain half as many hit points and hit dice as they should after a long rest.