Upgrading artifacts

[Biggus]

Is it possible to improve/ add to the powers of artifacts?

If there isn't an official ruling on this, how would you rule it?

[pabelfly]

I'd do Item Familiar or Ancestral Relic feats (taking a nerf to some of the features of IF).

[ezekielraiden]

Make it a quest. You're already taking something high-power and amplifying it. Might as well make it have Story weight and consequences for the player. There's really no other meaningful way to balance this sort of thing.

[Crake]

The official ruling is actually found on page 283 of the DMG, just above the heading "Masterwork Items".

It is a single line: The secrets of creating artifacts are long lost.

[Biggus]

Make it a quest. You're already taking something high-power and amplifying it. Might as well make it have Story weight and consequences for the player. There's really no other meaningful way to balance this sort of thing.

The specific item which provoked me to ask is a minor artifact owned by an epic character so balance isn't a major issue in this case. She'll soon have enough money to pay for it to be upgraded, if it's possible to do so. I was wondering whether someone with the relevant epic item creation feat could do it, or if only a deity with Craft Artifact could, and I realised there didn't seem to be an answer anywhere.


The official ruling is actually found on page 283 of the DMG, just above the heading "Masterwork Items".

It is a single line: The secrets of creating artifacts are long lost.

Yes...it doesn't say anything about whether they can be improved though.

[Crake]

Yes...it doesn't say anything about whether they can be improved though.

Well, considering that improving an item comes under crafting rules, and the secrets to crafting them have been long lost.... the answer is that the secrets to improving them have been long lost. Ergo, no, you can't improve them just the same way you can't craft them. Ultimately, it's really just subject to DM whims, as that's pretty much what artifacts are, DM plot devices, and the DMs can handle them however they please.

[Bohandas]

Augment crystals

[Thistledown]

Long lost to mortals maybe but could be within the knowledge of appropriate deities.

As with the previous suggestion, make a quest.

[Asmotherion]

The official ruling is actually found on page 283 of the DMG, just above the heading "Masterwork Items".

It is a single line: The secrets of creating artifacts are long lost.

Also according to the Detect Magic chart Artifacts are at least implied to be items created with a caster level 21+ so even if it was possible to create one you'd still need to be epic.

Arguably Artifacts could merely be any magic item that has a caster level 21+ and created by an epic character. Probably with an Epic Spell.

Overall you can't do it. if you can one of two things are true: A) you've already used enough cheese that you don't need artifacts (and your DM probably does not care about balance) OR your DM specifically wants this to function and has designed a way for you to do it.

[Mr Adventurer]

Is this about my personal dream - a Staff of the Magi that is intelligent, so it can tell you how many charges it has absorbed and has remaining, and activate it's powers on its own?

[RNightstalker]

Is it possible to improve/ add to the powers of artifacts?

If there isn't an official ruling on this, how would you rule it?

Anything is possible if the DM is willing to say yes.

[Psyren]

Is it possible to improve/ add to the powers of artifacts?

If there isn't an official ruling on this, how would you rule it?

There are not, nor should there be, general rules for this sort of thing. It should depend heavily on the specific artifact and its purpose in the campaign.

[Crake]

Also according to the Detect Magic chart Artifacts are at least implied to be items created with a caster level 21+ so even if it was possible to create one you'd still need to be epic.

Arguably Artifacts could merely be any magic item that has a caster level 21+ and created by an epic character. Probably with an Epic Spell.

Overall you can't do it. if you can one of two things are true: A) you've already used enough cheese that you don't need artifacts (and your DM probably does not care about balance) OR your DM specifically wants this to function and has designed a way for you to do it.

Artifacts and epic magic items are explicitly stated in the epic level handbook to not be synonymous, though it is actually a houserule that I personally use, that artifacts are just epic magic items (for the most part).


Long lost to mortals maybe but could be within the knowledge of appropriate deities.

As with the previous suggestion, make a quest.

