Artefact Concordance - how do you handle it?

[Diplomat123]

I've read and re-read that section of the DMG and never noticed before the bit about moving on. The d10 a level now makes a lot more sense in that context.

 

[Nikosandros]

In fact, the book says precisely that: The rule of thumb for how long an artifact sticks around is 1 to 3 levels. (DMG, p. 165.)

Yes, but this doesn't imply that the artifact should automatically reach maximum concordance in that time span.

 

[MrMyth]

Especially not in a single level bump, which I've seen happen at least once. One high die-roll, and the artifact was at max concordance with no effort required. Definitely a flaw in an otherwise very smooth system.

 

[Ferghis]

Do those modifiers apply each time those actions are taken? Don't they have a cumulative effect?

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Generally the plot based modifiers happen only once a day or once per encounter.

I think the general design concept was that artifacts not only leave in 1-3 levels but that they tend to be happy with their PC owners. The lower concordance values are intended to be more a stick to motivate playing to the artifact's goals vs something that is likely to actually take place very often. A DM could certainly create situations where poor concordance could happen. Maybe the goals of the artifact are opposed to those of the PCs or present them with a dilemma.

I could see modifying the 1d10 gain, but the primary effect I'd expect from that would be that the item would stick around a good while. It depends on the artifact and the situation though.

 

[bganon]

Especially not in a single level bump, which I've seen happen at least once. One high die-roll, and the artifact was at max concordance with no effort required. Definitely a flaw in an otherwise very smooth system.

Huh? Artifact concordance starts at 5, and the highest state ("pleased") is 16-20. There's no way to get to max concordance in one level without satisfying at least some kind of condition. A few are passive things like "be a dwarf" (for Axe of the Dwarvish Lords), but in that case it's not like the DM didn't know about it. And I don't personally feel that it's a huge flaw that an "Axe of the Dwarvish Lords" is, in fact, quite pleased to be in the hands of a powerful dwarf.

 

[MrMyth]

Huh? Artifact concordance starts at 5, and the highest state ("pleased") is 16-20. There's no way to get to max concordance in one level without satisfying at least some kind of condition. A few are passive things like "be a dwarf" (for Axe of the Dwarvish Lords), but in that case it's not like the DM didn't know about it. And I don't personally feel that it's a huge flaw that an "Axe of the Dwarvish Lords" is, in fact, quite pleased to be in the hands of a powerful dwarf.

Well yes, but the problem is, it isn't pleased with him for being a dwarf, its pleased because he is a dwarf who got lucky with a single level roll. Even if rolling a 10 won't put you at max alone, it is such a huge jump compared to those key intrisic elements of the artifact, that it largely trivializes them.