Redeeming an artefact

[MerricB]

My players occasionally surprise me. Greg managed to do it to me yesterday. We've just finished play of P2 Demon Queen's Enclave, and he's gotten his hands on Nightbringer, an evil sword created by Orcus that just loves undead.

Greg's playing a Lawful Good Cleric of Bahamut.

Greg thinks that Nightbringer is a pretty cool sword; it is, actually: a +5 vicious longsword with a lot of nice abilities. His question for me: Can I redeem it and make it Lawful Good.

There are lots and lots of reasons why he can't: play balance, the way the world works, and other things like that.

However, the idea of this cleric struggling to redeem this evil artefact and turn it to the path of good just presents so many roleplaying and story-telling opportunities that I have to allow him to try.

I don't know how it will end. But, if we manage to run it right, it'll be a lot of fun.

Cheers!

 

[Dandu]

You could have it lose power after being redeemed, the logic being that once all the evil energies are expunged, the sword must be built up again in power.

 

[Maldin]

What I would do is make some decisions on the ancient history of the artifact. How was it originally created? Where does the item get its awareness and intelligence from? If it was created from pure arcane energy or the essence of a lower planar (i.e. Abyssal - or whatever the 4e equivalent is) entity, then I would rule that the artifact cannot be 'repurposed'. Attempting to remove the evil taint also removes everything that gives it its power. The PCs can give it a shot - and it might still be the root of an epic quest - but they are doomed to fail. Is that such a bad thing? The destruction of an evil artifact should be the crowning achievement of a lawful good priest, and the player should eventually come to realize that over the course of his quest.

However, what if at the core of the artifact is the essence of a Prime Material plane creature, such as the spirit of a once lawful-good paladin that fell and became corrupted, peeling away the artifact's evil power like an onion might expose the tortured soul within (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader anyone?). Then, just maybe... after an appropriately epic quest... the sword might be turned to good, and slowly be able to rebuild its power (it should start off weak, however as it has lost its source of evil power and must find/rebuild a new source of power).

For some ancillary reading, I have a page on the "physics" of the D&D multiverse, and how objects and places can have intelligence and ethos without necessarily being the essence of a former creature. I also have a page on artifacts which some may find interesting or useful.

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com
Loads of edition-independent Greyhawk goodness... maps, magic, mysteries, mechanics, and more!

 

[Plane Sailing]

Considering what happened in Sepulchrave's campaign when the paladin Eadric said "Can I redeem the Succubus?", it has the potential for something quite interesting.

I could imagine the sword eventually becoming 'reformed evil'. Still evil at the core, but really wanting to behave well and overcome its baser impulses.

Actually fully redeeming the sword could be a major quest that is a side result of defeating Orcus, perhaps. After all, changing the alignment of an artifact sure sounds like the fulfilment of an epic level quest!

Cheers

 

[Delgar]

Redeeming the artifact? Reedming the artifact?

Don't get soft on me now!

What about CORRUPTING the player!!!

Okay I'm really okay with either, because both have what I like to call:

COOL FACTOR!

As far as I'm concerned cool factor trumps everything. Have a blast reedeming the artifcat or corrupting the player or landing somewhere in the middle anyway you look at it, it's going to be loads of fun.

P.S. I love corrupting players.

 

[Maldin]

What about CORRUPTING the player!!!

If a lawful good priest is wanting to keep an evil artifact, then I think that's perhaps happened already. Priest of Bahamut... Priest of Tiamat... is it so different? With this sword, you will have the power to save your loved ones. The dark side of Draconic power is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... unnatural.
[cue ominous tympani-dominated symphony orchestra]

In a battle between artifact and priest, who is more powerful? I vote for the artifact.

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com

 

[Badwe]

i hope this works for you, i have a similar situation unfolding with my party. i've been running mostly pre-gen material, including the level 1 delve from Open Grave. said delve had an onyx skull at the end that was supposed to be destroyed. instead some players have been trying to communicate with it and have (cautiosly) given it some of their blood (healing surges) to try and see if there is power waiting within. meanwhile they're running through H2 and into H3, and it just so happens in H3 there's... a disembodied head in an orb. Somebody else reworked H3 to have the ending involve said head become a lich, and that inspired me to do the same. my longterm plans are to, at the conclusion of all that, to have the skull become part of Blackrazor, and use the stats recently described in an issue of Dragon magazine!

 

[Old_school_overlord]

To me, an Artifact is an object - not a person, even if it has a personality and memories, its not trully able to learn or change (unless it somehow had a soul).

So I'd say an Artifact could be remade, but not reformed.

Certainly, I think the Artifact should be trying to corrupt the priest though.

 

[billd91]

It sounds to me like a pretty long-term quest. I would sit the player down and discuss the idea, tell him it's a major undertaking, he'll need to seek advice rather than just try to pop-psychoanalyze it. If he was still interested, I'd come up with a meeting with an oracle or church elder who would use divinatory powers to give the PC cryptic clues on what needs to be done to redeem the sword. Something suitably Herculean that sounds, at first blush, to be impossible or extremely hard to do. And then let it run as a sub-plot throughout the rest of the campaign, probably dropping clues to how to make the impossible possible.

In the end, redemption probably means destruction of the artifact, though freedom for whatever soul inhabits it.

 

[LostSoul]

Cool.

I would come up with a personality, goals, and a history for the artefact, and then just play it out and see where it takes us.