Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Artifacts & Legends (PFRPG)

4.80/5 (based on 4 ratings)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Artifacts & Legends (PFRPG)
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Forged by legends and bearing the might of immortal beings, artifacts possess world-shattering abilities far beyond the powers of even the most devastating mortal magic. But artifacts are born, not merely crafted. Behind every incredible artifact lies an equally remarkable tale, the sort of history that time and wonder transform into legend.

Incredible weapons like the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords and the Seven Swords of Sin grant wielders the tools to raise or devastate nations, magical wonders like the Codex of the Infinite Planes and the Book of the Damned unlock secrets no mortal was meant to control, and unbelievable treasures like the Orbs of Dragonkind and the time-shattering Staff of Ages grant bearers mastery over the laws of reality. Power to rival the gods and the truths behind the Pathfinder campaign setting’s deepest secrets lie within—but are only for the bold.

Artifacts and Legends reveals dozens of the Pathfinder campaign setting’s most infamous and remarkable magic treasures, weapons, armor, and devices.

    Inside this book you will find:
  • New, revised, and expanded rules for more than 60 major and minor artifacts, from the focuses of fan-favorite adventures and Adventure Paths to legends from the annals of roleplaying game history.
  • Ramifications of employing every major artifact, presenting in-game considerations, advice, and adventure hooks.
  • New options to help players research artifacts and unlock their secrets.
  • Metagame artifacts, giving GMs campaign-altering tools to tackle common game table concerns such as forgotten familiars and rebuilding characters.

Artifacts and Legends is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can be used in any fantasy game setting.

By F. Wesley Schneider

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-458-0

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscription.

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4.80/5 (based on 4 ratings)

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Not what I was looking for but awesome anyway

5/5

Very Golarion specific. Full of crunch on artifacts mentioned in Golarion. A must have for GMs who like using treasure and artifacts.


Beautiful book full of crunch!

5/5

Stratagemini summed it up best. All I can add is that Artifacts & Legends is a beautiful book that provides awesome illustrations for the listed items.


Great, flavorful resource

4/5

Read my full review on my blog.

Artifacts & Legends is not the kind of book all GMs will have a use for. After all, some GMs prefer low-powered campaigns and do not wish to deal with the implications of having artifacts in the hands of player characters. However, those who do want to include artifacts in their games or simply wish to include stories of artifacts will find a lot of use for it. It will provide them with the tools to create epic storylines that their players will talk about for many years to come.


Crunchy and flavorful, a recommended part of any GM's literary diet.

5/5

First off, if you're not a GM, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. The book is GM only, and contains spoilers for Kingmaker, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Seven Swords of Sin, Rise of the Runelords, Serpent's Skull, and several other modules and APs. In some cases (such as Serpent's Skull) these can spoil the entire ending of the AP completely. If you aren't a GM stop reading this review now. This review is for GMs and spoilers will be unmarked.

That aside, this book is brilliant. Several old artifacts along with many new ones. Each of the Major artifacts comes with it's own attendant legend about how it fits into Golarion. Several Artifacts (such as the orbs of dragonkind) have entirely new options or different statistics than displayed in the core or in other sources (one example in the book is an Orb of the Jabberwock, among others). Each artifact is beautifully illustrated as well.

Each artifact is handled beautifully. The Seven Swords of Sin are each statted out with their respective powers. Baba Yaga's Hut is there complete with Maps and explanations and charts of it's space warping powers.

New artifacts that don't behave like other artifacts hosted in this book as well. Artifacts such as the Phylactery of the Failed which is more like a combination of a trap and disease similar to the Death's head Coffer from the Curse of the Crimson Throne writ large, the Song of Extinction, a music box that allows a Bard to learn the actual artifact, a bardic performance, The Staff of Ages, which acts as a Time Machine, and the Apollyon Ring which turns your consciousness into a memetic disease.

There are also Metagame artifacts to handle a number of out of game phenomenon in game. Specifically: quantum players, quantum companions, out of character tactical planning, and rebuilding characters.

The book enables a whole world of tools for GMs interested in running their own adventures in Golarion, or even in homebrew settings. If you're a GM, there is no reason not to buy this book.

