D&D 5E Need help with a custom magic item

[zicar]

So I have given my 2nd level PCs a golden scale which was just intended to be a minor bauble/curiosity. They have become convinced that it has magical properties (I may have encouraged this). I need some cool ideas but the only thing I can come up with is that it contains divination magic and is somehow related to balance/alignment of the cosmos.

 

[Gilladian]

So what is it a scale from? A dragon? Or do you mean a set of scales to weigh things on?

If the first, possibly it should be protective, or support law and good.

If the second, possibly it weighs the words a person speaks, for truth vs falsehood, or for honest belief, or for good intent.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

When I come up with a new magic item, I look at the name first. Then what cool ability it has, then what it looks like, and finally any possible history to it.

If it’s a divination item related to balance, maybe use the Augury spell (weal or woe in response to a question) as a basis? Or maybe it detects law or chaos?

 

[Balthazar Balzacazar]

If you want to go all crazy on the poor player, call them "the Scales of Absolute Neutrality." They are a cursed item that can only be taken from you against your will (then they stick to the new owner). While carried, they force you to balance each "good" act with a commensurate "evil" act, thus furthering the goals of the gods of neutrality. Maybe works like this:

• The DM keeps a running count of each good and evil act the character performs.
• Compare the current number of good and evil acts.
• For each # difference, the character suffers a cumulative -1 penalty on all rolls.
• But if the character is "perfectly aligned with neutrality" (i.e., the good and the bad are equal), then the charater gets some sort of bonus - maybe a static +1 to all d20 rolls, or advantage when fighting any aligned creature.

Of course, the penalties and bonus only apply to the "owner" of the scales. Could lead to some fun opportunities, attempts to "game the system," and philosophical ruminations. Of course, I wouldn't take this course if your players are likely to turn PVP.

- Balthazar

So I have given my 2nd level PCs a golden scale which was just intended to be a minor bauble/curiosity. They have become convinced that it has magical properties (I may have encouraged this). I need some cool ideas but the only thing I can come up with is that it contains divination magic and is somehow related to balance/alignment of the cosmos.

 

[Jadekind Gaming Adam]

Scales weigh stuff, you don't have to use divination and think of it symbolically; you could look at it literally- perhaps conjuration? or Transfiguration?
They could have a command word that activates them and have a variably effect based on what is on the scales, or one side of the scales, when the command word is used.
For example, perhaps they put a rock on one side and use the command word, then maybe it conjures another rock of equal weight that balances the scales. However, if they put a gold coin on one side, it could conjure a ceramic amulet stamped with some sort of symbol that they could investigate or something along those lines. Perhaps it could occasionally conjure something they'd rather not have around.
If you go the transfiguration route, they would need something on both sides. They could put a silver ring on one side and a large rock on the other, and using the command word might enlarge the silver ring to weigh what the rock does, or it might turn the ring into one made out of rock - again, something that could be risky to use but might get the players trying to be clever with how they try to use it.

 

[OB1]

If the object being weighed is a fake, no amount of weight on the other side will lift it. I would then let the PCs hear a story at a local bar of some higher level adventurers who are looking for said golden scales for a quest they are undertaking. Perhaps they offer to buy the scales, or perhaps they enlist the parties aid in the quest they are on. Or perhaps they try to steal, kill the PCs for it. The main point is, if you make it magical, why not also make it a story hook!

 

[Sunseeker]

The scale tips to the left when whomever is touching it tells the truth, it tips to the right when whomever touching it tells a lie. The scale is not perfect though, so it has a 25% chance of improperly detecting a truth or a lie. Each time the players use it, roll a d20 in secret, if it comes up as a 1, 5, 10, 15 or 20 then the scale registers incorrectly. The players will of course, have to figure this all out for themselves.

 

[Kabouter Games]

If the object being weighed is a fake, no amount of weight on the other side will lift it. I would then let the PCs hear a story at a local bar of some higher level adventurers who are looking for said golden scales for a quest they are undertaking. Perhaps they offer to buy the scales, or perhaps they enlist the parties aid in the quest they are on. Or perhaps they try to steal, kill the PCs for it. The main point is, if you make it magical, why not also make it a story hook!

This is a good rule of thumb which should always be at the front of your mind: If you're going to give the PCs something, make sure the story comes first. This above all. Even with random treasure. Never just give someone a +1 dagger. Make it a dagger fashioned by elves long vanished into the mists of time, clearly magical, which never rusts and never needs to be sharpened.

I like magic items which are useless in combat. All the stuff in the DMG is useful in a game-mechanics context: It lets you hit, see, avoid, etc., it has an impact on combat and skill-use effect determination. Surely there's more than that. I figure, if the world is magic-rich enough where people make Cloaks of the Manta Ray, why not make it magic-rich like our world is technology-rich? We use technology to make life easier. Why wouldn't a magical fantasy world do the same, just with magic? Just as not all tech in our world helps you kill bad guys, not all magic should in our fantasy worlds. Things like slippers that keep your feet warm no matter the ambient temperature. Brooms that do their own sweeping up. Little pellets that burst when you throw them, not turning into dust of sneezing and choking or cloudkill, but that instantly remove dirt from a 4' radius. Bookmarks that remember your page when you fall asleep while reading. An axe designed for woodcutters which won't cut living flesh, only wood.

In your case I'd make your scales one of those useful magical items: When you place an item on one side, a magical weight appears on the other side upon which is written the weight of the first object. Think digital postal scale but tarted up with swords-and-sorcery. That could also be an adventure hook, especially for low-level PCs. They found this thing which will be incredibly useful to a local merchant. He tries to buy it. They get suspicious and jack up the price. So he arranges to have it stolen. Hilarity ensues.

 

[The Grassy Gnoll]

Could be like Lyra's alethiometer from His Dark Materials.

Say, three times a day you can ask it to weigh a question up -

"Is the best tunnel to go down the left hand one?" - scales tip heavy for yes, light for no.
A question like "which tunnel should we go down" results in a neutral answer AND it uses up a charge.

If you really want to mess with their heads, "Should we trust the lizard man?" works; "Is the lizard man trustworthy?" doesn't (he may be a very trustworthy lizard man, just not - for obvious reasons - with those who take him captive, and thus, on balance, yes, he is considered generally trustworthy as an individual - just not as it pertains to the players).

 

[zicar]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, this is a balancing scale , not a reptilian scale. With all the great ideas I almost want make this a minor artifact with many (minor) powers. I also want to use it to mess with their heads. Next step is a backstory...