Tome of Artifacts

[Aus_Snow]

Impressions?

Use in actual play?

Reviews?

Thanks.

 

[Nightfall]

Aus,

Have it. Love it. Great story telling usage. Wonderful assemblage of artifacts of weapon, armor and unique types. Overall, it's a must have if you loved the original Book of Artifacts from 2nd edition.

I haven't used it YET in play, but I plan to, especially with appendix 2 which allows you to not only randomly create artifacts BUT it also allows you to help you create ones with unifying ideologies and various powers.

Btw my two favorite are the kaiju artifacts, the Juggernaut of Shaddar Khan and the War Hound of something...

*forgets the name* Seeing those two go at it is worth the price of admission.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Overall, it's a must have if you loved the original Book of Artifacts from 2nd edition.

Ah, not familiar with that, sorry. :\

So I'm actually pretty much in the dark, except for reading the blurb on some shop site, and your summary here. It's a start though, so thanks!

 

[Nightfall]

Aus,

If you want to know more ask.

Basically this book goes by the premise: "Artifacts are MORE than just neat little baubles that make adventures go. They are things/items of great, mysterious and unusual powers. Powers that can corrupt as well as save." Basically it's a book with stuff that will entice players of all levels (though not every artifact WORKS at 1st level), make their lives interesting and indeed be the stuff of stories for times to come and times before.

Some of this is like Wild Mage 2nd edition (weird effects that you have to roll for). Others are the stuff of legend, like a Horn to bring the end of the Material world.

Things of that nature.

Believe me Aus, if you want something to add to the memorable moments, THIS is that book.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Aus,

If you want to know more ask.

Heh, you'll rue the day you made this offer.

OK, how about a chapter listing, and what each one covers, in broad terms. . .?

What's the writing like - dry, evocative, intriguing, poorly edited, so-so. . .?

Crunch/fluff ratio, roughly?

Artwork - much? good?

There's a start.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Heh, you'll rue the day you made this offer.

Well, I'll take some of the weight off his shoulders, since I led the design team.

OK, how about a chapter listing, and what each one covers, in broad terms. . .?

I present to you the Table of Contents.

[sblock]Foreword by Dave “Zeb” cook, author of the original Book of Artifacts
Introduction
Altar of the Bone Citadel, by C. Robert Cargill
Al-Qabir's Floating Parlor, by C.A. Suleiman
Ashen Heart of Barrat Sun, by Ari Marmell
Ashrune, by Khaldoun Khelil
Bastard of Exalted Heroism, by C. Robert Cargill
Black Coal Citadel, by Khaldoun Khelil
Black Crystal Spiral, by Michael Gill
Book of Stasis, by Michael Gill
Bow of Night, by Patrick Lawinger
Brooch of the False God, by C. Robert Cargill
Carpet of Contemplation, by Rhiannon Louve
Celestial Machine, by Anthony Pryor
Crown of Ice, by Rhiannon Louve
Darkwood Heart, by Keith Baker
Divinity Sphere, by Michael Gill
Earth Seed, by Michael Gill
Ebony Skeleton of Mol-Tet, by C. Robert Cargill
Eldros' Panoply, by Anthony Pryor
Emerald Scales of Veerak, by Rich Burlew
Erangoul's Filthy Cloak, by Khaldoun Khelil
Fang of the Devil Tigers, by George Holochwost
Flayed Skin of Kruk'Tha, by C. Robert Cargill
Forge of Medzigar Salight, by Patrick Lawinger
Fortune's Breath, by Patrick Lawinger
Ghost Reaver, by Patrick Lawinger
Golden Pearl of the Elder Tortoise, by George Holochwost
Holocaust Stone of Gun'Ta, by C. Robert Cargill
Horn of the Archangel, by Ari Marmell
Hungry Stone, by Keith Baker
Irruwyn's Cauldron, by Ari Marmell
Joval’s Equilibrium, by C. Robert Cargill
Juggernaut of Shaddar Khan, by Ari Marmell
King's Pepper Grinder, by Rhiannon Louve
Korridar, the Crown of Kings, by Keith Baker
Lamentation Engine, by Ari Marmell
Lucky Coin, by Rich Burlew
Masks of the Gods, by Anthony Pryor
Orb of the Wight, by Patrick Lawinger
Petrified God, by Ari Marmell
Rug of Lords, by Patrick Lawinger
Sha'gahr's Bones, by Anthony Pryor
Siege Hound of Dhula'zar, by C.A. Suleiman
Skiff of the Ferryman, by Ari Marmell
Skullcup of the Nagaraja, by George Holochwost
Soul Brushes of Gartigan, by Patrick Lawinger
Soulblade, by Michael Gill
Una's Shield, by Rich Burlew
World Tree, by Rhiannon Louve
Appendix A: Chosen One, by Anthony Pryor
Appendix B: Random Artifact Creation, by Ari Marmell and C. Robert Cargill
Appendix C: Compiled Mechanics[/sblock]

Each individual artifact includes a history, a section on lore (skill checks, that sort of thing), a section on physical appearance, a section on how the artifact responds to divinations, descriptions of passive powers, descriptions of active powers, curses and/or downsides, advice on using the artifact in a campaign, specific story seeds, suggestions on how the artifact can be destroyed, and--in most cases--some other new "D20 goody" on top of everything else (such as feats, spells, magic items, new monsters, new classes, or NPCs, all of which are tied in to the artifact or its history).

What's the writing like - dry, evocative, intriguing, poorly edited, so-so. . .?

This will, of course, be partially a matter of opinion. We did our best to make every artifact evocative, however, given the nature of the material.

Crunch/fluff ratio, roughly?

Heavier on the flavor than the crunch, but as each artifact has its own abilities and (usually) the "goody" as well, there's enough crunch to keep most people happy.

And the "Random Artifact Appendix" includes an obscene number of tables.

Artwork - much? good?

One piece per artifact, plus one more for the Random appendix. Good? Again, it's a matter of opinion, but I'm certainly happy with most of it.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Oh, I see. So basically, a tome. Of artifacts. Like, artifact after artifact, full stop, type thing. No, I really didn't know that was what the book was about, on that level. Thanks for spelling it out, and well, describing the whole thing fairly comprehensively (as one might expect).

But the appendices sound quite useful too, potentially at least. Cool.

And oh yeah, "a number of obscene tables" ? I'm so buying. . . oh.

 

[Shadeydm]

How setting specific is the material?

 

[Mouseferatu]

How setting specific is the material?

Not very much at all. Some are most suited to a particular cultural analogue--for instance, a few might work best in an India-like setting, or an Arabic setting--but most can be dropped in almost anywhere. And even those that are more culture-specific shouldn't be too hard to tweak, with a few name changes.

Some do make reference to the creation myths or other ancient legends, but again, most are generic enough to fit into most campaigns, and those that aren't shouldn't require too much in the way of alteration.

In no case did we have any particular world/setting we were constrained to work with when creating these.

 

[Nightfall]

Thanks for the hand Ari. As I told you, Ari, before, this was a work I LOVED and still love. It's a great book that I feel will give people something to enjoy for all times. Sure it's just artifacts but the fact is these artifacts are WAY cooler than anything that's been in 3.5/3.0 since...well probably Relics and Rituals, but certainly some great artifacts.

Yes the tables for creating artifacts are pretty neat and certainly very useful IF (for some reason I find pretty unfathomable), you can't figure out a way to use these items.