D&D 5E Campaign defining magic item

[Croesus]

Doh! Duplicate post.

 

[steeldragons]

Change it to a fortress that randomly moves among various locations. Roll 4d10 (or whatever) to determine how many hours it stays in a particular location. The characters obtain the key allowing them to enter the fortress. As they level, they learn more about the fortress, eventually learning how to summon it to their location, to choose which locations it travels to, and so on. Of course, others are searching for the tower and want to gain control for themselves, so the characters will have to protect the fortress and its secrets.

Shades of the House of Mystery meets/mixed with Castle Greyskull.

Me likey.

 

[ccs]

Cubic gate is clearly meant for a planar campaign.[/QUOTE]

Sure, as written.
But there's no reason the DM can't simply assign other, non-extra-planar, destinations to the various sides.
Wich is exactly what my DM did.

I have a 1/2ling barbarian who at 1st lv has a Cubic Gate. Messing with it is how they arrived at the start point of the campaign.
It's represented by a real life Rubics Cube.
The DM has gone & assigned a different destination to each side & combination of sides. (How many combos is that btw?) He's stated that very few of these lead to other planes.
And there's great incentive for me to try & solve it as 1 result will take my character home (wich they really really want).
(I'm terrible at Rubics Cubes so I envision bouncing around alot)

 

[MarkB]

If you go with the Figurines, you should make them able to combine with each other Voltron-style. That way, the more they have, the more special combos they can unlock - and have a rumour that gathering the full set unlocks an ultimate form with unique capabilities.

 

[hastur_nz]

Rod of Seven Parts springs to mind, there was even a 2E adventure written all about it. Not sure finding a piece at 1st level is really appropriate, but hey if you want the Bilbo analogy, it's not too far off if a piece is stumbled upon around say level 3... it could be the 7th piece, meaning whoever has the 6th piece comes looking for it, and so on...
http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?521483-the-rod-of-seven-parts-help

The other is a Moonblade variant, where it gains abilities as the campaign progresses; that doesn't really fell like something to build a whole campaign around though, especially as only one PC can use it...

 

[pogre]

I think it is a fun idea. I would echo a couple of thoughts:
1. It should be a set, so everyone is involved (the five signet rings of the Elector Counts); and
2. Using the items should come at a cost. A cost I would use is something that would mean the PCs are unlikely to use the items except in dire circumstances. Naturally, these dire circumstances would be the climaxes of the campaign.

 

[pogre]

It just occurs to me that my current group already has a campaign defining magic item - we ride around and maintain an exceedingly rare airship. We are learning new things about the airship as we use it. Similar to the fortress idea above.

 

[Goober4473]

I straight-up gave a level 1 party a Ring of Invisibility, complete with a Choker that coveted the ring and followed the party around. It was a short-lived pickup game, but it worked very well. They also ended up with a Mace of Terror at level 2, though the game didn't progress far enough for them to use it.

 

[TheNoremac42]

In my campaign, the team of BBEGs has a set of legendary McGuffins. These McGuffins are the keys to an Old God's prison (who the bad guys are trying to free) and the PCs have to recover them in order to keep the Old God from escaping.