Magic Item Balance - Dragonheart Diamond

[Dragons_Ire]

Hello, Playground!
I am currently preparing a campaign for me and a sibling (and possibly Dad!), and one of my sister's characters is a paranoid Storm Sorcerer. I mentioned that the 'Animate Objects' spell would be quite powerful when the character reaches 9th level, especially as the character owns a bag of caltrops already. She said it would be cool if the sorcerer could make a small animated dragon made of ice with a similar personality. I told her I'd see what I could do, but that it might require high-level spells (I mean, what she's describing is basically a scaled-down Simulacrum).

Then, inspiration struck.

Dragonheart Diamond
Wondrous item, some rarity (requires attunement, any spellcaster)
This clear white diamond has draconic runes set with gold into it's faces, and a snowflake on top. When it is attuned to, ice forms around it in the shape of a small dragon. The ice dragon is a sentient magic item, and it's personality is similar to the first creature to attune to the diamond. In combat, the dragon rolls it's own initiative. It's proficiency bonus is equal to that of the attuned creature. The dragon has the following statistics:

Tiny size, AC: 14, HP: 2 x the level of the attuned character
Speed 15 ft., fly 60 ft.
Str 4, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 16.
Immune to poison and cold damage, vulnerable to fire damage
Darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 11
Speaks and understands Draconic, and can communicate telepathically with the attuned creature
Actions:
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +(3 + prof. bonus) to hit, reach 5 ft., 1 target. Hit: 1d4 + 3 cold damage
Ray of Frost. The dragon casts the Ray of Frost cantrip. It's spellcasting ability is Charisma.

If the dragon is reduced to 0 HP, the icy form is destroyed and the gem falls to the ground. The dragon's icy form reforms around the gem at the next dawn. While attuned to this item, the dragon is considered to be the attuned creature's familiar but can attack, and the attuned creature has resistance to cold damage. If the attuned creature is at least 9th level, the dragon gains the ability to cast Cone of Cold once per day. If the attuned creature is at least 17th level, the dragon can cast Cone of Cold at 8th level, or cast Cone of Cold twice per day.


This is my first serious magic item, and I'm not entirely sure whether it is balanced or not, and what the rarity should be. It's basically a super-familiar, but it's a magic item requiring attunement. The stats are very similar to (but slightly higher than) the pseudodragon's, with the added ability to attack with a cantrip. The dragon has two immunities, but a vulnerability, and the cold damage resistance it grants is probably weaker than the pseudodragon's ability to share it's magic resistance trait. For rarity, the flavor/fluff screams 'legendary', but the power seems more like rare.

How does the item seem balance wise in general compared to other magic items, and what changes would the Playground suggest to balance or improve it?

And for further information about the campaign, for campaign specific advice:

My sister will be playing 3 characters, as will I. Yes, I realize DMPCs are considered distasteful by many, but I think I can keep them unobtrusive, and my sister said she wanted other characters in the party to talk to. My dad, who hasn't played since AD&D 2e, may be joining us as well. If he does, he will probably only play one character, and he's leaning towards barbarian. The party having 7 PCs and me being somewhat generous with magic items means I can throw stronger monsters at the party (or use larger numbers) :smallbiggrin:

As for setting, common items (think the items from Xanathar's) can be purchased for sub-100 gp in a large town, items up to uncommon can be purchased in large cities for a reasonable price, and +1 weapons with no other properties can be produced (and then purchased, albeit for a high price). Not exactly a super high magic setting, but they definitely won't be scarce.

This item will probably be acquired at level 5 (minimum level suggested in DMG for a rare item), give or take a level.

That's what I've got. Any advice/feedback/input is welcomed.

