How much is a Artifact.

[Valicore]

Me and some friends are planning a 20th lvl characters in which one asked if he could have a artifact. We are using the chart in the MIC and each 20th lvl character gets 760,000gp worth of equipment. The artifact in question is the hammer of thunderbolts. Any ideas?

 

[Dandu]

Quite literally priceless

 

[Darth Illithid]

You can't buy artifacts. The whole point of artifacts is generally that they're unique and priceless: acquiring and/or destroying an artifact should be a significant event in a game, not something that happens at character creation, even if the characters are level 20.

 

[Valicore]

Thats kinda what I thought, but wanted to check if there was a precedent for it.

 

[Ragmon]

Hmm, would be rather interesting so see a breakdown of some artifact pricing.

 

[Stormonu]

Cloaset you might come is Weapons of Legacy. Most of the items in that book are unique, but I know at the least they do a breakdown for a Holy Avenger. I seem to recall a Hammer of Thunderbolts being done as well, but I'm not near the book. However, the price isn't a straightforward X gp, so ... good luck if you go that route.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

The price is fulfilling an epic adventure to earn it.
If your GM is lenient, perhaps the cost is a creative back story of whatever this PC did around level 17ish?

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Artifacts don't have a price, but magic item price is important for game balance, so you might want to calculate one "behind the scenes". Of course, many artifacts have odd powers that cannot be easily costed.

Or don't calculate a price, as artifacts aren't expected to be balanced. (An artifact that is powerful but narrow tends to avoid disrupting the game.)

 

[airwalkrr]

I am of the opinion that artifacts should never be purchasable, sellable, or included as part of a character's starting equipment, regardless of level. They are story devices. If your player wants a hammer of thunderbolts, perhaps make the quest of a hammer of thunderbolts part of the campaign. Have the player pay 10,000 gp (or whatever you feel is appropriate) for a map to a dragon's hoard which allegedly contains a hammer of thunderbolts. Little does the player know that a group of storm giants are also in search of the hammer and the PCs will have to contend with both the giants and the dragon to acquire it.

 

[Wicht]

I am of the opinion that artifacts should never be purchasable, sellable, or included as part of a character's starting equipment, regardless of level.

Yeah. That would pretty much be my position as well, unless said artifact was integral to the campaign story the DM wanted to tell. But absent DM fiat for that single reason, I think I would rule it as a flat no.

In fact, absent the DM putting an artifact into the campaign on purpose, artifacts should never come up as a part of the game.