MichaelSomething
Legend
You know, for all the talk about 4th Edition, I don't think we had many topics discussing artifacts. So, do you use them, love them, hate them? I want to know!!!
Artifacts!!!
- Thread starter MichaelSomething
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AbdulAlhazred
Legend
Yeah, I've introduced artifacts sort of 'as needed'. 4e artifacts have a pretty decent flexible design. They work well. I think the ones that are provided in the various source books are usually fairly decent as well.
I will say though that there are sort of 2 'grades' of artifact. Some of them are really not much more significant than the newer rare items (at least the more interesting rares). Then there are the heavy-hitter type artifacts, like your Axe of the Dwarvish Lords type stuff. The lesser ones you can probably give out now and then without needing to work too hard over them. The big ones you probably only hit a PC with once in their career, they tend to be pretty defining. You'll want to plan for them carefully as well.
I think they're easiest to use at epic. You can pretty well toss one in at level 25 and it just becomes the character's quintessential piece of gear. Paragon artifacts are likely to be more useful as say things that are tied to the story of the land or plot. The 'moving on' aspect could be tricky to handle there, but if the item is more associated with the world than with the character it works fine. You just have to plan it out well.
Heroic artifacts work too, but they're probably the trickiest. For one thing they're the most unbalancing in favor of one character. I'd tend to work with themes like the artifact as ally or as 'borrowed power', with the notion of retirement quite prominent. The artifact can be played as more being the boss in this relationship and then the character being 'layed off' or 'fired' at some point comes across pretty naturally.
I will say though that there are sort of 2 'grades' of artifact. Some of them are really not much more significant than the newer rare items (at least the more interesting rares). Then there are the heavy-hitter type artifacts, like your Axe of the Dwarvish Lords type stuff. The lesser ones you can probably give out now and then without needing to work too hard over them. The big ones you probably only hit a PC with once in their career, they tend to be pretty defining. You'll want to plan for them carefully as well.
I think they're easiest to use at epic. You can pretty well toss one in at level 25 and it just becomes the character's quintessential piece of gear. Paragon artifacts are likely to be more useful as say things that are tied to the story of the land or plot. The 'moving on' aspect could be tricky to handle there, but if the item is more associated with the world than with the character it works fine. You just have to plan it out well.
Heroic artifacts work too, but they're probably the trickiest. For one thing they're the most unbalancing in favor of one character. I'd tend to work with themes like the artifact as ally or as 'borrowed power', with the notion of retirement quite prominent. The artifact can be played as more being the boss in this relationship and then the character being 'layed off' or 'fired' at some point comes across pretty naturally.