[danpit2991]

nice love the flavor ..

consider lowering the stats for con int and wis to 9 or 10 not a big deal but an idea.

the immunities and vulnerabilities are fine

i would reduce the melee attack damage to straight 1D4 no bonus change it to a claw attack cause tiny little teeth (think house cat whats worse the bite or the claws?)slash or pierce damage and give it flyby like owls have, its a tiny familiar type creature so it shouldn't hit hard but its attacks should count as magic for overcoming resistance and immunity

and it should act on its owners turn, but thats no big deal either its your show so you do you boo boo

ray of frost is fine

and drop the cone of cold ,its quite powerful and can literally be a fight stopper 8d8 AOE is no joke and replace it with ice knife, i find that would be less disruptive power wise and a bit more thematic, maybe say that ice knife can be cast 2/day at a level based on the owners character level maybe level 1-5 cast at 1st, 6-10 cast at 3rd, 11-15 cast at 6th, 16-20 cast at 9th

i feel that those changes would bring it down from being super powerful (because cone of cold) but still leave it as very handy and usefull to have around

[danpit2991]

ok one more thing i just read the spoiler stuff running so many DMPC's and your sister running 3 PC's seems like a "ungood" idea, if you really need to fill out the party cause of lack of players consider gestalt characters.

[Unoriginal]

Magic items' rarity has little to do with balancing, and magic items are not inherently balanced (in fact, they're pretty much unbalancing to the PC's benefit). Plus if you're not going to roll for that Diamond on a loot table, the rarity doesn't matter much.

That being said, I would personaly classify this Diamond at *minimum* as Very Rare. It's basically a sentient version of the other statuettes that transform into animals, except with a bunch of added benefits, notably no time limit on how long it's activated, one more attacker in the party, a flying, small spy who can communicate with the PC telepathically, relatively high AC, useful immunities, etc.

It's no Blackrazor, but it's definitively close to the stuff of legend.


ok one more thing i just read the spoiler stuff running so many DMPC's and your sister running 3 PC's seems like a "ungood" idea, if you really need to fill out the party cause of lack of players consider gestalt characters.

Have to agree with this. You should consider having your sister play one character, with one DMPC or another.

A group of adventurer is nice, but playing six PCs between two people is just going to be a nightmare.

Nothing wrong with a semi-solo adventure, alrhough the challenges would need to be a bit different by default.

[thoroughlyS]

Dragonheart Gem
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

While holding this gem, you can use an action to cast the find familiar spell from it. The gem transforms into the familiar, which takes the form of a pseudodragon. If the familiar is reduced to 0 hit points, or if you use an action to permanently dismiss it, it reverts to its gem form. Once you use the gem in this way, it can't be used again until the next dawn.
While attuned to this gem, you can use an action to cast the acid splash spell from it. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it. When you cast it, the familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. The familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. The damage type and saving throw are determined by the type of gem:


Gem
Damage
Type
Saving
Throw


Carnelian
Fire
Dexterity


Jade
Poison
Constitution


Magnesite
Cold
Constitution


Onyx
Acid
Dexterity


Sodalite
Lightning
Dexterity



I used the Circlet of Blasting and Silver Raven as starting points for this item, because although find familiar is a 1st-level spell, you are effectively casting it at a higher level to get a pseudodragon. I traded out the Sting action for something a little more appropriate, but not too powerful. I expanded this item into a set of items based around the chromatic dragons. If you want the metallic dragons, I suggest making the actual item be nugget of the appropriate metal.

[opaopajr]

Take away the clause 'becomes a familiar'. That power dynamic relationship will be more trouble than it's worth. Once the artifact becomes sapient, with a mimicking personality to the best of its understanding, it no longer becomes a PC's Power Projection. It now becomes a near-equal which can cause real problems, and thus more of a grave responsibility that a power widget. Basically it becomes like a powerful child-like (childish) reflection of the attune's personality, in broad strokes... and similarly independent.

[thoroughlyS]

Take away the clause 'becomes a familiar'. That power dynamic relationship will be more trouble than it's worth. Once the artifact becomes sapient, with a mimicking personality to the best of its understanding, it no longer becomes a PC's Power Projection. It now becomes a near-equal which can cause real problems, and thus more of a grave responsibility that a power widget. Basically it becomes like a powerful child-like (childish) reflection of the attune's personality, in broad strokes... and similarly independent.
Except that the spell find familiar states that a familiar "acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands". I only included the clause you quoted so to explain where the actual gem goes when you form the pseudodragon (i.e. you aren't still holding a diamond after you create it).

I feel that your interpretation of what happens when an item becomes a familiar would be interesting for an adventure hook, but not for the purpose outlined in this thread.

