Artifacts & Adventurers

[Hogsy]

Pathfinder & 3.5 are used for mechanics, but all ideas are welcome.

TL;DR
This is a long post, so tons of kudos to whoever reads it. Basically I describe what artifacts I've given my players and ask for help to come up with more flavourful abilities for two of them as well as welcome you to share your own ideas and experiences in this matter.

I need help with the "Teardrop of the Starweaver" that belongs to my cleric, which is a gem made by the tears of his goddess, and he had to replace his heart with it in order to use its power. All I have so far is that it grants Divine Rank 0, and it was once used to temporarily grant that divinity to another character which nearly died by its overwhelming power to defeat a terrifying foe.

I also need help for my Magus, which gets "Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom", a mask that greatly enhancers his elemental capabiltiies and turns him into a master of the elements. This was created and worn by the first Deity of the four elements and also grants him Divine Rank 0. Anyone interested in giving me a hand could read their respective paragraphs (3rd for the cleric and last one for the magus). Thanks a ton in advance.

So, basically I have given to each of my players an artifact item which enhances their abilities or grants them new ones. Have you done anything like this in your games? Here's what I have so far:

For my Paladin of Freedom (3.5 variant that is basically CG Pally) I created "Kokabiel's Visage" or otherwise known as "The Crown of Truth" in the name of her goddess, a metallic head-piece that covers her eyes, and allows her to see the world through Kokabiel's eyes. She had to strip away her very sight in order to see the truth. While this takes away her vision, it grants her a form of lifesense/ true sight that detects a creature's power (visualized through an aura where the person would be), their motives regarding the paladin or the ones she cares about (visualized through the aura's colour) as well as a death watch effect. It's more of a cinematic power but it fits the player well. It also grants various bonuses regarding Perception and Sense Motive and Blindsight.

For my NG Cleric/Martyr of Illyrie (a 3.5 PrC I reworked and rename for his goddess, that is basically a reincarnation of ilmater) I created the "Mirinae, Teardrop of the Starweaver", which was granted to him at the moment of his death, as he spoke to his dying goddess. This is what I wrote regarding the item:

It is said that Mirinae is not one teardrop, but a shard of manytears shed by a Goddess, in the vast loneliness of the Cosmos, due to her long lost love. Another legend speaks of two lovers, who would meet each other at the opposite sides of a river. The tiny animals around the river would form a bridge for them to pass, and feel each others' touch. But only once a year. Mirinae is the tear created by such true and powerful love. But at its core, it is filled with the sadness and the rage that only true love can harbour. It takes a simple man, yet an experienced mind to master. It grants to the wearer powers beyond imagination over the ones they care about, but at a great cost.

I am stumped as to what it does besides granting the Cleric Divine Rank 0. Thus far I've come up with a bunch of bonuses that seem so underwhelming when compared to its description. I've allowed my players (their idea) once to use it in a different way I found awesome. The Cleric basically gave the stone to his companion, burrow the gem's divinity in order to gain insurmountable power for an instant, to overcome a powerful foe. The other character nearly died as his body could not withstand the overwhelming power of the gem. I need ideas as to what else the gem may do, that's more active. The cleric is perfect when it comes to buffing/healing and is not into attacking.

For my Avowed (Reworked Warlock for PF)/Monk/Dragon Disciple (reworked version by me, grants awesome dragon power and later on turns him into a true dragon) I created "Indra's Fists of Reckoning", a pair of gauntlets forged by a wizard NPC (future god of magic) in the carcass of Indra, a legendary elemental creature of vast power. The player likes plasma a lot so the item basically lets him turn his fists into plasma as well as powers up other class features he has. This one is more mechanical than cinematic, but this guy is their muscle. He was doing well before it, but now does it with a flair of badassery.

Lastly, for my Magus/Elemental Savant (3.5 PrC reworked by me), who is more of a passive spectator player, I had first given him the "Wall of Man", as he had repetively expressed IC that he wished to protect everybody he cared about (yeah, he's a shonen protagonist but it's all good). He never used the shield (which actually buffed his spell-casting and was usable TWF mode), so it left him to go help somebody that would actually use it. Yeah, the shield could do that. Basically he's an elemental master, so I've presented him with a new item:

"Tal Rasha's Guise of Wisdom" (yeah, i'm not that original with names, and I am greatly inspired by popular franchises). It's a mask created by a mortal, in a similar way to Indra's Fists of Reckoning, fusing the essence of the four elemental planes and putting it in an item. The result was divine power, and that guy went on to be the first Deity whose domain was all four elements. He is now dead as well (campaign stuff is well past the Epic tier, and lots of god killing is going on), and passed on his mask to the Magus. I'm thinking it's only fair that he also gets Divine Rank 0 (the two characters who don't get this ability aren't interested in divinity at all so it's ok if only two get it), but I am otherwise stumped as to what it does. Supposedly, it greatly amplifies elemental power (he doesn't really need to deal more damage, so flair and utility are greatly appreciated, or different ways to deal said damage) by fusing the elements together. He also has a vial filled with the elemental power of the 5th element, Void. I'm thinking the Mask might have some interraction with that. He hasn't been able to use it up to this point, so maybe the Mask will allow him to do that.

I was thinking that each element he uses in combat (through spells or martial maneuvers from PoW) increase the potency of other elements (I like the master of all elements vibe for this character), and when he uses all four, something cool happens. Not sure what. As a minor effect (and true to Tal Rasha's set in diablo 3), I was thinking that every time he dealt damage of an energy type, AoE damage of said type would be dealt at ??-ft radius with his target at the center. Maybe he could summon elemental clones depending on what element he used, and each clone would grant specific bonuses themed around what element they are. Maybe 1/turn the clone could cast a spell with an energy descriptor tied to their element (fire clone casts fire spells etc.). and when all 4 clones are out something cool happens.

