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View Full Version : D&D 5e/Next Boon of Artifice (magic item "super" attunement)



Greywander
2019-09-24, 04:05 AM
Reminder that epic boons can't be taken until level 20. At this point, I'm thinking this is a bit too strong for a regular feat, but should be right for a boon.


Boon of Artifice

Choose one magic item in your possession. That item becomes permanently bonded to you, becoming an extension of your very soul. That item's magical properties can't be used by any creature other than yourself, and if that item normally requires attunement, you can use it as if you were attuned to it without it counting against the number of items you may be attuned to.

As a bonus action, you can summon the item to you or dismiss it to a pocket dimension. When you summon the item, you can choose to summon it to your hand, to an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you, or to wear the item if it is an item that can be worn.

If the item is consumable or has limited charges, such as a potion or spell scroll, then finishing a long rest restores or recreates the item as new. When you next summon the item, it regains all of its uses or charges, and if the item had been destroyed or rendered nonmagical, it is fully restored. The only exception are items that grant wishes, which instead regain one wish every time you finish a long rest.

If you die, then your bond with the item falters. In this state, other creatures can use the item as normal, and if the item is destroyed, your bond with that item ends. Once you are resurrected, your bond with the item is restored if it hasn't been destroyed.

Too much? What if you could take it more than once?

Anymage
2019-09-24, 05:32 AM
It looks like you're trying to do too many things here. Cutting them down might help make this more focused.

In particular, items with limited and nonregenerating charges have a problem with being reused. Partially mechanically (allowing you to recharge your ring of three wishes by taking a weekend off sounds way OP for even an epic boon), partially flavorwise (potions aren't really character-defining enough to be thematically relevant here). Since you tie this in with attunement, and since most of the items that feel properly character-defining require attunement, why not just have it require one attuned item?

From there, it sounds a bit weak, but only because the main benefit is so campaign dependent. And because the times it would be handiest are the times when I'd wonder why you'd stick around. In short, getting an extra attunement slot is absolutely cool for an epic boon. Accident-proofing your item mostly applies to things like wands (where enthusiastic use could see that 1/20 chance of losing a favored item hit), and combined with faster charge recovery seems on par. DM-proofing your item ranges from useless if the DM keeps his hands off your cool swag, to essential if he likes breaking stuff. Again, though; if the DM is prone to breaking your favorite items, I wonder why you haven't started looking for a new one long ago.

Greywander
2019-09-24, 05:15 PM
Not sure about the wish thing. One of the boons gets you a second 9th level slot, so if you're a wizard you can already cast Wish twice a day. Getting a Ring of Three Wishes might be trickier, although we can assume that a 20th level character could do so if they really wanted to. I suppose the question would be, would you ever use this boon on an item that doesn't grant wishes? If so, then it must not be overpowered. If it were, then you'd always use it for a Ring of Three Wishes.

The only thing I could see making this way too strong would be if wishes from items didn't suffer the wish backlash (the 33% chance you can never cast Wish again). The way all of these items are worded, however, is that they let you "cast the Wish spell", rather than simply "granting you a wish". This would seem to imply that you do suffer the backlash, since you are still casting the spell. That said, since wishes from items are always a finite resource, and the items themselves are difficult to get, I'd probably be fine with removing that risk, allowing players to wish for something stronger than recreating an 8th level spell. In such a case, I probably would want to exclude wish granting items from working with this boon.

In an earlier write up of this, where it was (and currently still is) part of a wild magic surge table, it would randomly pick one of your attuned items to form the permanent bond with, and then other creatures wouldn't be able to attune to that item. This sounds similar to what you're suggesting, and would certainly be more straightforward. I was just thinking that it shouldn't necessarily be limited to just attuned items, as there are some items that don't require attunement that would be good picks for this (though since you'd want the extra attunement slot, this would work better if you can take the boon more than once), and I thought making it compatible with things like potions would be interesting.

With all this in mind, how's this for a rewrite?


Boon of Artifice

Choose one magic item to which you are attuned. That item becomes permanently bonded to you, becoming an extension of your very soul. This item no longer counts against the number of items to which you can be attuned to, and other creatures can't attune to this item. The item you choose must not be one capable of granting wishes.

As a bonus action, you can summon the item to you or dismiss it to a pocket dimension. When you summon the item, you can choose to summon it to your hand, to an unoccupied space within 10 feet of you, or to wear the item if it is an item that can be worn.

Whenever you finish a long rest, the item is restored or recreated as new. The next time you summon that item, it regains all of its charges, and if the item had been destroyed or rendered nonmagical, it is fully restored.

If you die, then your bond with the item falters. In this state, other creatures can attune to the item as normal, and if the item is destroyed, your bond with that item ends. Once you are resurrected, your bond with the item is restored if it hasn't been destroyed.

You could also give this boon to an antagonist. The players then have to kill him and destroy the item before he resurrects. Maybe the item held all of his power (a la the One Ring), or maybe it was just integral to his plans, so without it he's no longer a threat.

Thinking about what items you might want to use this for, I just remembered that there are some items that can be used by wizards as a spellbook, and I believe they require attunement. A spellbook that can't be destroyed and can be summoned to you no matter where you or it is, that would be pretty useful. Use the Clone spell to prevent your death, then summon the book to you afterwards. No more need for backup spellbooks! (Though because you're a wizard who likes to always be prepared, you'll keep a few anyway.)