D&D General World Building: Artifacts and Relics

[LuisCarlos17f]

Indiana Jones, Lara Croft(Tomb Raider), Sidney Fox(Relic Hunter TV serie) or Nathan Drake(Uncharted) are examples of how artifacts can be the origing of epic quests, but also bloodied conflicts.

If you want an important artifacts to not be stolen, then this should be totally secret and unknown, but if there is intention to be used.

In 3.5 a relic is a sacred magic item, and even there was a craft feat to create them in The Divine Complete.

Some times I imagine some D&D "artifacts" like "soulstones" (Mage: the Awakening).

A right worldbuilding shoudl avoid artifacts to be too necessary for "Historical" events.

Some "artifacts" aren't portable objetcts but buildings, for example temples. Or to work would need a ritual or ceremony with a group of loyal wordshippers.

* But I don't like the trope of "to save the realms we have to explore the ancient dungeons with traps to find that sacred relic".

 

[RoughCoronet0]

I have different classifications of Artifact is my world, with Relics being one of those classifications.

Relics are artifacts that came into existence during the Age of Creation and the three eras within. The first era was the time the Primordials created the Material Plane and the Creator Deities created life and and order on said plane. The second era was the war for dominance between these two powerful forces known as the Creator Wars (essentially the Dawn Wars). The third era ending the age of creation with the Serpent’s Sundering, which was the war between the victorious Creator Deities and their mightiest creations who would end up usurping the old creators and becoming the new gods.

These Relics are powerful and practically impossible to duplicate because most were created either by the Gods and Primordials that have been banished from the world and connected planes, or using untamed and old magic that no longer exists in the same quantity today. One such Relic is an arcane staff simply known as Origins, that was said to be gifted by Hekzia the Serpent of Secrets to the first mortal she gifted the forbidden knowledge of Arcane magic to, turning them into the first Sorcerer and allowing the mortals to protect themselves from the destruction wreck by the gods and primordials with this knowledge.

 

[jmoliere12077]

So I asked for general DM advise, because hello I am new to Dming. However I would like to start a series of specific posts asking about different parts of world building. This isn't a plus thread per say, but if you think I should not world build that is not very helpful.
Also Warning, I ramble when I am excited even in text.

(if you want to see part 1 D&D 5E (2014) - World Building: Commerce and gold if your want to see part 2 D&D 5E (2014) - World Building: Army building and there is a part 2b someone else spun off D&D 5E (2014) - World building: The forbiddance spell in military application )
Part 3 D&D 5E (2014) - World Building: Tech, Magic, and Society (and 3b spin off again where I get told that a cantrip can't do what a cantrip says D&D 5E (2014) - Worldbuilding: destruction and siege via Mold Earth?
And another spin off about the mechanics of spells D&D General - Worldbuilding: What do the mechanics of spellcasting tell us of flavor?
Part 4 D&D 5E (2014) - World Building: Did magic evolve?
Thanks to DnDWarlord D&D General - World building: MIx and Match Editions
And part 5 theme and theft of ideas D&D General - World Building Theme and idea theft

So for 6 I have: How do you use Artifacts to build out your world in theme history and scope?

Also side note, I never understood the difference between Artifact and Relic, I have had DMs use them in a way I think are pretty interchangeable.

So I have played in games with artifacts before. Sometimes things the DM brings from the DMG, or a supplement, or even an older edition of the game. However what I always love is when the DM makes one that fits their world and teaches a bit of its history and or lore by just being. The Eye of Vecna is cool, the Eye of Aggomoto is really the time stone and a funny MCU tip of the hat. HOWEVER the Eye of Lashail the fallen Solar that fell in love with a Tiefling and was punished with most of her divinity stiped but not her full immortality, that was in order to be killed was cut into parts separated and burned… but her left eye somehow survived and now has a bunch of powers just fills out the game more. The fact that it could be attuned as a third eye instead of replacing like vecna made it feel even more unique even if it came with some MASSIVE down sides.

So I am making artifacts for my own game world based on a mix but loosely on star gate, my "ancient gods" were the lords of order (and chaos but there stuff is different) and so my first idea was the helm of nabu (I will rename) that gives the attuned wearer the ability to use a wild shape like body switch to a demigod archmage… BUT when you use it you have a chance that demigod takes control and maybe keeps it. In star gate at the end we find out some of the ancients did not ascend they were trapped places and still held information (Merlin ark of truth) so I was thinking that this was a lord of order that was kicked out and was held in the helm as punishment BUT also as a in case of emergency break glass type weapon.
Now I am going to start a different thread just about my ideas LIKE that for artifacts, the mechanics and trying to balance it all out and when I do I will make sure to label it 5e. However I am putting it here as a concept.

The helm is a part of the history of the world, even if never used as an item just being found and researched it influences the feel of the game (I hope).

How do yall do it? Do you take artifacts and just plop them in, do you make your own? Do you use them as tools to talk about the history of your world?

A artifact and relic are different in the fact any one can use it but only a few people can use relics as it's tied to a s p edifice deity and an artifact is streamlined rare