IF anyone read this, I am amazed. Good job, sir.

[Uncle Pine]

So, before jumping in the fray, here's a list of what divine rank 0 entails (source (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineRanksAndPowers.htm)):
- Max hit points/HD
- 60 ft. base speed if Medium and biped (aka +30 ft. speed for most base races)
- Deflection bonus to AC equal to Cha modifier
- Immunity to polymorphing, petrification, or any other attack that alters its form, as well as energy drain, ability drain, ability damage, or mind-affecting effects
- DR 10/epic
- Fire resistance 5
- SR 32
- Immortality, as well as immunity to aging and not needing to eat, sleep, or breathe. As well as the fact that "the only way for a deity to die is through special circumstances"
- Chances of promotion, so to speak

The above alone seems a bit out of the line compared to what the Paladin and the Monk ended up with, so I'd suggest whatever addition you make to the teardrop and guise to reinforce fluff rather than crunch. I am not going to stress the fact that these two stronger items are going to the two primary casters in the group rather than the more mundane characters more than I am doing in this sentence, but I'd also give a thought to the issue.

As far as actual suggestions go, I think something along the line of the Summon Elemental feat (Complete Mage) could work for the Magus, or you could draw inspiration from the Master of the Nine's capstone (Tome of Battle) for a more mechanical benefit. I admit I know next to nothing about Maguses as I don't play PF, other than the fact it's a gish class.

As for the Cleric's item, perhaps something that forges a bond, whether literally or not? I feel even something as simple as being able to affect two allies with Shield Other (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shieldOther.htm) could reinforce the flavour of the item and the theme of the lovers without necessarily making the item significantly stronger. There's also the added benefit that if the abilities given to the items can affect others, it can be something that increases the fun not just of the character making use of it, but also of the recipients.

[Hogsy]

So, before jumping in the fray, here's a list of what divine rank 0 entails (source (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/divine/divineRanksAndPowers.htm)):
- Max hit points/HD
- 60 ft. base speed if Medium and biped (aka +30 ft. speed for most base races)
- Deflection bonus to AC equal to Cha modifier
- Immunity to polymorphing, petrification, or any other attack that alters its form, as well as energy drain, ability drain, ability damage, or mind-affecting effects
- DR 10/epic
- Fire resistance 5
- SR 32
- Immortality, as well as immunity to aging and not needing to eat, sleep, or breathe. As well as the fact that "the only way for a deity to die is through special circumstances"
- Chances of promotion, so to speak

The above alone seems a bit out of the line compared to what the Paladin and the Monk ended up with, so I'd suggest whatever addition you make to the teardrop and guise to reinforce fluff rather than crunch. I am not going to stress the fact that these two stronger items are going to the two primary casters in the group rather than the more mundane characters more than I am doing in this sentence, but I'd also give a thought to the issue.

As far as actual suggestions go, I think something along the line of the Summon Elemental feat (Complete Mage) could work for the Magus, or you could draw inspiration from the Master of the Nine's capstone (Tome of Battle) for a more mechanical benefit. I admit I know next to nothing about Maguses as I don't play PF, other than the fact it's a gish class.

As for the Cleric's item, perhaps something that forges a bond, whether literally or not? I feel even something as simple as being able to affect two allies with Shield Other (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shieldOther.htm) could reinforce the flavour of the item and the theme of the lovers without necessarily making the item significantly stronger. There's also the added benefit that if the abilities given to the items can affect others, it can be something that increases the fun not just of the character making use of it, but also of the recipients.

The Magus is basically a more refined Duskblade, and I ended up giving him the ability to summon elemental clones when using an elemental spell/martial maneuver(he has picked up a few strikes), that grant passive bonuses to his casting bases on their element and how many he has summoned (max 4). Regardless of their number, each round they can cast an elemental spell (so 4 clones still only cast 1 spell, not 4) that benefits from their passive bonuses. The goal is to reach 4 clones which allows the magus to cast a 7th level+ elemental spell by expending the clones, as a sort of finisher move. Magi normally only cast up to 6th level.

The Cleric got immunity to critical hits and sneak attacks as his body is powered by divine energy. He also got a number of boons he can use to augment his healing and buffing spells (he is basically a healbot with +100% empower effect through DMM and Pathfinder Healing domain) that he has to expend points to do so (he has 1 point per level, and the augments usually cost 1 point per level of the spell). They basically add versatility to his healing spells, granting him more ways to heal rather than cure X wounds.

Due to him having the literal essence of his goddess as his heart, a cool ability I thought of is that he can expend some spell slots when preparing spells to grant limited cleric casting to his party, with spells he chooses himself.

As for the other two, the paladin has the most plot important artifact and it also granted her the ability to wield some plot powers before the others, basically training them. The Warmonk(lock/monk) is the main damage dealer and his item amplifies that. He was the least to require additional help as he also has a dragon companion and is about to be a True Dragon. That is why his item was the weakest.

The campaign itself is very story driven and combat is not as common anymore, the layout of any encounters is also made in a specific way so everyone gets to shine in a given session.

PS: The only power DR 0 has given them as of now is the potential to go DR 1+ after the campaign is over. Didn't know it granted so many benefits. I think I will gradually give them out as they gain power. After consideration, since they all have a deity that passes its power to them, I will grant DR 0 to the others as well.

We are about 15 sessions from the end of the adventure (level 16 now, will end at level 20+, max 25) so some very epic and cosmic stuff is happening. They have been in a defeat streak for a while now, so I gave them these powers to feel awesome about themselves before the terrifying battle with the Big Bad Villain and eventual end of the story.