Custom Items in Backstories

[Ralif Redhammer]

Hmmm. I’d say the two decisions prior would be around what level the PC will be able to get it, and what type of dragon it came from. From there, you’ll be better able to plan it out.

Were I doing it, I’d say that it should be something exciting for the PC to finally get, so I’d say somewhere in the upper 5 – 10 tier, and be +2 for starters. I’d probably add Resistance to whatever would be appropriate based on the type of dragon. From there, I’d add one more ability, looking at what’s already out there. So maybe I give it the ability to use a specific spell once per long rest or so, or look at an existing magic item and add one of its powers to the armor, or add the Dragonborn’s breath weapon ability, or the draconic sorcerer’s wings. Stuff I don’t have to tinker with too much to make sure it’s both fun and balanced.

If you wanted to put it out there at a lower level, I’d say it’s only +1, and just has the Resistance. But that the armor still bears the damage from the mortal wound received, and that finding a (quest-worthy) way to repair it would unlock the greater powers.

So what should I make the dragon bone armor do? The backstory I gave for his father is that his father was a blackguard, and the leader of an uprising.

 

[Imaculata]

I would always ad a dark twist so such an item.

Maybe the item turned his own father into a demon, and he eventually has to kill his father to claim the armor.

Or perhaps the main villain of the story is now wearing the armor.

Or maybe the armor attracts evil. Maybe his father disappeared because he went on a quest to hide the armor in a place where no one could find it.

 

[BigBro359]

I would always ad a dark twist so such an item.

Maybe the item turned his own father into a demon, and he eventually has to kill his father to claim the armor.

Or perhaps the main villain of the story is now wearing the armor.

Or maybe the armor attracts evil. Maybe his father disappeared because he went on a quest to hide the armor in a place where no one could find it.

So I came up with a solution, that I, personally, am completely in love with. The general idea is that the Gems of Teravast are still the end game, but there are a total of three suits of legendary, god like power. They represent Order (Law), Chaos (Chaotic), and Balance (Neutral) The Balanced is the most powerful, and is powered by the Gems of Teravast. However, the armor that my player came up with is, unknown to them, the armor of Chaos. The armor's major drawback is that, because it is made of dragon bones, the spirits of those dragons are locked within it. The powers the armor grants come from said dragons, but, they are sentient. And they hate the user of the armor's guts. And so every day, the wearer must convince at least one of the dragon spirits inside to help him through role playing and dice rolling. The other draw back is that the power is only activated by putting on the helmet, but the every time the helmet is donned, they must roll a d20. If the roll is 2 or less, the dragons in the armor take control, and they will kill everything in sight until either A) The wearer is dead, B) Someone else manages to remove the helmet, or C) Every living thing in the immediate sight of the wearer is dead.

 

[ccs]

So I came up with a solution, that I, personally, am completely in love with. The general idea is that the Gems of Teravast are still the end game, but there are a total of three suits of legendary, god like power. They represent Order (Law), Chaos (Chaotic), and Balance (Neutral) The Balanced is the most powerful, and is powered by the Gems of Teravast. However, the armor that my player came up with is, unknown to them, the armor of Chaos. The armor's major drawback is that, because it is made of dragon bones, the spirits of those dragons are locked within it. The powers the armor grants come from said dragons, but, they are sentient. And they hate the user of the armor's guts. And so every day, the wearer must convince at least one of the dragon spirits inside to help him through role playing and dice rolling. The other draw back is that the power is only activated by putting on the helmet, but the every time the helmet is donned, they must roll a d20. If the roll is 2 or less, the dragons in the armor take control, and they will kill everything in sight until either A) The wearer is dead, B) Someone else manages to remove the helmet, or C) Every living thing in the immediate sight of the wearer is dead.

Eh, Ok. If that's what'll work for your game.

Me? I wouldn't have it be anything greater than just a unique & notable magic item. So no god like powers, linked to other suits/destinies, vital to the campaign, etc.
What color is it from?
How many +s does it have
I'd some give it powers based upon the color.
I'd give it a matching breath weapon
I'd give it wings & the ability to fly/cast fly - because I think that'd look cool. A warrior clad in bone armor flying about on skeletal wings, breathing fire/acid/cold/poison gas on his foes....
I'd also keep that its haunted by the spirit of the dragon whos bones it came from & that that affects the wearer. There's a reason (unknown to most) why the father became a blackguard.
As for what happened to the father when he went missing? Mortally wounded, he retreated under the influence of the dragons spirit and went off to die atop his secret treasure hoard. To reclaim the armor a ghost-dragon, a skeleton warrior, or both must be defeated. After locating the lair of course.

