I need help/input/inspiration with a campaign I am planning. Without going into too much detail, in the world I’ve built there used to be a historically important and very powerful council of 7 mages (3 elves, a human, a gnome, an orc and a dwarf). They’ve each left behind a magical artifact of some kind. My group (druid, rogue, cleric and swashbuckler) is eventually going to hunt down all these artifacts.

I am struggling to find artifacts that would fit. They either feel too mundane or are way too powerful. I want these artifacts to be useful and powerful, for the time they get them. Of course, they’re not going to get them all at once. So these things should be spaced out to be useful from about player level 3 to 12.

We’re playing Pathfinder 2e, but I can easily adapt DnD items as well. If you have homebrew, I’ll take that as well. If you have general input for these items or that plotline, that’s great as well.

Thank you all in advance.

  • @owenfromcanadaEnglish
    6•10 months ago

    For scaling, I recommend having the items get more powerful as you find more of them. That way, the artifacts they find at levels 3-4 are still relevant at level 12. Maybe if the players pass an investigation/arcana check, they could use their existing artifacts to help determine when they’re in the proximity of a new one.

    So if you have an orb that is full of swirling clouds, it could let them cast Stinking Cloud at DC 12 at level 3 once per day. Then as more items are discovered, the DC would increase, and eventually it would cast Cloudkill with a DC of 17.

    Other artifact ideas:

    • a long, thin strip of leather (characters with a background in smithing or proficient in leatherwork recognize it as a handle grip). When wrapped around the handle of an ordinary weapon, it becomes a +1 magical weapon (upgrading to +2 and +3 with more artifacts).

    • a gemstone that seems to absorb light. It allows the bearer to cast Counterspell once per day (with more artifacts, the Counterspell is cast at a higher level, and the gem gains additional powers, like being able to create an anti-magic sphere once per day).

    • a figurine of a hammer. Once per day, it can be used to instantly repair a broken Tiny item (with more artifacts, the size of the item can be Small, then Medium, then Large, etc)

    • a burnished shield that looks like it’s never been used. It grants an additional +2 to AC (+4 total), and once per day, it can absorb all damage for a turn (with more artifacts, the ability protects others around you within an increasing radius)

    • a charred staff. The bearer can cast Scorching Ray once per day (with more artifacts, it casts Fireball, Wall of Fire, Firestorm, etc once per day as well)