Minor Artifact questions ...

[Angelsboi]

when should it be ok for a party member to be in control of a minor artifact? The PCs i wanna run will be about 20th level.

Just curious

 

[Darrin Drader]

IMHO, only when they can't use it without bad stuff happening to them, and they intend to destroy it. I feel that artifacts in the hands of PC's is a very bad idea where game balance is concerned.

 

[Li Shenron]

when should it be ok for a party member to be in control of a minor artifact?

Whe the DM is old enough to be in control of the party member.

 

[Angelsboi]

well they would be gifted to watch over it. Of course its going to tempt them with much power ....

 

[Crothian]

There is no right answer. I've handed out artifacts at all level of play to see what happens. I've found it's more about the PCs and their characters then level. And the artifact does make a difference, some are really supre powerful, others are not that great.

 

[Templetroll]

In most cases, in my campaign, where the party was able to gain an artifact it usually led to the possessing character leaving the group and become an NPC.

One cool adventure involved the party taking the Mighty Servant of Luek-O to an ancient place of power to change it. It ended up costing characters a few levels, including a Magnus Almuni 1e Bard. He ended up controlling the thing and left to restore a barren land.

Another was a variant on the Rod of Seven Parts, where the possessor wandered the land curing disease and helping people.

the third was an Orb of Dragonkind that got the fellow into a bucket load of trouble when the campaign ended due to a move.

If anyone could handle an artifact, it should be those of 20th level. It will be up to their personalities more than the powers.

 

[Plane Sailing]

when should it be ok for a party member to be in control of a minor artifact? The PCs i wanna run will be about 20th level.

Just curious

If you mean staff of the magi/hammer of thunderbolts/deck of many things etc, then I'd start doing it from about 14th level.

I think Monte Cook might agree with me, since RttToEE takes characters up to about 14th level and has a deck of many things (minor artifact) in it.

Cheers

 

[grodog]

Depending on how you run your games, every magic item could be a unique Vancian feast and therefore rather artifact-like; for examples, see SepII's Story Hour "The Rape of Morne" (and previous chapters).

I tend to like powerful magic items in the hands of PCs who are always in slightly over their heads: it keeps them on their toes when a sword with goals of its own possesses a PC who wakes up hours later covered in blood, wondering what happened....

For some other ideas on handling artifacts in terms of plot/story, see my Greyhawk artifacts b-sides article (cut from material published in Dragons 294 and 299), on Canonfire! at http://www.canonfire.com/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=268

 

[Lord Pendragon]

There is no right answer. I've handed out artifacts at all level of play to see what happens. I've found it's more about the PCs and their characters then level. And the artifact does make a difference, some are really supre powerful, others are not that great.

This is right on the money. A lot depends on the PCs, but even more on the artifact itself. If you're talking about an artifact like the Sword of Kas or somesuch, then the PCs shouldn't see it until the artifact's power is relatively in line with their own (20th level or so.)

But some artifacts have powers that are less directly helpful to the PCs in question. One of the Storyhours features an artifact called the Crosser's Maze, which is powerful enough to reweave planar boundaries, but provides no real benefit for the wielder in combat.

In a campaign I played in last year, my PC had a minor artifact called the Pearl of Pure Light. It acted as a movable consecretion, and allowed the wielder to turn undead as a cleric of two levels lower. As our party didn't have a cleric and were fighting a lot of undead, it basically allowed the rogue to become a stand-in cleric in regards to turning undead. Not game-breaking at all, and something that could have been done at any level.

So I'd say the most important thing is to consider what type of minor artifact you're dealing with, and whether it's powers will unbalance the game. If it's a combat item (Sword of Kas), be careful. If it's a plot item (Crosser's Maze,) then less concern with level is necessary.