[Dragons_Ire]

Thanks for the input so far! This is what I've got after a bit of a rework:

Dragonheart Diamond
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement, any spellcaster)
This clear gem has gold draconic runes set into it's faces. When it is attuned to, ice forms around it in the shape of a small dragon. The ice dragon is a sentient magic item, and it gains one significant personality trait of the first creature to attune to the diamond. The dragon is considered to be a familiar, but can attack and has the following statistics:

Tiny size, AC: 13, HP: 2 x the level of the attuned character
Speed 15 ft., fly 60 ft.
Str 4, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14.
Immune to poison and cold damage, vulnerable to fire damage
Darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 10
Speaks and understands Draconic, and can communicate telepathically with the attuned creature
Flyby: The dragon doesn't provoke opportunity attacks by flying out of an enemies reach
Actions:
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: + prof. bonus to hit, reach 5 ft., 1 target. Hit: 1d4 cold damage
Ray of Frost. The dragon casts the Ray of Frost cantrip. It's spellcasting ability is Charisma, and it's proficiency bonus and level are considered to be that of the attuned creature for the casting of this spell.

If the dragon is reduced to 0 HP, the icy form melts away and the diamond falls to the ground. The dragon reforms around the diamond at the next dawn.

I changed the line about 'similar personality' to 'gains one significant personality trait'. I definitely like that better. I dropped Dex, Int, Wis, and Cha by 2 (dropping it's AC and spellcasting ability by 1), dropped the granting of cold resistance to the user (doesn't make a lot of sense on further reflection), dropped the ability modifier of off the bite attack's to hit bonus and damage, and dropped the Cone of Cold ability entirely (looking at that spell again, dang it is good. I also forgot that cantrips scale, so this little guy doesn't need a spell like that anyway). Then, I gave the dragon flyby and specified that the cantrip scales via the attuned user. This seems a lot better, and more in line with the super-familiar that scales with level idea without being too strong.

To create other types of dragon, I'd just change the gem type, the cantrip, the damage immunity/vulnerabilities, and the flavor text.

EDIT: As for the debate on DMPCs, I realized that that isn't this thread's purpose, so instead of replying I'll create another thread.

[thoroughlyS]

I changed the line about 'similar personality' to 'gains one significant personality trait'. I definitely like that better. I dropped Dex, Int, Wis, and Cha by 2 (dropping it's AC and spellcasting ability by 1), dropped the granting of cold resistance to the user (doesn't make a lot of sense on further reflection), dropped the ability modifier of off the bite attack's to hit bonus and damage, and dropped the Cone of Cold ability entirely (looking at that spell again, dang it is good. I also forgot that cantrips scale, so this little guy doesn't need a spell like that anyway). Then, I gave the dragon flyby and specified that the cantrip scales via the attuned user. This seems a lot better, and more in line with the super-familiar that scales with level idea without being too strong.

I really shouldn't have skimmed your first post. I didn't even see the parts about cone of cold or granting cold resistance. You were right to remove them.
Letting the familiar attack on its turn seems like a little much, especially since it would always be using ray of frost. That is directly better than free quickening of that cantrip because it doesn't even cost a bonus action. I would model this off of the familiar's touch cantrip feature.
Giving it Flyby Attack is too much, even though most of the time it will not be utilized because the familiar would always be using ray of frost. The 10% of the time that it comes up, it's a "Get Out of Consequences Free" card.
Removing the ability modifier from the bite makes no sense, especially considering you are tacking on a better attack anyway.



Dragonheart Gem
Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

While holding this gem, you can use an action to cast the find familiar spell from it. The gem transforms into the familiar, which takes the form of a pseudodragon. If the familiar is reduced to 0 hit points, or if you use an action to permanently dismiss it, it reverts to its gem form. Once you use the gem in this way, it can't be used again until the next dawn.
While attuned to this gem, you can use an action to cast the acid splash spell from it. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it. When you cast it, the familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. The familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. The damage type and saving throw are determined by the type of gem:


Gem
Damage
Type
Saving
Throw


Carnelian
Fire
Dexterity


Jade
Poison
Constitution


Magnesite
Cold
Constitution


Onyx
Acid
Dexterity


Sodalite
Lightning
Dexterity