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I'm looking to stat up an artifact that I came up with for a campaign. One that a number of groups want to get their hands on, counting a cult calling themselves the Children of the Nightmare and a race of parasitic shapeshifters, as well drawing the attention of a fair few deities as well.
Much as the name suggests this major artifact is actually a crucible crafted from the metal of a falling star, which can be used to craft legendary arms and armour of great power… yet any such weapons and armor made come with a corrupting curse which will twist the mind, even bring one to madness, overtime as the power received leading one to an evil alignment. That by using equipment forged by The Crucible of Stars, it leads to the owner to fall under the maddening and malefic influence of a source from beyond the stars.
It was hidden away a thousand years ago after the armour forged for a goddess led her to become evil, forcing her to be imprisoned, until such a time that she could be cleansed of the corruption which consumed her and be reunited with her sister and rejoin the pantheon.
It will be up to the party to find it, prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, while working to undo the mechanisms of the cult and race of parasitic shapeshifters. While hopefully not not being tempted to use the power of the artifact for themselves, and to prevent a far greater danger from being called.
Pathfinder's Occult line of products will be used for the campaign.
You place it, fill it with fuel(probably coal) and it lights it. It might be cool if it only burns bones and other remains.
As for the curse, have you seen or read,"From Beyond". I've done both. Item users can see into the dark tapestry. Most of these things, seeing is summoning.
Just to let everyone know, if I was not clear, I am looking for advice on how to put together this Major Artifact.
Artifacts aren't constructed by rules. by definition they break them.
The first step is to decide the arc life of this item, how you want it to come into the campaign and which of the various ways you want it to exit.
Moorcock's Corum for example gets a hold of major artifacts in each novel, only to have them exit or taken away at the conclusion.
Second, you want to decide on the impact of this item. That will determine what it should do and it's collateral effects. Then it's just a matter of putting one effects and disadvantages.
Many stories, have each artifact draw the characters into the story. The reversing mirror will turn the curse into a blessing, but only if the entire forging is reflected in the mirror. Possibly the forge can only be destroyed by smashing it with Torag's hammer. If, on the other hand, you use the hammer and forge to make a holy sword, it can be used to kill Rovagug, but only on a crit.