Deities and demigods does actually have a "create artifact" divine salient ability, the only RAW method I'm aware of to create an artifact, outside of rule 0 of course.

[Biggus]

Artifacts and epic magic items are explicitly stated in the epic level handbook to not be synonymous

While this is true, it's also stated in the ELH (in the sidebar at the bottom of page 150) that some artifacts can be entirely reproduced using epic item creation feats, citing the Mace of Cuthbert as an example. If you can make a replica of the Mace which has all its powers and subsequently upgrade it, why can't you upgrade the Mace itself?

This means that the line between epic magic items and artifacts is somewhat blurry: some artifacts have unique powers which can't be reproduced even using epic feats, others don't.

Obviously, if a particular power of an artifact can't be created by any mortal means, neither can that power be upgraded by any mortal means. But if an artifact has some ordinary powers and some unique ones, can the ordinary parts be upgraded?

[Bohandas]

Of course even with epic item creation feats that can replicate an artifact's powers they still differ in how they are affected by Mordenkainen's Disjunction (unless the item is intelligent, in which case IIRC it is technically a construct and thus immune)

EDIT:
Also, it occurs to me that there are rules for having/gaining the ability to craft artifacts. Either having the "Craft Artifact salient divine ability ("Deities and Demigods" pg.37) or successfully reading all ten scrolls of the Ars Factum ("Lost Empires of Faerun" pg.157) gives the ability to craft artifacts. Note that the Deities and Demigods entry reiterates the similarity between artifacts and epic magic items, and actually implies equivalency between the two categories.

[Biggus]

Of course even with epic item creation feats that can replicate an artifact's powers they still differ in how they are affected by Mordenkainen's Disjunction (unless the item is intelligent, in which case IIRC it is technically a construct and thus immune).

Hmm. Interesting point. I suspect this is just due to the fact they wrote Mordenkainen's Disjunction before the ELH. But you're right, by RAW there is a mechanical difference between an artifact and an epic item with identical powers.




Also, it occurs to me that there are rules for having/gaining the ability to craft artifacts. Either having the "Craft Artifact salient divine ability ("Deities and Demigods" pg.37) or successfully reading all ten scrolls of the Ars Factum ("Lost Empires of Faerun" pg.157) gives the ability to craft artifacts. Note that the Deities and Demigods entry reiterates the similarity between artifacts and epic magic items, and actually implies equivalency between the two categories.

Thank you, I was aware of the SDA in D&DG, but I had no idea there were rules for how mortals gain the ability to craft artifacts.

[Mr Adventurer]

Are artifacts considered a kind of magical item, such that the intelligent magical item rules specifying they can be treated as Constructs applies?

[Vaern]

While this is true, it's also stated in the ELH (in the sidebar at the bottom of page 150) that some artifacts can be entirely reproduced using epic item creation feats, citing the Mace of Cuthbert as an example. If you can make a replica of the Mace which has all its powers and subsequently upgrade it, why can't you upgrade the Mace itself?
If you were to replicate the powers of an artifact, while it may function identically to an artifact, it is still not an artifact. Artifacts have properties other than their abilities that set them apart from normal magical items. For example, an artifact is required as a material component for Apocalypse from the Sky. The Mace of Cuthbert could be used to cast the spell; however, your epic-level Replica Mace could not, as it is really just a magic weapon that kind of looks and acts like the original.
Artifacts have lore and history behind them, and likely have origins beyond a wizard in a lab that makes the power within them unique (albeit not necessarily their abilities) in comparison to more mundane magical items. Many of these items are tied directly to deities, or are objects left behind by mortals who ascended to godhood, and their powers and properties are intertwined with their identity as an artifact. You can create a replica of some artifacts with mortal magic and upgrade the replica with mortal magic, but you can't reasonably upgrade an artifact unless you can replicate the nature of the artifact which makes it an artifact to begin with and have access to the source of power from which it was created.