The list of artifacts is as follows:

Major Artifacts:

Spoiler:
Apollyon Ring
Axe of the Dwarvish Lords
Blackaxe
Bloodstones of Arazni
Book of the Damned
Bottle of the Bound
Briar
Codex of the Infinite Planes
Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga
Horns of Naraga
Invidian Eye
Lens of Galundari
Moaning Diamond
Orbs of Dragonkind
Relics of Kazavon
Ring of Nine Facets
Saint Cuthbert’s Mace
Scepter of Ages
Scroll of Kakishon
Shadowstaff
Shield of Aroden
Skull of Ydersius
Song of Extinction
Swords of Sin
Thorncrown of Iomedae
Vesper’s Rapier

Minor Artifacts:

Spoiler:
Bone House
Crown of the Simurgh
Decemvirate Helm
Deck of Harrowed Tales
Harrow Deck of Many Things
Hourglass of Shadows
Id Portrait
Maleficus Spike
Mantis Blade
Ovinrbaane
Phylactery of the Failed
Raven’s Head
Serithtial
Torc of Kostchtchie
Totem of Angazhan
Vernal Key
Visionary Lens
Warding Box

Metagame Artifacts:

Spoiler:
Figurine of the Concealed Companion
Hourglass of Transfiguration
Scar of Destiny
Sliver of the Amalgam Mind


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Justin Franklin wrote:
Alzrius wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
As long as the book has artifacts that serve good, chaos, and law and not just evil I will be happy.
Yes, but what sort of artifact could drive a man to be...neutral?
Not sure, but it is probably Swiss. ;)

Hey there is nothing wrong with the Swiss, they make awesome cheese, knives, and watches.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
The Minis Maniac wrote:
Justin Franklin wrote:
Alzrius wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
As long as the book has artifacts that serve good, chaos, and law and not just evil I will be happy.
Yes, but what sort of artifact could drive a man to be...neutral?
Not sure, but it is probably Swiss. ;)
Hey there is nothing wrong with the Swiss, they make awesome cheese, knives, and watches.

So the artifact is either cheese, a knife, a watch, or chocolate.


Justin Franklin wrote:
The Minis Maniac wrote:
Justin Franklin wrote:
Alzrius wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
As long as the book has artifacts that serve good, chaos, and law and not just evil I will be happy.
Yes, but what sort of artifact could drive a man to be...neutral?
Not sure, but it is probably Swiss. ;)
Hey there is nothing wrong with the Swiss, they make awesome cheese, knives, and watches.
So the artifact is either cheese, a knife, a watch, or chocolate.

Must....... refrain........ from......... nazi....... gold........ reference.......

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.

The runelord polearms are indeed artifacts these days... but they're not gonna be in this artifact book. They'll need to wait for something in the future...

...well, except for Karzoug's glaive, which will be in full artifact mode in the upcoming Rise of the Runelords hardcover.


will the seven swords of sin be in????

and will the holy avenger be in the boook too along with that sword forged by Iomedae???

which leads me to wonder.

are there seven swords of virtue somewhere in Golarion???


I asked this question a long time ago in the ask James Jacob all questions thread. After this book was announce it never accoured to ask it here.
So without further due and to avoid any and all stabbings from the High Queen of stab or a stabbing from the court of stab(if there is one), will that famous Taldan Bard **WorldBreaker** be in this book??

Worldbreaker sings..... you get out of the way and don't stop running.


Justin Franklin wrote:
The Minis Maniac wrote:
Justin Franklin wrote:
Alzrius wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
As long as the book has artifacts that serve good, chaos, and law and not just evil I will be happy.
Yes, but what sort of artifact could drive a man to be...neutral?
Not sure, but it is probably Swiss. ;)
Hey there is nothing wrong with the Swiss, they make awesome cheese, knives, and watches.
So the artifact is either cheese, a knife, a watch, or chocolate.

Spoiler:
"Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

I wont be giving my moeny to the folks at paizo on this book.

I'll be to busy saving it to afford the advanced races from paizo.

so that ought to teach the folks at paizo

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Do we know who will be doing the cover art for this one yet?


I gues we will see in a month or so when the art gets updated.


Steelfiredragon wrote:

I wont be giving my moeny to the folks at paizo on this book.

I'll be to busy saving it to afford the advanced races from paizo.

so that ought to teach the folks at paizo

Is this sarcasm??

If not, what exactly are you hoping to teach Paizo?

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Monkeygod wrote:
Steelfiredragon wrote:

I wont be giving my moeny to the folks at paizo on this book.

I'll be to busy saving it to afford the advanced races from paizo.

so that ought to teach the folks at paizo

Is this sarcasm??

If not, what exactly are you hoping to teach Paizo?

Maybe he is saving others people money to buy the book, that way he can buy the book and not use his money. :)

Sovereign Court

The poor Swiss, they didn't really have much of an army and were wedged between Germany, Austria and Italy. With quickly-conquered France for the last border.
They did their best to dodge annihilation and have been cursed ever since as moral cowards, even by countries who sat and twiddled their thumbs for years while Britain was being bombed to pieces.
And, in any case, that war was quite a long time ago now, wasn't it? Are we really supposed to judge people on their grandparents' decisions?

