Tome of Artifacts, Weapons of Legacy and other powerful items

[MerricB]

My attention has just been drawn to this post on the Necromancer Games boards describing an upcoming book, The Tome of Artifacts: Eldritch Relics and Wonders

Now, here's the thing: I like the people who have written the book. There are some good people there.

What this also makes me realise is that Weapons of Legacy (for which I've just written a review) also covers artifacts - though of a much lesser nature.

(Hey, in 1e, artifacts had penalties, so do Items of Legacy! )

So, how are these two books going to be different?

(I dare say there'll be an author or two in to tell me about it. )

One thing that does concern me about artifacts and using them in my campaign - and I certainly have done in the past - is that they have a static power level. Traditionally this has been a level of Far More Than Is Possessed By Mortal Man, which means the DM is very reluctant to allow the PCs more than a glimpse of the item, although NPCs will happily use them to wreak havoc, etc.

The artifacts that are just slightly more powerful than the PCs standard items (for which examples I point to my Spear and Shield of Ulek), although they can be used by the PCs, will be superceded by the characters as they gain levels. Hmm.

Are artifacts reduced to merely magical McGuffins to create campaigns around?

Artifacts are items where the DM can tell the rules to "go hang", and just have weird, unexplained effects, which does make them fun - although the more rulesbound (or logical) DMs (of whom I'm occasionally one) can find that difficult.

So. 50 artifacts in the Tome of Artifacts. 49 legacy items in Weapons of Legacy. It looks like more pages per item in the Tome. Interesting.

50 campaign ideas? Or more than that?

Cheers!

 

[Mouseferatu]

So, how are these two books going to be different?

(I dare say there'll be an author or two in to tell me about it. )

You think?

Seriously, I can't tell you exactly how the books are going to be different. Why? Because I've deliberately held off on reading Weapons of Legacy until the rough draft of this book was finished, precisely because I didn't want it influencing me in any way.

(Hey, in 1e, artifacts had penalties, so do Items of Legacy! )

As do most of those in the Tome. Artifacts are always more interesting (and, IMO, more fun) when the power they bring comes with a price. (And, of course, there's the fact that we wanted at least many of these to feel like 1E artifacts, given Necromancer's mandate.) While there are a few exceptions, most of the artifacts in the Tome have some sort of downside, whether it's a curse, a penalty, some horrible catastrophe that might occur, or, in some cases, just the horrible requirements of activation.

Are artifacts just McGuffins? Well, they certainly work well as such, and that might even be their "best" purpose. But while many of the artifacts in the Tome are indeed best used in such a fashion, quite a few are viable for PC use, at least in the short term if not indefinitely. Each one offers suggestions, advice, and plot seeds, so that DMs have various ideas of how to incorporate them.

To clarify, though, it's not quite 50 artifacts. It's--uh, I think 48 is the official number. But of course, that's not counting the practically limitless numbers you can create with the random charts in Appendix B... (And frankly, given the various myths, stories, plot seeds, new monsters, new NPCs, and other material in there, I'd be rather disappointed if someone told me the book had only 50 campaign ideas. )

 

[MerricB]

Mouse', is the book designed for a range of levels? Are there scaling notes for artifacts at all?

What part of the book were you responsible for, anyway?

Cheers!

 

[Mouseferatu]

Mouse', is the book designed for a range of levels? Are there scaling notes for artifacts at all?

What part of the book were you responsible for, anyway?

Cheers!

Well, there are no specific scaling rules per se, on any given artifact. However, the book does include artifacts of multiple different power levels, and the sections on advice for how to incorporate each artifact talk about how best to use them in low, middle, and high-level games (assuming the artifact is appropriate for all three types, of course).

As for which part of the book I'm responsible for, that really depends how you want to define things.

If you're asking what I specifically wrote, the answer is seven of the artifacts, half the random artifact appendix, as well as another appendix that tells people where to find the various spells, feats, etc. scattered throughout the book.

On a larger level, though, I'm responsible for the whole thing. I proposed the book to Necromancer, and I served as project designer and overseer. I was the one who approached authors for the book, decided which artifact submissions went in, and did the various tweaks and rewrites that are inevitable on a project like this. That also means that I was the one who decided on the specific format for each artifact entry, so both credit and blame for those decisions rests squarely here.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Does it cover the two traditional types of swords? Which by that, I mean one for the moral and good king, Excalibur, and one for the cursed man wandering the lands, Stormbringer.

How will this book differ from AEG's Relics?

 

[Mouseferatu]

Does it cover the two traditional types of swords? Which by that, I mean one for the moral and good king, Excalibur, and one for the cursed man wandering the lands, Stormbringer.

How will this book differ from AEG's Relics?

Not as such. We weren't specifically looking to duplicate any particular archetype from fantasy. That's not to say that some of the artifacts don't represent classic archetypes--we have, for instance, the quintessential witch's cauldron, and a D20 variant of what was obviously inspired by the Horn of Gabriel--but it wasn't a specific design mandate. I wanted to give people pretty much free reign to come up with whatever they wanted, so we'd get the full range of useful and weird, good and evil, world-altering to moderately powerful, that have all been the hallmarks of artifacts since 1E.

That said, several of the artifacts are indeed weapons, and a few of them could be used to fill similar roles to what you're talking about. It just won't be an exact fit.

As far as AEG's Relics, I have to plead ignorance on that one. I haven't read many of AEG's "one-word" series, so I don't know what's in it. If you'll tell me more about it, though, I can try to answer the question.

 

[Crothian]

Sounds like its going to be a bit more old school with the tables. Is that accurate? Ie will the artifacts have a range of powers that are determined by random tables.

I really like Relics, WEaposnof LEgacy is so so, hopefully this will be good.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Sounds like its going to be a bit more old school with the tables. Is that accurate? Ie will the artifacts have a range of powers that are determined by random tables.

I really like Relics, WEaposnof LEgacy is so so, hopefully this will be good.

Most of the artifacts are pretty well fixed. While I liked the notion, in 1E, that artifact powers were partly random, it doesn't lend itself well to the design approach that we took. (What I mean is, since every artifact in the book has a background story or myth, it made more sense--in most cases--that the artifact be clearly geared toward a specific purpose.)

However...

The random artifact appendix, while intended to be used to create brand-new artifacts, could easily allow you to instead substitute random powers for those a pre-made artifact already possesses. You'd simply have to select the most appropriate table and roll on it.

 

[Ghostwind]

On a larger level, though, I'm responsible for the whole thing. I proposed the book to Necromancer, and I served as project designer and overseer. I was the one who approached authors for the book, decided which artifact submissions went in, and did the various tweaks and rewrites that are inevitable on a project like this. That also means that I was the one who decided on the specific format for each artifact entry, so both credit and blame for those decisions rests squarely here.

It's fun being lead developer on a massive project, isn't it?

 

[Crothian]

As far as AEG's Relics, I have to plead ignorance on that one. I haven't read many of AEG's "one-word" series, so I don't know what's in it. If you'll tell me more about it, though, I can try to answer the question.

Relics is a book on artifacts. Each on has specific powers, a clear history, and plot hooks and such.