TheGreatWot |
I'm writing a campaign and at one point will be giving my players a minor artifact. It's a spear, currently split into five shards, that the players will be able to reforge and use to combat the later enemies in the campaign. I'm struggling, however, to find flavorful and effective powers to give it- many artifacts have some sort of complex, unique power that isn't always as simple as a bonus to a saving throw or stat.
The item itself is Ainhara, a +2 aberration-bane spear. The players will be 8th level by the time they can make use of the thing. The campaign is largely Lovecraftian, hence the aberration-bane power. The item's lore is that it was crafted by an ancient civilization that once inhabited the badlands that the PCs explore later in the campaign. During a cataclysm that introduced a massive influx of horrible creatures to the badlands, the civilization fell and the spear was shattered and lost.
I'm currently thinking some sort of restorative power, as the spear was meant to combat the many ability-draining and maddening powers that powerful aberrations have. Any suggestions as to other powers would be appreciated.
mardaddy |
I was thinking an additional flavorful combo for a minor artifact geared for this could be the wielder must make a fairly high Will Save within 30ft & line of sight of an aberration or they are forced into the rage condition/ability and must fight the aberration to its or the wielders death to come out of rage (with the aftereffects that normally come with it.)
But if you are looking for reducing the potential of inflicted madness, that would be a boon to Will, which would run counter that idea.
Meirril |
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Going with the rage idea, how about it suppresses all conditions caused by aberrations while enraged? You get to blow off negative levels, drains, fear, and all sorts of inconveniences...until the rage wears off. And only the ones caused by aberrations, not the ones caused by cultists followers. Well, you might allow them to blow off the ones powered by aberrations.
This might lead to a situations where the character wins the fight and immediately dies. Fun times. Oh, you also might have the item give non-barbarians the basic rage powers of a barbarian (treat HD as barbarian level), and give actual barbarians 1 extra rage power for every 4-5 barbarian levels, or just give additional rage rounds. Like an double the rounds, but you can only use the extra rounds against aberrations.
Mysterious Stranger |
If the lovecraftian creatures have some common special ability the spear could give immunity to it. The immunity would only be from these specific creatures ability. Most lovecraftian creatures have some sort of madness inflicting ability. Giving immunity to this would be highly appropriate.
If they don’t have a common ability giving its enchantment bonus to save vs all the lovecraftian creatures’ attacks would also work. Keeping the immunity or bonus to save specific to the creatures makes the power more appropriate to the background you have.