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
GeraintElberion wrote:

The poor Swiss, they didn't really have much of an army and were wedged between Germany, Austria and Italy. With quickly-conquered France for the last border.

They did their best to dodge annihilation and have been cursed ever since as moral cowards, even by countries who sat and twiddled their thumbs for years while Britain was being bombed to pieces.
And, in any case, that war was quite a long time ago now, wasn't it? Are we really supposed to judge people on their grandparents' decisions?

Your quality of chocolate means you are forgiven for all things for ever. Least by most women. :)


Monkeygod wrote:
Steelfiredragon wrote:

I wont be giving my moeny to the folks at paizo on this book.

I'll be to busy saving it to afford the advanced races from paizo.

so that ought to teach the folks at paizo

Is this sarcasm??

If not, what exactly are you hoping to teach Paizo?

He's saying that they're twice as awesome as they need to be, since they'd get all of his money either way. ;)

Contributor

Shalafi2412 wrote:
Will these ever be the goal of an AP?

Some already have been... after a fashion.

Contributor

CaroRose wrote:
James, will there be more detail on the Relics of Kazavon than previously found in other materials (that I'll refrain from naming to protect the innocent)?

We did a whole 6 page article on the relics of Kazavon in Pathfinder #12. While that's the source material for what's in here, it is not given more space. PFRPG updates and other additions, but not a discussion as lengthy as the original article offers. That said, I made sure we'll get a look at numerous relics we've never seen before, so don't think there won't be plenty new for you.

Contributor

Coridan wrote:
Any recommendations on how to add/balance artifacts in a game in this book? That's always been the toughest thing for me.

Yup. In every major artifact entry in fact. Each write-up includes a ramifications and considerations sections. Some times it's as basic as "This is powerful, so if you put it in your game and your PCs get it... good luck with all that." Other times it's more like "Okay, so you've decided to open up the Pandora's box of time travel. Here we go...." Ocassionally its something like "Okay, so you're using this. So then you're going to also want to use X, Y, Z, and check out 1, 2, and 3." And some times its "Here's why it'd be awesome to drop this artifact in at 1st level."

Don't worry, for the first time I can think of, we're giving you instruction manuals for these game changers.

Contributor

d@ncingNumfar wrote:
Any chance there will be more information on the Cinnamon Throne or will this be more Inner Sea specific?

It's very Inner Sea specific, but also very much focused on artifacts that are open and have a role in the history of RPGs. So, sorry, no Cinnamon Throne.

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Mr. Bojangles wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
Makes me wonder how that Angel got his information without getting captured or killed.
A I recall, didn't that angel ** spoiler omitted ** I'm definitely curious to see the book that came out of THAT planar field trip.

There's a good bit about it. Didn't work out too well for Tabris. But some times, after seeing all the sides of a conflict, the best answer is "I don't want any piece of any of this."

Contributor

Stratagemini wrote:

Is this just already published artifacts like Blackaxe and Chellan, The Sword of Greed? Or will there be new Artifacts as well?

Additionally, will we finally get full stats for the Alara'hai (seven swords of sin/conviction) or are we still stuck with just Chellan and Asheia?

I believe every artifact in here has at least been mentioned before, though this is the first time many are being stated up - the Bloodstones of Arazni for example. Several of the cooler artifacts from Pathfinder Society and "blink and you missed them" style artifacts passingly mentioned from older Pathfinder Campaign Setting books show up in here.

As for the Seven Swords of Sin. Yup. They're all in here.

Contributor

Dragon78 wrote:
As long as the book has artifacts that serve good, chaos, and law and not just evil I will be happy.

Then you should be happy. :)

Contributor

Steelfiredragon wrote:

will the seven swords of sin be in????

and will the holy avenger be in the boook too along with that sword forged by Iomedae???

which leads me to wonder.

are there seven swords of virtue somewhere in Golarion???

There is a more prominent Iomedae artifact in here, but not her sword. And we've never talked about "seven swords of virtue." Not saying there's not, but since the seven sins of Thassilon and the seven virtues of rule are largely one in the same, I could see the argument that the seven swords of sin are, after a fashion, the seven swords of virtue. But honestly, we've yet to take a ramble down that path in any canon product.


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber
F. Wesley Schneider wrote:
Don't worry, for the first time I can think of, we're giving you instruction manuals for these game changers.