 

[BigBro359]

I just came up with an idea for the order armor. Ok, so you know the show lucifer? If you don't it is fine, but basically, as you may know, Lucifer is a fallen angel. He desires justice on criminals, and tends towards a little more evil, but the point is that if I made the armor the suit of armor that he wore as he fell, it would be imbued with both the good law and evil law, therefore still giving the wearer the choice.
My other Idea is to have it be made of the essence of a lawful good angel, and a lawful evil demon. The two essences or spirits act as the devil and angel on the shoulder, both driving the wearer towards lawfulness, but the two different sides. The user remains as neutral, because they always have those two on his mental shoulder.

 

[Imaculata]

It would seem to me as a missed opportunity to not involve the player character's father in some way. And I would definitely try and confront the player with a difficult moral choice concerning the armor.

 

[Herobizkit]

Fighting dad as a Death Knight to get the armor is always interesting, or at least a Death Knight in the shape of dear old Dad.

But yes, I made a Helmet in my own campaign that gave the PC Dragonborn traits, much like a Girdle of Dwarvenkind gives Dwarven traits.

Breath weapon
Resistance to same damage as Breath Weapon
Proficiency in Draconic
- limited flight - up to 10 rounds a day, fly speed 40' (this was cribbed from Pathfinder - not sure what 5e's flight items are like)

Also Dragon Enmity, perhaps - any dragon or dragonkin creature (including kobolds) will automatically view the wearer with the most negative reaction possible. Stronger/confident creatures may attack on sight, or mark the wearer for death at a later time. This drawback will depends on how often PC's interact with such creatures.

 

[BigBro359]

It would seem to me as a missed opportunity to not involve the player character's father in some way. And I would definitely try and confront the player with a difficult moral choice concerning the armor.

Fighting dad as a Death Knight to get the armor is always interesting, or at least a Death Knight in the shape of dear old Dad.

But yes, I made a Helmet in my own campaign that gave the PC Dragonborn traits, much like a Girdle of Dwarvenkind gives Dwarven traits.

Breath weapon
Resistance to same damage as Breath Weapon
Proficiency in Draconic
- limited flight - up to 10 rounds a day, fly speed 40' (this was cribbed from Pathfinder - not sure what 5e's flight items are like)

Also Dragon Enmity, perhaps - any dragon or dragonkin creature (including kobolds) will automatically view the wearer with the most negative reaction possible. Stronger/confident creatures may attack on sight, or mark the wearer for death at a later time. This drawback will depends on how often PC's interact with such creatures.

I am definitely using his father. In his backstory, his character believes that his father left before he was even born, and so he hates his father vehemently. The thing he doesn't know, not even the player knows, is that his father left because he didn't want to kill his son if the armor took control of him. My goal of the first encounter is to drive them towards his father's castle, where he discovers that his father left everything to him. The feels will be real. XD. Plus I get to turn the castle into a dungeon, and put hordes of undead in it because his father was a blackguard.
I'm thinking of painting his father to actually be a pseudo hero, where he went on his campaign to conquer the kingdoms to stop the massive war going on. He wanted to stop the mad arms race to find artifacts, and end all of it. Yes, he was an evil alignment, due to his nature as a blackguard, but a reforming blackguard. He was reforming due to his love for the player's mother, and just wanted to make the world safe for his son. He only became a blackguard because his first family was slaughtered because of the war. He then became evil due to his hatred, and his evil and pain was slowly being tamed by his love of the player's mother.

 

[delericho]

What do you do about characters with backstories involving artifacts and other magical objects?

I discourage it, but then I discourage a player from writing any backstory that is too detailed.

That said...

How do you manage them?

I'm not sure it's a problem, but is the PC is to start with the item then he needs to 'buy' it out of his starting funds; if it's his goal to find the item in the campaign then I might (or might not) include it at some point - and the more powerful they make the item in question, the longer they'll have to wait.

This is especially true in 3e/4e where the power level of items is connected explicitly to PC level, so if they create an item suited to 20th level characters, they're setting themselves up for a long wait.

 

[BigBro359]

I discourage it, but then I discourage a player from writing any backstory that is too detailed.

That said...



I'm not sure it's a problem, but is the PC is to start with the item then he needs to 'buy' it out of his starting funds; if it's his goal to find the item in the campaign then I might (or might not) include it at some point - and the more powerful they make the item in question, the longer they'll have to wait.

This is especially true in 3e/4e where the power level of items is connected explicitly to PC level, so if they create an item suited to 20th level characters, they're setting themselves up for a long wait.

Lolz. I have already nerfed it to the point where it isn't really his anymore. The concept remains the same, sure, but I took his child, brainwashed it, and made it my own.