Classic Treasures Revisited comes close, with some good advice on stuff like the Staff of the Magi and Well of Worlds. So are these legendary artifacts a step above those?

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
deinol wrote:
Classic Treasures Revisited comes close, with some good advice on stuff like the Staff of the Magi and Well of Worlds. So are these legendary artifacts a step above those?

The ramifications sections which is included in (I believe) every entry hits on top tier considerations GMs will want to mull over before including these artifacts in his campaign. They are not meant for PCs and don't include advice on how to get even more power out of these already super-powered magic items.


When will we get a complete list of what artifacts are in this book?

Liberty's Edge

Is the Crimson throne an actual cursed item? will it be featured?


Paladinosaur wrote:
Is the Crimson throne an actual cursed item? will it be featured?

Nope, not magic. Actually it's been a while since I read through CotCT, but I don't think it's even that cursed. Korvosa was doing pretty well for itself until the recent unpleasantness.

Dragon78 wrote:


When will we get a complete list of what artifacts are in this book?

When it comes to books like these, I don't think Paizo's ever released a full rundown of what's inside. Don't expect a table of contents preview in other words.


The (supposed) curse was that so far no king or queen of Korvosa has died with a legitimate heir, except for Queen Domina who already had a son when she ascended to the throne.


So we get to see the infamous Book of the Damned, that is the same book that angel wrote and was punished for it correct?

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Image and description have been updated to match the finished product.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Her hair looks kinda blond there.


Wow 60 artifacts.

Liberty's Edge

Dat cover...


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Quote:
Metagame artifacts, giving GMs campaign-altering tools to tackle common game table concerns such as forgotten familiars and rebuilding characters.

Hmm, interesting... Can't wait!

Scarab Sages

Okay, being a huge fan of PFS and also of ancient relics of power, I have to ask the following:

How much of this book will be approved for PFS play? I know the liklihood of a player running around with an Excalibur-like weapon is highly unlikely? But, being able to craft a weapon that has some history to it would be appealing to me.

Tarrintino


Is that the witch on the cover?


She looks like the iconic witch.


Hooray, I love the iconic witch!


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

For some reason this cover reminds me of Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones and her dragons.


I don't know, this one is wearing to much clothes;)


Tarrintino wrote:

Okay, being a huge fan of PFS and also of ancient relics of power, I have to ask the following:

How much of this book will be approved for PFS play? I know the liklihood of a player running around with an Excalibur-like weapon is highly unlikely? But, being able to craft a weapon that has some history to it would be appealing to me.

Tarrintino

Well, if you craft a weapon the story IS that you, fabled master of the forge, crafted a powerful weapon...

It's how you gathered the components for the forging that can give you a whole different deal storywise. But for that you don't need a book, just use your mind and wrote the story down yourself.

But I guess I don't get your question, artifacts are clearly beyond the scope (and ballance) of PFS play, and as far as I know you can't craft artifacts anyway (maybe when epic level book comes out.... but again, beyond the scope of PFS, considering you have to retire characters well before 20th level).

Contributor

You guys are in for a treat. This book is amazing. :)


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Todd Stewart wrote:
You guys are in for a treat. This book is amazing. :)

Could you give us a list of the artifacts?


zergtitan wrote:
Todd Stewart wrote:
You guys are in for a treat. This book is amazing. :)
Could you give us a list of the artifacts?

Todd probably can't, but it is about time for previews to start showing up.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I thought about using the information for the Axe of the Dwarven Lords in order for my dwarven led party of explorers to find it in a treasure trove or in the hands of an enemy in the throne room of a sky citadel my party has discovered and is exploring. So has anyone got their PDF or copy yet, and wishes to give some detail that not in the sections of the core rulebook or ultimate equipment guide?


zergtitan wrote:
I thought about using the information for the Axe of the Dwarven Lords in order for my dwarven led party of explorers to find it in a treasure trove or in the hands of an enemy in the throne room of a sky citadel my party has discovered and is exploring. So has anyone got their PDF or copy yet, and wishes to give some detail that not in the sections of the core rulebook or ultimate equipment guide?

Books don't start shipping til Monday or Tuesday.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Joseph Wilson wrote:

Books don't start shipping til Monday or Tuesday.

Okay sweet! :)

Shadow Lodge

Coridan wrote:
Any recommendations on how to add/balance artifacts in a game in this book? That's always been the toughest thing for me.

You could always go back to the old school method of having artifacts causing handicaps/penalties and corruption in mortals who use them.


Is the Jade Throne from the Jade Regent adventure path in the book?

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